While numerous United States and Europe-based hotel companies have made expansion into Asia a central part of their growth strategies, some Asian hoteliers are focused on expanding their presence in the Americas as well as other parts of the world. Hong-Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts continues to grow in Asia, particularly China and India. But the luxury hotelier has also targeted the Middle East, opening the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2003. The company now owns four hotels in the region.“Our development philosophy is to select locations which will allow us to showcase the brand in markets…

Place Properties L.P., a privately-held real estate development firm headquartered in Atlanta, announced the opening of its first five off post military housing communities for soldiers, contractors and local civilians. The communities are at Texas’ Ft. Hood (pictured) and Ft. Bliss, Georgia’s Ft. Benning and Ft. Stewart, and Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. A sixth community is underway at Ft. Campbell in Kentucky. These new Independence Place communities represent more than $300 million of private investment to develop apartments for soldiers who are obliged to live off post because the on post barracks are full or obsolete. As explained to CPN…

Cornelius Bromont L.L.C. has completed the acquisition of 104 acres in Cornelius and the surrounding Mecklenburg County, N.C., that will be the site of the mixed-use Village of Lake Norman. The purchase comes on the heels of action by the Cornelius Town Board last month approving detailed plans for the $516 million development. Those plans for the 104-acre project call for 1.4 million square feet of office, restaurant and retail space, along with two hotels and 400 condominium residences. The project will be built over a six-to-12-year period, depending on demand, and will be located at a new exit to…

Three years after making what was described as the largest residential land deal in Arizona at the time, Newland Communities has bought another 3,000 acres at Estrella in Goodyear, Ariz., for $51 million, or about $17,000 per acre. The San Diego-based developer said today the acquisition was part of its long-term plans to continue expanding the master-planned community of Estrella, located 17 miles outside Phoenix, over the next 25 years. Newland now owns about 12,500 acres in Estrella, which has about 5,000 acres already developed. “For the long-term, the Phoenix market is forecasted to continue with strong population and job…

Since the day in 1962 when its design was unveiled, Boston’s City Hall has been both admired and detested, loved by the architectural community and history aficionados and hated by many others, including a succession of Boston mayors. Described by one detractor as “a heavily muscled, thick-fingered, knuckle-dragging, semi-monstrous intransigent brute with a slow stupid stare,” the building belongs to an architectural style known as Brutalism, which celebrates rough textures; angular, blocky shapes; and exposed concrete. The building received an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1969, yet in 2004 the Project for Public Spaces named Government…

It’s official. Just one week after news emerged that New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s deal with Tishman Speyer for a proposed $1 billion redevelopment of Manhattan’s Hudson Yards had collapsed, the MTA has awarded a joint venture consisting of Related Cos. and Goldman Sachs the developments rights for endeavor. The project involves the development of airspace over sites that comprise the Eastern Rail Yard and John Caemmerer Rail Yard–the Western Rail Yard. In a prepared statement, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg alluded to the failed negotiations with Tishman Speyer, saying, “Despite the setbacks of the last few weeks, we…

For the next six to 12 months, expect a “touch and go” economy demanding caution and opportunity in the retail real estate sector. That was the perspective offered by Hessam Nadji, head of research for Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, to several hundred real estate professionals at the Renaissance Las Vegas hotel yesterday afternoon. The firm presented its annual mid-year economic and retail outlook in conjunction with RECon, the International Council of Shopping Centers’ convention, which concludes tomorrow. Promising to offer a balanced view at a time when “fact-based information often gets lost,” Nadji said that total store…

Nelson Rising has taken over as president & CEO of Maguire Properties Inc., the Los Angeles-based REIT known for its high-profile office properties in Southern California and Los Angeles in particular. Robert Maguire (pictured), the company’s current chairman & CEO, stepped down from the company’s board of directors and accepted the title of chairman emeritus. At the same time, Maguire, who founded the company, informed the board that he has withdrawn his proposal to acquire control of the firm, a move that perhaps marks the end of a storied real estate career. Maguire founded Maguire Partners, the REIT’s predecessor, in…