Big block leasing activity taps the brakes

From the December issue: Large office tenants may have felt like they were playing a game of musical chairs through the first quarter of 2007: that if they didn’t grab a space when presented with one, they might be left empty-handed. That game has apparently concluded. Large users of office space are no longer rushing headlong to lock in a good deal. According to data compiled by the commercial brokerage Colliers ABR, while companies in New York City leased 42 spaces of 100,000 square feet or larger in 2006, this year, through November, firms had leased only 29 spaces of 100,000 square feet or larger, a drop of almost 31 percent.