AP plans to move headquarters to lower Manhattan

The Associated Press will relocate its global headquarters from midtown to lower Manhattan in early 2017, President and CEO Gary Pruitt has announced. 

Based at 450 W. 33rd Street since August 2004, AP plans a move to 200 Liberty Street – part of the Brookfield Place retail and office complex, across West Street from the World Trade Center. 

Pruitt said the decision enables AP to meet all its goals, including cost savings and remaining in Manhattan. 

"We've agreed on terms to move and we're preparing to sign a lease for the new location," said Paul Colford, AP vice president and director of media relations. 

Terms were not disclosed. Roughly 600 AP journalists and business staffers will move to the new space, which will cover 172,200 square feet. 

The planned move will bring AP's headquarters back to lower Manhattan. Founded in 1846 by a group of New York newspapers as a way to share the costs of covering the Mexican War, AP occupied various buildings in lower Manhattan for a total of 79 years before moving to midtown in 1925. 

Read the AP news story about the move.