"It's exciting," JP Morgan Chase spokeswoman Pamela Snook says of the deal, an agreement that the financial services firm has been working on for several months, as first reported by GlobeSt.com. Snook could not provide details about terms, but confirms the company is moving ahead, even before receiving council approval on a tax break that could amount to $2 million over the 15 years the lease runs. "Obviously, we are hoping that we get approval," she says, but the spokeswoman indicates JPMorgan Chase has no recourse should the pact be voted down. "It's official," Snook says of the lease with the building's landlords, the Beal Cos. and Rockpoint Group LLC.

About 300 employees will relocate from 73 Tremont St., with a separate group remaining in place at nearby One Beacon St., where sources predict the firm could also increase its footprint. A separate state tax credit could save the firm another $2 million for moving to an ostensibly blighted area eligible for such incentives.

Whatever the outcome of the tax matter, the lease is certainly a coup for the owners of Seaport Center, which is also known to locals as 451 D St. and the Fargo Building. The one-time military barracks is closing in on its 100th anniversary, serving the past 25 years as a class B office building. More recently, the asset was nearly emptied out as part of an aborted residential conversion. Beal and Rockpoint have owned the nine-story building since paying $40.5 million just over two years ago, and have boosted occupancy from about 30% to more than three-quarters filled following the JP Morgan lease. The agreement ends JP Morgan's original strategy to move the funds group to a suburban locale, a bid interrupted when Menino got wind of the campaign, as detailed by GlobeSt.com.