Between the New York City tax credit bill that passed yesterday and an announcement of a strategic alliance between GE Energy and GAF Materials Corp. to develop solar roofing systems, commercial and residential customers alike now have sweeter incentives to green their rooftops. Building owners in New York City who install green rooftops will now receive a significant tax credit. Under this new law, those who install green roofs on at least 50 percent of available rooftop space can apply for a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000. The credit would be equal to $4.50 per square foot…

URS Corp. has won a major new task order under a previously awarded contract to provide engineering and construction services at bases worldwide for the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, under the Heavy Engineering, Repair and Construction contract. Under the terms of this particular task order, URS will design and build two medical instructional facilities at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The task order has a maximum value of $99.9 million, including about $89.9 million in a base bid plus $10 million in options, over a two year period. The Fort Sam Houston facility will be used for…

Plans have been unveiled for the development of PNC Place, a 365,000-square-foot office building just blocks from the White House, which the builder says will be Washington, D.C.’s greenest office.The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Vornado/Charles E. Smith have formed a joint venture, PNC/Vornado L.L.C., to build the property, which will adhere to LEED Platinum standards. “PNC expects this to be the greenest office building in Washington, D.C., with the added benefit of being in one of Downtown’s most desirable locations,” a PNC spokesperson told CPN today. PNC Place (pictured) will sit at 800 17th Street NW in the…

The United States Sugar Corp. is selling 187,000 acres to Florida for $1.75 billion, Governor Charlie Crist announced yesterday. The South Florida water management district’s proposal aims to restore the agricultural land in order to help preserve the Everglades. The proposal covers almost 300 square miles across four South Florida counties, and would include all of U.S. Sugars property south of Lake Okeechobee, including its cane fields, mill and railroad line. The two sides had been ironing out the logistics of the deal since Crist unexpectedly proposed to purchase U.S. Sugar Corp. at a meeting this past November. “The deal…

Hilton Hotels Corp. has entered into an agreement with Monit Investments, paving the way for the development of the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal. The project will cost $200 million to complete. Carrying the address of 1500 Sherbrooke Street West in the heart of the city’s top retail, restaurant and cultural district, the Waldorf=Astoria Montreal (pictured) will feature 250 hotel rooms and 76 signature Waldorf=Astoria Residences. The 32-story tower will also encompass 15,000 square feet of meeting and event space, restaurants, as well as an upscale spa and fitness center. With the project now in the planning stages, the property…

The New York State legislature has voted to cut taxes on video gaming machines, a move that paves the way for a $1 billion entertainment city and gaming development at the site of the Concord Hotel in Monticello, in Sullivan County, N.Y. State, county, and city officials hope the development will ignite a tourism renaissance in the region. Once the largest of the Catskill resorts, which rose to fame in the mid-twentieth century, the 1,600-acre Concord Hotel fell into disrepair when the popularity of the region faded. In its heyday, the resort attracted thousands of tourists, and entertainers such as…

High energy costs have helped oil and gas companies expand, and a falling dollar has helped boost exports from the Port of Houston, said Jeff Moseley, president & CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, who keynoted this morning’s Houston Property Opportunities Conference, presented by CPN.Moseley noted that his organization is assisting in the creation of 600,000 jobs in the metro area over the next 10 years, and boosting foreign trade by $20 billion over that period. He said that Houston is seeing increased office and hotel development downtown. But he did note that the city does face some challenges, such…