The only office tower finishing this year is 300 E. Randolph, an850,000-square-foot building addition that will be 85% occupiedwith owner Blue Cross Blue Shield and tenants such as Baker &McKenzie. "There have been some relocations of large tenants intodowntown, which has helped us stabilize large blocks of space, butwe don't foresee any job growth, and thus little absorption thisyear," says Matt Carolan, a managing director at Jones LangLaSalle. Also, companies can't acquire financing to start newconstruction, he says.

Renewals are the main work being done, he says, though mosttenants are not able to pull off a relocation. "Anybody who does amove deal is just doing it because it's too good to be true,"Carolan says. Large blocks of renewal space signed in the firstquarter include UBS taking 389,000 square feet at its namesaketower at One N. Wacker Dr., AkzoNobel signing a renewal for the90,000 square feet it occupies at 525 W. Van Buren. One positivenote for the Class A properties, according to a JLL Q1 marketreport, is that eight tenants including Pricewaterhouse Coopers andCitadel are reviewing options for about 1.7 million square feet by2014.

Metropolitan Chicago' s employment base will lose an additional100,000 jobs in 2010, before adding an expected 80,000 jobs during2011 and 2012 as economic growth gains momentum, according to aTranswestern first-quarter report. "Chicago's position as atransportation/distribution hub and business center will helppromote economic recovery in the next 24 months, with coreindustries like professional/business services, trade andtransportation adding jobs. However, we anticipate a gradualeconomic recovery," the report said.