The hard numbers are that Chase has signed a 20-year lease forall of the under-construction Newport Office Centers V and VI. InJanuary 2002, almost 2,000 Chase employees and several hundredconsultants will relocate from Manhattan to the LefrakOrganization-developed facilities. Altogether, the $10 billion MXDNewport Center occupies 600 choice acres on the Hudson Riverwaterfront, directly across from Lower Manhattan.Besides offeringriver views, the 22- and 12-story buildings will have column-freespace, granite and glass curtain wall facades and marble andgranite lobbies. Chase will use the new locations for back-officeand certain administrative operations. The architectural firm ofPoskanzer & Skott designed the buildings.

Mayor Bret Schundler, who has played a key role is regeneratinghis city's waterfront and downtown areas, and who is embroiled inan ongoing battle with state officials to hold onto Jersey City'sshare of state urban funding, told GlobeSt.com that the project"will solidify Jersey City's growing role as New Jersey's businessand financial capital." Newark officials may disagree, but JerseyCity has indeed stolen much of the thunder with its resurgence.

"This lease permanently validates Newport as a corporatedestination," asserts the Lefrak Organization's Richard LeFrak.