Who owns the property? What was on the proposed property before 9/11?
An eight-member investment group, led by a company called Soho Properties, which is managed by a Muslim named Sharif El-Gamal and his partner, Nour Mousa, who is the nephew of Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League. Two of the other investors are the Cordoba Initiative, a non-profit organization, and American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), also a non-profit organization, both of which were founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
Previously, the property was owned by a man named Stephen Pomerantz and his wife Kukiko Mitani, who leased the building out to the Burlington Coat Factory. After 9/11, Burlington did not reopen and the building was unoccupied until its purchase in September, 2009 by the investment group. Since its purchase the building has been used as overflow prayer space for as many as 450 Muslims.
The property is actually two adjoining properties, 45-47 Park Place, which the Soho Investment group owns, and 49-51 Park Place, which is owned by Con Edison (the US equivalent of a hydro company.
) Soho Properties paid an additional $700,000 to assume a $33,000-a-year lease with Con Ed, for its adjacent attached former sub-station next door at the 49-51 address.
The two buildings are connected internally, with common walls having been taken down. The plan is to build the facility on the site of the two buildings. The lease for 49–51 Park Place expires in 2071. Soho Properties' El-Gamal informed Con Ed in February that he wanted to exercise his purchase option on the lease. Con Ed is now conducting an appraisal to determine the property's value, and once the property has been valued, El-Gamal will have the option of accepting the price, or continuing with the lease option with Con Edison.
The "Ground Zero Mosque" will be called "Park51" which is to be the community center, while "Cordoba House" is the
"interfaith and religious component of the center".
Is the mosque which is located 4 blocks away and damaged in the 9/11 attack still a mosque or will this new one they want to build 2 blocks away replace that one?
The one that is four blocks away, Masjid Manhattan (masjid is Arabic for mosque), will almost certainly not be replaced by this new Mosque. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has been leading prayers at the new 45-47 Park Place location since September, in addition to his duties as Imam at Masjid al-Farah, which is 12 blocks from Ground Zero. Both mosques are essential one-room operations and routinely turn people away due to lack of space.
Masjid Manhattan (4 blocks) is known to be a more conservative (but not extremist) mosque, and has been there living in peace in Lower Manhattan for more than 40 years, since before the Twin Towers were even built. It also had two prayer rooms in the Twin Towers and lost many of its members in the attack, including one of its Imams. Masjid al-Farah (12 blocks away, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's mosque) is known to be more moderate, and has also gotten along and played well with others for many years.
Here's an excellent 360° interactive panorama of the proposed site 2 blocks away, the current site 4 blocks away, and the views from Ground Zero.
