7 World Trade Center

Chinese real estate investment firm Beijing Vantone Industrial Co., Ltd. formally signed its 20-year, 190,000-square-foot lease with the Port Authority at 1 World Trade Center yesterday. Numerous media outlets are reporting that the Port Authority has decided to drop the "Freedom Tower" moniker for the project, but GlobeSt.com quotes Port Authority spokesperson Steve Colman as confirming that "Freedom Tower" will still be retained somehow as the second half of 1 World Trade Center’s name. Vantone will pay $80 per square foot to start, with escalations during years 7, 11, and 16 of the lease; the firm has an option to add an additional two contiguous floors to its lease by December 31 of this year. At the lease signing, the firm gave the Port Authority a $10 million letter of credit; total aggregate rent over the lifetime of the lease is estimated to be approximately $333 million.

Larry Silverstein has leased the last available prebuilt space at his 7 World Trade Center. As you'll recall, the tower was the first commercial office building in New York City to earn LEED Gold certification. Equity and derivatives traders Volant Trading, which was formerly located at 99 Wall Street, plans to move into building in March. The firm is quadrupling its existing space by taking 7800 square feet at 7 WTC, or approximately one fifth of the tower's 33rd floor. Volant signed a seven-year deal at $75 per square foot. CB Richard Ellis's Rob Wizenberg, who represented Volant in the negotiations, noted that the firm "wanted absolutely top-quality space. The layout was perfect and they love being downtown."

Although the credit crisis has definitely taken its toll on local green building projects in a variety of ways, the Post 's Steve Cuozzo reported today that Larry Silverstein may be close to landing a tenant who will at least partially replace the space that HSBC was slated to occupy at LEED Gold-certified 7 World Trade Center . HSBC's potential move to five floors at the green tower was heralded, but a deal to sell its Midtown headquarters at 452 Fifth Avenue (at West 40th Street) fell apart several weeks ago after bidders came up $180 million short of the bank's $600 million asking price. Accordingly, HSBC very quietly pulled out of its agreement to move downtown to Manhattan's first LEED-certified commercial office building. Now, the German bank West LB is "in 'real' discussions" with Mr. Silverstein for space across three floors, according to Cuozzo, and although the sides have yet to agree upon a term sheet, documents have been traded back and forth.

Last June, HSBC announced a five-year, $100 million partnership to address global climate change, agreeing to work with The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund in order to quantify the impact of climate change on the world’s cities, forests, and rivers through extensive field research. Yesterday, sources told GlobeSt.com that the bank is close to continuing its sustainable efforts by leasing 300,000 square feet across seven of the final ten floors available at Larry Silverstein's LEED Gold 7 World Trade Center. Should the deal close, HSBC would likely sell its 500,000-square-foot headquarters tower at 452 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Asking rents for the final ten floors at 7 WTC are hovering between $75 and $85 per square foot, and HSBC's deal is rumored to be "at term sheet at the moment."