Brown Bros inks Wall Street lease.

Brown Brothers Harriman is staying in the Financial District. The 175-year-old banking firm, which has been looking for a new home since 1997, has leased 430,000 SF last week at 140 Broadway, demonstrating its commitment to New York City and to the Wall Street area.

"We are very pleased to have made this decision to stay in the city of New York, having remained in the Financial District since 1825," said Radford W. Klotz, a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman, who was in charge of the relocation. "And we believe that this architecturally significant building will make an elegant and appropriate home for the firm."

140 Broadway is a 51-story, class "A" office building located between Cedar and Liberty Streets. In 1998, Silverstein Properties and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter bought the building for $191.5 million and undertook a complete restoration of the property.

According to Scott Gamber, of Insignia/ESG, who along with Douglas Lehman brokered the transaction on behalf of Brown Brothers Harriman, the deciding factors turned out to be 140 Broadway's location and its elegant facade.

"The first and foremost consideration for them was to lease space in a building that represented their firm -- in a modern, elegant, distinguished kind of building," he said. "They have considered lots of other buildings -- uptown, downtown, in New Jersey, and they considered building a new building. But I think the overall value was the best for them. And they were really committed to staying in New York City and being a part of the financial area in downtown Manhattan."

Gamber could not disclose the financial particulars of the transaction, but he noted that the lease is for a 20-year term with expansion options. According to some sources, the value of the lease is in the $400-$500 million range. Brown Brothers Harriman plans to relocate about 900 employees to the new location by the second half of next year.

"It's yet another commitment of a prestigious investment banking firm with a long history in New York," said Larry Silverstein, president of Silverstein Properties, in an official statement. "They had many significant opportunities to go to other areas, and they decided to stay in our City."

Built in 1967, 140 Broadway offers its tenants 24-hour/7-day access, manned security and a designated public plaza. The building is also eligible for New York City's Commercial Revitalization Tax Incentive Program.

"We were looking for a building where we could have siginificant street presence, our name on the building, and our own entrance. We have looked at every 400,000 SF building in the city of New York and we finally decided that this was the best deal for us. And the economic package we received from the city of New York was an important factor in our decision."

"I think it's a wonderful building, I think it's a wonderful firm, and I think the marriage of those two is terrific," said Gamber. "Brown Brothers Harriman is going to be proud to have its name on the building and the building is going to be proud to have Brown Brothers Harriman in it."

Brown Brothers' space at 140 Broadway was formerly occupied by HSBC Bank, which moved out earlier this year. Catherine Ernst and Roger Silverstein represented Silverstein Properties in the transaction.