Indeed, crashes-and-burns of some dotcoms in 2000 was creating second generation space in five to 10 months. However, Case said lenders' concerns go beyond a Downtown office market hit not only with some high-flying tech start-ups crashing to earth, but additional space coming available by new developments, including her bank's parent company, ABN Amro.

The retail market has seen Montgomery Wards enter bankruptcy and shutter its stores throughout the region, while Sears is closing specialty stores including NTB outlets. "Most of the Wards stores are older, and even if the space is cheap, we're not sure who's going to be there to replace them."

Meanwhile, lenders are funding condominium project with an eye toward the units being rented out if it fails to sell. "Where we're more concerned is the super high end, not the $250,000 per unit, or $350,000 per unit projects," Case said. "We do worry about running out of $1 million and $2 million buyers."