200,000 s/f deal at 32 Old Slip.

Downtown's answer to Midtown and the creme de la creme of Lower Manhattan office space, 32 Old Slip is quickly overcoming its vacancy woes.

TD Waterhouse is reportedly close to signing a lease for over 200,000 s/f feet in the building. Although TD would not comment, those privy to the negotiations say the deal could be done within a month.

CB Richard Ellis broker Mark Ravesloot confirmed a deal was on the table, but declined to disclose the tenant.

Building agent Arthur Bocchi of the Paramount Group, which owns the building, also declined to confirm TD Waterhouse was the soon-to-be tenant, but did reveal that the building "has a deal pending for a significant amount of space, in excess of 200K s/f."

A spokesman for TD Waterhouse also had no comment for REW.

The sizable lease will be the crux of a recent turnaround for 32 Old Slip, which began last January when insurance firm Frank Crystal & Co. signed on for roughly 70,000 s/f. The building shed more vacancy last month with the lease of another 70,000 s/f to the United States Department of Education.

Citing Old Slip's resurgence and the 700,000 s/f of leasing activity in the World Financial Center buildings, Cushman & Wakefield broker Scott Latham indicated that Downtown--which is experiencing a peak disparity between its rents and those in Midtown--is in the midst of a comeback. The fact that financial firms are driving the comeback is a good a sign for continued improvement.

Latham--who is not involved in the latest rumored deal--said, "The Downtown market is largely dependent on the financial services sector, and there's a ripple effect when financial firms start adding jobs.

"It ripples in a very positive way through all of the service providers that work with these financial firms and can lift the entire office market."