"Demand for Manhattan office space sustained an unprecedentedpace in the first six months of the year," says Joseph Harbert, COOof Insignia ESG's New York metro region. During July, however, "themarket took a breather. Midtown, Midtown South and Downtown hadwhat I would call anemic leasing activity. In fact, in Midtownthere was no deal in July over 25,000 sf," he told GlobeSt.com.

There are two possible reasons for this, he says. "One, it couldbe a signal that there's some resistance to being out in the marketbecause of pricing." More likely, he thinks it's just a breather."People ran fast and furious and their deals closed in the firstsix months. It's part of a normal summer slowdown. Deals are harderto close now. Principals aren't around," he notes.

Telecommunication firms and advertising agencies were among themore aggressive is signing for space. Telecoms took more than 1.6million sf, nearly double the 832,744 sf they leased in 1999. Adagencies went from 401,315 sf last year to nearly 1.3 million sf in2000.