The move will initially keep 500 employees in the FinancialDistrict, but the company plans to expand and take additionalfloors in the next six to 12 months. Aragon Construction wasselected to manage the construction of LaBranche's new location atBroad Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. The moves adds to aresurging downtown real estate market that has seen some long-timeMidtown tenants look south.

Aragon Construction, working together with owner'srepresentative Michael Tennyson of Global Facilities Management,and principal Michel-Claude Fiechter of TPG Architecture, will turnthe entire seventh, eighth and ninth floors, a total of 48,000 sf,into trading floors with voice and data capabilities, newmechanical and electric infrastructure, raised flooring and a2,500-sf IT room. Published online information has the asking priceof the space at about $40 per sf.

According to Tennyson, LaBranche is putting upwards of $10million into the space, and adds, "It's really a breakaway fromtheir more corporate look to a more efficient, fresh look." The newtrading facilities will be finished in early November. Calls werenot returned to GlobeSt.com for comment.