WeWork Fails to Reach a Deal for Offices at 1 World Trade Center

(Bloomberg) -- WeWork Cos. failed to reach an agreement to lease a large chunk of space at New York’s 1 World Trade Center after many months of talks on securing a spot at the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Discussions with the co-working giant broke down because the tower’s landlord, the Durst Organization, received more-competitive offers from other potential tenants, including technology and media companies, said Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz. Last week, a person with knowledge of the matter said WeWork was negotiating to take about 200,000 square feet (18,600 square meters) at the lower Manhattan skyscraper.

A lease at 1 World Trade Center would have pushed WeWork past JPMorgan Chase & Co. as the company with the largest amount of office space in Manhattan. WeWork is now No. 2, with about 5.14 million square feet, compared with the bank’s 5.2 million square feet, data from brokerage Cushman & Wakefield show.

WeWork said it’s not giving up on 1 World Trade Center. “We have, and continue to, explore opportunities to secure a location there and believe we will be an energizing force for the building,” the company said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that WeWork’s plans to lease as many as a dozen floors at the skyscraper fell apart.

To contact the reporters on this story: Natalie Wong in Toronto at nwong133@bloomberg.net;Ellen Huet in San Francisco at ehuet4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus

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