Office space was stagnant at about 34 million square feet from 1991 to 2006, because the slowdown coincided with the sale of the city's biggest banks and the loss of more than 10,000 financial jobs to merger cutbacks.

This time, it's the suburbs that are feeling the financial industry's pain, Wayne Fisher, director at commercial broker Grubb & Ellis Co., said after sharing data yesterday with about 200 real estate pros in a conference at the Union League.

Horsham and the Marlton area were centers of the subprime-mortgage business, and offices went vacant as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., IndyMac Federal Bank and AIG's Wilmington Finance Inc. closed in central Montgomery County. Similarly, Equity One Inc., Cendant Corp. and IndyMac left vacant space in South Jersey as mortgage lending dried up, according to Fisher's data.

By comparison, Center City is relatively healthy, Fisher said, with long-term corporate and law-firm leases still in force and little new space to be discounted.

Winding down

Some work will move to a second plant, in Ebensburg, Pa., near Johnstown, that employs about 300.

"Everyone's moving to bigger turbines," said Gamesa spokesman Michael Peck, confirming the layoffs. "We've been making the G-80 model in Fairless Hills since we landed there in 2006. That has a light blade," he said. "We're moving to models that require a lot bigger" workspace. Gamesa is also stopping work on turbine towers it builds in Fairless Hills.

Some of the jobs may be replaced, he added. Gamesa is negotiating for another company to build towers at Fairless Hills, and it will step up production of other windmill parts at the site. Pennsylvania has "invested" $15.2 million in Gamesa, said Rendell spokesman Michael Smith. Gamesa's Peck said the company wouldn't have to give any of the money back because it created more jobs than the state required.

Uninsured

Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario got a Commonwealth Court order to take over Penn Treaty Network America Insurance Co. and its affiliate American Network Insurance Co., because the Allentown company couldn't raise money fast enough to cover the $47 million gap between its investments and its $1 billion in long-term health-care policy liabilities.

The state will pay claims for 126,000 long-term health-care policyholders. "We gave Penn Treaty time to find a buyer, but it has been unable to raise enough capital," Ario said in this statement.

Last month, the companies' publicly traded owner, Penn Treaty American Corp., said it was close to a deal with unnamed investors that would let it reorganize the business, and it predicted the insurance units would go into rehabilitation. But the state isn't promising that the company will be able to regain control. "We're going to see if rehabilitation is feasible," said insurance department spokeswoman Roseanne Placey.

Otherwise, the company will be liquidated, and the shortfall will likely be financed by payments from other, more-solvent insurers and consumers. Penn Treaty had no comment.

Dow delay

If the deal is late, Dow could have to pay Center City-based Rohm & Haas $100 million a month under terms of the sale. One hundred million dollars "is not a huge amount of money," Liveris told FT. "It will not be a big deal."

Dow had hoped to help finance the deal with $9 billion from an investment by Kuwait, instead of taking on expensive bank loans. But that deal fell through, and now Liveris is looking for substitute investors.

"News of our demise has been greatly exaggerated," Liveris said. "We will have no trouble finding a new date for the dance." He wouldn't comment on cutting the $78-a-share sale price.