NEW YORK CITY-SJP Properties’ $1.2-billion spec office tower at11 Times Square, which broke ground just before the first rumblingsof the commercial real estate downturn, has signed an anchor tenantthree years later. A spokesman for CB Richard Ellis, which ishandling the leasing at the 40-story tower, confirms publishedreports that law firm Proskauer Rose has inked a deal forapproximately 380,000 square feet, but tells GlobeSt.com that hecannot comment beyond that confirmation. Proskauer's spokesmantells GlobeSt.com his firm plans to make a formal announcement onTuesday.

The New York Post said Monday afternoon that theProskauer lease had been finalized over the weekend, followingearlier reports in both the Post and the New YorkTimes that a deal was imminent. A term-sheet agreement on thespace was reported in the Post this past January.Spokeswomen for both SJP and Prudential Real Estate Advisors, itsfinancial partner on the project, declined to comment on Monday’sPost report.

Proskauer is currently headquartered at the Morgan Stanley-owned1585 Broadway. According to multiple published reports, the move to11 Times Square is in effect being subsidized via an undisclosedsum from Morgan Stanley, which will use the 12 floors Proskauercurrently occupies to facilitate its own expansion. Rents for the11 Times Square deal are believed to be in the mid-$70s per squarefoot, some 25% to 30% less than the property’s owners had hoped fortwo years ago, according to the Post.