Silverstein Loses Tenant Before He Gets One

Beijing Vantone was one of those almost-tenants at 7 World Trade Center that were supposed to make people feel good about the future of downtown. Its executives were publicly feted in January when they signed a letter of intent to lease the five top floors.

Well, what good is a tenant if it cannot pay? Impatient after Vantone, which proposed creating a business center where Chinese companies could set up mini-offices to break into the New York market, kept missing deadlines, Larry Silverstein cancelled its lease today, according to a statement from his office.

"After the China Center's failure to deliver their letter of credit on Monday - the fourth time they missed an agreed deadline to post security - discussions about the China Center taking space at 7 World Trade Center have concluded," Silverstein said in the statement. " While it is unfortunate that an agreement could not be finalized, this is a minor and temporary setback in the building's leasing efforts. As has been reported, the Silverstein organization is in serious discussions with a wide variety of world-class companies interested in space in the building."

-Matthew Schuerman