1 WTC to hit 50 stories by year’s end

One World Trade Center, which will be the tallest office tower in the United States when completed in 2013, has risen to 260 feet above street level and will rise 50 stories by the end of 2010. This is the latest construction milestone for the 1,776-foot-tall office building, which now stands at the 26th-floor level. Once complete, One World Trade Center will restore the prestigious skyline of Lower Manhattan with 2.9 million rentable square feet of Class A office space. The tower was designed by world-renowned architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The project is following Gold LEED standards, according to developers, and energy efficiency will run 20 percent higher than city codes require once construction is complete. The building’s 2.9 million-square-foot total size includes 60 feet, or four floors, of below-street-level space for water tanks, fuel storage, mechanical space, parking, retail and a lobby for observation deck elevators. TRD