That's one of the lessons from the Colliers International office market status report for the third quarter. The citywide vacancy rate hit 23.9 %, up from 18.8% at the beginning of the year. Average rent dropped to $23.50 per sf from $24.59 per sf nine months ago.

"It's a great time for tenants who've been in lesser space to look at moving up to nicer space just because there are just great opportunities there," says Rick Whiteley, a Colliers broker who helped compile the report. "It's a time for people in lesser buildings to bargain really hard with their existing landlords just because they can go elsewhere for the same or less money."

Whiteley tells GlobeSt.com that more and more tenants with a year or so left on their leases will approach building owners to renegotiate leases. "With a year out, I think a lot of landlords and tenants will step up and make the commitment now. The landlords will have to drop the existing rate or blend them with today's rate to lower their overhead currently," he says.