One World Trade Center
117 West Street | also 285 Fulton Street, 1 World Trade Center, 185 Greenwich Street | Financial District | built 2009
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1974
The U.S. Customs Service moves into 6 World Trade Center, which stood on this site
Where One World Trade Center now stands was once 6 World Trade Center, an eight-story, 93-foot building completed in 1973 and opened in January 1974, with about 537,000 square feet of floor space. It housed the U.S. Customs Service for New York State from 1974 to 2001. When the North Tower collapsed on September 11, 2001, it destroyed large sections of 6 WTC, and the ruins were later demolished to make way for rebuilding.
“6 World Trade Center was home to the U.S. Customs Service for the state of New York, from 1974 to 2001.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2001
The original North Tower is destroyed in the September 11 attacks
The original 1,368-foot North Tower, designed by Minoru Yamasaki and completed in 1971, was struck by hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001. It burned for 102 minutes before collapsing, part of a coordinated attack that killed 2,996 people that day, including 2,507 civilians.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2003
Daniel Libeskind wins the competition to redesign the site
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's 2002 competition to replan the World Trade Center site selected Daniel Libeskind's master plan in February 2003. Disputes with developer Larry Silverstein followed, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's David Childs took over as lead architect of the tower itself.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2004
Officials lay a symbolic cornerstone for the Freedom Tower
A symbolic cornerstone for the tower, then called the Freedom Tower, was laid on Independence Day 2004, although full construction did not begin until April 27, 2006. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officially renamed the project One World Trade Center in 2009, saying that name was the easiest for people to identify with. David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill led the design.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2005
The final tower design adds a 187-foot concrete base after police security concerns
The final design for the Freedom Tower was unveiled on June 28, 2005. That April a 187-foot concrete base had been added to answer NYPD worries about the amount of glass and the tower's closeness to the West Side Highway. Designers meant to clad the base in prismatic glass so it would not look like a bunker, but testing showed the prisms shattered into dangerous shards, and the idea was dropped in 2011 in favor of stainless steel panels and blast-resistant glass.
“To address security issues raised by the NYPD, a 187-foot (57 m) concrete base was added to the design in April of that year.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2006
Members of the public sign the first steel beam before it is welded to the base
After developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority settled their last disputes on April 26, 2006, the cornerstone laid in 2004 was moved off the site and blasting began to clear bedrock. On December 18 the public was invited to sign a 30-foot steel beam at a ceremony in nearby Battery Park City. The beam was welded onto the building's base the next day, December 19, 2006, as foundation and steel work got under way.
“…members of the public were invited to sign the first 30-foot (9.1 m) steel beam installed onto the building's base. It was welded onto the building's base on December 19, 2006.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2009
The Port Authority renames the tower One World Trade Center
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had called its planned skyscraper the Freedom Tower since the design process began. On March 26, 2009, the agency confirmed it would use the formal name One World Trade Center instead, saying a traditional street address would make the building easier to lease.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2012
A steel beam signed by President Obama is installed among the tower's final steel
On June 14, 2012, President Barack Obama visited the World Trade Center site and wrote in red marker on a steel beam, "We remember. We rebuild. We come back stronger!" First Lady Michelle Obama, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Michael Bloomberg also signed it. On August 2 the White House reported that the beam had been installed in One World Trade Center as one of the final beams added to the 104-story building.
“…the beam signed by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during their visit to the World Trade Center site on June 14th was installed in One World Trade Center…”
Source: obamawhitehouse.archives.gov
- 2013
Three BASE jumpers parachute from the unfinished tower at 3 a.m.
At 3 a.m. on September 30, 2013, three men entered One World Trade Center, climbed the stairs, 104 flights in all, to the communication ring at the top of the tower and parachuted off the building one by one. A video of the jump on YouTube raised questions about security at the unfinished skyscraper. James Brady, Marko Markovich and Andrew Rossig were arrested in March 2014 after a joint investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office, the NYPD and Port Authority police.
Source: nbcnewyork.com
- 2013
The tall-buildings council rules the spire counts, making the tower the nation's tallest
On November 12, 2013, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ruled that the tower's 408-foot spire is a permanent architectural feature rather than a mere antenna, so it counts toward height. That made One World Trade Center 1,776 feet tall, topping Chicago's Willis Tower at 1,450 feet, which has 110 stories to One WTC's 104. Council chairman Timothy Johnson said the group was certain of the 1,776-foot figure.
Source: dnainfo.com
- 2013
The final spire section brings the tower to 1,776 feet
After the steel structure topped out in August 2012, workers completed the spire on May 10, 2013, bringing the tower to a symbolic 1,776 feet, a reference to the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. That made it the tallest building in the United States. The observation deck sits at 1,268 feet.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2014
One World Trade Center opens with Condé Nast as its anchor tenant
Thirteen years after the September 11 attacks destroyed the original twin towers, One World Trade Center opened for business on November 3, 2014, with the publisher Condé Nast as its anchor tenant. The One World Observatory near the top opened to the public on May 29, 2015.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2015
The BASE jumpers are cleared of burglary, and two avoid jail for lesser charges
In early June 2015 the three men who had jumped from the tower were acquitted of felony burglary, the most serious charge. Brady and Rossig were convicted of reckless endangerment, BASE jumping and other charges, and in August they received conditional discharges with $2,000 fines and community service of 250 and 200 hours, with no jail time. Markovich was due to be sentenced on August 17.
Source: nbcnewyork.com
- 2021
Condé Nast's parent withholds rent, and the company later agrees to pay almost $10 million
By August 2020 Condé Nast had signaled that it wanted to leave One World Trade Center. In January 2021 its parent, Advance Publications, began withholding rent, and the company filed plans to shrink the space it leased. After a long standoff, Condé Nast settled in late 2021 by agreeing to pay nearly $10 million in back rent. In December 2021 a state development agency announced a $700 million bond issue to refinance the tower, and by March 2022 the building was 95 percent leased.
“Condé Nast agreed in late 2021 to pay almost $10 million in back rent.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- One World Trade CenterWikipedia
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