"But that's what happens when tenants sign 10-year agreements," Gillam says. "Some of them have heard about the increases, but they had yet to deal with them. A few might mention some of the sublease space they have heard about, yet most see today's rates as just the way things are."

Unico Properties is a huge property owner in Downtown Seattle and throughout the Northwest. All told, the company's portfolio includes more than seven million square feet of office and retail space. At One and Two Union Square in Downtown Portland, where Gillam resigned the tenants, the going rate for space is between $33 per sf and $42 per sf for One and between $37 per SF and $60 per sf in Two.

Gillam, a former high school and college basketball star and a Downtown-leasing specialist for more than 20 years, renewed three clients in the company's One Union Square building. The Washington State Court of Appeals, a 20-year tenant, renewed 31,000 sf for 10 years; the McNaul Ebel law firm, renewed 15,500 sf for five years, and Nordstrom.com, a 53,000 sf tenant, renewed for three more years.

In Two Union Square, insurance brokerage Sullivan & Curtis signed a five-year renewal for 12,500 sf, and Safeco Insurance signed a lease for 25,000 sf. While Safeco had been in the building for nearly three years, it was company's first direct lease with Unico. The space was formerly occupied by Tosco, which relocated most of its services and employees to Phoenix.

Brokers say the situation could get worse, especially when deep-pocket landlords run out of money trying to hold on to the vacant spaces they leased long ago. Gillam said his rates on class A space have come down a few bucks since January.

"The market has been unbelievable the past year and a half," Gillam says. "But some owners could get pushed into a corner if and when they run out of money. Rates could drop a lot lower before it comes back in the next year or so. "Who knows . . . we could be looking at some very creative incentives.''