WHITE PLAINS, NY-Argent Mortgage Co. has signed a long term lease for 223,366-sf at the Westchester One (44 South Broadway) office building here. The lease deal, which closed in late 2003, constituted the largest lease transaction in Westchester County last year. The transaction brings Argent's office presence here to nearly 450,000 sf.

Argent has grown considerably in the last year or so. In early 2003, the company relocated from offices in Hawthorne to 118,000 sf of space at the former Kraft Foods building at 333 Westchester Ave. Since then, the company has expanded its operations there and currently leases approximately 210,000 sf at the complex, according to Kevin Clark, facilities manager for the White Plains market for Argent Mortgage.

Gerald E. Lees, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield of Connecticut and John Gillespie of Newport Commercial Realty Advisors represented Argent Mortgage in the lease transaction talks. Gregory V. Frisoli, associate director of C&W of Connecticut and Edward J. Weiss, vice chairman of C&W in New York represented the building owner Nicholas J. Pepe of Westchester One LLC.