Swiss insurance giant Zurich’s U.S. subsidiary is in negotiations to take roughly 70,000 square feet of office space at Silverstein Properties’ 4 World Trade Center.
Zurich North America would leave its current Manhattan office at Brookfield Property Partners’ 1 Liberty Plaza, where it has nearly 170,000 square feet, and downsize by around 100,000 square feet at nearby 4 World Trade Center.
The insurer’s lease at 1 Liberty Plaza is due to expire in May 2017, a Zurich spokesperson told Crain’s, and it would consolidate its operations there into a smaller space at the World Trade Center while relocating the rest of its staff to New Jersey – having already checked out the Harborside waterfront office complex in Jersey City as a possible location.
The Zurich spokesperson said the company is evaluating factors “including business needs and operating costs,” but remains “committed to staying in the New York metro area.”
The 72-story, 2.3 million-square-foot 4 World Trade Center[TRData] is anchored by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has its 650,000-square-foot headquarters at the office tower, while the city of New York also occupies roughly 600,000 square feet at the property.
Private sector tenants at 4 World Trade Center include software company MediaMath, which agreed to take 106,000 square feet in 2014, and sports cable network SNY, which has 83,000 square feet. Celebrity chef Mario Batali is also set to open his 40,000-square-foot Eataly food market at the property.
According to Crain’s, high-frequency trading firm Hudson River Trading also looked at the building recently, with a move from its Downtown office at 32 Old Slip possibly in the cards. [Crain’s] – Rey Mashayekhi