It turns out that Condé Nast’s rumored move to the World Trade Center is actually on track to happen. According to the Times, the magazine company “has signed a tentative deal” to abandon their posh offices in 4 Times Square and move down to 1 World Trade Center (formerly called the Freedom Tower) when it is completed in 2013. While the deal is far from being finalized, it’s great news for the tower, which for a time was struggling to land tenants and overcome nagging delays and safety concerns. Durst, Condé’s landlord at 4 Times Square, conveniently recently landed a deal to co-develop the ground zero spire with the Port Authority.
Here’s the text of the memo sent out to Condé employees today:
We have been evaluating real estate opportunities that would allow us to house all our brands in a single, state-of-the-art headquarters, as some of you may already know.
As part of that process, we are in active discussions regarding 1 World Trade Center, a development project underway with the Durst Organization (our 4 Times Square landlord) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
While a final decision is several months away — and a move itself unlikely before 2014 - we wanted to keep you apprised of the status of this project.
Let the thrilling battle for office space now begin! All money’s on Wintour.
Related: John Koblin examines the reasoning behind the potential move