One World Trade Center, Freedom Tower

One World Trade Center, more simply known as 1 WTC and previously known as the Freedom Tower, is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The 104-story supertall skyscraper is being constructed in the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, occupying the location where the original 8-story 6 World Trade Center once stood. The building is bounded to the west by West Street, to the north by Vesey Street, to the south by Fulton Street, and to the east by Washington Street. Construction on below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the building began on April 27, 2006.[8] On March 30, 2009, the Port Authority confirmed that the building would be known by its legal name of One World Trade Center, rather than the colloquial name, Freedom Tower.

At the time of its completion in 2013, One World Trade Center will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest building in the world by pinnacle height, with its spire reaching a symbolic 1,776 feet (541.3 m) in reference to the year of American independence.[9][10] It has been the tallest building in New York since April 30, 2012.[11][12] However, its overall roof height, at 1,368 feet (417.0 m), will still be 82 feet (25.0 m) shorter than the roof of Chicago's 108-story Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). The new World Trade Center complex will also feature three other high-rise office buildings, located along Greenwich Street, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located just south of One World Trade Center, where the Twin Towers once stood. The construction is part of an effort to memorialize and rebuild after the original World Trade Center complex was destroyed during the attacks of September 11, 2001.