Gov. Spitzer is expected to announce the $300 million deal today, in what is a major lift for the reconstruction of Ground Zero and the battle to maintain lower Manhattan as the financial capital of the world, sources confirmed yesterday.

JPMorgan will take a long-term lease for 1.3 million square feet of space in a 57-story tower on a site now occupied by the Deutsche Bank building, which was heavily damaged on 9/11 and is now being razed to clear the way for Tower 5.

Negotiations between JPMorgan and the PA - first reported by The Post earlier this year - are a departure from the blueprint for redeveloping the WTC site approved last year that envisioned Tower 5 as a residential building.

Any lease is subject to final approval by the bistate agency's board, which meets next week.

To make the deal work, the PA will have to agree to expand the size of Tower 5's base in order to accommodate the large floors needed for trading rooms - a requirement for most financial-services firms.

If the trading floors are built at ground level, similar to plans for Tower 2 and Tower 3 on Church Street, the building would cut into space now designated for a park and for a site to rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

One possible solution considered by the bank and the PA has been to build the wider trading floors several stories above the ground, cantilevered over the park.

JPMorgan Chase is now headquartered in the former Union Carbide building at 270 Park Ave.

The Post reported recently that the firm is looking to sublet about 1.3 million square feet of office space it currently occupies at three of its other Midtown locations.

The bank has about 35,000 workers in the city.

JPMorgan's decision to relocate to the rebuilt WTC comes as several financial firms, including Merrill Lynch, are negotiating with Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein, who is building Towers 2, 3 and 4 on Church Street.

Tower 5 could be ready for occupancy in 2013.

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Source: New York Post By TOM TOPOUSIS