Vacancy rates rose to 17.5% from 14%--and that doesn't include the sublease space up for grabs. When that is factored in, the vacancy rate of the market comes in at 21%, up from 17.1% a year ago, the report says. The only new building to come on line was Stone Arch Plaza, a 62,000-sf building rehabilitated by Brighton Development, based in Minneapolis. Among the new tenants were the McKnight Foundation, MSR Architects and the Mill City Museum.

Class A spaces have the majority of sublease space available, with some 709,000 sf of space up for sublease. But it was the B pieces that were hardest hit in the first half, with some 820,000 sf in tenant losses. The biggest was American Express Financial Advisors exit from the Baker Block and Northstar Center. As a result, the vacancy rate in this category jumped to 23.2% from 13.8%.

Class C vacancies also climbed to 23% as it experienced a negative absorption of some 26,000 sf and the nearly vacant Bridge Place building that is being marketed as a multi-tenant facility.