"Now that rents have bottomed out, you might say it's 'bottomsup' for corporate space users," says Joe Sciolla, managing directorof the firm. "For tenants whose leases are expiring, this is aperfect time to renew and restructure, locking into very favorablerates for the next five years or so. The market continues to besluggish, but that's good news if you're a tenant."

Sciolla says hundreds of local companies that signed officeleases at the peak of the market five years ago have contracts thatare about to expire. "Rents have almost been cut in half during thelast five years, so companies have an opportunity to leverage thesoft market conditions and save an average of $5 to $10 per sf,which can translate into many thousands of dollars," he pointsout.

According to the report, asking rents for class A office spacein the city is at $39 per sf, with class B space going for $23 persf. Both numbers are down one dollar from the first quarter.Vacancy is now at 18% in the CBD, up a couple of points since thefirst quarter, due mainly to Fleet/Bank of America putting 450,000sf at 100 Federal St. on the market.