The advertising and media company GroupM is in talks to lease a large space at 3 World Trade Center. Sources tell the New York Observer that the prospective lease inside Silverstein Properties’ Richard Rodgers-designed, 2.8 million square-foot tower would be for about 550,000 square feet — large enough for the developer to qualify for $600 million in public benefits.
Silverstein can only be eligible for city, state and Port Authority funding once a 400,000 lease deal is struck for space within the tower. UBS and Morgan Stanley both considered large leases in 3 World Trade Center, but financial sector downsizing scuttled the deals.
The concrete base of the tower and its underground portions have already been built as they are necessary for the 16-acre underground retail and pedestrian spaces below the World Trade Center towers, as well as the Santiago Calatrava-designed PATH hub.
GroupM is currently housed at 498 Seventh Avenue and has other locations in Midtown; the move would allow the company to consolidate its offices. [NYO] — Jane C. Timm