Reports: WeWork Poised to Sign Major Lease at 1 World Trade Center

Depending on the size of the lease, WeWork could become the largest office tenant in New York City. WeWork currently leases approximately 4.6 million square feet of office space in New York City, exceeded only by JPMorgan Chase.

One World Trade Center/photo by Betsy Kim

NEW YORK CITY—WeWork appears to be approaching or in fact exceeding the 5 million-square-foot threshold of leased space in New York City. The growing co-working firm is reportedly poised to sign a major lease deal at the 1 World Trade Center office tower.

Published reports put the pending lease at anywhere from 200,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet at the 104-story, 3.1-million-square-foot office tower. The more likely lease deal totals approximately 200,000 square feet, according to Crain’s New York Business, which first reported the pending WeWork lease deal at the property co-owned by the Durst Organization and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

Depending on the size of the lease, WeWork could become the largest office tenant in New York City. WeWork currently leases approximately 4.6 million square feet of office space in New York City, exceeded only by JPMorgan Chase, which leases 5.2 million square feet, according to a recent Cushman & Wakefield report.

WeWork has been very active this month, signing a lease to occupy the entire second floor at 8 W. 40th St. The 6,667 square-foot lease brings the 162,658 square-foot building owned by Jack Resnick & Sons to 100% occupancy. A few weeks earlier, WeWork signed a 69,679-square-foot lease for seven floors at 880 Third Ave. in Midtown East, another building owned by Jack Resnick & Sons.

If the WeWork lease deal at 1 World Trade Center is finalized, it would be the second lease signing in about a month at the office tower. On Aug. 1, Globest.com reported that digital advertising company Undertone signed a more than seven-year lease at One World Trade Center. In January 2019, the digital branding enterprise, a division of the publicly traded company Perion Network, Ltd., will relocate its current US headquarters from the Grand Central submarket at 340 Madison Ave. in Midtown Manhattan to 25,550 square feet on the 77th floor of 1 World Trade Center.