All told, more than 290,000 square feet have been leased in the past four months.

The $53 million renovation program now underway at 1359 Broadway helped boost its attractiveness (see full story on page 1). Two deals incorporating three full floors have been signed. i-Deal, a financial services software company whose systems are used across all securities markets, is relocating from 40 West 23rd St. It will occupy 45,910 square feet on the second and third floors by the end of August.

Also, The Redeemer Presbyterian Church is leasing the building's entire fourth floor of 23,000 square feet for its executive and managerial offices; the organization will be relocating to 1359 in the coming months from 271 Madison, where it leases space on five floors.

The i-Deal and Reedemer leases are the first fullfloor deals at 1359 Broadway, and there are many other prospects in discussion.

What's most interesting about the 1359 deals is that the signing of these two big leases preceded the onset of the capital renovation. This reflects these two tenants' confidence that ownership will follow through on its plans for a top-to-bottom renovation, which will be performed using methods that won't disrupt business. Most of the major work will be completed by this winter.

The other W&H buildings have been busy too. At 250 West 57th Street, real estate development firm Flagship International recently took 7,400 square feet for 10 years. The company, which has had offices on the ninth floor, is leasing a larger space not only to house its expanding operations, but also to offer space and resources to fledgling entrepreneurs.

The Lincoln Building also has its share of expanding tenants, including Haver Analytics, which specializes in database and software design for economic and business analysis. Haver's offices will grow on the 30th floor.

Other new tenants at Lincoln include MIG & Consultants, a software design firm, which took space on the 20th floor; the company was previously located in the Wall Street area. In addition, AP International Finance Corp. is relocating its offices from 630 Fifth Avenue to The Lincoln Building's 10th floor, while Inoue Realty, a Japanese real estate brokerage, signed a lease to take space on the fifth floor for five years. And, as always, the Lincoln Building continues to be a magnet for law firms (there are more than 130 in the building already), with the renewal of Levine & Slavitt's lease on its office for another four years.

The International Toy Center has also been very active. In the first three months of 2004 alone, ITC signed Bandai America (a subsidiary of the third largest toy company in the world), which will now be showcasing its complete product lines, including its best-selling brands Power Rangers and Strawberry Shortcake; Bandai took more than 16,000 square feet of new showroom space in the ITC's 200 Fifth Avenue building.

Other new tenants at ITC, following the success of the Toy Fair in February, include United Sales & Marketing, one of the most respected manufacturer's representatives in the industry, which has taken an additional 10,000 square feet of space in 1107 Broadway; Excalibur Electronics, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of electronic chess and hand-held electronic games (1107 Broadway); Funtastic, maker of themed play sets and racked goods (200 Fifth Avenue); and Logical Approach, a service organization providing business and manufacturing consulting to the entire toy industry, which has taken a second showroom to be located in 1107 Broadway.