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
IMO, 7 was brought down to completely wipe out all the SEC investigations (Enron, Global Crossing, etc) and whatever other Wall Street shenanigans they were exploring.
Much like the Pentagon strike was to kill the audit/auditors of the missing 9-10T.