UPDATED: April 12, 11:00 a.m.: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has paid more than $48 million to date for the former Condé Nast office space at 4 Times Square to remain vacant.
Condé Nast moved from Durst Organization’s 48-story office tower at 4 Times Square, where it had 840,000 square feet, to One World Trade Center in November 2014. The Port Authority has been forking over $3 million a month for more than a year.
The bi-state agency agreed to foot the bill for the lease at 4 Times Square in an effort to persuade Condé Nast to become the anchor tenant at One World Trade Center, where it has paid almost $100 million in rent.
As of late 2015, the agency spent $47.6 million on rent, Crain’s reported. The Port Authority will continue to pay the rent through 2019 — a total of $200 million — when the lease’s expire or if Durst finds a new tenant.
Durst and the Port Authority developed the tower, but it has not been easy to fill the 3.1 million-square-foot skyscraper. Media company Mic recently signed a lease for the entire 82nd floor, taking 36,000 square feet. A Durst spokesperson said about 2.1 million square feet has been leased at the tower.
The Port Authority has recently committed through its capital plan several big-ticket renovations and projects, including $10 billion slated for a new Midtown bus terminal, $20 billion for rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River, and at least $4 billion for the LaGuardia Airport overhaul. The agency’s chairperson John Degnan has suggested again recently that the authority sell its real estate holdings to fund transportation infrastructure projects. [Crain’s] — Dusica Sue Malesevic
Correction: A previous version of this post stated One World Trade Center is a 3.5 million-square-foot skyscraper; it is 3.1 million. The post was updated with how much square footage has been leased at the tower.