One World Trade Center Reaches New Heights, Will Surpass Empire State Building

By Benge Nsenduluka, CP Reporter Friday, April 27, 2012

Manhattan's One World Trade Center will become one of the tallest buildings in the world as early as next week, surpassing New York City's famous Empire State Building, officials confirmed.

"Weather permitting, we expect that we could exceed the height of the Empire State Building on Monday," Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye told Reuters.

The building, previously known as the Freedom Tower, will stand at 1,776 feet (541 meters) when it is completed in 2013 or 2014, which will make it taller than the Empire State Building, which currently stands at 1,250 feet.

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As of Friday, 100 floors had been built six years after construction began, and just four more need to be built before the $4 billion building is completed.

One World Trade, which is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex, is being constructed on the same site where the original World Trade Center towers (the Twin Towers) once stood.

The Twin Towers were completely destroyed during the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which left at least 3,000 people dead. The resulting debris and the entire site was dubbed "Ground Zero."

The 104-story skyscraper is specifically being built in the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site where the original 8-story 6 World Trade Center previously stood.

Foye also confirmed that more than half of the office space in the new building has already been leased out; among the new high-profile tenants is magazine publisher Condé Nast.

One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and will remain surpassed by the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which stands at 2,716 feet.

Among the world's tallest buildings that will eventually be surpassed by One World Trade Center is the Taipei 101 located in Taipei, Taiwan standing at 1,670 feet, and the Shanghai World Financial Center in Shanghai, China which stands at 1,614 feet.