Meanwhile, slowdown or not, at least five million sf of newproduct is either on the drawing boards or preparing to surfaceamong 12 submarkets in 2002, according to published announcementsby retail developers in the past nine months.

How the new space will affect the existing 45.3 million sf inthe market is a question mark, especially Downtown and in thenearby Colonialtown district where 2.7 million sf of retail hasonly a 5.3% vacancy mark.

The project everybody is watching is the 2.29-acre, block-longJaymont tract recently purchased by an investment consortium headedby retired British-born billionaire Joseph C. Lewis. The price was$7.6 million or $3.32 million per acre ($76.18 per sf), lower thanmost brokers had anticipated. What and when the Lewis gang will dowith the prime Downtown dirt will affect the area for decades,brokers predict.