17 State Street was finished in early 1988. It was one of four large office buildings in Lower Manhattan completed around that time, along with 225 Liberty Street, 7 World Trade Center, and 32 Old Slip. At the time of its opening, 17 State Street had no tenants, and the other new buildings in the area were also largely empty. The building's offices were being rented at an average rate of , making the offices around 50 percent more costly than those in similar buildings. At the time, demand for office space in Lower Manhattan was declining. By December 1988, only four stories were occupied. The Kaufman Organization said it was targeting smaller clients, who largely preferred to rent finished space, as opposed to large companies, which were more likely to rent space that had not been built yet. The building's managers placed 50 cameras throughout the building; if a crime was committed there, the managers would display security footage of the suspect in the lobby, along with the label "Do You Know This Man?".