The rebuilding of ground zero is the most architecturally, politically, and emotionally complex urban renewal project in American history. From the beginning, the effort has been fraught with controversy, delays and politics.  The struggle has encompassed ten years, nineteen government agencies, a dozen projects, and over $20 billion.

16 ACRES is the inside story of the last ten years at the site, told by the key players who have shaped it. At the heart of the narrative is the dramatic tension between noblest intentions and the politics, hubris, and ideology that is the bedrock of New York. "We wanted an answer to the question: what's the real story behind why it's taken so long to rebuild?" says writer/co-producer Matt Kapp. "To our surprise, no other documentaries had attempted to answer that question." Few Americans, even New Yorkers, know much about what has really gone on behind the scenes.

As with all great urban projects, from the Pyramids to Rome’s Coliseum to Rockefeller Center, a small group of powerful people will dictate the outcome. Who are they and what motivates them? "Our core creative approach was to tell the story fundamentally as a first-person narrative – without any narration – told by the key players themselves," says director/editor Richard Hankin. "Many of them are true New York characters, and in many ways it's a quintessentially New York story."