In general there is a very strong incentive for the landlords/owners of commercial property to keep it empty instead of lowering the rent.

Rent is not generally affected by vacancies.

Interesting proposition. Given that existing leases are not affected, do you mean that owners would rather take a tax loss than potentially be locked into a lower rent?

Many landlords are highly leveraged and reducing the monthly rent by even 10% would reduce the on paper value of the property to such an extent to put the property into negative equity.

Asking for theft insurance prices for a store in the area? No action without reaction. If its not entirely virtual, there must be traces.