Brookfield Place is Leasing Up

NEW YORK CITY—Brookfield Office Properties is close to sealing up the gaping hole left by Merill Lynch's departure from Brookfield Place.

 The firm has nearly completed lease transactions for the complex with several prospective tenants, according to Bloomberg News. In addition, GlobeSt.com has learned of another lease that reportedly was signed recently at the newly renovated development.

Brookfield is in the late stages of negotiating a lease for 140,000 square feet at 250 Vesey St.—part of Brookfield Place—to Jane Street Capital, a trading firm, two people with knowledge of the discussions tell Bloomberg. The deal would bring occupancy at the 2 million square foot skyscraper, once Merrill's headquarters, to more than 90 percent. Neither Brookfield nor Jane Street responded to requests by GlobeSt.com for comment by press time. Cushman & Wakefield, which represents Jane Street, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is said to be nearly ready to put pen to paper for approximately 400,000 square feet at 225 Liberty St., another section of Brookfield Place. A spokesman for BNY only would tell GlobeSt.com, “The company is examining potential properties to lease in New York and New Jersey. That process continues and no decisions have been made. We expect to make a decision by the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third.”

Additionally, industry sources tell GlobeSt.com that Experion Design Group has signed an 85,000-square-foot lease at Brookfield Place. The tenant did not respond to a request for comment by press time.