Leaseholder Larry Silverstein had sued the Swiss Reinsurance Co, or Swiss Re, contending the coordinated crashes should be considered two events, which would have allowed him to collect the maximum catastrophic insurance of $3.5 billion twice -- for a total of $7 billion.

The Swiss Re verdict and the partial decision last week concerning 11 other insurers points toward a maximum payout of about $4.7 billion for the buildings' disintegration Sept. 11, 2001, CNN reported Tuesday.

The developer wants to use the money to rebuild up to 10 million square feet of commercial space -- equal to how much space was lost in the attacks.

The government agency overseeing rebuilding at the trade center site, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., has chosen Silverstein to develop Freedom Tower, a 2 million-square-foot, 1,776-foot-tall skyscraper that will be the world's tallest when completed in 2009.