They included four transactions of more than 100,000 square feeteach: three in Midtown and one in suburban New Jersey. And in whatwas reportedly the largest deal of the year, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind,Wharton & Garrison opted to stay at 1285 Ave. of the Americas.The law firm rented a total of 585,000 square feet in the 1.4million-square-foot tower that's owned by AXA Equitable LifeInsurance Co. and institutional investors advised by J.P. MorganAsset Management.

But do these deals, and the general uptick in leasing velocityduring the third and fourth quarters of '09, signal renewedtraction? Michael R. Laginestra, the CB Richard Ellis vice chairmanwho helped negotiate Simon & Schuster's 292,000-square-footrenewal at Tishman Speyer's 1230 Ave. of the Americas, thinksso—but with some caveats.

Although a partial unfreezing of the credit markets compared totheir state of paralysis a year ago has encouraged tenants to act,"there are still real problems with the underlying fundamentals—andI'm not just talking about New York City real estate, but theoverall economy," Laginestra tells GlobeSt.com.