The jury is still out on whether developr Larry Silverstein will be able to attract tenants to 7 World Trader Center, but he's got a new "major" tenant: Moody's Investors Service, which will take 15 floors (7WTC is 52 floors) - a total of 600,000 square feet. The NY Times is quick to point out that though Silverstein "held out for a premium rent downtown," a few factors worked in his favor: 1) Rising Midtown rents; 2) A Lack of "large blocks of space"; 3) Rents downtown are 30% less than Midtown; 4) City and state tax incentives for renting downtown. 7 World Trade Center is a beautiful building, but we can see why some firms are wary about renting there - there will be construction there for the next 6 years and commuting is not the smoothest.
7 World Trade Center officially opened last month. And Silverstein has rented out six and a half floors so far; the price per square foot ranges from $50-60.
