"I think we've seen the end of the slide," Steve McMillon,senior vice president of Austin-based Kucera Co., tellsGlobeSt.com. "For awhile, it changed every week to 10 days."There's a leveling off period in the asking price and it isattracting tenants' interests. The "wait for a better deal" daysare gone. "They're (tenants) accepting the deals are as good asthey're going to get," he says.

McMillon says CBD rates now are more in line with those beingsought in the suburban markets–$24 per sf to $28 per sf. Incomparison, the CBD in 2000 had a few buildings pulling in rents ashigh as $40 per sf, with the average falling more in the mid-$30per sf range. "The times have changed," he says.

The northwest and southwest submarkets, the city's largestpockets, are collecting gross rents of $24 per sf to $28 per sf forclass A space and $22 per sf to $23 per sf for class B. The killercomes with the vast blocks of sublease space, where the asking rateis falling $6 per sf to $8 per sf below the average direct spacerate. McMillon should know since he is marketing sublease space in100 Congress Ave., a top-of-the-line CBD building, for just $22.50per sf in a bid to fill the spot for his client. That building isnow quoting a rate of $28 per sf in comparison to the $36 per sfsought just nine months ago.