Demand for office space rising at Ground Zero site

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2007 | by Martha T. Moore

NEW YORK -- A hot office market is casting a glow over the controversial Freedom Tower.

Rents are up and vacancies down in the financial district surrounding the World Trade Center site, improving the market prospects for the four office towers now being built at Ground Zero, including the 1,776-foot, $2.9 billion Freedom Tower.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the Freedom Tower, says it has talked to investors who want to buy into the building.

"A building that only a year ago people were describing as everything from a high risk to a white elephant is now being viewed as a valuable property,'' says Anthony Shorris, Port Authority executive director. No deals have been struck, he says.

Office rents in lower...