NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Three parties key to rebuilding the destroyed World Trade Center are within 48 hours of settling a legal dispute to pay back lenders who financed the site, lawyers said on Tuesday.
Lawyers for leaseholder Larry Silverstein said they and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey landowner were "very, very close" to offering a settlement to lender GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp.
New York State Supreme Court Judge Herman Cahn asked the three parties to return to court on Thursday, giving them a little more time to reach a deal that would remove one of the financial obstacles to rebuilding the site destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"The intention is that the pressure remains," Cahn said after a 15-minute conference in his chambers.
GMAC lawyer Peter Haveles said he presumed lawyers for the leaseholder and landowner were hammering out an agreement to repay GMAC, a unit of General Motors Corp..
If there is no settlement, there will likely be a trial, further dragging out redevelopment, which is estimated to cost between $4 billion and $7 billion over 10 years.
GMAC, the main lender for the 16-acre (6.4 hectare) complex, last month sued Silverstein and the bi-state agency that owns the land. It said Silverstein and the agency were not putting aside enough of the insurance receipts to pay off $550 million in mortgage loans on four buildings, including the twin towers felled in the attacks.
Insurers have put $1.9 billion into an escrow account controlled by GMAC. Silverstein has already spent hundreds of millions on architects, engineers and legal fees.
GMAC would like timely repayment on its loans rather than becoming tied up with contentious and protracted redevelopment of the site.
The main dispute hindering reconstruction is a court battle between developer Silverstein and his insurance companies.
Silverstein contends the destruction of the towers by two hijacked airplanes represented two distinct events, entitling him to a double insurance claim of $7 billion. Swiss Re, , which holds the largest portion of the insurance obligation, says it was one coordinated event, entitling him to a maximum $3.5 billion, the amount of the 2001 contract.
Silverstein is appealing a recent court ruling backing the insurers' position.
A master plan for rebuilding the site has been chosen and six world-renowned architects have been invited to collaborate on one of the most ambitious projects in U.S. architectural history.