The streets of Belltown are lined with tall apartment buildings, splashed in muted Northwest greens and browns. Large windows let the light from Elliott Bay sunsets peek through the carefully landscaped courtyards into pricey apartments. But many of these dream units are empty.

Nearly every new apartment complex has a sign out front inviting prospective tenants in to take a peek. The McGuire Apartments, at Second and Wall, secured a massive "RENT NOW" banner to the 25th floor of the building in December. Other buildings boast the prospect of moving in "today!"

While Central King County vacancy rates have certainly increased (the 5.3 percent vacancy rate in September 2001 represents a 152 percent jump since September 2000), it's much worse in Belltown. Property managers estimate the Belltown vacancy rate is close to 30 percent, counting the recently opened buildings. And the rate is still nearly 15 percent if you don't count the buildings less than a year old. In September 2000, Belltown vacancy rate was 2.5%.

Most property managers and real estate analysts blame the steep vacancy rates on too many new high-rise apartments, the economic downturn, and lots of Seattle residents losing jobs. Many of the dot-commers who colonized Belltown during the economic boom have left, and new tenants have been hard to come by.

Now the neighborhood's property owners and managers are doing all they can to lure people downtown and get tenants into their buildings. They are offering deals and incentives unheard of a year or two ago; Belltown has become a renters' market.

The market has shifted so much that a coalition of 18 downtown and Belltown property owners has formed in the last two months--pooling $25,000 a month for upcoming radio ads and a website, www.rentdowntownseattle.com--to entice more people.

"We're all suffering the same thing downtown, lack of rental traffic," says coalition founder Michael Brien of TriMet Development LLC--which operates Tower@801 on Pine Street, currently 30 percent vacant. The hope is that more apartment hunters visiting Belltown will mean more signed leases.

Patricia Boulet at Kauri Investments says property managers are "bending over backwards" to get leases signed. "It's definitely a time for renters to shop more and get the best deals," she says.

Those deals include everything from $200 to $500 off a month's rent to cheaper deposits, and even rent-free months when tenants sign a longer lease. And Boulet says rents have fallen: For her company, some apartments that were $900 last year are now $800.

Nearly every apartment in Belltown offers some sort of rent deal, so properties are trying to get an edge by offering creative gimmicks: things like "Retro Rents" at 2300 Elliott--rates reminiscent of the pre-dot-com era--to packages that offer everything from a latte a day to twice-monthly housekeeping service for the length of the lease at McGuire Apartments.

"Discount mania has set in," Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors said in their December 2001 report.

Renter Paul Ohlhaut saw plenty of deals when he was apartment hunting in January. Out of curiosity, he called about one pricey Belltown penthouse.

"The woman I talked to was very anxious to get me in there," Ohlhaut says. "After I started waffling a bit on making an appointment to see the place, she said they were running this special for free two-hour parking on weekends around town." He eventually signed a nine-month lease on a downtown apartment, in exchange for one month free--and his new building is offering $100 for every new tenant he refers.

While there are deals to be had, few are biting. In fact, on a recent Saturday, Belltown was devoid of prospective renters. Brien and the property owners' coalition hope their ad campaign will turn the situation around. "[Belltown] is where the newer, larger buildings are," Brien says. "They need the help."

amy@thestranger.com