Chadbourne & Parke NOT Moving to 1 World Trade Center
By Daniel Edward Rosen March 20, 2012 8:26 am
reprints110-year-old law firm Chadbourne & Parke has reportedly backed out of its lease negotiations with 1 World Trade Center, the NY Post reports.
The firm was believed to have been interested in more than 200,000 square feet at 1 World Trade Center
Chadbourne reportedly told the Port Authority and the Durst Organization, the owners of 1 World Trade Center, that the deal was “dead.”
“[A]s in dead, not in a negotiating posture,” a source told The NY Post.
Chadbourne, a firm whose attorneys include former Governor George Pataki, had not signed a term sheet, despite recent reports that a deal for the firm to move out of its current offices at 30 Rockefeller Plaza was all but certain. Chadbourne’s 300,000 square foot-plus lease at 30 Rockefeller Plaza is up in 2014.
Had the deal gone through, it would have locked up 1.37 million square feet of the building’s 3.05 million square feet to private-sector firms.
This is just the latest drama to hit the World Trade Center development, from small crane accidents, internal audits detailing the Port Authority’s profligate spending, and reports of the escalating cost of 1 World Trade Center itself (it rose by $700 million to a total of $3.8 billion).
Then there is the question on whether firms will commit to these new office towers. Despite Conde Nast’s commitment to become the anchor tenant at 1 World Trade Center, other firms have been slow to follow suit. Meanwhile, at nearby 3 World Trade Center, developer Silverstein Properties is rumored to be considering capping the 80-story building at 7 floors if it fails to lease out enough space to tenants.
drosen@observer.com
