NEW YORK CITY-Lower Manhattan got another vote of support late Monday afternoon when investment-banking firm Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. signed a 270,000-square-foot lease to occupy seven floors in MetLife’s 85 Broad St. for a 15-year term. Under this deal, the company’s new Downtown location will house Oppenheimer’s corporate headquarters and will consolidate its primary business locations in Manhattan here.

Unnamed sources tell GlobeSt.com that the company will consolidate its asset management, investment banking, trading and capital markets divisions from 300 Madison Ave. and 125 Broad St. to the 30-story, 1.1-million-square-foot office tower, formerly home to Goldman Sachs. Occupancy is expected in late 2011.

The move itself signifies “Oppenheimer’s ongoing commitment” to New York City’s traditional Financial District, which is happening in tandem with the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, according to a company statement. Oppenheimer also “intends to contribute to reviving Downtown’s commercial and retail economy.”