During the early years, various governmental organizations became key tenants of the World Trade Center towers including the State of New York.

[14][15] Three buildings in the World Trade Center complex, including 2 WTC, collapsed due to fire-induced structural failure.

[16] The light construction and hollow nature of the structures allowed the jet fuel to penetrate far inside the towers, igniting many large fires simultaneously over a wide area of the impacted floors.

[20] The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after burning for 56 minutes in the fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175 and the explosion of its fuel.

[22] In the months following the attacks, architects and urban planning experts held meetings and forums to discuss ideas for rebuilding the site.

[23] The architect Daniel Libeskind won a competition to design the master plan for the new World Trade Center in February 2003.

[39] The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that Foster's design "incorporates WTC master planner Daniel Libeskind's 'wedge of light' concept, and will cast no shadow on the memorial park on September 11.

[51][52] As part of the arbitration process, Silverstein requested a $2.6 billion tax-free bond issue for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

[55] The next month, the PANYNJ and the city and state governments of New York agreed to fund $600 million for 3 WTC's construction after Silverstein had found tenants for at least 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of the space.

[58] PANYNJ board members from New Jersey acquiesced to the deal with Silverstein, but only on the condition that the agency also fund a reconstruction of the Bayonne Bridge.

The bottom half of the new design would have been leased out to 21st Century Fox and News Corp[66] until they decided against leaving their current headquarters.

From the south and west, the building's profile was vertically straight, but appeared to be leaning slightly toward One World Trade Center because of the cantilevering design.

"[68] The tower had also been described to integrate Tribeca with the Financial District, as the design's cantilevers and terraces resembled the modern architecture known of the neighborhood.

After the pulling out of News Corp and 21st Century Fox, the future of the site became uncertain, with calls for the tower's design to be reverted to its original incarnation.

[71] In February 2019, Silverstein suggested in an interview that construction may soon begin "on spec", or without an anchor tenant, given the strong economy and leasing progress made on neighboring towers.

Silverstein has faced considerable difficulty in persuading tenants to lease floor space in Two World Trade Center.

At present, prospective companies either are too large to be housed adequately in 2 World Trade Center (such as Facebook or Google), or conclude it would save money to remain where they are (such as News Corp and Fox Corporation).

[77] Bloomberg Business reported on June 2, 2015, that News Corp and 21st Century Fox, both owned by Rupert Murdoch, had signed a non-binding agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to create a joint headquarters at Two World Trade Center.

Silverstein said, "A decision by 21st Century Fox and News Corp. to move to the new World Trade Center would cap a seismic shift that has taken place in Lower Manhattan over the past decade.

[79] On January 15, 2016, it was reported that the two companies had decided against moving into 2 World Trade Center, instead keeping their current headquarters on the Avenue of the Americas.

"[77] In September 2017, Deutsche Bank was considering relocating their U.S. headquarters to 2 WTC, signing on as anchor tenant once their lease expires at their current location along nearby 60 Wall Street.