Free rent is commonplace and practically a given, says Jim Lob, senior vice president of Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Dallas team. "The one trend, that's absolutely a fact today that reminds me of the mid-1980s, is the prevalence of free rent associated with nearly every single office transaction," he tells GlobeSt.com.

Those sitting at the bargaining tables know all too well what's happening in a market with an estimated 180 million-sf office inventory. Greg Biggs, Julien J. Studley Inc.'s senior vice president and southwest region manager in Dallas, says the trend he's seeing these days is a restructuring of leases to make it more affordable in the early years. "There's still activity in the marketplace, but what you don't have are businesses expanding," he assesses. "This market is a function of the economy."

Numbers vary somewhat from report to report, but few would dispute that the prestigious Telecom Corridor is on a fast-track to becoming one of the hardest hit submarkets. Current vacancy is between 17.4% and 20.5%, according to reports by Grubb & Ellis and Julien J. Studley. Grubb & Ellis says the high-tech playing ground had 272,937 sf in negative absorption just in the third quarter. What will happen in the fourth quarter is anybody's guess, but right now the Telecom Corridor is being outpaced in the third quarter by Far North Dallas, with a negative 564,949 sf, and the LBJ Freeway, a backslide of 507,534 sf.