The Villager reports that two large buildings are up for grabs in the Lower East Side, and developers are on the prowl.  A clothing store, a nightclub, and a private school have been suggested for the space in question, about 22,000 square feet of space combined on essex and Ludlow streets. Previously used for public storage, the buildings hit the markets in recent weeks.

These buildings in the LES are not the only ones of its kind. The Villager reports that in recent years, Manhattan’s available sublease space has increased by 50 percent. New York-based FirstService Williams says that this is the highest amount of sublease space in more than three years. And this flood of sublease spacing is shooting up vacancy rates. Many companies are vacating spaces and downsizing  during these tough times. And with the economy, space availability rates are expected to rise.