by Calculated Risk on 7/06/2009 09:27:00 PM

Stop me if you've heard this story before ...

From V. Dion Haynes at the WaPo: Local Office Vacancies Soar, Driving Down Rent

The office vacancy rates in the District, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland rose substantially in the second quarter, forcing building owners to push down rents to fill empty space ...

The result is that the vacancy rate rose to 10.2 percent in the second quarter from 8.5 percent in the first quarter in the District, to 13.9 percent from 12.9 percent in Northern Virginia; and to 13.9 percent from 13.1 percent in suburban Maryland.

And in Chicago, from Crain's Rising vacancies, distress in suburban office market

Almost one-fourth of the 96 million square feet of office space in the suburbs is now vacant ... The rising vacancy rate, which has soared to 24.3% from 19.8% two years ago ... While rents overall haven’t dropped dramatically, down just 2% for the year, landlords are upping tenant improvement allowances and offering lots of free rent.