Morgan Stanley Moving Some Workers Out Of NYC

Financial-services firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. is sealing plans to move some offices outside New York City following its loss of 1.2 million square feet when the World Trade Center fell.

The company says it has a preliminary agreement with ChevronTexaco Corp. to buy the former Texaco headquarters, in suburban Westchester County, N.Y. Only a small percentage of the company's 14,000 city-based employees will be relocating to the facility.

In addition to addressing Morgan Stanley's space needs, the site also will help with business-continuity requirements, the company says. In October, Morgan Stanley sold one of its midtown Manhattan buildings to rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which also had lost large amounts of office space when it was forced to evacuate the World Financial Center on Sept. 11.

The Texaco building was built in 1977, and Morgan Stanley says it will need renovations and technology upgrades before anyone moves in. The firm wouldn't disclose what, specifically, needs to be done.