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7 World Trade Center
The new 7 World Trade Center (view from southeast)
The new 7 World Trade Center (view from southeast)
General information
Location250 Greenwich Street
New York City, New York, United States
Height
Roof750 ft (228 m)
Technical details
Floor count52
Floor area1.7 million ft sq.
158,000 m sq.
Design and construction
Architect(s)David Childs (S.O.M.)
DeveloperSilverstein Properties

7 World Trade Center is the name of two buildings in New York City: the first opened in 1987 and was destroyed on September 11, 2001; its replacement, the first World Trade Center address to be rebuilt, was finished in 2006.

The original 7 World Trade Center was on the superblock bound by Vesey, Washington, and Barclay Streets, and West Broadway. The new 7 World Trade Center is at the same location, but its eastern boundary is on Greenwich Street, with a public park occupying the block between Greenwich Street and West Broadway.

1984–2001

A view of the original 7 WTC (on the left) taken on August 14, 1992.

The original Seven World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, was built in the mid-1980s. The original structure had 47 floors and was 570 feet (174 m) tall. Construction began in 1984; in March 1987, the building opened, to become the seventh structure of the World Trade Center. The building was built on top of a Con Edison substation dating from 1967. The substation had a caisson foundation designed to carry the weight of a future building on the site. The final design for 7 World Trade Center was for a building covering a significantly larger footprint than originally planned when the substation was built. Between floors 5 and 7, the building had a system of transfer trusses and girders to transfer load to the smaller-sized foundation.

Each floor had 47,000 square feet (4,366 m²) of rentable office space, which made the building's floor plans considerably larger than most other office buildings in the city. In all, 7 World Trade Center had 1,868,000 square feet (174,000 m²) of office space. The building was clad in red exterior masonry. A pedestrian bridge connected it to the main World Trade Center complex, to the south, across Vesey Street. Emery Roth & Sons designed the building. The lobby of 7 World Trade Center had three murals, by artist Al Held, The Third Circle, Pan North XII, and Vorces VII.

Drexel Burnham Lambert originally agreed in June 1986, to lease the entire 7 World Trade Center building for $3 billion over 30 years. In fallout from the Boesky insider-trading scandal, Drexel Burnham Lambert canceled the lease in December 1986, leaving Silverstein to find other tenants. Spicer & Oppenheim agreed to lease 14 percent of the space in 7 World Trade Center. For more than a year, Silverstein was unable to find other tenants to fill remaining space in the building, as Black Monday and other factors affected the Lower Manhattan real estate market. By April 1988, Silverstein had lowered the rent and made other concessions.

In November 1988, Salomon Brothers agreed to a 20-year lease of the top 19 floors of 7 World Trade Center, after withdrawing from plans to build a large new complex at Columbus Circle in Midtown. The building had extensive renovations done in 1989 to accommodate the needs of Salomon Brothers. Most of three existing floors were removed as tenants continued to occupy other floors, and then more than 350 (US) tons of steel were added to construct three double-height trading floors. Nine diesel generators were also installed on the fifth floor as part of a back-up power station. "Essentially, Salomon is constructing a building within a building - and it's an occupied building, which complicates the situation," said a district manager of Silverstein Properties. The unusual task was possible, said Larry Silverstein, because it was designed to allow for "entire portions of floors to be removed without affecting the building's structural integrity, on the assumption that someone might need double-height floors."

The position of Building 7 in relation to the other WTC buildings before September 11, 2001.

At the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Salomon Smith Barney was by far the largest tenant in 7 World Trade Center, occupying 1,202,900 sq. ft. (64% of the building) including floors 28–45. Other major tenants included ITT Hartford Insurance Group (122,590 sq ft), American Express Bank International (106,117 sq ft), Standard Chartered Bank (111,398 sq ft), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (106,117 sq ft). Smaller tenants included the Internal Revenue Service Regional Council (90,430 sq ft), and the United States Secret Service (85,343 sq ft). The smallest tenants included the New York City Office of Emergency Management, NAIC Securities, Federal Home Loan Bank, First State Management Group, Inc., Provident Financial Management, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Department of Defense (DOD) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) shared floor #25 with the IRS. Floors 46–47 were mechanical floors, as well as the bottom 6 floors and part of floor #7.

Collapse

7 World Trade Center on fire after the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11
Main article: Collapse of the World Trade Center

As the North Tower collapsed, debris hit 7 WTC "with the force of a volcanic eruption." Much of the bottom 10 stories of the building's south face were destroyed, with damage visible as high as the 18th floor. A massive fire burned into the afternoon on the 11th and 12th floors of 7 World Trade Center, with flames visible on the east side of the building. Around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, firefighters noticed a bulge in the southwest corner of 7 World Trade Center, between the 10 and 13th floors, which was a sign that the building was unstable and might collapse. During the afternoon, FDNY Chief Daniel Nigro made the decision to halt rescue operations, surface removal and searches along the surface of the debris near 7 World Trade Center and evacuate the area, out of concerns for the safety of personnel. At 5:20 p.m. EDT on September 11, 2001, 7 World Trade Center collapsed. It had been evacuated and there were no casualties associated with the collapse of 7 WTC.

In May 2002, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a report on the collapse. FEMA made preliminary findings that the collapse was primarily caused by fires on multiple stories (which were started by debris from the other two towers), and not by the actual impact damage from the collapse of 1 WTC and 2 WTC. The report noted that, before this collapse, there had been little, if any, record of the fire-induced collapse of a large fire-protected steel building, such as 7 WTC.

The report did not reach final conclusions about the cause of the collapse, but listed several issues requiring further investigation. FEMA made these findings:

Loss of structural integrity was likely a result of weakening caused by fires on the 5th to 7th floors. The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to collapse remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has only a low probability of occurrence. Further research, investigation, and analyzes are needed to resolve this issue.

In response to FEMA's concerns, the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) made a three-year, US$24-million investigation into the structural failure and collapse of several WTC structures, including 7 World Trade Center. The study drew not only on in-house technical expertise but also the knowledge of several outside private institutions, including the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (SEI/ASCE), the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), and the Structural Engineers Association of New York (SEAoNY).

NIST has released video and still-photo analysis of Building 7 before its collapse that appears to indicate a greater degree of structural damage from falling debris than originally assumed by FEMA. Specifically, the NIST's interim report on 7 WTC displays photographs of the southwest façade of the building that show it to have significant damage. The NIST interim report on 7 WTC details a 10-story gash that existed on the south façade, extending a third of the way across the face of the building and approximately a quarter of the way into the interior, but does not provide any photographs of the damage to the south façade. A unique aspect of the design of 7 WTC was that each outer structural column was responsible for supporting 2,000 square feet (186 square meters) of floor space, suggesting that the simultaneous removal of a number of columns would severely compromise the structure's integrity. Consistent with this theory, news footage shows visible cracking and bowing of the building's east wall immediately before the collapse, which began at the penthouse floors.

NIST anticipates the release of a draft report of WTC 7 by the end of 2007. NIST released a progress report in June 2004, outlining its working hypothesis, which was that a local failure in a critical column, caused by damage from either fire or falling debris from the collapses of the two towers, progressed first vertically and then horizontally to result in "a disproportionate collapse of the entire structure". In a New York magazine interview in March 2006, Dr S. Shyam Sunder, NIST's lead WTC disaster investigator, said, of 7 World Trade Center, "We are studying the horizontal movement east to west, internal to the structure, on the fifth to seventh floors”; he added "But truthfully, I don’t really know. We’ve had trouble getting a handle on Building No. 7".

Despite FEMA's preliminary finding that fire caused the collapse, conspiracy theorists believe the collapse was the result of a controlled demolition. When asked about controlled demolition theories, Dr. Sunder said, "We consulted 80 public-sector experts and 125 private-sector experts. It is a Who’s Who of experts. People look for other solutions. As scientists, we can’t worry about that. Facts are facts." In answer to the question of whether "a controlleddemolition hypothesis is being considered to explain the collapse", NIST said that, "hile NIST has found no evidence of a blast or controlled demolition event, it would like to determine the magnitude of hypothetical blast scenarios that could have led to the structural failure of one or more critical elements."

2002–2006: Building the new 7 World Trade Center

7 World Trade Center under construction in October 2004

Construction of the new 7 World Trade Center began in 2002, and was completed in 2006 at a cost of $700 million. Building Seven was not included in the original World Trade Center master plan by Daniel Libeskind, but was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill under the leadership of David Childs, who largely redesigned the Freedom Tower. Because 7 World Trade Center is separate from the main 16-acre World Trade Center site, Larry Silverstein required only the approval from the Port Authority and thus was able to proceed quickly with rebuilding. Restoring the Con Ed electrical substation was also an urgent priority, in order to meet power demands of Lower Manhattan.

The 52-story building is 750 feet (228 m) tall, and contains 1,700,000 square feet (158 000 m²) of leasable office space, starting at the 11th floor. The first ten floors house an electrical substation, which provides power to much of Lower Manhattan. The office tower has a narrower footprint at ground level than its predecessor, because the course of Greenwich Street has been restored in an effort to re-unite TriBeCa and the Financial District.

David Childs worked in conjunction with glass artist and designer James Carpenter to create a design that uses ultra-clear, low-iron glass to provide reflectivity and light, with stainless-steel spandrels behind the glass to help reflect sunlight. Artist Jenny Holzer created a large light installation inside the main lobby, with glowing text moving across wide plastic panels. The entire wall is about 30 meters wide by 7 meters tall; it changes color according to the time of day.

The new 7 World Trade Center

The building has 2-foot- (60-cm-) thick reinforced-concrete and fireproofed elevator and stairway access shafts, whereas the original building used only drywall to line these shafts. The stairways are wider than in the original building, to permit faster exits. Steel columns are encased in much thicker fire protection, which consists of a medium-density, portland cement-based product that adheres well to the steel columns, among other advantages over other types of spray-applied fire-resistive material. The building is being promoted as the safest skyscraper in the U.S. According to Silverstein Properties, the owner of the building, it "will incorporate a host of life-safety enhancements that will become the prototype for new high-rise construction".

Fireproofing applied to above floor trusses on the 45th floor of 7 World Trade Center, in September 2006 before the space was leased and modified for tenant needs

7 World Trade Center is equipped with Otis destination elevators. After entering their floor destination on a lobby keypad, passengers are grouped together and directed to specific elevators that will stop at their particular floor. There are no buttons to press inside the elevators. This system is designed to reduce elevator waiting and travel times.

The building is considered New York City's first "green" office tower, and gained gold status in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program. Rainwater is collected and used for irrigation of the park, and to cool the building, and recycled steel was used in the building's construction.

The triangular park was created by David Childs with Ken Smith and his colleague Annie Weinmayr, of Ken Smith Landscape Architect. It is between the now extended Greenwich Street and West Broadway, and comprises an open central plaza with a fountain and flanking groves of trees and shrubs. As the seasons change, so will the colors in the park, providing a natural complement to the adjacent tower. At the center of the fountain, sculptor Jeff Koons created Balloon Flower (Red), whose mirror-polished stainless steel represents a twisted balloon in the shape of a flower, at a monumental scale.

The building was officially opened at noon on May 23 2006 with a free concert sponsored by Larry Silverstein. The concert featured Suzanne Vega, Citizen Cope, Bill Ware Vibes, Brazilian Girls, Ollabelle, Pharaoh's Daughter, Ronan Tynan (of the Irish Tenors), and special guest Lou Reed. In March 2006, before the building opened, the new 7 World Trade Center frontage and lobby were filmed in scenes for the movie Perfect Stranger with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis.

Since the building opened, top floors not yet leased have been used for numerous events, including charity lunches, fashion shows, and black-tie galas. Silverstein Properties initially allowed space in the new building to be used for events, in order to get people in to see the building. From September 8 to October 7, 2006, the work of photographer Jonathan Hyman was displayed in "An American Landscape", a free exhibit, hosted by the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, at 7 World Trade Center. The photographs captured the response of people in New York City and across the United States after the September 11, 2001, attacks. The exhibit took place on the 45th floor, before the space was leased and converted into offices.

The building has 42 floors of rentable space. As of March 2007, 60 percent of the building had been leased. In September 2006, Moody's signed a 20-year lease to rent 15 floors of 7 World Trade Center. As of May 2007, other tenants in 7 World Trade Center include ABN Amro, Ameriprise Financial Inc., Darby & Darby P.C., Mansueto Ventures LLC, business publisher of Fast Company and Inc., New York Academy of Sciences, and WNYX Business offices. Silverstein Properties also has offices in 7 World Trade Center.

World Trade Center
Towers
Other elements
Artwork
History

1933 Double Eagle

In a 1933 Executive Order, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered gold coins to stop being produced. All gold coins that had been produced were destroyed, except for two that went to the Smithsonian and this 1933 Double Eagle which was smuggled out. As such, it was not considered legal currency. It turned up in 1995 in the hands of a London dealer, Stephen Fenton, who tried to sell it at an auction at the Waldorf-Astoria. U.S. Treasury Department agents showed up and seized the coin. While a court case ensued over the legality of the coin, it was temporarily stored in a Treasury Department vault in 7 World Trade Center. Once the case was settled in January 2001, with the U.S. Mint agreeing to declare the coin the only legally issued 1933 Double Eagle, the coin was transferred to Fort Knox and was sold at auction in April 2002 for a record-breaking $7.59 million.

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Interim Report on WTC7" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. June 2004.
  3. Lew, H.S.; et al. (September 2005). "NIST NCSTAR 1-1: Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Structural and Life Safety Systems". Final Reports of the Federal Building and Fire Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster. NIST. pp. p. xxxvii. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  4. "Interim Report on WTC7" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. June 2004. pp. p. L-3. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. Horsley, Carter B. (October 25, 1981). "Lower Manhattan Luring Office Developers". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "WTC7 (Chapter 5), pdf" (PDF). FEMA. Cite error: The named reference "fema-ch5" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. "Al Held". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  8. Plagens, Peter (April 17, 1989). "Is Bigger Necessarily Better?". Newsweek.
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  10. Scardino, Albert (December 3, 1986). "$3 Billion Office Pact Canceled by Drexel". The New York Times.
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  12. Berkowitz, Harry (November 29, 1988). "Salomon to Move Downtown". Newsday.
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  16. "Rosie O'Donnell 9/11 Conspiracy Comments: Popular Mechanics Responds". Popular Mechanics Weblog. Hearst Communications, Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  17. Spak, Steve (September 11). WTC 9-11-01 Day of Disaster (Video). New York City: Spak, Steve. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  18. Scheuerman, Arthur (December 8, 2006). "The Collapse of Building 7" (PDF). NIST. Retrieved 2007-06-29. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  19. "WTC: This Is Their Story, Interview with Chief Peter Hayden". Firehouse.com. September 9, 2002. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
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  22. Newman, Michael (June 29, 2007). "NIST Status Update on World Trade Center 7 Investigation".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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  26. Mark Jacobson (2006). "The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  27. Thomas Hargrove (2006). "Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy". ScrippsNews. Retrieved 2007-6-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help) - "Widespread resentment and alienation toward the national government appears to be fueling a growing acceptance of conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon."
  28. Sullivan, Will (September 3, 2006). "Viewing 9/11 From a Grassy Knoll". U.S. News & World Report.
  29. Mark Jacobson (2006). "The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  30. ^ "7 World Trade Center completed, first major development at Ground Zero". Architectural Record. June 1, 2006.
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  37. "Silverstein Properties Names CB Richard Ellis to Serve as Exclusive Leasing Agent for 7 World Trade Center" (Press release). Silverstein Properties. September 28, 2004.
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  39. "7 World Trade Center Officially Certified as New York City's First 'Green' Office Tower" (PDF). Silverstein Properties. Retrieved 2006-05-26.
  40. "Under Cover, Tower 7 is no 'Stranger' to fame". Downtown Express. 2006, March 17-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. Birkner, Gabrielle (May 14, 2007). "The City's Hottest Event Space? Try 7 World Trade Center". New York Sun.
  42. "WTC Memorial Foundation Announces Photography Exhibitions to Mark 5th Anniversary of 9/11" (PDF). World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. August 7, 2006.
  43. Spitz, Rebecca (2006, August 31). "9/11: Five Years Later: 7 World Trade Open For Business, Lacking Tenants". NY1 News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  44. "Moody's Signs Lease at 7 WTC". Associated Press/MSN Money. 2006-09-18.
  45. "Pricey Midtown Rents Mean Big Tenant for 7 WTC". Gothamist. 2006, June 20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  46. Pristin, Terry (February 28, 2007). "Lower Manhattan: A Relative Bargain but Filling Up Fast". The New York Times.
  47. "Ameriprise Financial to lease 20,000 SF at 7 WTC". Silverstein Properties. 2006, January 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  48. "Darby & Darby P.C. to move headquarters to 7 WTC". Darby & Darby. 2006, August 24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. "Mansueto Ventures signs lease at 7 World Trade Center to become the first corporate tenant to locate its national headquarters in the building". Silverstein Properties. 2006, July 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  50. "New York Academy of Sciences Signs Lease at 7 WTC". New York Academy of Sciences. 2005, December 16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  51. Collins, Glenn (April 19, 2002). "Unique Coin, and Unique Mystery; Back From a King's Vault, the Lone 1933 Double Eagle". The New York Times.

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