CRIC Capital, a joint venture of Boston-based Corporate Realty Investment Co. and Prudential Real Estate Investors, has closed on a net lease deal involving a 72,000-square-foot to-be-built office and research facility for Amcol Corp. in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a northwest suburb of Chicago.The transaction features a 20-year base lease term. Mortgage financing for the deal was provided by RBS Greenwich Capital.Though this particular deal was fairly modest–$33.5 million–W. Kyle Gore, managing director of RBS Greenwich Capital’s real estate net lease group, told CPN this morning that it augers more net leases deals in the coming months. The state of the…

The remnants of a construction crane that collapsed on Saturday in New York City, killing at least five people, will be sent to a forensics laboratory for testing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today. According to a report on Bloomberg.com this morning, the mayor said the Department of Buildings had looked at the crane the day before the accident because high winds were forecast and they were checking on debris. The forensics test will determine whether the crane experienced a mechanical failure. The 200-foot crane collapsed at 303 East 51st St. destroying adjacent buildings, killing four construction workers and injuring 24…

After years of multi-billion-dollar transactions and mega-developments, much of the commercial real estate sector is beginning to feel the burn as the economy loses speed, jobs disappear and the lending market continues to stifle borrowers, according to the First Quarter 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey. However, the future may not be as grim as some would think.There are exceptions but overall, the national office, retail and hospitality markets are losing steam. Development in suburban office markets, particularly speculative projects, continues despite the fact that leasing activity has declined. The regional retail market is suffering as consumers bull back…

Between the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bolster market liquidity, the President’s acknowledgement that the economy is in the midst of “challenging times” and the acquisition by JPMorgan Chase & Co. of The Bear Stearns Cos. on the cheap, the recent news out of the business world has been bleak. However, if you’re a contrarian, like Houston’s Oxford Funding Corp., then all those things may be good news. On Sunday, the Federal Reserve Board authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to create a lending facility to improve the ability of primary dealers to provide financing to participants in securitization…

While the commercial real estate industry is struggling to bring diversity to the workplace, the need for diversity in leadership positions is even more acute. Accordingly, Colliers International launched its “Women to the Helm” program. “(It) was our first step toward a formal diversity program,” said Paula Johnson, U.S. human resources manager for Colliers Macaulay Nicolls, the largest member company of Colliers International, & Women to the Helm steering committee co-chair. “We want to be proactive when looking at diversity and recognizing its importance and we want to provide equal opportunity to all people at our company.”The program, which was…

For property managers who oversee buildings in many states, dealing with rising energy costs, due to varying energy rates and pricing structures, can present a mighty challenge. “You may be dealing with literally hundreds of vendors,” said Joseph Falci, director of rate analysis and energy procurement consulting for Cadence Network.But Falci says that a giant step toward getting some cost control on energy expenditures is to closely examine all energy bills. “You have to know where you’re spending money, and how much you’re spending,” Falci said. “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”Indeed, energy buyers in some states with deregulated…

It turns out that the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube.com is not just for teenagers, amateur videos, celebrities and music. A group of commercial real estate brokers from Lee & Associates’ Inland Empire Group is trying to get real estate on the popular website’s viewer map as well.Scott Ostlund, a principal in the firm, discovered YouTube while looking at Razor motorcycles online with his young son. He then came across a YouTube video of a young boy riding the motorcycle. “It allowed me to see the product better than the sale brochure,” Ostlund said. “You can see different things people…

Recession – economic slowdown – inflation – tight credit and capital markets…from my perspective it doesn’t really matter what the economy is doing, as a senior executive you are still responsible for creating growth. Tough economic times are no excuse for a lack of performance, and in fact, are all the more reason to focus on catalyzing innovation, change, and growth. In this week’s column I’ll share my thoughts on how to successfully lead your business through an economic downtown. Lagging economic data is not the information you should use to make strategic business decisions. Don’t wait until there is…