WTC site lawsuit settled

The developer of the World Trade Center site has agreed to pay an architect $370,000 for his work on the original concept for the 16-acre site’s redevelopment.

Designer Daniel Libeskind sued Larry Silverstein in July, saying the developer had withheld Libeskind’s pay for his work on the site’s master plan, which includes the spiraling 1,776-foot Freedom Tower meant to evoke the Statue of Liberty.

Libeskind claimed he was owed $843,750, based on the project’s estimated cost of $1.5 billion. But Silverstein said he was paying Libeskind based on time spent working on the project, not the project’s cost. Libeskind agreed to withdraw his lawsuit under the settlement.

Libeskind won a design competition for the site’s redevelopment, but Silverstein hired another designer, David Childs, to serve as lead architect on the design.