WASHINGTON, DC-By all indications leasing activity in the DC area is flat. Studley, for example, is getting set to report that for Q3, space availability in the DC metro region remained at 15.1% (exhibiting no change from Q2) and 11.2% for the District (ditto). In Northern Virginia, that number is 18.1%, for an increase of 0.2 percentage points and 15.1% for suburban Maryland, for a decrease of 0.4 percentage points.

While these figures have many implications for landlords, financiers, city planners and local businesses people, for a tenant--Studley’s constituency--they mean only one thing: the days of pushing the envelop with concessions are indeed over, at least for this cycle.

Still, tenants do have some leverage, Studley’s Tom Fulcher tells GlobeSt.com. The latest twists, as he calls them, entail incorporating more flexibility into lease terms and negotiating more generous holdover terms.

“What we are pushing for is having more flexibility in a lease--putting in terms that let a tenant undergo an expansion or get rid of space more easily,” Fulcher says. “Especially if a lease is signed and the move in date is far out--being able to drop or pick up space in this environment is very appealing.” He tells of two recent deals by law firms in the East End and CBD. They were relatively modest sizes of three and two floors, respectively. Both were for 12-year terms, but included in the leases was a right to cancel with no penalty at the 10th year. “That gives the tenants the last two years of the lease to figure out what they want to do,” Fulcher says.

The same for holdover rates, he continues. Typically leases require that if a tenant is late moving out even by a day it still must pay for the entire month. “Now we are negotiating holdover rates on a day-to-day basis,” he says.

Other tenant trends that research manager Chris Volney sees focus on a continued drive for efficiency--a path that sometimes takes tenants to more expensive buildings. “We see a lot of leases being signed in high end buildings and when you look deeper what you see happening is that these tenants are using the new building as an opportunity to consolidate and make more efficient use of the space,” he says. “They can do that in newer buildings, which tend to be more efficient.”