2 WTC To Resume Construction With AmEx As Anchor Tenant
The tower will finally be built after being stalled out since 2012, officials say. It’s the last unfinished commercial building on the 16-acre World Trade Center campus.
| 28 Feb 2026 | 10:50
A skyscraper at 2 World Trade is finally set to resume construction, after American Express committed to being its anchor tenant. Construction HAS been on pause since 2012. (
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Construction of the building, which will replace the 2 World Trade that was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, is slated to last until 2031. (
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Construction is slated to recommence at the long-stalled 2 World Trade Center in the Financial District, with American Express announcing that it will serve as an anchor tenant for the planned 55-story tower. It’s expected to be completed in 2031, with the groundbreaking set for this spring.
“This is an investment in our company’s future, our colleagues, and the Lower Manhattan community, reaffirming our deep commitment to the neighborhood we’ve called home for nearly two centuries,” American Express CEO Stephen J. Squieri
The skyscraper would essentially replace the predecessor that it will share a name with, which was destroyed when hijackers flew United Airlines Flight 175 into it on 9/11.
The tower is the only remaining element left unbuilt in the reconstituted 16-acre World Trade Center campus, and is being spearheaded by Silverstein Properties, with Foster + Partners serving as architect. It will be erected on land owned by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and when completed will contain two million sq. ft. of commercial office space.
Silverstein Properties CEO Lisa Silverstein called American Express’s anchor commitment a “powerful statement about the future of Lower Manhattan.”
Its completion has been on hold since 2012, with only its substructure completed. A variety of other possible anchor tenants—including Deutsche Bank and Fox News/NY Post owner News Corp.—backed out from committing to the project over the years.
The rebuilt 1 World Trade, meanwhile, opened to the public in 2014; it cost roughly $4 billion to build.
Original renderings for the 2 World Trade project were floated as far back as 2005, when Foster + Partners proposed a (since-changed) model that would have seen the tower consist of four close-set columns that ended in sloped-diamond patterns.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NY Governor Hochul both praised the recommencement of the 2 World Trade project, which they say will create 2,000 union construction jobs (out of 3,200 jobs total) and generate roughly $6 billion worth of economic development for New York City.
“The completion of the final commercial tower at the World Trade Center is more than an investment—it’s a testament to the power of union labor and the dignity of work. This project represents thousands of good, union jobs that sustain families and strengthen our communities,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“That’s how we grow our skyline and our economy at the same time: by putting working New Yorkers first,” he added.
“Building 2 World Trade Center will bring another iconic skyscraper to Lower Manhattan, create thousands of good-paying union jobs and provide billions in economic benefits to New Yorkers,” Hochul said. She added that American Express’s commitment signals that she believes “there is no better state than New York to do business.”
A new piece by the real estate blog New York YIMBY describes some of the planned architectural elements of the proposed tower in great detail. For example, it will include “six staggered loggia terraces, which will feature large-scale greenery,” while its base will “consist of floor-to-ceiling glass and dense metal screens at the mechanical levels and around the tower’s setbacks.