Condé Nast Publications, whose stable of magazines chronicles the American zeitgeist as meticulously as any anthropologist, has reached an agreement to lease one million square feet at 1 World Trade Center, giving ground zero a much-needed corporate anchor with a proven ability to attract other businesses.

The company signaled its interest in moving to 1 World Trade Center several months ago. But that was just the beginning of a marathon courtship befitting one of the country’s most influential buildings and one of its trend-setting media empires, which went far beyond the typical landlord-tenant transaction.

Besides matters of costs, terms and incentives, the negotiations involved reams of traffic studies and security discussions, to ensure that its black cars (more than 100), its racks of designer dresses and its well-shod executives would be able to pass swiftly each day through the police-imposed security zone that is to surround the complex.

To attract Condé Nast, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, had to take on some risk, notably by agreeing to assume the last four or five years of the company’s current lease in Times Square. But the deal, worth an estimated $2 billion over 25 years, still represents a victory for the Port Authority, which has suffered criticism for years of missteps, delays and political squabbling over the rebuilding of the trade center. Critics doubted whether the lead tower would attract tenants other than government agencies, making it little more than an expensive 1,776-foot-tall monument.