Lisa Silverstein Honored at Commercial Observer’s Power Gala at 7 World Trade Center

Twenty-five years after September 11 changed Lower Manhattan forever, some of the people who helped rebuild and reshape New York gathered high above the city at 7 World Trade Center for Commercial Observer’s 19th Annual Power Gala.

Held September 22 in partnership with Silverstein Properties, the invitation-only event honored leaders named to Commercial Observer’s 2026 Power 100, Power Finance and Power Investors lists. This year, however, the evening carried additional significance: the gala commemorated the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and recognized the individuals and organizations that have contributed to New York’s recovery, growth and resilience over the past quarter century.

For DOWNTOWN Magazine, one moment stood apart: the recognition of Lisa Silverstein, CEO and vice chairman of Silverstein Properties.

Lisa has spent more than three decades with the company and became CEO in 2023. Now she is leading Silverstein Properties at an extraordinary moment—not only for the company, but for the World Trade Center itself.

And on this particular evening, her father was there to see it.

A Father, a Daughter and a Downtown Legacy

Silverstein Properties Chairman Larry Silverstein joined the celebration at 7 World Trade Center, and his presence made an already meaningful evening deeply personal.

For more than two decades, Larry Silverstein devoted himself to rebuilding the World Trade Center following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Now, 25 years later, he was at 7 World Trade Center watching his daughter receive recognition as she leads the company into its next generation.

The symbolism was difficult to miss.

Commercial Observer recently reported that Larry, now 95, remains chairman of Silverstein Properties and one of Lisa’s closest advisers. Lisa told the publication that she speaks with her father several times a day.

But Lisa has never characterized her leadership as simply taking her father’s place.

“It’s continuity and evolution,” she told Commercial Observer when discussing the transition. “We each write our own legacy.”

At the Power Gala, those words seemed particularly fitting.

Father and daughter were together inside the first office tower rebuilt at the World Trade Center after 9/11, while just outside its windows another long-awaited chapter in that rebuilding story was finally moving forward.

The Final Commercial Piece: 2 World Trade Center

That chapter is 2 World Trade Center.

Earlier this year, American Express announced plans for a new global headquarters at 2 World Trade Center, bringing one of the world’s most recognized companies into what will become the final commercial tower of the rebuilt World Trade Center campus.

The nearly two-million-square-foot, 55-story building will be developed by Silverstein Properties and designed by Foster + Partners. American Express will be its owner and sole occupant, with capacity for as many as 10,000 employees. Completion is expected in 2031.

For Lisa and the Silverstein team, getting there required years of work.

Lisa has said discussions with American Express began approximately five years ago and grew increasingly intensive. The transaction involved not only American Express and Silverstein Properties but also the Port Authority, making an already enormous real estate deal particularly complex.

During the gala, members of the team were invited forward together—a wonderful acknowledgment of the many people behind the work and the kind of major undertaking that can never be accomplished by one person alone.

It was also an appropriate reminder that while the Silverstein name is synonymous with the World Trade Center rebuilding, completing a project of this magnitude has required decades of collaboration.

For Lisa, American Express choosing 2 World Trade Center carries meaning beyond the transaction itself.

“American Express’ investment to build its new headquarters in this landmark location is a powerful statement about the future of Lower Manhattan,” she said when the project was announced. “I can’t imagine a better partner to complete the World Trade Center campus.”

Construction officially broke ground this summer. When completed, the tower will represent the final commercial building on the original World Trade Center footprint.

Twenty-Five Years Later

That made 7 World Trade Center a particularly poignant setting for this year’s Power Gala.

The evening celebrated many of the executives shaping commercial real estate, finance and investment today. Commercial Observer’s 2026 Power 100 itself includes Larry Silverstein, Lisa Silverstein and Silverstein Properties President Tal Kerret among its honorees.

But this was also an evening about something larger than buildings.

It was about the people who stayed.

The people who rebuilt.

And the people who are now responsible for carrying that work forward.

For Lisa Silverstein, those worlds have converged. She is preserving the values and history of a company inextricably connected to the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan while also determining where Silverstein Properties goes next.

And beside her last night was the man who began that extraordinary chapter.

Seeing Larry Silverstein at 7 World Trade Center as his daughter was honored offered one of the evening’s most memorable images: a father who helped rebuild a piece of New York and a daughter now entrusted with helping shape what comes next.

For DOWNTOWN Magazine, whose own story was born from a desire to support Lower Manhattan following September 11, it was particularly meaningful to witness.

Twenty-five years after the attacks, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center is approaching an extraordinary milestone.

And once again, Downtown is looking forward.