"Not only can tenants get into space quicker, but they're paying less out-of-pocket expenses because the space is already updated. By the time technology companies could move in to the old, antiquated spaces they were looking at their industry was changing. The space was holding them back and they were investing in a lot of the changes. New tenants are the real beneficiaries of the dot-com shakeout," he adds.

In terms of how the shakeout is impacting owners and the new trend toward merging companies to stave off the tough market, he notes, "Owners want credit tenants. Owners are averse to risk. They don't want to deal with high-risk tenants, but they were intrigued by the high rents they could get from these start-ups, but they don't want to risk having someone who won't pay it in the end."

He also says, "An owner has to approve a merger in a sense. The owner has some say in that, looking at the credit of the new tenant. A tenant can't just take all assets out and walk out. At the same time, if the merger will keep the business floating, the owner doesn't want to force the tenant to go out of business. The terms of the lease will dictate what the owner and tenant can or can't do. With all of the Chapter 11 filings, the bankruptcy courts are becoming more involved in determining what the owners will get if anything from these failed companies."

He concludes, "Whatever the market is like today, it will be different a few months from now. That's the way it always is. There's always change. That's the role we play as broker. We are the eyes and ears of the market."