And finally, 2009 grinds to a finish. But was it really all that bad? It's hard to remember. We started the year on the cusp of Great Depression II, and we end shooting out of recession — heck, we didn't even lose many jobs last month. 2009 is dead; long live 2010. And just when you were sure (because everyone said it was so) the commercial real estate market was going to come crashing down, you see a report "warning" of an impending commercial real estate rebound. Hey, long live the commercial real estate market — which is perhaps an unintended subtext of this odd year's last download, From Boom to Bust to Opportunity: The Effect of New Market Realities on Real Estate Contracts, by Jonathan L. Mechanic (Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP). Since the hallmark of this economic mess was real estate, it's as good a way to close out '09 as any other.

While Mechanic thinks the jury is still out on the commercial real estate market, he writes, "We are beginning to see a new wave of transactions, however, as opportunistic investors seek to take advantage of the new world order. It is finally the purchaser's turn to hold the reins and negotiate real estate investments on its terms." His piece highlights the type of deals that are getting done in the current market, offering "a glimpse of what is to come as distressed sellers adjust their pricing expectations and opportunistic purchasers gain comfort that prices do not have much further to fall." Thus, "[t]hose poised with cash on hand or available financing stand to benefit from depressed prices and new leverage vis-à-vis sellers, which marks a 180-degree turn from the state of the market only two to three years ago." But "new opportunities for investment are not limited to the property acquisitions discussed above, and may take other forms from preferred equity interests in property owners to mortgage or mezzanine debt." The bottom line? A paradigm shift from buyer to seller. And Mechanic focuses on "how the shift in bargaining power will impact core contract provisions," as well as the particular contract provisions that will be driven by the new market. So that's it — Toolbox will be back in a couple weeks, and if not, it means I've bought an office building. 2009 is dead; long live 2010.