"They are focusing on that" project, one source tells GlobeSt.com. The notion is bolstered by others, including one observer claiming KPMG is "definitely" negotiating for the low-rise portion of Two Financial Center and another who says the firm has already tentatively committed to take more than half the space in the mid-rise, supposedly on floors two through seven. Circulating during the past year, KPMG was reportedly seeking upwards of 150,000 sf, but sources say the need is a bit smaller, more in the 115,000-sf to 125,000-sf range. The firm's local operations are at 99 High St., a few blocks away from the Two Financial Center site, which is across from South Station. A strong credit firm, KPMG has been courted by Boston's top landlords since the search began in earnest last year, and Two Financial Center was rumored early on to be among the options targeted.

Emboldened by the recovering office market and convinced that the size was modest enough for its inventory to be absorbed, Lincoln Property Co. opted to push the $110-million Two Financial Center off the drawing boards last June, joining the owners of Fan Pier and Russia Wharf in breaking ground sans tenant in a period when rental rates were headed for record levels. Lincoln had acquired development rights from the owners of One Financial Center, the New York City company that initially proposed Two Financial Center nearly a decade ago before being blocked by the recession that began in 2001.

Although the frenetic pace of rental increases seen in 2007 has reportedly eased early this year, Boston's single-digit vacancy rate for class A space and limited delivery of product through the end of the decade has generated sentiment that tenants will have limited options over the near term. Unlike some firms that have indicated a suburban exodus is possible, KPMG's space search has supposedly been restricted to Downtown and the Back Bay.