In January, Canadian-based CDP Capital-Mortgages completed a $120-million financing for the site. The funds allowed owner JEMB Realty to recapitalize the structure and retire a Lehman Brother's mezzanine loan. The funds also were allocated for a capital improvement initiative that included a new cooling system, facade work and tenant improvements for one of the building's newest tenants Millennium High School. In one of Lower Manhattan's largest lease deals of 2003, the Board of Education inked a deal for 100,000 sf. Because the building has two distinct entrances--one for the school and one for business tenants--it has been dubbed, "the building within a building."

JEMB purchased the property in 1999 for $75 million and has put $40 million in improvements into the building. The property is currently 90% leased. Jerome notes that when the firm purchased the site it was "an empty building. We repositioned the site. We maximized what we could do and we're off to the next project."

Founded in 1990 by Jerome and Raymond Chalmé, JEMB owns and manages such assets as 375 McCarter Highway in Newark, Place Dupuis in Canada and the Galleria Corporate Center in Scottsdale, AZ.