World Financial Center celebrates tenants' return

Real Estate Weekly,  May 22, 2002  by Parke Chapman

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In an encouraging trend Downtown, firms are returning to the World Financial Center after an eight-month hiatus prompted by last fall's terrorist attacks.

The news comes at a needed time for lower Manhattan, where a high inventory of sublease space is available. Like the area at large, one third of the World Financial Center's space is on the sublease market, according to Cushman & Wakefield. With ferry service to and from the complex expanding, however, the convenience of working here is becoming a selling point for potential tenants, along with current ones.

Last week, American Express re-inhabited its corporate headquarters within 3 World Financial Center, welcoming 4,000 employees back into the space. American Express has occupied this space for the past. 15 years. The building's facade and the Winter Garden were damaged by the collapse of the Trade Center.

American Express had divided its staff between seven temporary locations throughout the region.

"Downtown New York has been our company's home since it's founding in 1850. We are not simply coming back--we are truly coming home," said American Express chairman and chief executive officer Kenneth Chenault.

In marking the event, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chenault--who were joined by Governor George Pataki--announced a series of cultural events designed to lure thousands of people to lower Manhattan this summer.

The $7.6 million festival will include some 500 events and 300 artists. The Downtown NYC River to River Festival 2002, as it will be known, will last five months, with free concerts by headline performers such as Sheryl Crow and Wynton Marsalis. Several organizations have joined forces on the event, among them the Downtown Alliance, Battery Park City parks Conservancy, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, South Street Seaport Marketplace and the World Financial Center.

"After 9/11, we worked closely with American Express to ensure that they were one of the first major companies to pledge their return to lower Manhattan and today I welcome the American Express family back to the World Financial Center," said Bloomberg.

American Express owns 3 World Financial Center--the other three buildings are held by Brookfield Financial Properties. The 51-story building encompasses 2.2 million SF, with Amex occupying over one million SF of space on 26 floors. 3 World Financial Center's other major tenant, Lehman Brothers, chose last fall to purchase a new headquarters in midtown rather than return to their 3 WFC space.

On March 28, Merrill Lynch officially returned many of its Downtown staff to office space within 2 World Financial Center. The firm expects to have all 8,500 staff back in the building by the end of this spring.

As of March 28, 2 World Financial Center was 30% occupied.

Commerzbank AG--a large German bank--also returned to their headquarters at 2 World Financial Center. A total of 300 Commerzbank staff now occupies the space. The bank had been operating out of contingency space in upstate New York since last fall's terrorist attacks.

The World Financial Center encompasses 7.6 million SF of office space. According to Cushman & Wakefield, 2.4 million SF--or 31.7%--of that total is vacant.

Now that people are returning to the World Financial Center, the transportation issue invariably comes up. New York Waterway has expanded commuter ferry service between the World Financial Center and other points along both the east and Hudson Rivers.

According to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the expansion of ferry service involves two new services and the expansion of an existing one.

A free water shuttle will transport commuters between the World Financial Center on the Hudson River and Pier 11 on the East River. The service will operate every 15 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours with service during mid-day and late-night hours.

There will be a new route between the Hoboken Rail Terminal and Pier 11 on the East River. The service will operate every six minutes during the morning and evening rush hours, and every 20 to 30 minutes during off-peak periods, Monday through Friday.

Service from the Hoboken Rail Terminal to the World Financial Center will be increased from every 30 minutes to every six minutes during the morning and evening rush hours, Monday through Friday.

The ferry shuttle and Hoboken service also will operate every 20 minutes during off-peak periods until midnight, and between 10 a.m. and 9:50 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Service from the Hoboken Rail Terminal to Pier A will continue to operate every 6 minutes during the morning and evening rush hours, Monday through Friday. More complete schedule information is available at (800) 53-FERRY. Aside from the free water shuttle, the cost of the ferry service will be $3 each way or $80 for a monthly pass, which works out to approximately $2 per trip.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Hagedorn Publication
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