NEW YORK CITY-The official building height of the One World Trade Center tower will be determined next month by the non-profit Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Design. Its decision will determine whether the property will be given the mantle of being the tallest building in the United States.

The developers of One World Trade, which will open in 2015, say the building measures 1,776 feet. If the council agrees, One World Trade would be 325 feet taller than the roof of the former Sears Tower now known as the Willis Tower in Chicago, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A determining factor in the council's final decision is whether the 408-foot steel mast is considered a "spire" that is part of One World Trade Center's architecture. If it is found to be a structural spire, it counts toward the height; but if it is considered just an antenna, that would leave the building at 1,368 feet, the country's third-tallest, after the Willis Tower, at 1,451 feet, and the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, at 1,389 feet. See story in the Wall Street Journal.

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John Jordan

John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.