Frustrated, Leader Of U.N. Renovation Quits His Post

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

UNITED NATIONS – Throwing the U.N. renovation project into utter chaos, its leader, Louis Frederic Reuter, quit his post yesterday, saying he was “frustrated” with the organization and expressing skepticism that Turtle Bay can, at present, undertake the task of modernizing the 60-year-old landmark building it calls home.

Mr. Reuter, who only joined the U.N.’s team 10 months ago, has been offered “lucrative” positions with building projects at Lincoln Center and at Cornell Medical Center, which he has led in the past, according to a U.N. colleague, who asked to remain anonymous. Compared to the maddening slow pace of the United Nations, where the project known as the Capital Master Plan is now estimated at $1.6 billion – but might go ever higher – those offers seemed much more attractive.

When asked if dealing with Turtle Bay had made him wish he too could use his talents in the private sector, America’s U.N. ambassador, John Bolton, told The New York Sun yesterday, “No, but when I heard of Mr. Reuter’s departure the thought lofted across my mind.”

Mr. Bolton said there were a lot of frustrations “dealing with the 191 member governments, and the decision making process, and the financial differences between the private sector and life in the government or international organizations are evident for everybody to see.”

Mr. Reuter’s decision had not been motivated by “a single project,” the U.N. developer known as “Fritz” said in a statement released yesterday after announcing his resignation, which will take effect at the end of June. “I am 62 years old and am interested in building buildings not ‘selling’ them, which activity has constituted the majority of my work over the last year,” the statement said.

The U.N. administration tried to pin the resignation on the latest refusal of the Bush administration to approve a $100 million plan Mr. Reuter had pitched to redraw the project. Asked about the resignation during a visit to Washington yesterday, Secretary General Annan said, “I am sorry that he has had to leave because of frustration and a lack of major stakeholder commitment.”

But Mr. Reuter said he has been “frustrated by a number of factors, all working together, including the lack of clear support by many major stakeholders and difficulties of working within U.N. practice as it applies to a large building project.”

According to U.N. sources familiar with the project, the latest bickering among member states at different committees that must approve each and every step of the project revolves around a plan to erect a temporary building on the U.N.’s north lawn to house U.N. staffers while the main building is renovated.

The north lawn is currently a huge and well manicured garden, but it is rarely used. Another idea – building a temporary building across the street, on Robert Moses Park – was nixed by Albany, but recently revived by Mayor Bloomberg.

Mr. Reuter told reporters last month that neither of these ideas was necessary, as the United Nations plans to renovate the building in stages, several floors at a time. A favorable long-term rental agreement with the city gives the United Nations control of two buildings on prime First Avenue real estate across the street, which also complicates the leasing of further areas.

A major critic of the U.N. plan, developer Donald Trump, said it is overly expensive. Specifically, he cited the recent $100 million tag for designing the project. “A hundred million dollars for an architect to draw a line?” he told the Sun. At this rate, by the time it is completed the project would cost $5 billion, he estimated. “If they wanted me to come and run it,” he said, “I can do it for less than $1 billion.”

The Capital Master Plan is intended to renovate the badly maintained main building and rid it of asbestos, as well as bring it up to current safety codes. It is financed by the budget, to which America contributes 22%. Washington has also offered a loan at a favorable rate.

Some legislators have in the past expressed skepticism of the project, citing its high price and the ineptitude of its planning. Mr. Reuter’s resignation “will set back the whole process, as Fritz really knew what he was doing,” one Senate staffer who has closely followed the project told the Sun yesterday.

“Given the serious life-safety issues involved in the renovation and the impact this has on the thousands of employees who work there – including at least some 300 Americans – I hope the U.N. finds someone of his caliber quickly.”


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