"We have enough space and capacity right now for our anticipated near-term growth ... and we are leveraging those resources," the contact tells GlobeSt.com. That's the company line and she's not budging as to whether some of Dell's leased space in Round Rock and Austin will go on the sublease market as well. In and around Austin, it has been rumored for some time that Dell will release some of that premier office space.

Dell's class-A space includes the remaining 80,000 sf at Las Cimas II and 160,000 sf of optioned space at Lincoln Property's under-construction Las Cimas III in the southeast submarket. Dell currently leases 80,000 at Las Cimas II for corporate offices. In all, Dell occupies about six million sf in 40 buildings in the region. In the city's northeastern tier, Dell owns a 1.9 million sf, six-building complex, where it's been moving employees into a finished 589,000 sf. Over the next six years, leases will expire in Central Texas and the strategy is to relocate workers to the complex.

In mid-February, Dell had told GlobeSt.com that layoffs wouldn't stall its Ft. Worth expansion, including the planned 500-member sales and service center for Alliance. But times have changed and the market's getting softer, forcing Dell to layoff another 3,000 to 4,000 employees over the course of the next two quarters.

Earlier this year, Ft. Worth officials had OK'd a 60-year tax break to lure the company into expanding here. It's hushed as to whether Dell had followed through on a planned late February closing for 500 acres in Tarrant County, but it appears highly unlikely given the tough times that the company is riding out.

The mothballing remains in effect "until business conditions improve and our business needs require it," says the Dell contact. Market conditions and a shift to overseas markets are driving the business plan review for Ft. Worth and the Austin-area, she says.