Durst Organization needs new tenants for 1 WTC

Durst needs to meet 150,000-square-foot threshold or he could lose his share in the project

From left: Douglas Durst and 1 World Trade Center
From left: Douglas Durst and 1 World Trade Center

The Durst Organization is facing pressure at One World Trade Center.

Douglas Durst, who invested $100 million for a 10 percent stake in the project, has to find new tenants for the tower, or he’s running the risk of getting booted, the New York Post reported. According to board minutes from an August 2010 Port Authority meeting, the authority can buy back its $100 million share in the project if Durst doesn’t reach a “minimum threshold for lease-up.”

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The threshold is 150,000 square feet within the first year after the tower’s opening with tenants paying rent by the end of the year. Condé Nast is moving into the building in January. The roughly 1.5 million square feet that have been signed to the mass media company, but also to China Center and the federal GSA do not count toward this threshold.

The 3 million-square-foot tower is about 60 percent leased at the moment. Asking rents were reduced recently– the middle floors went down from $70s to $60s — due to weak demand. The recent office leases signed total about 50,000 square feet. [NYP] — Claire Moses