The real estate impact of the World Trade Centers loss

A look back: Article appears as posted at NashvillePost.com on September 12, 2001

Email | Print By Richard Daverman

09-11-2006 2:56 PM — The twin towers of the World Trade Center comprised 11 million square feet of space. To put that amount of disappeared commercial office space in perspective, NashvillePost.com totaled up the space in some of Nashville's higher profile buildings.

If you combine the space in eight downtown buildings -- the AmSouth Center, SunTrust Financial Center and Bank Building, the Nashville City Center, Bank of America Plaza, Firstar Tower, L&C, and Commerce Center (formerly the Magnetek building), the combined space is just a bit over 3 million square feet.

Throw in the West End Avenue corridor's most prominent addresses -- 2525 West End, Caterpillar Financial, 3401 West End, Palmer Plaza, 3322 West End, One and Two American Center, and Vanderbilt Plaza -- and the total still reaches only 5 million square feet.

If Nashville lost those 17 buildings, the loss would be less than half the amount of space lost in the twin towers.

And that doesn't include the commercial space that disappeared with the later collapse of 47-story 7 World Trade Center and the likely serious damage to numerous other buildings in the area.