It’s hard to imagine how the Port Authority could play this off, but new reports indicate it’s interested in selling at least a partial stake in the Freedom Tower.  Control of the entire building might be in the balance, as well.

Here’s one piece of information that should make onlookers breathe easier: the change of a few names on pieces of paper isn’t supposed to affect construction.  The design will definitely stay the same, and timetables should remain intact.

Yet “the PA is open to structure a deal in a variety of ways, which includes the transfer of a long-term lease (the Port Authority owns the land), finding a financial partner such as Blackstone Group LP or Fortress Investment Group LLC, or a combination of both,” according to an article on TheDeal.com.

Dates and prices relating to a development aren’t available; official confirmations and even completely reliable rumors are still lacking.  But given the other projects on the Port Authority’s plate, the difficulty it’s had in finding companies to inhabit the Freedom Tower, and the general state of the American economy, the idea of a sale isn’t impossible to believe.

The Port Authority’s PR people are not in an envious position right now.