WASHINGTON, DC-In the past few weeks the number of trophy office buildings in the Washington DC area with unencumbered space available for blocks over 50,000 square feet has dropped to five from eight, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Managing Director Amy Bowser. On one hand this dwindling of available trophy office space in large blocks has been an ongoing theme in the District. On the other there is something about the number five that tends to raise alarm bells.

"It will only continue to drop," Bowser tells GlobeSt.com. "The soonest new trophy product could come to market is within 24 to 38 months. The only other way space could free up if tenants left these buildings to move into commodity space, but that rarely happens."

In other words, for tenants that have to be located in a trophy building – and such companies are still out there in significant force – their options are steadily declining. It is almost enough to call the DC trophy office a landlord's market, except Bowser says TIs and other concessions are still generous enough to the tenant to make that particular leap.