In a city that has grown 44 percent since 2000, Houston-based Raymond R. Betz Interest Inc. acquired a 24-acre parcel along the busy State Highway 96 in the Houston suburb of League City, Texas, with plans for retail and office development. Financials in the deal were not disclosed. The land is situated across the street from an 84,000-square-foot Kroger Signature Store and is near the site approved for a 135-acre Education Park on South Shore Boulevard that will include an elementary, intermediate and a high school within the Clear Creek Independent School District. Located at the corner of State Highway…

In a city where almost 20 percent of the residents are 55 or older, the developers of Trinity Terrace Continuing Care Retirement Community in Fort Worth, Texas, have revealed plans to build a second residential high-rise to its campus to join an already sold out tower that is currently under construction.  Financials on the plan were not disclosed. The brand-new River Tower will join the City Tower (pictured), which is currently under construction. The River Tower is being developed by Pacific Retirement Services Inc. (PRS), a national not-for-profit leader in the senior living industry, of which Trinity Terrace is an…

Manhattan’s office market is beginning to show the strain of the capital markets squeeze and economic slowdown, but supply constraints and low overall vacancy are helping keep asking rents steady, according to Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s quarterly analysis. “Leasing activity is down, but it’s not substantially down,” confirmed Joseph Harbert, COO for Cushman & Wakefield’s New York City metropolitan region, during a briefing this morning. Harbert disclosed that 5 million square feet of office space was leased during the first quarter, an 8 percent dip from the first quarter of 2008. Vacancy inched up from 5.7 percent at the end…

The 350-acre Southern California Logistics Centre, in Victorville in California’s High Desert, is going green. All future development at the project, which could eventually total 60 million square feet of warehouse/distribution space, will be LEED certified, a spokesperson for Stirling Capital Investments, the project’s developer, told CPN.  The buildings that have already been completed in the development’s first phase, the Global Access Business Centre (two Class A multi-tenant industrial buildings totaling 223,700 square feet) and a 407,600-square-foot bulk distribution facility under a 10-year lease to Newell Rubbermaid, are not LEED certified. Phase one will eventually total 6.5 million square feet….

Denver-based ProLogis and Bahrain-based investment bank Arcapita have formed a 50-50 joint venture to create ProLogis Middle East, which will develop and acquire logistics warehouse space in most of the Middle Eastern nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council. All together, the JV plans $1 billion property portfolio.Under the terms of the deal, ProLogis Middle East will acquire, finance, develop and manage warehousing properties in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar (five of the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations; the other is the United Arab Emirates). The JV will initially focus on Saudi Arabia and expects to commence construction of…

Nicklaus Design, the golf course design company founded by the famed golfer, has inked a deal with Vancouver-based Royal Indian Raj International Corp. (RIRIC) to create golf courses in India, beginning with one about to break ground near Bangalore. The project is the flagship for RIRIC’s series of new master planned towns, all of which all feature Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses. Other features of the new town near Bangalore will include “luxury elite” housing, a polo ground, and a private school.Nicklaus Design currently has projects under development in 45 countries. The company has been involved with 325 courses open…

NBGP Properties has acquired the Hotel Continental in Belgrade, Serbia from International CG (Genex) for approximately $234.1 million.  Also included in the sale were apartments, business facilities and tennis courts.  In a statement, NBGP Properties said it plans, in concert with Intercontinental Hotel Group, to convert the hotel to a Crowne Plaza.  The hotel has 415 rooms, including 30 suites. Hotel investment in Europe in 2007 fell slightly after a record year in 2006, according to HVS International. Total investment reached approximately $30 billion during 2007, a decline of 7 percent from the previous year. European hotels, though, performed strongly…

The sale of the final portion of SunTrust Bank Portfolio II, a sale-leaseback transaction with SunTrust Bank, to Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc., has closed  The overall SunTrust portfolios add up to 433 triple-net lease properties with more than 2.2 million square feet for an approximate price of $736 million. The final portion of SunTrust Bank Portfolio II consists of 143 single tenant triple-net lease properties for approximately $230 million. This portion of the SunTrust Bank Portfolio II completes the purchase of 215 triple-net lease properties from SunTrust Bank for a total price of $361 million. The total portfolio transaction…

Trump Entertainment Resorts is exploring opportunities to sell one or more of its casino hotel properties. A company statement said that Trump Entertainment Resorts is focused on operating and improving performance at all of its casino hotels, as well as completing the new tower at Trump Taj Mahal. “The company also looks at opportunities to sell one or more of its casino properties, and, from time to time, engages in discussions with third parties regarding proposals to acquire company properties,” the statement said. The statement said Trump Entertainment Resorts “is not party to any agreement to sell any of its…