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Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said yesterday that it has agreed to buy a new 1-million-square-foot Times Square office tower for its headquarters from securities industry rival Morgan Stanley, preserving more than 5,000 jobs in New York City.
Lehman, which was forced to move its headquarters from the World Financial Center after the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack, said it would buy 745 Seventh Ave., a 32-story building now under construction.
Morgan, a major tenant in the World Trade Center, has since dispersed its operations to other sites.
The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, paves the way for Morgan Stanley to avoid clustering its work force in one part of the city. The building Morgan has been constructing since 1999 is within a block of its current headquarters at 1585 Broadway. The building is expected to be ready for occupancy later this year.
A transaction of this scope, including completion of the space, is probably costing Lehman between $600 to $700 per square foot or as much as $700 million, said Barry M. Gosin, vice chairman and chief executive of Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc.
"This agreement reaffirms our commitment to New York and...