Rebuilding the World Trade Center continues

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - For developer Larry Silverstein, the idea to rebuild where the Twin Towers once stood continues to be a necessity. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, people moved out of downtown and so did businesses. But Silverstein saw a future stronger than what happened.

"I felt the only way to stem this exodus was to prove to people that, A, we're going to rebuild and we did and to indicate to people that we were not going to stop," the chairman of Silverstein Properties said. "We couldn't' fail. We had to succeed in accomplishing the mission."

Right now, 3 World Trade Center is on pace to be complete in spring 2018. Construction manager Carlos Valverde showed Fox 5 what will be the main lobby. The bottom third of the building will be occupied by Group-M, the world's largest media investment group.

One of the most impressive things about 3WTC is the terrace on the 76th floor. The views include a beautiful shot of Brooklyn, a clear view of Manhattan, and the next-door neighbor: One World Trade Center.

"It's a tremendous sense of responsibility to rebuilt and basically bring back New York's grandeur to what is was before," Valverde said.

The area's redevelopment started with 7 World Trade Center, which opened in 2006. It is the home of Silverstein Properties and Moody's Investors Service.

Next: 4 World Trade opened in 2013. Early next year, it will be Spotify's New York office.

In 2014, One World Trade opened.

As 3 World Trade is under construction, so is a performing arts center, scheduled to open in 2019.

And 2 World Trade, a 2.8-million-square-foot office space, larger than 3WTC, will come last.

"I hope when we're all done here in 2022 at the conclusion of… tower two that people say we've done a good job," Silverstein said.

Silverstein and his wife Clara are soon becoming part of the downtown skyline. They will move to a luxury condo above the Four Seasons Hotel, a building he also owns, a block away from his World Trade Center complex.

"So we figured at 86 years of age, my wife is only 84, time to move to someplace new and exciting and where young people exist," he said.

And also where he can witness his vision -- 16 years in the making -- become a reality of New York's resiliency.