Aquarium Development Corp., based in Toronto, Canada, is believed to have signed a preliminary agreement to lease the bottom seven floors of a 40-storey New York, US office tower for the creation of a new aquarium.

The US$100m (£64m, €73m) attraction would be the first tenant in the building at 11 Times Square at the corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, with the aquarium occupying some of the floors and the others being used for a museum, marine displays and retail space. Sources close to the development - which is planned to feature tanks containing otters, penguins, sharks, rays and other creatures - said it could be open by 2011. The tower is owned by SJP Properties - with financial backing from Prudential Real Estate Investors - who have thus far, in the face of both falling demand and a glut of office space in the city, failed to find a tenant for it.

Aquarium Developments, under chair Jerry Shefsky, also built the Newport Aquarium at Newport, Kentucky, US. This has 70 exhibits, 14 galleries and tanks which are said to contain 100 million gallons of water, considerably more than the 600,000 gallons being talked of at the New York development. Pic: Shark tank at Newport Aquarium. Courtesy of Jeff Kubina