By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Conde Nast's interest in moving to the World Trade Center shows that downtown will defy the doomsday predictions regarding neighborhood real estate, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Friday.
Silver said he disagreed with those who predict lower Manhattan faces a glut of office space when the new towers open at Ground Zero. Rather, they will provide the modern, eco-friendly square footage New York needs to attract and retain top employers.
“Rumors of downtown’s woes are indeed wrong,” Silver told government and industry leaders at a Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association breakfast Friday morning. “We are not building for today. We are building for the economy we want years down the road.”
Silver hailed Conde Nast’s recent interest in One World Trade Center as a sign that the new WTC towers will see plenty of demand. Conde Nast may lease up to a million square feet in One WTC, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, the New York Times reported. It would be the first major private lease in the 1,776-foot skyscraper.
“I’m sure this is the first of many similar discussions,” Silver said.
Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, told DNAinfo that Conde Nast's downtown move would be “groundbreaking,” as was their previous move to Times Square 10 years ago.
For now, though, the Financial District’s office market is still struggling, reaching 10 percent vacancy last quarter.
Silver started his speech Friday morning by referencing his last DLMA breakfast, almost exactly a year ago. Back then, Silver had harsh words for Ward and World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, who were deadlocked then over how to pay for rebuilding the site.
Silver said he was pleased Ward and Silverstein recently reached a preliminary deal that balances public investment with private risk.
