The newest contributor to the sublease inventory is Charles Schwab Corp. which is expected to try and rent out at least one million sf in seven cities over the next seven months, property managers familiar with the discount brokerage's operations tell GlobeSt.com.

In metro Orlando, the New York-based firm could be preparing to rent out at least 100,000 sf of its total estimated 303,000 sf of leased space at three area locations, brokers tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

Schwab is cutting 300 staffers or 20% of its 1,500-person work force here but is still determining how much sublease space to put on the market at this time, brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Schwab officials would not comment on their plans.

Despite its downsizing, Schwab is expected to keep its global call centers open at Summit Tower and Maitland 200 in suburban Maitland, FL where they currently lease an estimated total 300,000 sf.

Grubb & Ellis Co. put the amount of sublease space in metro Orlando in January at 274,182 sf. Of that volume, the central business district had 46,778 sf of class A; 2,034 sf of class B; and 1,200 sf of class C. The suburbs had 134,207 sf of class A; 89,963 sf of class B; and no class C sublease space.

"The anticipated economic slowdown appears to have come to fruition in Central Florida," Jeffrey S. Sweeney, managing director of Grubb & Ellis, tells GlobeSt.com. "A combination of sublease space and new deliveries have accounted for the increase in (total) available square feet."

That number in the first quarter stood at 2.5 million sf in the suburbs and 525,710 sf in the CBD. Sweeney attributes the growing sublease volume to reduced company staffs, mergers and tenant relocations.

Jason Kaiser, a senior office broker in the Orlando office Trammell Crow Co., estimates the sublease space total currently is just over the half million mark with 500,000 sf in the suburbs and 60,000 sf in the CBD.

He feels the suburbs' sublease inventory will rent faster than the Downtown inventory because of lower rents, convenience, more parking and less congested traffic. Suburban rents are $18 per sf to $24 per sf versus $20 to $27.50 per sf within the CBD.

An element that could worsen the growing sublease volume in the suburbs, however, is the 1.2 million sf of new product in eight buildings scheduled to surface this year, Kaiser notes. Still, he says, Colonial Park, Lake Destiny III, Maitland Promenade II and Reserves at Maitland already are all over 50% leased.

"The CBD will bring a 154,000-sf telecom building, an 85,000-sf office condo renovation at 100 E. Pine St. and 40,000 sf at Thornton Park," an off-downtown mixed-use urban development at the 80% lease mark.

Karen Stauffer of Signature Commercial Realty continues to see daily sublease listings in the suburbs by name corporations but thinks that scenario provides a niche opportunity for expanding small firms.

"What makes these leases attractive is that the entire infrastructure is in place--the furnishings, the office equipment and the telephone equipments," she says. "It's basically a turnkey situation and a perfect opportunity for a new company coming into the Central Florida market that may want to test the waters for a few years before making a longer commitment."