National news weekly U.S. News & World Report in today's issue names Tacoma as one of the metropolitan areas most endangered by a possible collapse of commercial real estate markets.

"Like housing, commercial real estate goes through booms and busts, and the coming wipe-out is likely to be a doozy," reads the report. "Commercial developers went on their own spending spree earlier this decade, racing to cash in on the hot economy with new office towers, hotel complexes, and retail projects."

Research for this article considered data provided by REIS, a real estate research firm, looking at today's vacancy rate in commercial, office and industrial properties and what is projected for next year.

Analysts point to a 2010 vacancy rate of 13.6 percent, up 5.8 points from current status. And the report, as often happens when the writer has not visited the location before writing an article, identifies some spurious causes:

"Shipments are down at the city's port, one of the nation's biggest, which has left warehouses vacant and hammered the many area businesses that depend on trade. And many of the region's most prominent companies, including Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, and Washington Mutual—taken over last year by JPMorgan Chase—have been laying off workers, helping push Tacoma's unemployment rate higher than the state average."

Most South Sound residents realize that corporate giants mentioned above keep their headquarters in King County, though there certainly are some job impacts to the greater Tacoma marketplace. Seattle did not make this publication's list.