{"id":490410,"date":"2026-02-25T22:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/490410\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:40:08","slug":"world-trade-centers-final-office-tower-to-become-american-express-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/490410\/","title":{"rendered":"World Trade Center’s final office tower to become American Express headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The World Trade Center\u2019s final office tower will start construction as soon as this spring and become American Express<\/a> ‘ new headquarters, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the company said Wednesday, marking a milestone nearly 25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks<\/a> destroyed the site.<\/p>\n

The 2 World Trade Center building will round out the long, tortuous redevelopment<\/a> of the original 16-acre trade center property. There remains no construction date for a neighboring apartment building to replace another 9\/11-damaged skyscraper. <\/p>\n

But the 2 World Trade Center announcement represents a big step, physically and symbolically, in fulfilling a pledge of renewal at ground zero. Hochul and other officials also trumpeted the project as a sign of New York\u2019s continued vitality as a business hub. It comes as Florida and other states have been trying to woo companies from New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding 2 World Trade Center will bring another iconic skyscraper to Lower Manhattan, create thousands of good-paying union jobs and provide billions in economic benefits to New Yorkers,\u201d Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement. <\/p>\n

American Express CEO Stephen Squeri called the skyscraper \u201can investment in our company\u2019s future, our colleagues and the Lower Manhattan community,\u201d where the credit card giant has been based for nearly 200 years. Its current headquarters is just west of the trade center. <\/p>\n

The trade center was decimated when al-Qaida hijackers crashed jets into its twin towers, part of a coordinated attack that also sent planes into the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed, mainly at the trade center. <\/p>\n

Fraught with engineering, financial and political complexities and public debate over what to build, redevelopment unfolded gradually and hit numerous roadblocks<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But over time, the signature 1 World Trade Center<\/a> skyscraper, other towers<\/a>, the Sept. 11 memorial<\/a> and museum<\/a>, a transit hub<\/a> -cum-shopping center and a performing arts center<\/a> were built on the property, owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A damaged Greek Orthodox church was rebuilt<\/a> in a spot overlooking the plaza. <\/p>\n

The 55-story, roughly two-million-square-foot (186,000-square-meter) 2 World Trade Center building is planned at the site\u2019s northeastern corner. The spot is currently occupied by a low placeholder building, covered with colorful graffiti-style murals, and a beer garden. <\/p>\n

American Express declined to discuss the cost of the new building, which the company will own, leasing the underlying land. The tower isn\u2019t getting state, city or Port Authority financing or incentives, said Port Authority spokesperson Tom Topousis, who referred questions about the cost to American Express. <\/p>\n

Plans once envisioned a skyscraper soaring as high as 80 stories, and News Corp. and the former 21st Century Fox were among companies that at points eyed leasing space there. Like some other trade center components, the project labored for years to secure financing and an anchor tenant. The task grew tougher when the coronavirus pandemic emptied offices in 2020 and raised questions about companies\u2019 future space needs. <\/p>\n

Developer Larry Silverstein<\/a> always insisted the project would happen<\/a>, however. <\/p>\n

Silverstein Properties CEO Lisa Silverstein, who is the 94-year-old developer\u2019s daughter, hailed American Express as \u201can iconic institution embodying the strength, resilience, and global significance of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company plans to occupy the entire Norman Foster<\/a> -designed building, a sleek structure of glassy sections interspersed with landscaped terraces and gardens. It\u2019s expected to accommodate up to 10,000 workers; American Express declined to say how that compares to its current headquarters. <\/p>\n

Completion is expected in 2031. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The World Trade Center\u2019s final office tower will start construction as soon as this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[2907,228,226,227,28,12292,229,88,2808,793,28861,224957,224958,2005,1999,74272,88887,207470,224959,795],"class_list":{"0":"post-490410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-american-express-co","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-construction-and-engineering","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-florida","17":"tag-general-news","18":"tag-kathy-hochul","19":"tag-larry-silverstein","20":"tag-lisa-silverstein","21":"tag-new-york","22":"tag-new-york-city","23":"tag-norman-foster","24":"tag-september-11-attacks","25":"tag-stephen-squeri","26":"tag-tom-topousis","27":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}