One would think the first thing someone would notice on the 85th floor of 1WTC would be the spectacular views of New York City, but it is the paintings on the conference room walls in Servcorp’s newly-opened offices that might catch the eye.
Those paintings are part of a large collection housed in Servcorp’s newest offices at 1WTC, that are owned by Servcorp COO Marcus Moufarrige’s father-in-law.
They are an unexpected compliment to the otherwise modern and sleek layout of the 34,775 s/f offices, which take up the entirety of the 85th floor and have 360-degree views.
The virtual and executive office company, which provides temporary to longer-terms space for businesses, signed a 15-year lease for the space, which has 70 offices and a co-working space. The offices are sized for 2-3 people, while the co-working office has space for up to 120 people. All together, the space can fit around 280 people.
So far, the space is more than 20 percent occupied, with two additional leases pending, said Moufarrige.
He added that most of the leases are for one year. Servcorp offers tenants one-year leases or month-to-month leases.
“It’s a really broad mix,” said Moufarrige of the kinds of tenants that have taken space with Servcorp. Finance, hedge funds, tech companies, and web and marketing firms have all signed on at the downtown skyscraper.
“I had the view we’d be really heavy in financial services,” said Moufarrige. “I think we’ll get some fashion clients too, I think they’ll want to be close to Condé.”
The company went through two years of negotiations before signing a lease at the building, originally planning to come in under a management agreement, with the China Center taking five floors. The organization changed its concept and downsized, deciding to take two floors instead.
“We were at the end of our tether and not even interested anymore,” said Moufarrige. “Then I got a call from Durst and got the deal done in two weeks. And we’re really happy with the deal.” The lease terms were in the $70 p/s/f range.
This is the 141st office worldwide for the Australia-based Servcorp, which now has 23 offices in the U.S. including at 1WTC. The company has four other offices in NYC, at 17 State Street in FiDi, The Seagram Building at 375 Park Avenue, and 1330 Avenue of the Americas.
For a company that seeks to be in the most recognizable and reputable buildings in the world – taking space at 1WTC was a no-brainer.
“All around the world we try to choose the most iconic buildings in the best cities,” said Moufarrige. “We think it’s the most iconic building in the world.”
The company has offices in the Louis Vuitton building on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Cheese Grater Building in London, and the Emirates Towers in Dubai.
“We are at the prestige end of our market, which doesn’t necessarily mean we’re dramatically more costly, but it’s the positioning we want in the marketplace and we think we do it pretty well,” he said.
Servcorp spent four months building out its office space in 1WTC, and the last touches are just being finalized.
“Essentially we’ve put a big bet on downtown going nuts, and I think it will,” said Moufarrige. He said once the company has put all the finishing touches on its 1WTC offices, they will look to expand more in NYC.
“We’ll probably look at something else in Midtown, Chelsea, and then we’ll have a look across one of the creeks,” he said.
One World Trade Center opened in November of last year, anchored by media giant Condé Nast.
