King White, vice president of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co.'s site selection consulting group, tells GlobeSt.com that the tightening economy has more and more corporations relocating back office functions to Tier 2 cities. In Texas, that's a problem for Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and Houston and a boon for towns such as Beaumont and McAllen. "Labor is the primary expense and real estate is a small part of that," he says, "but real estate costs are less expensive where labor is less expensive."

White says he is hearing that Richardson's Telecom Corridor is particularly hard hit these days as high-tech companies cocoon to weather the current economic conditions. With that cocooning comes more sublease space, he says. And more most likely is on the way as carrier hotels hit practically rock bottom when it comes to leasing activity and dot-coms continue to shutter operations. The telecom market "has slowed significantly," says White, whose team is in the daily business of helping companies nationwide strategize their real estate needs for the future. But, it's not just in Texas, he emphasizes. The same thing is happening in and around almost every high-tech metropolis nationwide.

Grubb & Ellis Co.'s vice president Jeff Peterson says he too is seeing more companies head outside the metropolitan limits while others are retreating to headquarters locations and closing regional offices. That means more sublease space and a hit in direct-lease activity. He says the Telecom Corridor, thus far, has not been hit nearly as hard as Las Colinas and North Dallas. "Eventually, it (the Telecom Corridor) will if it keeps up like it is," he tells GlobeSt.com.

According to Grubb & Ellis' Dallas research department, there is 3,192,871 million sf of class-A sublease space in the region. Dallas and Ft. Worth CBDs account for 946,945 sf and the suburban markets, 2,245,926 sf. The tally includes single and multi-tenant buildings and no owner-occupied or medical office structures.

Dallas-Ft. Worth companies definitely are reining in more than their employee count. Cisco has just stopped construction on an 800,000-sf project in Richardson. It's a bitter reality that had been rumored some months back and had been hotly denied by the corporation. Nortel Networks Corp. reportedly is subleasing an office building that it has completed in recent months near the Dallas North Tollway. Janus Funds has closed its Austin call center. The fallout from a strained economy is gaining momentum. But it's not a subject that real estate executives for major corporations in Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin are willing to discuss.