Possibly no new office tower has ever caused so much excitement and anxiety as 7 WTC, which is seen as a bellwether for Lower Manhattan.Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs will be breaking ground on their new headquarters building diagonally across from West Street and Ground Zero. People may wonder why the rents are so high at the new 7 WTC, but there's good reason to believe that the true costs to tenants will be much lower. Given local, state, and federal incentives, the price will probably be 30% less than the asking price. And the new building will have many amenities that make it preferable to buildings uptown or even across the street at the WFC.
Silverstein is putting the finishing touches on the 52-story tower to replace the bulkier original that fell on 9/11. David Childs designed a sleek parallelogram sheathed in translucent curtain-wall glass that looks blue in sunlight, thanks to hidden spandrels that reflect light onto floor-to-ceiling windows.
Inside, it's crammed with security features, state-of-the-art systems and a slick lobby where an installation by artist Jenny Holzer will convey I Love New York-type messages on electronic zippers.
Although it's always stood to reason that 7 WTC might take time to lease up in a slow market, the 1.6 million square feet it added to the downtown inventory has given market-watchers conniptions.
So has Silverstein's $50 "ask," compared with rents between $25 and $40 downtown.
But the newest other buildings nearby, such as the World Financial Center towers, are at least 20 years old. Only a tenant can determine whether 7 WTC's spanking newness justifies the price difference.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.
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