Port Authority executive director Chris Ward is planning a trip to Europe next week in a bid to market One World Trade Center to potential tenants, a spokesman for the bi-state agency confirmed.
Mr. Ward plans to be gone May 25 through 31 on the trip, said the spokesman, Stephen Sigmund, and plans to travel to London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
The purpose appears to be to start generating interest globally for the tower, which is being positioned as a would-be home for offices of international firms. Mr. Ward is traveling with Tara Stacom, vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield, the brokerage that is the leasing and marketing agent for the tower, Mr. Sigmund said.
However, the tour comes at something of an unusual time, given that the Port Authority is in the midst of a contest to sell a stake in the building to one of three major developers who, presumably, would be charged with going on trips like this one. The agency has sought to bring in the private investor with the hope that the landlord would take the lead in marketing the tower, given that these landlords are presumed by major tenants to be more qualified at leasing than the Port Authority, a transportation-focused public agency.
