NEW YORK | One World Trade Center | 1,776' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Duffstuff129

There will be plenty of vacant, old space, but the new towers will have glass curtain walls and tons of natural light. That is the kind of environment people want to work in.

There will probably be plenty of old space

Older office space - space that can't be refurbished into Class A (for various reasons) - is being phased out (residential conversions). There will be a demand for the new WTC space for the same reason there will always be new office construction in the city - the vast majority of the stock is aged and aging. Even office space that is relatively new now, won't be 5 to 10 years down the line for companies looking for the best Manhattan has to offer. Cost is always a factor (as is the line between Midtown and Downtown commercial space). This new WTC space will come at a bargain compared to new Midown space that will come online at the same time. Still, there are those who would prefer to stay in (or move to) Midtown, regardless of the cost. But Downtown will always have its market, even as the older buildings are phased out.

[NYguy]

TwoBrowns Photo File

[NYguy]

Update from morrongiello shows more progress on the Fulton Street connection...

[NYguy]

Another example of a Downtown company possibly moving out, which new WTC space (and its incentives) could avert...
http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/depository-trust-seeks-700k-square-feet

Depository Trust Seeks 700K Square Feet

By Dana Rubinstein
March 24, 2009

The stultifyingly named Depository Trust is one of the latest tenants to tantalize the Manhattan real estate market.

The Trust is, essentially, the financial industry’s bookkeeper, founded in response to something actually called “the Paperwork Crisis” of the ’60s and ’70s, during which brokerages were forced to close their doors on Wednesdays to properly organize the millions of stock exchange notes creating crushing towers of paper on their desks...

Now, the Trust is looking for 700,000 square feet, since its lease is up in 2012, according to sources. The office hunt is a cost-cutting measure, according to one well-placed source, who estimated the firm now pays about $50 a square foot. Meanwhile, the Trust has become quite the belle of the real estate market ball. Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that New Jersey is trying to lure the Trust across the river with a 10-year, $74.6 million incentive.

Right now, the Trust is headquartered at the starkly imposing 55 Water Street, the enormous 3.6 million–square–foot tower designed by Emory Roth & Sons, and now owned by the New Water Street Corp.

[NYguy]

http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/freedom-rings-first-lease-world-trade-center-site

Freedom Rings Up! First Lease at World Trade Center Site

By Eliot Brown
March 24, 2009


The first office lease in the rebuilt World Trade Center is expected to be signed on Thursday, according to officials and others familiar with plans, as the China-based Beijing Vantone Real Estate Company has completed negotiations to take about 190,000 square feet of space in the Freedom Tower.

The Port Authority, which is developing the Freedom Tower, is slated to approve the deal at its Thursday board meeting, allowing the lease to be signed, those familiar with discussions said. Vantone, which signed a letter of intent to take space with the Port Authority in June, plans to create something of a portal for Chinese and American companies doing business with each other—dubbed “China Center”—in the 102-story tower that is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Should the lease indeed be signed, it would put an end to years of flirtations with Lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center by Vantone. The firm has nearly had deals at two other downtown locations, Larry Silverstein’s 7 World Trade Center and L&L’s 195 Broadway, both of which fell apart late in the negotiating process.

The deal is for five full floors of the tower and the terms of the deal are said to be similar to what was outlined in June. Those terms called for an approximately 23-year lease with rents that start at around $80 a square foot.

In January, the Port Authority transferred rent incentives once intended for a JPMorgan Chase tower downtown to the Freedom Tower, perhaps a sign that Vantone will benefit from the subsidies, valued at $5 a square foot. The Partnership for New York City has also committed money for the project.

A spokesman for the Port Authority, Stephen Sigmund, said in a statement that the agency is “continuing to work to turn the term sheet into the first signed lease for a private tenant in the building.”

Brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle, led by Peter Riguardi, represents Vantone and advises the Port Authority.

Between the federal, city and state governments, more than 2.3 million square feet has been committed at the four-tower World Trade Center complex, though leases have not yet been signed. That leaves more than 7 million square feet completely unaccounted for, including two entire planned buildings, Mr. Silverstein’s Towers 2 and 3, with no prospective tenants. Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority are in discussions on how to adjust his lease and allow for him to build some of his towers amid the recession.

[QuarterMileSidewalk]

^Excellent news!

[NYguy]

mbahamonde

[NYguy]

lianebyrnes

[meh_cd]

If Tower One ends up looking just a little like Tower Seven I'll be happy. Just look at that glass. I know Tower One won't be using the same facade system that Seven has, but I hope it'll be similar.

[Yume-sama]

I have to admit to chuckling at the fact a Chinese owned company is the first major tenant in a new iconic American building named the "Freedom Tower".

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

I have to admit to chuckling at the fact a Chinese owned company is the first major tenant in a new iconic American building named the "Freedom Tower".

They were initially going to moving into 7 WTC, but had disagreements with Larry Silverstein. But they chose the WTC for a reason, the main one being that it's an international symbol. It's exactly the type of company that should be there, but it doesn't really matter who fills out the space, so long as it gets filled.

[NYguy]

chris.stoeger

[Eigenwelt]

I'm a fan of spires and I still think this is the worst spire I have ever seen.

[Stu]

^You Have to wait till it's done to say that.

So that Chinese company is moving in? Good news. I remember reading them being a potential WTC tenant a few years ago here. Or am I crazy?

[NYguy]

http://panynj.com/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=1215

PORT AUTHORITY TO SIGN FIRST LEASE FOR ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER (THE FREEDOM TOWER)

March 26, 2009

Representatives of the Port Authority and Beijing Vantone Industry Co., Ltd., are expected to sign the first lease for One World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower) following the Board's monthly meeting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 26.

The Board meeting and lease signing will be done on the 15th floor of Port Authority headquarters at 225 Park Avenue South in Manhattan. Media wishing to attend should bring proper media credentials.

[NYguy]

http://panynj.com/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=1216

PORT AUTHORITY AND VANTONE INDUSTRIAL SIGN FIRST LEASE FOR ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER (THE FREEDOM TOWER)
The China Center Will Occupy Nearly 200,000 Square Feet in New York’s Tallest Skyscraper to Encourage and Facilitate Business Between Two Global Finanical Centers

March 26, 2009

Representatives of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and Vantone Industrial Co., Ltd., today signed a lease that will create the China Center, a unique 190,810-square-foot business and cultural facility, to be located on portions of the 64th floor and the entire 65th through 69th floors of One World Trade Center (the Freedom Tower).

Immediately following the lease signing, China Center provided the Port Authority with a $10 million letter of credit.

The lease is for 20 years and nine months, commencing when the building is completed in late 2013. Rents will start at $80 per square foot and escalate in subsequent years. China Center also will have the right to lease up to two additional contiguous floors under the same lease terms, an option that expires at the end of 2009.

...The Port Authority also has commitments for more than a million square feet of leased office space in One World Trade Center from the U.S. General Services Administration and the New York State Office of General Services. Leases for these two public agencies are being finalized. These commitments, coupled with the China Center lease, represent nearly 50 percent of the total office space in the building.

...Key components of the China Center will include an Executive Business Club offering membership opportunities and extensive benefits; a conference center providing flexible, high-tech exhibition and conference facilities for corporate meetings and events; and first-class office space offering a variety of flexible layouts and options designed to enhance business operations and networking opportunities for a variety of small to mid-sized Chinese businesses.

[NYguy]

http://downtownexpress.com/



Downtown Express photo by Lorenzo Ciniglio

[CHAPINM1]

You see, slowely but surely the towers will fill up! Also, great to see more of an inside look of the future WTC! As the saying goes "if you build it they will come."

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

to see more of an inside look of the future WTC!

I don't think those are actual renderings, but it gives an idea...

[NYguy]

http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/so-much-freedom-tower

So Much for the 'Freedom Tower'



March 26, 2009

...on Thursday, March 26—the same day that the Port Authority signed the first lease for the building—officials acknowledged that the name has been dropped, at least by the agency.

“As we market the building, we will ensure that the building is presented in the best possible way,” Tony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority’s board, told reporters after the lease signing ceremony. “1 World Trade Center is its address. It’s the address that we’re using. It’s the one that’s easiest for people to identify with, and frankly, we’ve gotten a very interested and warm reception to it.”

The agency's executive director, Chris Ward, suggested that if Freedom Tower remains as the name, it will be a "popular" name, not one of the owners.

"There are a lot of buildings that have popular names," he said. "If the Freedom Tower is the popular name as people think about this, that will be the choice of the people and how they think of downtown. On the other hand, this is a piece of real estate. It has an address. Legally, it is 1 World Trade Center."

At the press conference, reporters wondered what had become of Pataki’s name.

.....This all does not come as welcome news to Mr. Pataki. In a statement, he attacked the decision to drop the name, saying that 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center should be retired as addresses.

"The Freedom Tower is not simply another piece of real estate and not just a name for marketing purposes,” he said in the statement. “In design and name it is symbolic of our commitment to rise above the attacks of September 11th. Where One and Two World Trade Center once stood there will be a memorial with two voids to honor the heroes we lost, in my view those addresses should never be used again."