WeWork in talks for space at NYC’s 1 World Trade Centre
TORONTO: WeWork Cos is in talks to lease space at 1 World Trade Centre, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions.
The move puts the co-working giant on a path to become Manhattan’s largest office tenant.
The company is negotiating to take about 18,600 sq m in the lower Manhattan skyscraper, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
If the deal goes through, WeWork would surpass JPMorgan Chase & Co as the company with the largest amount of office space in Manhattan.
Brokerage Cushman & Wakefield puts the co-working company now at No. 2, with 5.14 million square feet of offices, compared with the bank’s 5.2 million sqe ft.
The building, which opened in 2014, is the tallestofficetowerintheWesternHemisphere. A spokesman for its developer, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, declined to comment.
Representatives for WeWork and the Durst Organization, which manages, operates and leases the property, also declined to comment.
WeWork’s co-working business has grown rapidly around the world in the past eight years as the company packs more and more tenants into its rental office locations.
That has helped drive WeWork’s revenue up 110% in the first quarter from a year earlier to US$342mil, and with hefty investments from SoftBank Group Corp, WeWork also has the cash it needs to fuel its expansion.
An executive at SoftBank said in June that WeWork is seeking to raise funds at a US$35bil valuation.
The office-sharing company had about 200 locations in the US at the end of the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Crain’s New York Business reported earlier Wednesday that WeWork was close to finalising a large lease at 1 World Trade Centre. — Bloomberg