One World Trade Centre, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

A final design for the "Freedom Tower" was formally unveiled on June 28, 2005. To satisfy security issues raised by the New York City Police Department, a 187-foot (57 m) concrete base was added in April of that year. The design originally included plans to clad the base in glass prisms to address criticism that it looked uninviting and resembled a "concrete bunker". However, this later proved unworkable, as preliminary testing revealed that the prismatic glass easily shattered into large and dangerous shards. As a result, it was replaced by a simpler facade consisting of stainless steel panels and blast-resistant glass.
Contrasting with Libeskind's original plan, the tower's final design tapers octagonally as it rises. Its designers stated that the tower would be a "monolithic glass structure reflecting the sky and topped by a sculpted antenna." Larry Silverstein commented in 2006 on a planned completion date: "By 2012 we should have a completely rebuilt World Trade Center, more magnificent, more spectacular than it ever was." On April 26, 2006, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a conceptual framework that enabled foundation construction to begin, and a formal agreement was drafted on the following day, the 75th anniversary of the 1931 opening of the Empire State Building. The tower's construction began in May with a formal ceremony that took place when the first construction team arrived. The building's topping out occurred on August 31, 2012, and was completed on May 2, 2013.
In 2009 the Port Authority changed the official title of the building from "Freedom Tower" to "One World Trade Center," stating that this name was the "easiest for people to identify with." The change came after board members voted to sign a 21-year lease deal with Vantone Industrial Co., a Chinese real estate company, which will become the building's first commercial tenant. Vantone plans to create the China Center, a trade and cultural facility, covering 191,000 square feet on floors 64 through 69.
A report in September 2013 revealed that, at the time of the report, the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) continued to negotiate with the One World Trade Center in regard to the title "World Trade Center", as the WTCA purchased the rights to the name in 1986. The WTCA sought free office space in the tower worth US$500,000 in exchange for the use of "World Trade Center" on the One World Trade Center tower and associated souvenirs.