Nevertheless, C&W president Bruce E. Mosler, commenting on the prospect of any commercial center approaching the stature that Downtown has always enjoyed, leaves no doubt of the firm's commitment and confidence in the future of Lower Manhattan. "Downtown remains one the largest and most vibrant office markets in the country--post September 11--second only to midtown and Chicago in size. I don't believe that any other regional marketplaces are competitive."

Yet, if there are any upstarts looking to get a leg up on Downtown, they won't be found among neighbors such as New Jersey, Connecticut or even our own suburban enclaves. While those areas have absorbed some former WTC tenants, markets such as Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston and Houston should not be ignored as potential competition, the study says. While Wall Street is unlikely ever to meet its match in the financial arena, and in the end, most New York firms are here because they want to be here, C&W stresses that creative land-use solutions and quality development will be crucial factors in maintaining Downtown's status as the leading commercial office center.

The 12.5 million sf of class A office space destroyed when the World Trade Center towers fell is roughly equivalent to that of the entire central business districts of Atlanta or Miami, the study says. There were 39 tenants in the towers occupying more than 50,000 sf and 26 of those tenants had spaces of 100,000 sf or more.