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New York

Tourism expected to generate quarter of 1 WTC’s revenue

Long-view has sales at observation deck generating $53M a year

From left: One WTC and a rendering of One WTC's observatory
From left: One WTC and a rendering of One WTC's observatory

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Durst Organization — the owners of One World Trade Center — are betting on tourists to bring in a quarter of the building’s revenue by 2019.

The owners of the skyscraper, which cost $3.9 billion to construct, are hoping for a projected $53 million from tourists who will pay to visit the building’s observation deck, according to the Wall Street Journal. Roughly 3.5 million visitors per year are expected.

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The cost of visiting the observation deck has not yet been revealed by Legends Hospitality LLC, the developer of the observatory.

If the tower reaches a 95 percent occupancy rate by 2019, the projected annual operating income is expected to be $144 million, according to the paper.

Meanwhile, the bet on the observation deck might be a safe one as tourists have flocked to them at other skyscrapers over the years. At the Empire State Building, 40 percent of the building’s revenue comes from visitors. Last year, the observation deck there brought in $101 million. [WSJ] — Claire Moses