One World Trade Center (1 WTC) is the primary building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York. The 104-story supertall skyscraper stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, occupying the location of what use to be the original 6 World Trade Center. The building is bordered 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. The tower's steel structure topped out on August 30, 2012.
One World Trade center was completed on May 2, 2013, and became 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 commemoration of the year of American independence. It has been the tallest building in New York City since April 30, 2012. On March 30, 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the building will be known by its legal name, One World Trade Center, rather than the colloquial name, Freedom 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 following the destruction of the original World Trade Center complex during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.