It was a tall order — but the Port Authority and its partner, the Durst Organization, have leased more than half of the new 102-story 1 World Trade Center.
Their quest for tenants got a boost over the past several weeks with the signing of three new lease agreements, said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Durst, which will run the building.
“It’s 56 percent leased. The building opens at the end of the year, so it’s progressing well,” he said.
The three new sign-ups are KiDS Creative, an ad agency; BMB Group, a London-based wealth-management company and Legends Hospitality, which is setting up headquarters in the building and in a separate deal will also run the 1,776-foot-high building’s observatory.
That brings to seven the number of tenants committed to leases in the 3-million-square-foot building.
Demand for space in the building had been tepid over the past several years, forcing Durst to drop the rents for floors below the 64th. Those floors started off at $75 per square foot monthly. Now they’re $69. But the higher floors command higher rents. Floors above 64 go for $80 to $100 per square foot.
Barowitz suggested that other deals are in the works, noting, “There is leasing activity I can’t talk about.”
The signature tenant is publishing giant Condé Nast, which agreed to lease approximately 1 million square feet, from the 20th floor through part of the 45th floors, in a 25-year deal expected to be worth $2 billion.
Another big tenant is the General Services Administration, a federal agency leasing the 50th through the 55th floors.
The building rests on a concrete base, designed to resist a terror attack. The base accommodates the lobby and 18 floors of space for mechanical equipment.
Also reserved for equipment are the 91st through 99th floors,
The PA proudly boasts that the observatory on the “the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere” will draw about 3.8 million visitors every year once the 120,000-square-foot facility opens early next year.