Blue Cross/Blue Shield signs largest WTC lease of decade.

Port Authority Executive Director Robert E. Boyle has announced that the World Trade Center has signed its largest lease of the past 10 years with Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The company will move its corporate headquarters from Midtown, occupying some 461,000 square feet on 10 floors of One World Trade Center.

The 21-year lease has an aggregate value of approximately $246 million.

"This lease speaks volumes about the vitality and appeal of the World Trade Center, and of Downtown Manhattan," Boyle said. "Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield is one of the region's premier companies and top employers. We are proud that the firm chose the state-of-the art facilities and attentive service available at the Trade Center, and we warmly welcome our newest tenant and its headquarters staff."

"This new lease caps a record year for the World Trade Center. The Port Authority has signed leases for more than two million square feet this year - 20 percent of its total office capacity. The office complex's total occupancy is nearly 90 percent," Boyle added.

Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, New York State's largest health insurance company, will relocate from its former headquarters at 622 Third Avenue, starting in fall 1998. The company has been at the Midtown address since 1974.

"Empire has always been a New York company, and our commitment to New York remains steadfast," said Michael A. Stocker, M.D., president and CEO of Empire. "We are delighted to be relocating our corporate headquarters to one of New York City's most prestigious business locations."

Exclusively representing Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield in the transaction were Insignia/Edward S. Gordon Co., Inc.'s Howard Fiddle, Ned Midgley, Carol Nelson, Mary Ann Tighe and Joel Wechsler. Acting on behalf of the Port Authority were Cherrie Nanninga, director of Real Estate, and Tom Lynch, manager of Office Leasing.

"This lease represents the largest major relocation of a Midtown tenant to Downtown in more than a decade, and points out the renewed acceptance of Downtown as a headquarters location," said Insignia/ESG Executive Managing Director Mary Ann Tighe. "Major tenants considering Downtown cannot ignore the first-class facilities at the World Trade Center. Along with Blue Cross, we've represented Aon and Banker's Trust in their deals at the Trade Center this year for a combined total of more than a million square feet."

Among the recent improvements to the World Trade Center are modernized elevators and escalators, increased electrical, heating and air-conditioning capacity, and a new operations control center. The complex also features fiber-optic communications services and access to both cable TV and direct satellite transmission. The Port Authority has invested or planned more than $700 million in capital improvements to the World Trade Center from 1992 through 2001.

In addition to Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, other major signings at the Trade Center this year include OppenheimerFunds, Aon Risk Services, Inc., Bankers Trust, Dow Jones, Thacher, Proffitt & Wood and Exco Noonan.