World Trade Centre open once again

The resurrected World Trade Centre has opened for business again, 13 years after the 9/11 terror attack – marking an emotional milestone for New Yorkers.

Some staffers of publishing giant Conde Nast began working at 1 World Trade Centre today.

The 104-storey, €3.9bn US dollar skyscraper dominates the Manhattan skyline.

The publishing giant becomes the first commercial tenant in America’s tallest building.

It is the centrepiece of the 16-acre site where the decimated twin towers once stood and where more than 2,700 people died on September 11, 2001.

“The New York City skyline is whole again as 1 World Trade Centre takes its place in Lower Manhattan,” said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the building and the World Trade Centre site.

The agency began moving into neighbouring 4 World Trade Centre last week.

He said 1 World Trade Centre “sets new standards of design, construction, prestige and sustainability; the opening of this iconic building is a major milestone in the transformation of Lower Manhattan into a thriving 24/7 neighbourhood.”

With construction fences gone and boxes of office equipment in place, the company moved into what Mr Foye called “the most secure office building in America”.

Only about 170 of Conde Nast’s 3,400 employees are moving in now, said Patricia Rockenwagner, a company vice president and spokeswoman.

About 3,000 more will arrive by early 2015 to fill five floors of the tower.

The building is 60% leased, with another 80,000 sq ft going to advertising firm Kids Creative, stadium operator Legends Hospitality, the BMB Group investment adviser and Servcorp, a provider of executive offices.

The government’s General Services Administration signed up for 275,000 sq ft and the China Centre, a trade and cultural facility, will cover 191,000 sq ft.

The eight-year construction of the 1,776ft skyscraper came after years of political, financial and legal infighting that threatened to derail the project.

The bickering slowly died down as two other towers started going up on the southeast end of the site: the now completed 4 World Trade Centre whose anchor tenant is the Port Authority, which started moving in last week, and 3 World Trade Centre, which is slowly rising.