Jesse Server is associate editor for Real Estate New York
NEW YORK CITY-Moody's Investor Services, which currently leases 340,000 sf on 11 floors at 99 Church St., is on the move. But where exactly the ratings agency will land is yet to be decided. One of those options is the much-touted, newly opened, still largely vacant 7 World Trade Center. The 1.7-million-sf asset, the first building to be rebuilt at Ground Zero, opened its doors last week less than 20% leased.
A spokesperson for Moody's confirms that the firm is currently looking for space, "and 7 World Trade Center is one of the options. But we haven't made any decisions."
As of the opening last week, building developer Silverstein Properties was the only permanent tenant in 7 WTC. Ameriprise Financial and the New York Academy of Sciences are currently fitting out their spaces and will move in by the fall. Chinese firm Beijing Vantone, which entered into a preliminary agreement to take five floors for a Chinese trade center in January, is expected to sign a lease soon and immediately begin fitting out its floors, said a Silverstein spokesman.
"It has always been my policy not to discuss negotiations and transactions until they are complete," Larry Silverstein says. "But I can tell you that there is a strong level of interest in 7 World Trade Center from a wide range of users, some with major space needs. "By and large, by this time next year, all the space will be accounted for," he added. "That's about how long it took us at the original 7 World Trade Center."
That prediction was echoed a week ago during CB Richard Ellis' New York City Market Forecast breakfast when John Powers, chairman of CB Richard Ellis' Tri-State region, pointed his bat in the air and said that by this time next year, 7WTC "will be mostly leased."
CBRE, which is handling the leasing for Silverstein, offered no comment. Neither did Cushman & Wakefield, which is handling the Moody's move.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
