Conde Nast, the publisher of Vogue and the New Yorker magazines, is reportedly in talks to lease space at One World Trade Center, which is under construction at Ground Zero.
An article today in the New York Daily News by Douglas Feiden said that insiders said that while no deal is imminent "serious meeting and discussions" have already taken place.
The publishing company currently occupied a major skyscraper, 4 Times Square, at the base of Times Square that was built by the Durst Organization. When the Durst Organization bid, unsuccessfully, on the development of the Hudson Yards on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's West Side Yards Conde Nast was reported to be one of its major tenants. The Durst Organization also recently bid unsuccessfully to take a "minority" ownership position at One World Trade Center, which used to be known as Freedom Tower and is being developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Daily News article said that the "magazine giant could take as much as 1 million square feet of space in the 1,776-foot tower under construction at the World Trade Center site," adding that "so far the $3.1 billion skyscraper has landed only one private-sector tenant, Vantone," a Chinese real estate company" and "Federal and state agencies have committed to taking 1.2 million square feet of space in the building."
"Conde Nast, which established Times Square as a hip and resurgent area when it moved into 4 Times Square in 1999, would be a whole different matter, bringing its particular cachet downtown," remarked Charles V. Bagli in an article in today's edition of The New York Times.
He quoted Elizabeth H. Berger, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, as stating that "it's the perfect place for them," adding that "The lunch crowd will be very well dressed. And where else can you go to Tiffany and Century 21 on your lunch hour?"
"Lower Manhattan is increasingly a place where progressive, interesting companies want to be," she added, not mentioning Goldman Sachs, which is putting the finishing touches on its new glass skyscraper in Battery Park City overlooking Ground Zero.
According to Mr. Bagli's article, Conde Nast is "not the only company considering the tower," adding that "Morgan Stanley and two other financial firms have inquired about" 1 World Trade Center, "according to real estate executives."
An article today in the New York Daily News by Douglas Feiden said that insiders said that while no deal is imminent "serious meeting and discussions" have already taken place.
The publishing company currently occupied a major skyscraper, 4 Times Square, at the base of Times Square that was built by the Durst Organization. When the Durst Organization bid, unsuccessfully, on the development of the Hudson Yards on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's West Side Yards Conde Nast was reported to be one of its major tenants. The Durst Organization also recently bid unsuccessfully to take a "minority" ownership position at One World Trade Center, which used to be known as Freedom Tower and is being developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Daily News article said that the "magazine giant could take as much as 1 million square feet of space in the 1,776-foot tower under construction at the World Trade Center site," adding that "so far the $3.1 billion skyscraper has landed only one private-sector tenant, Vantone," a Chinese real estate company" and "Federal and state agencies have committed to taking 1.2 million square feet of space in the building."
"Conde Nast, which established Times Square as a hip and resurgent area when it moved into 4 Times Square in 1999, would be a whole different matter, bringing its particular cachet downtown," remarked Charles V. Bagli in an article in today's edition of The New York Times.
He quoted Elizabeth H. Berger, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, as stating that "it's the perfect place for them," adding that "The lunch crowd will be very well dressed. And where else can you go to Tiffany and Century 21 on your lunch hour?"
"Lower Manhattan is increasingly a place where progressive, interesting companies want to be," she added, not mentioning Goldman Sachs, which is putting the finishing touches on its new glass skyscraper in Battery Park City overlooking Ground Zero.
According to Mr. Bagli's article, Conde Nast is "not the only company considering the tower," adding that "Morgan Stanley and two other financial firms have inquired about" 1 World Trade Center, "according to real estate executives."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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