City to take 14 floors at 4 World Trade Center

New York City is taking 582,000 square feet, or 14 floors, at Larry Silverstein’s 4 World Trade Center for an annual $56.50 per square foot, bringing the office tower to two-thirds leased, well in advance of its scheduled late 2013 completion date but setting the city up for a pricey 15 years. According to the Post, the city had offered to take the space in 2006, as part of a plan that was supposed to help move construction along, but Silverstein only made the 15-year deal official last month. (The developer was required to give 32 months’ notice if he wanted to exercise his option to have the city take the space). The rental rate is below the $61 per square foot Silverstein is asking at his 7 World Trade Center tower nearby, but well above the $35.07 per square foot the city is paying at 250 Broadway, for example, where the City Council is housed. “The city’s commitment to take space back in 2006 was one of the key steps that enabled development to move forward,” a spokesperson for Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the New York Times. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has also agreed to lease approximately one-third of the office space at 4 World Trade Center. [Post] and [NYT]