However, tenants and their reps aren't seeing "free rent" signs just yet. "At this point in time, you're seeing smaller concessions, like bonus commissions, but not t.i," says Grubb & Ellis office services group senior vice president Philip W. Palmer. Commission increases also are incremental, such as 9% of first year's lease revenue rather than 8%.

Julien J. Studley, Inc.'s Chicago office is forecasting 10% to 15% drops in Downtown office rental rates. But instead of cash, tenants may find now is a good time to negotiate tenant improvements and build-outs, tenant rep Frank J. Hartmann says.

"From a tenant rep's standpoint, there's an opportunity to look at ways to inform the tenant where if they're in a financial bind, they can reassess and renegotiate terms,".Hartmann says. "CFOs are really busy given the opportunities."

Good credit also is becoming king. "More and more concessions are available as the market softens," says William Rogers of CB Richard Ellis, whose firm forecasts 2.7 million sf to 3 million sf of sublease space in the market the next 12 to 24 months. "In the last three months, it's been a deal by deal basis. The better credit you have, the more you can demand."

And those demands may intensify, even though some landlords may still be in denial. "Landlords are willing to be a little less hard and fast on deal terms," Palmer says. "They're a little more negotiable. But I think the real impact has yet to come."