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The World Trade Center Retail Floor Plans (Part 2)
As you’ll recall from the post about the ground floor and upper floors of the World Trade Center retail, the second and third floors were being called “Upper Level 2” and “Upper Level 3.” That’s why I got confused when I saw two other floor plans called “Level 1” and “Level 2.” Adam and I finally figured out that “Level 1” meant the first level below ground, and “Level 2” meant two floors down. CORRECTION: Ignore all that and read James’s comment: Basically, “Level 1” is the lowest level, and “Level 2” is above it (one level below grade).
Possibly even better than the floor plans, however, are three rendering videos. The first one is of Level 1, and the second is of Level 2. (CORRECTION: Or vice versa…) I actually get chills when I watch them—they bring back memories of going down under the Twin Towers to get to the subway station. The third WTC video shows how the newly opened Brookfield Place/PATH station concourse will look with stores, how it integrates with the PATH station and the Oculus. WATCH THEM!
The floor plans are more comprehensible after you look at the legend (key?). The retail (shops and/or restaurants) are white, and the Oculus is the Santiago Calatrava–designed transportation hub. The below-ground retail spaces extend to all the way under 1 World Trade Center (that’s where the Brookfield Place/PATH station corridor is now).
Here’s how the whole “Level 1” floor plan looks. I’ll break it up in the next two photos, so it might be easier to digest. The corridor leading to Brookfield Place that I was talking about above is what you see in the upper left. All of these storefronts appear to be one floor only.
The northern half of “Level 1”:
And the southern half of “Level 1”:
And here’s “Level 2.” [Remember, this is one level below grade.] Subsequent photos will show it broken up.
The northwest corner of “Level 2″—note that the entrance to the Observation Deck will be over there (two levels down, so you have to go through a lot of mall first, no doubt). It’s just one level down.
The northeast corner of “Level 2”:
And the southern part:
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Now we know what and where.
WHO and especially WHEN?
@betty: They’re saying it’ll open in 2015. As for who, I imagine there’ll be a big group announcement, at least for the first batch
Westfield will be making a big announcement in the Spring. The stores will indeed be opening in 2015 in conjunction, most likely, with the opening of the WTC Transportation Center (PATH). I can’t wait! It has been rumored that more than 90% of the retail space has already been spoken for. And don’t forget that Westfield is also responsible for least the approximately 70,000 sf of retail at the Fulton Center which will open to the public in June!
This is fabulous! Even a glimpse of the #1 station that’s been missing for so long. If you’re taking the #1 to/from Rector Street, they have opened up some of the walls and you can now see into the site, very quickly.
Can your source tell us any details about what will be happening in the spring when the museum opens? Like where the entrances will be, whether any of the fencing will come down? It looks like they are getting the Vesey/Greenwich Street intersection into shape. Will there be an entrance there, or will it be on the Liberty Street side where there is a high turnstile just past Tower 4?
I think the removal of the Vesey Street bridge made it seem like this is really going to be happening. Tower 1 is starting to seem like part of the nabe instead of just a big distant structure.
Thanks to you and your source for the info.
wow………what a shark of a scoop……………..good for you.
this all is going to be so fantastic……….
The 9/11 Memorial Museum will be opening in Mid May. The entrance will be on the Greenwich Street side and the exit, appropriately enough, on the Western, Memorial Plaza side. Most of the fencing should come down at that time and Greenwich Street should be open as well. The Memorial Plaza should then be open 24/7. Very exciting to see this all coming together!
Thanks, Luis!
Luis, when you say Greenwich Street side for the entrance, is that Vesey and Greenwich or Liberty and Greenwich? And the exit will remain where it is now? Or there will be new access somewhere on the west side for the exit? Will the gift shop now on West Street at the exit be moving into the museum?
That’s for clarifying all of this; it’s really great to know what is happening.
The entry Pavilion for the 9/11 Memorial Museum in located on Greenwich Street between Liberty and Cortland. The entrance to the Museum is on Greenwich. The exit will be on the West side of the Pavilion which will deposit the visitors directly onto the Memorial Plaza. The fences should be down so people should be able to roam the side and have many options to exit the site. The Museum will be open from 9 AM -7PM in the Winter and 9 AM – 8PM in the Summer. Not sure if hours would be different on weekends. I do believe the gift shop on West Street is moving to the museum. That was always meant to be temporary.
A great scoop.
But I think you got Level 1 and Level 2 switched around. I think Level 1 is the lowest level, two floors below grade. Level 2 is one floor below grade.
If you look at the plan for Level 2, you can see the balcony around the sides of the oculus looking down on Level 1.
The plan for Level 1 depicts the new PATH mezzanine and West Concourse to the WFC/Brookfield Place, immediately west of the oculus. My understanding is that this section is level with the lowest floor of the oculus, which is two floors below grade.
Also a number of escalators for 3WTC and 4WTC exist in the Level 2 plan but not on the Level 1 plan, indicating that the latter is stacked below the former.
@James: Thank you!! That makes sense (although I do think they could work on their labeling…).