It's a win-win all around: for Bear, which was tempted by cheaper rents in New Jersey; for Ratner, who didn't want to lose a 290,000-square-foot tenant; and for the city, which has scrambled to prevent financial firms from scattering their workforces to the suburbs.

Bear Stearns was MetroTech's first big tenant when it opened in 1991. The firm's current lease is up in July 2004.

A crucial factor in its decision to renew was an agreement with the city's Economic Development Corp. allowing Bear to transfer unused sales tax credits that were part of a 1997 jobs-retention package in Manhattan into real estate tax abatements at MetroTech.

Sources emphasized that the unusual arrangement won't cost the city any money beyond the terms of the 1997 deal - but "it enabled Bear Stearns to accelerate use of its sales tax benefits, which had 45 years left."

Under the new lease, Bear Stearns will pay Ratner an aggregate gross rent in excess of $230 million - a figure that cannot easily be broken down on a net monthly basis.

Recently signed leases at MetroTech have run in the high $30s a square foot. But that doesn't necessarily reflect what Bear Stearns is paying because of what a source called the lease's "unusual" structure.

The 1997 tax-relief package with the city gave Bear Stearns $75 million in total sales tax benefits in exchange for keeping its headquarters at its new tower at 383 Madison Ave., where it has more than 4,500 employees, for 50 years.

Of $45 million earmarked for job retention, some $25 million remains unused. Less than 25 percent of the unused portion will be converted into the real estate abatement.

The relatively small amount was enough to "put the ball over the goal line" for Bear Stearns.

CEO James Cayne "had an open mind" about staying or leaving Brooklyn, sources said. "In the end, Bear Stearns had to ensure that it had the best deal possible before committing to stay at MetroTech."

Insignia/ESG Vice Chairman David W. Levinson represented Bear Stearns. In-house leasing honcho MaryAnne Gilmartin led negotiations for Ratner. Neither the brokers nor EDC officials could be reached.