Merrill Lynch won’t be occupying the Freedom Tower or any other building that’s going to be at Ground Zero, according to new reports.  The financial giant has pulled out of talks that could have led to a lease-signing.

In one sense, this represents a major blow to the reconstruction effort.  Not a lot of private companies have expressed interest in becoming World Trade Center tenants, so having a big corporation like Merrill Lynch come aboard would have helped with image problems.  Merrill Lynch’s money would no doubt have been welcomed, as well.

There is a way of looking at the development that makes it appear quite positive, though.  Steve Cuozzo points out, “Merrill could have dragged out talks with Silverstein until the cows came home just to squeeze a better deal out of its current landlord, Brookfield Properties.  That might have prompted Silverstein to ask the PA for another deadline extension, which could have led to indefinite delay.”

And delays are bad, especially since established construction schedules already seem to have been abandoned.

One last thing to consider: there’s a possibility - though a very weak one - that Merrill Lynch will come back at some later date to ask for space at the WTC site.