WSJ could move back to WTC area in 2020

The following announcement was sent to News Corp. employees  on Tuesday:

As you may know, the lease for both the News Corp and 21st Century Fox headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Avenue of the Americas in New York is scheduled to expire in the year 2020.

With that in mind, we have been exploring a number of options and wanted to provide you with a quick update on the latest news.

We have narrowed the alternatives to two: moving to a new building at the World Trade Center or renewing the lease at our existing locations. News Corp and 21st Century Fox have now signed a non-binding “letter of intent” to become the anchor tenants of a state-of-the-art tower at 200 Greenwich Street/2 World Trade Center. The building would be developed by Silverstein Properties (SPI) and designed by the renowned architectural firm, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

This agreement does not mean that a final decision has been made. There is much to be done before a binding agreement with SPI is reached, and renewing our current lease remains a possibility. It’s also important to keep in mind that, regardless of whether we move or stay, we will continue to be in the 1211 and 1185 Avenue of the Americas buildings for years to come. No move would occur prior to 2020.

The reason to begin investigating alternatives now is that it will take time to construct a new building and making plans to relocate both of our organizations is obviously a complicated process.

We will keep in touch with you as new developments warrant.

The Journal, Barron’s and Dow Jones Newswires had been located across the street from the old World Trade Center before they were acquired by News Corp. in 2007.