According to a third quarter report out of C&W, the BellevueCBD contains a total of 5.22 million sf of office inventory, ofwhich just over 527,000 sf of direct space and more than 550,000 sfof sublease space are currently available. Of the totals,approximately 4.124 million sf of space are considered Class A, ofwhich nearly 922,000 sf (or 22.4%) are available.

A comparison between this and last year's market statistics isstriking. Where current vacancies are in the low 20's, the mark atthe end of the third quarter of 2000 was a tight four per cent.Twelve months ago, average rents in Bellevue's CBD had hit a lofty$35.35/sf but have dropped nearly $4 to $31.49/sf. And, as of theend of September 2000 this sub-market had seen the absorption of467,371 sf of office space—compared to only 65,462 sf since thefirst of 2001.

Despite the numbers, though, Dave Young, an associate directorwith Cushman & Wakefield, believes, "The bottom has not fallenout of the market." In fact, he adds, "There are some positivesigns that the market is beginning to tighten." In Bellevue, Youngcites the status of approximately 250,000 sf of office space heldby Microsoft that the company had previously put up for sublease.The C&W broker says Microsoft recently changed its position,choosing to hold it for now-anticipated future needs. GlobeSt,however, was unable to confirm this with Microsoft by deadline.