News Corp and 21st Century Fox, two media companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch, have decided against moving their headquarters into a skyscraper at the World Trade Center, the companies said on Friday.
The relocation would have made the companies the anchor of 2 World Trade Center, where they would have taken up the lower half of the building that is to stand more than 80 stories tall, and would have placed them among the many media companies that have moved to Lower Manhattan, New York, in recent years.
The companies said they would stay in Midtown Manhattan, on Avenue of the Americas.
“We have concluded that a relocation project of this scope could be distracting in the near-term and, given the scale of investment in a relocation of this size, that our resources would be better directed elsewhere,” 21st Century Fox said in a letter to its employees.
In a separate statement to reporters, the companies said there were “extension options that could continue our occupancy in our current sites through 2025.”
Once dominated by financial institutions, the downtown area around the World Trade Center has transformed into a hub for media and technology, as Conde Nast, The Daily News and Time Inc, among others, have moved in.
In April, it was reported that 21st Century Fox and News Corp were considering joining that trend and moving into 2 World Trade Center. The building would have accommodated thousands of employees, as well as the operations of the Wall Street Journal and the studios of Fox News and its other television outlets.
As part of an effort to entice the companies to move, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, agreed last month to a deal that would have reduced the rent the corporations would pay by US$155 million.
The Port Authority declined to comment on Friday.
The skyscraper features a design of several stacked boxes, varying in size, appearing as a tall, slender tower from certain angles, but as stepped green terraces from TriBeCa, New York. It is the fourth and last tower at the World Trade Center site, developed by Larry Silverstein.
The tallest tower at the site, the 104-story 1 World Trade Center, opened in 2014. Silverstein completed the 72-story 4 World Trade Center in 2013 and is now building 3 World Trade Center, an 80-story tower.
Silverstein said in a statement on Friday that he was “disappointed that 21st Century Fox and News Corp have elected to hold off on moving their headquarters,” but he said he was optimistic that the setback would be one that could be overcome.
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