NEW YORK CITY-Lower Manhattan got a major vote of support after financial services giant Morgan Stanley affirmed its commitment to the Financial District, taking a 1.2-million-square-foot lease at Brookfield Office Properties’ One New York Plaza, representing the largest single-asset office lease in New York City since 2008, the company confirms to GlobeSt.com.

Under the deal, Morgan Stanley has gone from a sublease to direct space at the 50-story, 2.6 million-square-foot tower. Previously, the company subleased space with Wells Fargo for approximately 782,000 square feet and a direct lease with Brookfield for 34,000 square feet, making Morgan Stanley’s total footprint around 816,000 square feet in the Downtown skyscraper.

Dennis Friedrich, president and global chief investment officer at Brookfield Office Properties, tells GlobeSt.com that the sublease between Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo was set to expire at the end of 2014—and the tenant “made the decision to commit long-term” and “invest in the space.”