The Durst Org. leases 34,775 s/f to KiDS on 87th floor at One WTC

The Durst Org. has signed KiDS Creative, LLC to a 15-year, 34,775 s/f, full-floor lease on the 87th floor of One World Trade Center. Headed by founder and chief creative director Pascal Dangin, KiDS is an ad agency “driven by fearless creativity with a distinctive strategic approach.” Counting some of the world’s most influential brands on its roster, from Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Alexander Wang, to Lancôme and RCA, KiDS offers a full range of advertising and brand strategy services. The floor will also occupy the photography and film departments of Dangin’s world-renowned post-production house, Box, including a state-of-the-art theatre for private screenings.   “KiDS and One World Trade Center make a perfect match,” said Eric Engelhardt, director of One World Trade Center leasing at The Durst Org. “KiDS is destined to a bright future at the top of One World Trade Center, the world’s most prestigious business address. “KiDS’ 87th-floor setting will be a highly coveted work environment that combines unmatched views with highly flexible and adaptive space,” he said.  “The agency’s tower floor tenancy serves as an ideal complement to Condé Nast.  We expect to sign more leases with companies in the creative, media and tech world.” “Today’s lease announcement is further proof that One World Trade Center will continue to attract world-class tenants and serve as a center for jobs and commerce in our region,” said Port Authority of NY & NJ director of World Trade Center Redevelopment Erik Horvat. “KiDS is about keeping an open mind, breaking free from the past to create something new and exciting, and that’s exactly what One World Trade Center represents,” said Dangin.   “Pascal Dangin instantly recognized the value of 360-degree views witnessed through floor-to-ceiling glass,” said Tara Stacom, executive vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield.  “He knew this extraordinary light would elevate his team’s creative spirit and productivity. KiDS focused exclusively on the 87th floor, among the world’s highest office spaces.  “Mr. Dangin also recognized that this internationally recognized business address enhances KiDS’ own brand before global customers,” she said.  “KiDS and Condé Nast form a critical mass of media and creative energy, and are ideally suited for Downtown’s vibrant, 24/7 community.” With the closing of this tower floor deal, the 3 million s/f office tower is now 56% leased. Tower floors occupy the 64th  through 90th floors. International publishing giant Condé Nast, the property’s anchor tenant, is undertaking interior construction for nearly 1.2 million s/f between the 20th and 44th floors. The space will serve as the company’s global headquarters. One World Trade Center will mark its official opening toward the end of this year when KiDS and Condé Nast begin to move their personnel into the building.  China Center New York LLC, a division of Vantone Industrial Co., Ltd., holds a 202,732 s/f lease and will occupy the entire 65th through 69th floors, as well as a portion of the 64th floor. Other tenants include the U.S. General Services Administration – leasing 272,995 s/f between floors 50 through 55 – and Legends Hospitality Group, which will operate the property’s 75,000 s/f observatory set to open in 2015. Durst is conducting the building’s global marketing campaign in conjunction with Cushman & Wakefield, whose leasing team is led by Tara Stacom and includes Alan Stein, James Searl and Justin Royce, along with Jodi Pulice of JRT Realty.     One World Trade Center last year won formal designation as the hemisphere’s tallest building by the Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the entity recognized as the final arbiter of global building heights. The building features a comprehensive Marketing Center on the 63rd floor. This dynamic venue showcases the building’s first-rate features and amenities, and presents several furnished, built-out “vignettes” that demonstrate the efficiencies of the property’s column-free space. The Durst Org. offers a pre-built/build-to-suit program setting aside a total of 94,000 s/f on the 45th and 46th floors for the small space requirements of companies that recognize the value of the building’s unique stature to enhance their own brand.   Suites with high-quality finishes will be available for November occupancy in sizes ranging from 2,000 to 20,000 s/f.  The now-completed West Concourse pedestrian walkway connects the World Trade Center campus to the Brookfield Place Winter Garden and the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal on the Hudson River.  Further contextualizing One World Trade Center into its urban surroundings, the outdoor street grid and the adjacent, tree-lined walkways at Fulton St. and Greenwich St. are nearing completion.  Progress has also continued on the WTC Transportation Hub.  Created by prominent architect Santiago Calatrava, the hub will link to eleven subway lines, PATH service and Hudson River ferries.   The overall World Trade Center campus saw completion of the National September 11 Memorial Museum this month and the concurrent opening of the eight-acre memorial park to all visitors who can now enter the space freely, as they can in other New York City parks. One World Trade Center tenants will enjoy ready access to 365,000 s/f of world-class shopping, dining and amenities in 150 shops curated by the Westfield Group, a leading, worldwide retail property owner. Designed to achieve LEED CS Gold Certification, One World Trade Center is poised to become the most environmentally sustainable project of its size in the world.   One World Trade Center is being developed as a joint venture of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and The Durst Org.