A protracted standoff between the landlords at One World Trade Center and the parent company of Condé Nast appears to have finally reached a conclusion … for now.

Advance Publications executives Steven and Donald Newhouse have agreed to pay almost $10 million in back rent owed to co-developers the Durst Organization and the Port Authority, the New York Post reported. — The Real Deal

Park claimed the design, construction and marketing of the tower ripped off a design he planned and modeled for his thesis at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1999. He said his thesis adviser was an associate partner at SOM and a second senior partner from the architectural firm also reviewed his work...

The judge, however, wrote in a September order that these claims survive “only by the skin of their teeth, owing principally to the highly deferential standards on a motion to dismiss.” — The Real Deal

But since late last month, the scent of wood and citrus has permeated the 101st floor.

The scent was made to resemble something that does not exist at the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world: trees, all native to New York State, including beeches, mountain ashes and red maples. It has some citrusy notes, for freshness. And it has a name: “One World.” — The New York Times

A Korean-born architect on Wednesday sued a major architecture firm over the design of Manhattan's One World Trade Center, claiming that the building bears a "striking similarity" to a tower he designed in 1999 while in graduate school.

Jeehoon Park accused Skidmore, Owings & Merrill of falsely claiming design credit for the 104-story One World Trade Center, whose 1,776-foot (541 m) height including the spire makes it the Western Hemisphere's tallest building. — Reuters

A majority of the windows at One World Trade Center haven’t been washed since 2015, because the system used to suspend the washers isn’t safe, a representative for the Durst Organization told The Real Deal. Typically, a boom at the top of the building lowers a window-washing rig that moves horizontally as the boom moves along a track on the roof. But in early 2016, Durst noticed that welding in the track — where pieces of metal are joined together — was riddled with cracks. — The Real Deal

When Condé Nast moved its 3,400 employees moved into One World Trade Center, Port Authority hoped it would attract more tenants. Now two years later, the tower is still one third empty. In fact, it only brought in $13 million in revenue last year– a mere 0.35 percent return on its investment. Now the cash-strapped Port Authority has made plans to sell One World Trade Center for as much as $5 billion, making it the highest price ever paid for an office building in the country. — 6sqft.com

Just in time for the Independence Day weekend, Legoland is showing off an extensive remodel of its New York miniland, dominated by a towering replica of Manhattan’s One World Trade Center. [...]

Nearly a year in the making, the redesigned New York area includes a number of new buildings, a dozen more moving automobiles and a subway system with new cars and tracks that are illuminated and feature sound effects that mimic the real thing. — San Diego Union-Tribune

Construction of the Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 World Trade Center will come with a $4 billion price tag. The 2.8 million-square-foot downtown tower will top out at 1,340 feet, just 28 feet shy of One World Trade Center, which currently holds the title of the world’s most expensive office building with construction costs coming in at $3.8 billion. — 6sqft

“This isn’t your grandfather’s Wall Street.” — Bloomberg Business

Legends, a company that manages skyboxes and stadiums and now runs the World Trade Center observation deck, has turned the view into a high-tech spectacular. Before you get a glimpse of an actual place, you follow a winding path through cheesy synthetic bedrock; ride an elevator where 500 years of an ever-changing New York unfold as if seen from a rising balloon [...]

A view gives the illusion of omniscience. — nymag.com

The current race to the top of the skyline is the most impressive in New York City’s history, with ever-taller skyscrapers sprouting from the Financial District all the way to 57th Street. And YIMBY has now learned that 217 West 57th Street, aka the Nordstrom Tower, received a height boost between April and June of last year, pushing the tower’s pinnacle to 1,795 feet. That will make it the tallest building in New York City, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere. — newyorkyimby.com

One World Observatory today announced that its official public opening date will be Friday, May 29, 2015. [...]

Positioned on top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere – on levels 100, 101, and 102 of the One World Trade Center building – One World Observatory will provide guests with unique, panoramic views of New York City, its most iconic sites, and surrounding waters from above 1,250 feet. — One World Observatory

Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie have turned to a familiar idea in their pledge to reform the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey: selling its real estate.

A report released over the weekend highlights a plan to sell off many of the agency’s sprawling property holdings, by far the most notable of which is the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.

That concept has long been pushed within the agency, and it has been implemented gradually over the past decade and a half. — wsj.com