A spokesperson confirms to GlobeSt.com that Menino personally contacted JP Morgan officials upon learning that a pending lease expiration at 73 Tremont St. was leading the firm to pursue a possible move to the South Shore. One source says that effort was "way down the road" and the departure seemed inevitable to many industry observers, but Menino's intervention apparently shifted JP Morgan's attention to an option in Boston's Seaport District. GlobeSt.com first reported last month that the firm was negotiating to lease nearly 130,000 sf at the largely empty 451 D St. owned by the Beal Cos. and Rockpoint Group, a rumor that was finally acknowledged this week when Menino's stimulus package was announced, as reported by GlobeSt.com.

In a widely circulated press release announcing the use of tax increment financing and property tax relief to offset higher rental costs in Boston, the mayor's office stated that JP Morgan initiated the conversation, but the spokesperson now confirms Menino was the catalyst. "The mayor wanted to get out ahead of it," explains the spokesperson, but she could not say exactly who was contacted at JP Morgan. Some sources claim the matter extended up to chairman Jamie Dimon, but JP Morgan officials declined comment.

CDM, meanwhile, was supposedly enticed to stay put in Cambridge when landlord MetLife made a counter-offer after the firm was on the verge of signing leases in Woburn and on the South Shore in a plan to split its operations. The concept ostensibly was to help curb pollution from commuting employees, but financial considerations apparently won out. Lincoln Property Co. principal John Miller helped negotiate the lease, and told GlobeSt.com that he believes CDM was attracted by a competitive offer, plus being able to avoid the costs and headaches required of a move.