Developers agree to bond World Trade Center overhaul ADVERTISEMENT Click here to find out more! A layer of insurance for the city has been added to the 99-year lease that will transfer control of the World Trade Center into the hands of a private developer. �All parties agreed to a bonded construction contract,� said Sean Cummings, executive director of the New Orleans Building Corp. As landlord of the city-owned tower, the NOBC has steered the redevelopment plan for the mostly empty office building and negotiated a lease with development firm Full Spectrum, which will redevelop the tower into a four-star hotel, condos and a cultural museum. The addition of the bonded construction contract came after urges for a performance bond from a governmental watchdog group, the Bureau of Governmental Research, and City Council President Jackie Clarkson. Clarkson and BGR feared the city could face undue risk without an explicit bonded guarantee redevelopment of the 33-story tower would be completed. Under the latest proposed lease, Full Spectrum would pay $30 million and an annual payment equal to 60 percent of the taxes that would be owed on the riverfront property if it was not tax-exempt. The annual payment a $24 million one-time payment will go to NOBC to fund the redevelopment of the public riverfront that surrounds the tower. The other $5 million will go to the World Trade Center organization, which will remain a tenant in the renovated building.