WORLDWIDE Plaza’s new ownership team, led by George Comfort & Sons, is sitting down with prospective tenants and is open for business with a mere 639,540 square feet ready to rent.

While that might not be enough to fit the 750,000-foot needs of Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which is currently plying the waters between Jersey City and Manhattan in search of space, brokers say there are several tenants in the 100,000-plus foot range that could make it work.

“We are speaking with a number of potential tenants, but nothing concrete at this point,” advised a Comfort exec on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, though CoStar Group data still show the building contains 1.7 million feet, and the sales price per foot by Deutsche Bank was calculated by the bank on 1.6 million feet, the latest ad for the building pegs it at 1.9 million feet.

That pushes the price per foot down to a bargain-basement $318.42 a foot and also makes it easier to justify a lower rent.

Meanwhile, another 72,147 feet at Worldwide Plaza is up for sublease through CB Richard Ellis, but that will come back to the owners at the end of 2011.

Stay tuned.

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Donald J. Trump‘s long awaited redevelopment plans for the Seven Springs estate in Westchester got a big boost late last week when State Supreme Court Justice Francis Nicolai ruled to approve a settlement with the town of North Castle.

An earlier Appellate Division panel had unanimously decided that an easement to allow Trump to use a former town road through Nature Conservancy land was still in force, even though North Castle had abandoned the road.

The Nature Conservancy and some private landowners lost after they complained that North Castle should not be allowed to settle the case.

The group remains a defendant in the lawsuit brought by Trump that seeks “quiet title” to the three-quarter mile road that would have to be entirely rebuilt.

The Nature Conservancy didn’t return calls or e-mails to discuss the case, which is before the same judge.

“We beat them in the case,” declared Trump, who expects to construct just 18 high-end homes and an equestrian center on the 113 acres in North Castle, which will eventually reap over $6 million a year in property taxes.

Another seven homes will be built on the 100-acre Bedford slice of the estate that has its own entrance.

The road would become the primary, gated entrance to the North Castle homes, said Hal Goldman, vice president of development for Trump in the Hudson Valley, who noted that the Conservancy hasn’t ever returned phone calls from the Trump Organization seeking to settle the matter.

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Starchitect Costas Kondylis, who was responsible for Trump World Tower among other projects, downsized his office in news we heard late last week.

“We cannot carry a big family now,” Kondylis said, referring to the current dearth of design work.

Three partners left and three stayed in this amicable split, which leaves his group with 20 “very capable” people.

“If we get a large project we will join together the two families,” he noted.

In September, Kondylis will be moving his group to 605 W. 42nd St., which is the glass walled former sales of fice for Joe Moinian‘s condominium, the L’Atelier, which Kondylis also de signed. He is also retaining his of fices in Florida.

“It will become an office and an ex hibition hall and a design gallery,” he added.

Kondylis is currently working on the 134-acre master planned apartment community being developed on reclaimed sand along the waterfront of Doha, Qatar.

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Sources tell us that the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District is thrilled that Madison Avenue is not only attracting tenants, but ones who are paying more than previous tenants did.

This occurs when the earlier tenants signed leases 10 or more years ago when rents were much lower.

However, their escalated rents — the rents that go up every year — don’t come close to hitting last year’s high asking rents of $1,000 to $1,500 a foot, leaving plenty of wiggle room in the middle. [email protected]