Chinese courted as WTC tenants

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The quest for tenants to fill office space at the World Trade Center site’s signature skyscraper has gone global — all the way to China.

A Chinese real-estate company is the first — and only business — to ink a lease at 1 World Trade Center, the iconic 1,776-foot tower under construction at ground zero. The building, with its height, state-of-the-art technology and international symbolism, has generated “tremendous interest” among Chinese companies seeking to move overseas, developer Douglas Durst told The Associated Press on Thursday.

“It’s going to be the tallest building in the city,” he said. “Everybody is going to know where they are when they say they’re in the World Trade Center.”

Durst, a $100 million stakeholder in the project and the developer responsible for leasing it, is traveling to Shang Zhi, China, this weekend to meet with business leaders. During a recent trip to China, executives were intrigued by the building, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, he said.

1 World Trade Center is set to open in 2013; more than 50 stories of the 104-story tower have been built. It is one of five towers once planned for the site, along with a Sept. 11 memorial, transit hub and performing-arts center.

Vantone Industrial of Beijing finalized a lease in 2009 for about 200,000 square feet, out of about 3 million square feet of office space. Conde Nast tentatively has agreed to anchor several floors of its media empire in the tower, but the lease isn’t finalized. Federal and state agencies also have agreed to lease office space. But Durst is seeking worldwide interest in a symbolic skyscraper with a name that was always internationally known.

“It’s a very well-known building in China,” said Ya Xue, president of the China Center, an organization started by Vantone that acts as a resource for Chinese companies coming to the United States. “The people in China, they recognize the landmark building.”