What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, Northern Virginia, with submarkets like Tysons Corner, Reston and Dulles, led the region in net absorption, square foot prices and new construction. But that was before dot-coms got dot canned. Along with the demise of Internet-specific companies, Internet-related firms all the way down to heavy hitters like telecom-equipment makers and optical-networking firms have backed out of leases or abandoned new construction all together.

In all, Transwestern reports there has been two-million sf net absorption YTD, but 3.9 million sf of sublet space has been returned to the market during the same time period, eliminating any gains.