Skanska has been chosen as the contractor for Two Kingdom Street, a 13-story, 255,000-square-foot office building in the PaddingtonCentral development in London’s West End.  Work on the project will begin immediately, according to a prepared statement, and is scheduled for completion in January 2010. The contract with Skanska is valued at about $174 million. In addition to office space, the building will include 22,000 square feet of high-end studio space.  According to a January announcement from the developer, Development Securities PLC, Two Kingdom Street will be funded by a joint venture partnership of Morley Fund Management and Quinlan Private. That…

Brown Shoe Co. has decided to bring its operations in Madison, Wis., to its current headquarters location in suburban St. Louis in a move that will pave the way for the development of a new $568 million mixed-use project at the 12-acre home base.Located in the City of Clayton about 10 miles west of St. Louis, the Brown Shoe headquarters site will leave the existing 600 headquarters employees under one roof with 270 Madison staff members, and ultimately, as many as 700 more employees that will fill jobs that will be created over the next several years. In addition to…

The New York City Economic Development Corp. announced that it has selected the Related Cos. to redevelop the 575,000-square-foot Kingsbridge Armory in the Kingsbridge Heights section of the Bronx. The armory, which occupies a full city block, was built between 1912 and 1917, and features Romanesque arches, vaulted ceilings, decorative brick and terra cotta, and large battlement towers. Related’s plans for the structure, The Shops at the Armory, includes destination anchor retail development, coupled with specialty and local retail, restaurants, a cinema and community space. Other proposed features include a recreational facility, catering and banquet space, outdoor open space with…

The 147,900-square-foot office property at 333 Miami Ave. in Miami has been snapped up by Eaton Vance Corp.’s Eaton Vance Management on behalf of an investment fund under its management. The building is valued at approximately $50 million.The seller of the four-year-old property, also known as One Riverview Square, was Rubicon America, which came into possession of the building through a $560 million 14-property office portfolio purchase in July 2006. Sited downtown within view of the Miami River, the property is home to two federal government agencies that occupy the building under long-term leases; an office of the Department of…

The lodging industry will see a record year of capital investment in 2008, according to the latest forecast from PricewaterhouseCoopers.The industry will spend approximately $5.85 billion on capital expenditures in this year, a 6.4 increase over 2007, PricewaterhouseCoopers said. This record level of investment follows a recent trend, as the lodging industry set records in both 2006 and 2007 for capital spending.Setting a record for capital expenditures may seen counterintuitive, as the industry is likely to see weaker RevPar figures this year, as the economy softens. But the new expenditures are a result of some heady years in the hotel…

The disciplines of branding and corporate identity have long been personal passions of mine, and nothing within this genre holds greater fascination for me than the practice of corporate naming. This column is the first in a three part series and will discuss whether corporate naming should be handled as an internal initiative, or whether it should be outsourced to a professional naming firm. Done well, corporate naming can be one of the most powerful assets in a company’s branding arsenal. A great company name can support, energize, and leverage your brand. The right name will also create strong competitive…