The space is one of the biggest blocks of office space to comeon the market at the Prudential Center in years, realtors say. "Wecan restack some of the floors at the Pru or move to office spaceat the South Boston manufacturing facility," says the spokesman,noting that the company's decision to reconsider its space needswas prompted by a wave of relocations and job cuts.

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, which is working tosublease the space for Gillette, declined to comment citing aconfidentiality agreement with the firm. But Rick Lowe, a principalwith Cresa Partners in Boston, tells GlobeSt.com that such a largechunk of office space on the market could loosen up the officemarket and stabilize rents in the Back Bay. The Back Bay has becomeone of the hottest office markets in the city in recentquarters.

Subleasing that space, however, could prove challenging forGillette since the company's lease with Boston Properties, whichowns the building, only extends to 2009, Lowe says. "It's going tobe a challenge because of the short term," he says, adding heanticipates it will take 18 to 24 months for the market to absorbsuch a large chunk of office space. But if priced right, he notes,it could also present an opportunity for value-minded companies toget cut-rate space at one of the Back Bay's most prominentaddresses.