The $20 billion World Trade Center rebuilding is well on its way, as physical work on the site ramps up and the ball is passed to the design and construction industry, site executives announced at the New York Building Congress Luncheon Forum, held today at the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park, Manhattan. “We have accomplished a great deal since September 11, 2001, but more still has to be done,” said Richard Anderson, president of the Building Congress, who opened up the discussion. The World Trade Center site has arrived at a pivotal and exciting moment in the rebuilding effort, as the…

With an array of large casino hotels lining Atlantic City’s Boardwalk, a new non-gaming, boutique hotel is set to debut in the seaside gambling mecca. As reported on CPN on Feb. 13, Cape Advisors, Inc. will open the Chelsea, a 330-room hotel that will not house a casino, this summer. Curtis Bashaw, principal of Cape Advisors, talks about the new hotel, and the continuing evolution of Atlantic City. CPNHospitality: Why did you decide to build this hotel? Bashaw: We are used to developing hotels in a seasonal environment. Also, Atlantic City has added new attractions over the last five years….

Retail REIT Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. announced plans today for an upscale outlet shopping center at the site of the old Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, soon to be the fomer home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. At the end of the 2008 season, the Cowboys will move to a new stadium in neighboring Arlington, leaving about 400 acres of land available for redevelopment. Tanger’s announcement makes it the first major project planned for the Texas Stadium Redevelopment Area. The new, 380,000 square foot Tanger center (pictured) will be located at the northwest quadrant of…

First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. has closed on the purchase of a 134-acre site west of Orlando, Fla., that will be developed as First Park Groveland, a warehouse/distribution center.  The project is a joint venture with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the nation’s second-largest public pension fund. David Murphy and Kevin Hoover of CB Richard Ellis Inc. assisted First Industrial on the transaction. First Industrial did not disclose the terms of the purchase. Robert Krueger, Tampa-based regional director for First Industrial, told CPN that the company envisions a buildout of about 1.5 million to 1.7 million square feet over…

Kane Realty Corp. and Duke Realty Corp. have broken ground on a 17-story mixed-use development in Raleigh, N.C. The 300,000-square-foot building, mostly office but also with a 28,000-square-foot retail/restaurant component, is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2009.CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, an investment firm, will relocate its headquarters to the top two floors of the building–a total of 51,000 square feet–when it opens. Plans call for the building to be named after anchor tenant CAPTRUST, which has a full-time staff of about 100 employees and five branch locations on the East Coast.In addition to CAPTRUST, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak &…

The increasingly sluggish U.S. economy is likely to lead to lower RevPAR for hotels this year, according to PKF Hospitality Research in Atlanta, which changed its 2008 forecast to reflect the steady drumbeat of bad news.The research group said that it has lowered its 2008 forecast for revenue per available room, or RevPAR, from up 4.5 percent to a below-average 3.0 percent because of the declining economic fundamentals. The good news is that the group expects the decline in RevPAR to be short-lived.“When looking at 2008, we believe that the U.S. hotel owners and operators will struggle to grow their…

Ultimate Sports Entertainment Inc., developer of a planned sports-centric mixed-use project in Las Vegas, has committed to being acquired by American Southwest Music Distribution Inc. in a an agreement that will facilitate financing for the $5 billion development.Faced with the negative consequences of today’s challenging lending market, Las Vegas-headquartered Ultimate Sports sought alternatives for financing its 17 million-square-foot project, and for increasing shareholder value. The answer was to sell to West Hollywood, Calif.-based American Southwest and go public. “The capital market loves us, but they still have a loan-to-cost ratio,” Matt Rose, president & CEO of Ultimate Sports, told CPN…

Sixteen years after having chosen Spartanburg, S.C., as the site of its first manufacturing center outside of Germany, BMW Group has revealed plans to expand the facility with the addition of 1.5 million square feet. The automobile company will spend $750 million to complete the project.BMW’s 2.5 million square-foot Upstate South Carolina factory sits off I-85 on 1,150 acres about 30 miles east of Greenville, and 75 miles west of Charlotte, N.C. The expansion plan, designed to accommodate an increase in production from 160,000 units to 240,000 units, will add a 1.2 million-square-foot assembly facility to the site, as well…

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell granted riparian rights to the Trump Tower Philadelphia last Friday, clearing the way for the developer, The Trump Organization, to move forward on the $300 million condominium project located on the Delaware River.  In a prepared statement, Eli Verschleiser, a partner with New York City-based Multi Capital Group, an equity partner in the Philadelphia Trump Tower, said: “The project will now break ground.” The revised schedule calls for construction to begin on the project in November, followed by a grand opening in 2009. A riparian right is the right of a property owner to make use…

Harvard Business School, along with its affiliated India Research Center, has unveiled plans to hold the South Asia Real Estate Seminar in India this summer. Subjects covered in the seminar will include project and corporate finance, development, and real-estate related topics using HBS case studies from various parts of the world.According to the organizers of the seminar, it is being held in response to India’s increasing participation in the globalization of real estate. The seminar will run from June 17 to June 20.”We’re anticipating interest not only from India but from the rest of South Asia, as well as the…