After six months of lease negotiations, a major Manhattan law firm has finalized plans to occupy lower Manhattan’s One World Financial Center. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP will move its 800 staffers to the building in early 2005. One World Financial Center is a 40-story office tower with more than 1.6 million sq. ft. of rentable space.
The leasing deal is welcome news for lower Manhattan, which has struggled since 9/11 to retain many of its tenants. A consolidation of two other Cadwalader offices — 125 Maiden Lane and 100 Maiden Lane — will allow the firm to occupy 460,000 sq. ft. of space in the Brookfield-owned tower.
"Remaining downtown reaffirms our commitment to the city of New York, lower Manhattan and the financial district," says Robert Link, chairman of Cadwalader. "The extraordinary building has access to state-of-the-art technology, the ability to customize a work environment tailored to the needs of a 21st century law firm, and easy accessibility to and for our clients."
Tenant rep firm Studley represented Cadwalader in the negotiations. The space formerly was leased by Lehman Brothers.