GMAC, Silverstein Near Agreement as PATH Trains Roll

Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority are reportedly close to reaching agreement with GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., the principle lender on the World Trade Center Lease, to release $563 million to repay the outstanding loans.

As the parties continued their negotiations over the weekend, New York City welcomed the reopening of the PATH WTC station on Sunday. The new station, which will eventually be superseded by an entire rail complex, is the first major structure to reopen at the site since the Sept. 11 attacks, and represents a major step in restoring services to the city’s financial district.

According to a report from the BBC, the first train to enter the station was the same one which was the last to be shunted away from the old station on the day of the attacks, a symbol of what New Jersey governor James McGreevey called a “resumption of normalcy.”

Reaching agreement with GMAC and other lenders would also be a significant step toward rebuilding the WTC. So far insurers have put around $1.9 billion into an escrow account controlled by GMAC. However, the lender sued Silverstein and the Port Authority in September, on grounds that they had not retained sufficient amounts to assure that the bondholders would be repaid.

A hearing had been scheduled for last Wednesday, Nov. 19, but judge Herman Cahn postponed it until today in order to give the parties additional time to work out settlement details.