Emcor Group, a Fortune 500 company with nearly $6 billion inannual revenues, currently occupies the entire sixth of Building301 and will now also take space for a portion of the fifth floor.Emcor's new lease at Merritt 7 was signed 15 months before itsprior lease was set to expire, Albert D. Phelps officials say.

"We're pleased to have been able to accommodate Emcor'sadditional corporate headquarters space needs," says JoAnn BrennanMcGrath, director of leasing for Merritt 7. "Tenant retention is atop priority at Merritt 7 and we are committed to fulfilling eachspecific requirement. These efforts include restructuring deals andoffering companies the flexibility to grow within our complex."

In fact, to make the new deal work, the ownership of Merritt 7negotiated an early buyout with LaSalle Bank for the expansionspace Emcor required. The property is owned by Merritt 7 VentureLLC, a joint venture partnership between the New York StateTeachers' Retirement System and Fairfield Investors. ING ClarionPartners LLC, is the asset manager for the complex.