The Woolworth Building's tenant list (above) and section (right).

RENT con't The majority of office towers in every period have been speculative buildings, not corporate headquarters, and most office space in central business districts has been, and still is, rented by the room, suite, or floor to small or medium-sized tenants. The terms speculative or competetive, refer to buildings erected as rental properties and real estate investments. Office space is a commodity, subject to market forces of supply and demand and to the characteristic cycles in real estate of boom and bust. When there are high vacancies in a district, for whatever reasons - overbuilding, recession, relocation, or downsizing - rents fall. This situation concerns both landlords and the city government, since tax revenues are affected; in the long view, however, lower rents allow new businesses and uses to develop, as is happening today in Lower Manhattan. back