GroupM has signed a 20-year office lease in 3 World Trade Center that will entail 516,000 square feet in the tower, scheduled to open in 2017. The WPP-owned media agency group, which includes Mindshare, MEC, MediaCom and Maxus, will occupy nine floors in the 80-story skyscraper (which shouldn't be confused with 1 World Trade Center—formerly called the Freedom Tower).
Other media-based firms that plan to rent space in the new WTC buildings include Condé Nast, BMI, Omnicom, Moody's, WilmerHale, and Fast Company and Inc. magazines. Five million square feet have been leased in the towers, per Silverstein Properties, the realty giant negotiating the multiple WTC spaces.
At the same time, GroupM is the first to sign a lease for 3 WTC in particular, which is under construction at 175 Greenwich Street on the western side of Manhattan's Financial District. The agency will consolidate its 2,400 employees from several Midtown locations to the building. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
"GroupM is looking forward to becoming part of one of the most vibrant and important neighborhoods in New York City," said Kelly Clark, CEO of GroupM North America.
The 3 WTC building, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbor + Partners, is billed as high-tech and green-friendly. What's more, it should afford convenient commuting for GroupM staffers—there are 11 nearby subway lines to reach New York City's boroughs, as well as the Path train for New Jersey dwellers.
When the WTC locations do open, the development will come as something of a relief to New Yorkers and other Americans. It's been 12 years since the original buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.