7 world trade center

The number of firms looking for at least 150,000 square feet in Manhattan, and the number of buildings that can accommodate them, could more or less now each be counted on one hand. Some contend that the number continues to shrink as the economy worsens. Other’s say there’s always a small universe of big players. Either way, brokers say they find themselves chasing after the same few lookers again and again.

The belle of this dreary ball is probably NBC Universal, which is looking for a place to house its new consolidated business operations center, which will include offices for chief executives like Jeff Zucker; a child-care facility; a conference center; a health care and fitness center; and an employee commissary.

And so when Lynn Calpeter, NBC Universal’s chief financial officer, visited Silverstein Properties’ 7 World Trade Center this month, tongues started wagging, particularly since she’s part of a caravan of muckety-mucks that has passed through the angular tower in recent weeks. Even Mr. Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, has stopped by.  read more »

NBC visited 7 World Trade Center on June 2, the most recent of more than one visit to Larry Silverstein’s gleaming downtown tower, whose top 10 floors are still available for lease. Sources say NBC was considering housing its new business operations center there.

“NBC has been back to 7 World Trade Center a number of times, with executives and different division heads poring over the building,” said a real estate insider, who, on a recent visit to the building, saw NBC representatives looking like “cats who swallowed the canary.”

Those “executives” included Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, according to another source.

A Silverstein spokesman said he would “not comment on nor confirm discussions with potential tenants.” But another broker familiar with NBC’s plans said the media giant has since moved on from 7 World Trade, and is now looking at SJP Properties’ under-construction 11 Times Square and properties along Eighth Avenue.  read more »

“Wow, look at the mist,” murmured Sarah Craig, a Vassar College freshman, as she and 60 other students walked onto the 52nd floor of Seven World Trade Center, developer Larry Silverstein’s glamorous office skyscraper that, this rainy afternoon, pierced the clouds.

Thanks to the top 10 floors still being up for lease, the penthouse hosts a lot of visitors — Mr. Silverstein’s publicist and his staff lead four to five tours a week — and lots of glamorous parties.

On Feb. 12, the starkly gorgeous concrete-and-glass space hosted babealicious swimsuit models celebrating the release of the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (the models traded their bikinis for cocktail dresses for a party that Silverstein Properties spokesman Dara McQuillan said was fabulous).

Of course, the Vassar students weren’t there to chat about star-studded fetes. The three classes — Intro to Urban Studies, Urban Geography and Architecture of the Modern World — had bussed in from Poughkeepsie and spent the day touring Chase Plaza and the perimeter of Ground Zero.  read more »