New N.Y. Headquarters : Witter Moving to World Trade Center
Dean Witter Financial Services agreed Monday to lease 24 floors of the World Trade Center for 20 years at a total cost of more than $700 million.
The space was freed when state agencies left so that the Port Authority, which owns the 110-story twin towers, could rent it out at higher rates.
It will mean up to $100 million for New York City capital projects because the increase in rental over the amount paid by the state will go to the Fund for Regional Development, which was established to provide infrastructure money for the states of New York and New Jersey, which own the Port Authority.
Peter C. Goldmark Jr., executive director of the authority, said at a news conference that Gov. Mario Cuomo has agreed that the state’s share of the fund, up to $100 million, will be for use by the city.
Presents Check
To cap off his remarks, he presented Mayor Edward I. Koch with a check for $1 million in lieu of taxes to the city, money which was advanced by Dean Witter on its lease.
The state had occupied 60 stories in the World Trade Center’s south tower.
The state paid an average of $10 a square foot, while Dean Witter will be paying $31 to $52 per square foot, he said.
Philip J. Purcell, president and chief operating officer of Dean Witter, said the World Trade Center will serve as its corporate headquarters, with about 4,200 employees occupying the 43rd through 46th and the 55th through 74th floors, more than 1 million square feet.
The firm will phase in its move through 1993. It now occupies space in different locations throughout the Wall Street area. All office space will be consolidated at the World Trade Center.
“This lease reflects Dean Witter’s commitment to New York City as the financial-services capital of the world,” Purcell said.
Port Authority Chairman Alan Sagner said the agreement with Dean Witter was “the largest single lease in our World Trade Center complex” with a private tenant and “one of the largest real estate deals to a single tenant in the city.”
