NEW YORK CITY-The General Services Administration has signed a preliminary agreement for the lease of 300,000 square feet at One World Trade Center, sources confirm to GlobeSt.com.

With a successfully executed GSA lease, the building will be over half full. Still, however, the amount of space in the deal is significantly less than what was previously speculated.

In 2006, the Port Authority entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the agency “for its occupancy of approximately 645,000 rentable square feet in the FT,” according to minutes from the February 22, 2007 meeting. So even if the 300,000 square feet is taken by the agency, it will be significantly less—half, in fact—than what was originally expected.

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Cushman & Wakefield vice chairman Tara Stacom, who is heading the leasing efforts for the 3.0 million square foot tower, sat down with GlobeSt.com for a wide-ranging interview in late July. But when asked about the shrinking governmental presence in the building, she was unfazed.

“We’re very confident given who we have considering the building and who has expressed an interest--and then the great number of tours that the Durst Organization and Cushman & Wakefield are regularly giving,” Stacom said. “We tour with such great frequency and, as we watch, people just light up as they go through the site and they really understand everything that it has to offer.”

And, in fact, it was reported shortly after Conde Nast signed on to anchor One World Trade center that the government’s commitment in the building had been vastly reduced. That moves allows for an ever-evolving mix of tenants in the building.

Neither the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey nor the GSA returned calls from GlobeSt.com seeking comment for this story.