Paramount Group owns the one-million-sf asset, which had more than 275,000 sf of leases signed last year. "The leasing success of Financial Square confirms that Downtown Manhattan isn't just coming back, it is back, in a big way. We're very encouraged that the financial services companies continue to acknowledge that Lower Manhattan is still the location of choice for their industry," says VP Arthur L. Bocchi, who, along with Cushman & Wakefield, represented the ownership in lease negotiations. Mark Ravesloot of CB Richard Ellis represented TD Waterhouse.

Larry Tannenbaum, executive director in Cushman's Downtown office who worked on the transaction with Bob Constable, tells GlobeSt.com that the financial firm looked all over the city, including Midtown before deciding on Financial Square. "Downtown will surprise people. There has been absorption of space," He credits the spread in price between Downtown and Midtown as a key reason firms are choosing Lower Manhattan. He said Lower Manhattan will continue to prove popular and says one deal that is near to closing is a 550,000-sf transaction at 55 Water St.

"The opportunity to centralize TD Waterhouse's various headquarters user groups onto just a few large floors will undoubtedly prove far more efficient," adds CBRE's Ravesloot, who worked on the deal along with Douglas Lehman, Michael Monahan, Scott Sloves, Robert Stillman and Michael Wellan. "We were able to secure for TD Waterhouse furnished turnkey space in one of New York's most technologically advanced buildings, all at a lower cost than staying in place in four separate locations."