A source said that Morgan Stanley, which is in the market for 800,000 square feet, has also kicked around the idea of a move to the World Trade Center site—as sure a sign as any that the center could once again become integral to the country's finance industry.

Well, not so fast, said another source, who noted that Larry Silverstein is in no hurry to sign tenants right now, preferring to wait until towers two, three and four are closer to completion and he can fetch rents possibly into the triple digits per square foot on the upper floors.

Meanwhile, it was earlier reported that Morgan Stanley was mulling a move to Goldman's dowager former headquarters at 85 Broad Street, but a source close to the matter said the bank is not negotiating there.

For now, our money is on a renewal at Brookfield's 1 New York Plaza. It might not have quite the views of its shimmering WTC counterpart, but there's always been something to be said for the familiar.

A call earlier to Morgan Stanley's broker, Newmark Knight Frank's Barry Gosin, was not returned.

No, New York.

Adding a much-needed gloss to the city's ho-hum roster of mega-tenants, L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company, has just started looking for 500,000 square feet for its New York headquarters.

The company's current HQ is at the Emery Roth-designed 575 Fifth Avenue, but the lease expires in 2015. The 520,000-square-foot building at 47th Street, which was bought by Metlife in 2005, is also home to the Guess flagship store. L'Oreal also has office space at 565 Fifth Avenue and 435 Hudson Square.

The tenant is represented by a team led by CB Richard Ellis' William Hedman, who would say only that the search is very preliminary and the tenant could also choose to renew.

Most of the handful of tenants out there looking for that much space are finance types, and none of the sizeable blocks of space on the market right now would seem to suit such a glamorous tenant as L'Oreal (think 3 Columbus Circle's small floorplates or 11 Times Square's Eighth Avenue locale). But with its sights set as far off as 2015, there's always the first tower at Hudson Yards. If it's good not enough for Coach, maybe  it's good enough for Liliane Bettencourt.

Safe?

Mid-tier developer Ziel Feldman has pledged $200 million to rescue the city's most troubled residential tower from bankruptcy and take full control of One Madison Park.

According to MarketWatch, Mr. Feldman will team up with the CIM Group (a rumor we've heard flying around for several weeks).  The California-based fund is also developing the Drake Hotel site with Harry Macklowe and is working with the Sapir Organization on William Beaver House and the Trump Soho.

The Observer previously reported that Mr. Feldman had bid $165 million to take over the tower. Similarly, according to this plan, the iStar debt will be split into two components: a $162 million secured note and a $69 million unsecured claim that could possibly be waived.

Months have passed since Mr. Feldman emerged as the leading bidder for the tower, with multiple delays in filing the rescue plan. Nonetheless, Mr. Feldman is far from home safe. Steve Ross' Related Company and Amalgamated Bank, a junior lender, are also vying to take control.

Even if Mr. Feldman and his powerhouse partner, CIM, succeed in taking over the unfinished tower, it will require millions of dollars of renovations, including finishing the lobby, pool and spa. Experts say they will need to fetch on average $2,500 a square foot for the condos to turn a profit.

Haven't seen this face in a while.

Nothing takes us back to that halcyon year of 1996 as does seeing the likes of Michael Ondaatje and Drew Carey in the same paragraph. In a delightful blast from the not-so-distant past, the stars' respective talent agencies have renewed at the Rudin family's 41 Madison Avenue.

The Gersh Agency, who, in addition to a svelter Mr. Carey, also reps Jamie Foxx, has renewed its 13,000-square-foot lease for the entire 33rd floor for another 10 years. Augustus B. Field IV of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant, which also has offices a bit closer to the action in Beverly Hills. Tom Keating represented the landlord in-house.

Adding a dash of the high brow, literary agency the Trident Media Group has also renewed a 13,000-square-foot lease on the 36th floor for another six years. Keith Cody and Cregg Rothkin of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant; Robert Steinman repped the landlord in-house.

“Tenant retention has always been a major component of the Rudin Management philosophy," said a typically understated Bill Rudin in a statement, "so we’re delighted that both of these creative agencies will continue to call 41 Madison and Madison Square Park their home for many more years to come.”

Speaking of show biz, the Emery Roth-designed tower is also home to 23 stories of showrooms for tableware manufacturers.

83 Walker rendering.

Way under the radar, a lovely new Tribeca condo is growing at 83 Walker Street and The Observer has caught an initial peek.

The new nine-story building by Brooklyn developer Abra has just received a unanimous go-ahead from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

"It’s a beautiful Tribeca building with a twist," said architect Morris Adjmi. "It's an inversion of a cast iron building ... It really informs us about the nature of a cast iron building: Originally, they were built from components that were ordered from catalogs."

Mr. Adjmi creates his unusual inversion by casting a glass-reinforced concrete that is the opposite of the typical Tribeca facade. Instead of columns curving out from the building, they are indented into it. The windows, typically recessed, jut out from facade. It is as though the building across the street had been pressed against this one while it was still drying.

The development still needs approval from the City Planning Commission, but after that construction is slated to begin in around nine months.
"Designing a building in context makes for very special buildings," said Mr. Adjmi. "That definitely proved to be true."

10-Front Elevation (5)

West Coast classic.

Raw fish is a dish we generally prefer with a side of irony. Thus, in our second-favorite reason this week to mock BroBillies, the nabe is getting that snooziest of cuisines, an Asian fusion restaurant.

Indeed, the press release contains more signs of the Apocalypse than we can count. To wit: "Fushimi offers a family-friendly, yet stylish setting that will appeal to upscale, late-night crowds as well as families and hipsters alike," notable, among other things, as the first indication the real estate PR world has discovered the hipster.

The company has leased 7,200 square feet at 475 Driggs Avenue, on the corner of North 10^th Street, a new mixed-use development designed by our pal Montreal architect Karl Fischer. The restaurant, meanwhile, has been around for nearly a decade in such culinary hot spots as Staten Island and Bay Ridge.

Winick Realty’s Diana D. Boutross represented both the tenant and the landlord, Driggs Development, in this long-term lease transaction.

Steve Ross' latest prize?

In the real estate equivalent of Mariano Rivera parachuting into a tight ninth inning, Steve Ross has just made a play for troubled tower 1 Madison Park.

Mid-tier developer Ziel Feldman is just days away from presenting his rescue plan for the beautiful though far-from-perfect condo. But now The Wall Street Journal reports that Mr. Ross' Related has made a sudden play with junior lender Amalgamated Bank to buy the debt held by iStar and seize control of the tower.

The plans came to light in a lawsuit filed by Mr. Feldman's HFZ Capital on Monday, accusing Amalgamated of "attempting to swindle a lucrative corporate opportunity."

A spokeswoman for HFZ said the company still intends to submit its plans to the court, but our favorite summer spectator sport just got a lot more interesting.

You can see right through this one, too.

TD Bank’s latest real estate move lends new meaning to their gestures at increased transparency.

The Canadian-based bank has just signed a lease for a 4,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of a new all-glass retail and office space at 201 East 57th Street, the New York Post reported. Although currently little more than a hole in the ground, the site’s owner, Merchants National Properties, intends to open the building within the year.

Marx reality is managing the development project which, according to their website, will offer 30,814 square feet of glass enclosed retail space. Susan Kurland and Sloane Rhulen of C.B. Richard Ellis represented the landlord, while Joanne Podell of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.

Unfortunately transparency comes with a hefty price tag. The New York Post reports that TD Bank will pay $1.22 million rent for the first year. Considering the neighborhood, however, TD Bank’s investment becomes crystal clear: the new building is within spitting distance of Bloomingdales, Le Cirque and the Four Seasons. We can only hope that the window washers’ fees are included in the settled upon sum.

The possible look-alike, 263 Bowery.

After scoring a smashing successlet with 263 Broadway, a diminutive Karl Fischer-designed luxury condo, developer Shaky Cohen has dreamed up a new seven-story development just a few doors down.

Mr. Cohen has dropped $5.5 million on a small plot of land at 255 Bowery Street, where he plans to build a new development with two stories of retail and five stories of residential, he told The Observer. It will contain four to five luxury residential units. He plans to invest another $4 million and start construction in five months.

Mr. Cohen has tapped Montreal-based architect Mr. Fischer to design this 25-foot building as well, but says the facade will look different from the silky smooth exterior at 263 Broadway (which earned Mr. Fischer the catchy nickname "barfitecht").

Meanwhile, despite a certain blog-fueled backlash, sales are going briskly at 263 Broadway, where units are selling for around $1,700 a foot and only the penthouse remains.  Mr. Cohen is also developing a project in the East Village, another project at 107th and Broadway, and one in Harlem at 117th and Frederick Douglas Boulevard.

View from the frontier.

A couple of weeks ago, The Observer peered at a single light burning at failed condo project One Madison Park and speculated that it must be quite lonely at the top. Today The Journal reports that it's a veritable frontier up there.

The dozen buyers (nine of whom The Observer has been told have moved in) are roughin' it, with no pool, no spa and (heavens!) an unfinished marble lobby. Add to that the indignity of looking out at the Empire State Building from a maintenance-free $1.5 million condo with a one-to-one staff-to-resident ratio and life must indeed be hard.

Ziel Feldman is set to present a rescue plan to bankruptcy court any day n0w. According to today's story, units could then hit the market later this year. While the new buyers will have to pay a great deal more than current residents did if Mr. Feldman and his partners are to recoup their investment, at least they'll get some amenities thrown in.