Of the six new projects (totaling 285,000 sf) that were announced at the beginning of 2001 as under construction or "on the drawing board," three remain on the drawing board, two are built but have no tenants, and the sixth is under construction with without tenants. Three other projects totaling another 88,000 sf got underway in early 2001. Two of those projects are still under construction with no tenants and a third is completed and 50% vacant.

A few big lease deals helped shore up a market virtually devoid of smaller deals, allowing the year to end with positive net absorption of 30,000 sf. As 2002 gets underway, class A direct vacancy rates stand at 13.6% and the direct rate for all classes is14.63%. Add in sublease space, and those percentages jump to 20.18% and 20.01%, respectively.

At the beginning of 2001, class A direct availabilities stood at 14.39% and the direct vacancy rate for all classes combined stood at 14.57%. As there were only 2,000 sf of sublease space on the market the beginning of 2001, the overall vacancy rates were virtually the same. Here at the beginning of 2002, there is over 90,000 sf on the sublease market.