The industrial market's vacancy is predestined to edge up, given the depth of the global fiscal crisis and the 9.6 million sf that's due to come on line before the year ends. To date this year, 14.4 million sf has delivered, of which 76% was vacant at completion, according to Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.'s third quarter research.

As a credit to Dallas/Fort Worth's tenacity, year-to-date net absorption hit 4.6 million sf at Q3's close, down 2.65 million sf from third quarter 2007. "The bottom line is compared to the rest of the county, we're doing pretty well. We've had almost five million sf of absorption in our market in a tough economy," says Dan Cook, C&W's senior director in Dallas. The times seem slow because the North Texas market has been on steroids for the past few years, he adds. Inventory is up to 492.8 million sf.

In simple terms, supply and demand will have to adjust to the new economy. "It will be at least 12 months before we see any new spec construction," Cook predicts for GlobeSt.com. What are delivering are projects that were too far along to stop before the slowdown permeated the marketplace.