What Was in Building 7?

WTC Building 7

What Was In Building 7?

Building 7 was one of New York City's larger buildings. A sleek bronze-colored skyscraper with a trapezoidal footprint, it occupied an entire city block and rose over 600 feet above street level.

Built in 1985, it was formerly the headquarters of the junk-bond firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, which contributed to the Savings and Loans collapse, prompting the $500-billion taxpayer-underwritten bailout of the latter 1980s. At the time of its destruction, it exclusively housed government agencies and financial institutions. It contained offices of the IRS, Secret Service, and SEC.

Tenant	Square Feet	Floor	Industry
Salomon Smith Barney	1,202,900	GRND,1-6,13,18-46	Financial Institution
IRS Regional Council	90,430	24, 25	Government
U.S. Secret Service	85,343	9,10	Government
C.I.A.	N/A	N/A	Government
American Express Bank International	106,117	7,8,13	Financial Institution
Standard Chartered Bank	111,398	10,13,26,27	Financial Institution
Provident Financial Management	9,000	7,13	Financial Institution
ITT Hartford Insurance Group	122,590	19-21	Insurance
First State Management Group, Inc	4,000	21	Insurance
Federal Home Loan Bank	47,490	22	Financial Institution
NAIC Securities	22,500	19	Insurance
Securities & Exchange Commission	106,117	11,12,13	Government
Mayor's Office of Emergency Mgmt	45,815	23	Government

This list is based on a table published by CNN.com, which did not include CIA, whose tenancy was disclosed after the attack in the New York Times article. 1

One of the most interesting tenants was then-Mayor Giuliani's Office of Emergency Management, and its emergency command center on the 23rd floor. This floor received 15 million dollars worth of renovations, including independent and secure air and water supplies, and bullet and bomb resistant windows designed to withstand 200 MPH winds. 2 The 1993 bombing must have been part of the rationale for the command center, which overlooked the Twin Towers, a prime terrorist target.

How curious that on the day of the attack, Guiliani and his Entourage set up shop in a different headquarters, abandoning the special bunker designed precisely for such an event. 3
References

1. List of World Trade Center tenants, CNN.com,
2. Terrorism and Anti-Terrorism, Gotham Gazette, 9/12/01
3. Giuliani Improvises After Command Center Gets Hit, Washington Technology, 10/08/01 [cached]