News

Starwood Capital Group has joined forces with Pearl Dubai FZ L.L.C. to develop the Baccarat Hotel and Residences at the sprawling $4 billion Dubai Pearl mixed-use development in Dubai. The project will cost $680 million to complete. Starwood Capital’s partner on the Baccarat project Pearl Dubai FZ, is a consortium of investors led by Al Fahim Group, and is behind the development of the behemoth Dubai Pearl endeavor, which sits within the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone adjacent to the Palm Jumeirah. The Baccarat Hotel segment, carrying a development price tag of $408 million, will consist of 500,000 square…

CBL & Associates have announced plans for an expansion of CoolSprings Galleria, a 1 million-plus-square-foot shopping center in Nashville. The firm plans to develop an expansion to be named The District at CoolSprings Galleria. The developers envision the new construction to add 200,000 square feet of retail, entertainment, and restaurant space in an open air environment. Features of the plans also include new walkways and landscaping on the property. The first phase of development on the project is expected to be completed in 2011. This development is the latest in a series of enhancements CBL has made since CoolSprings Galleria…

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority has completed its new 300,000-square-foot gaming and entertainment complex at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wiles-Barre, Pa. The authority shelled out $208 million to realize the project. With construction activity complete, Mohegan Sun has an additional 55,000 square feet of gaming space, 7,000 square feet of retail space, entertainment venues, a bevy of new restaurants, an expanded food court and auxiliary parking accommodations. Both the retail and dining elements feature national chain destinations that are highly coveted in the area, including Brookstone and Ruth’s Chris Steak House. “We’re marketing ourselves not only to gamers,…

“The good news is that globalization is still fairly new–only a few decades old now,” said Richard Longworth to a packed room in Downtown Chicago this afternoon. “The bad news is that the Midwest is already behind on coping with it.” Longworth (pictured), a former economic and foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and current senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, spoke on how the Midwest as a region has been failing to adapt to global economic change in recent decades, and what political, business and academic leaders here can do to help turn the situation around,…

Even in this faltering economy, the outlook for renovation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings seems bright. Historical preservation advocates tout the green advantages of reusing older buildings, and the rising cost of construction materials bolsters their case. And the National Park Service, which oversees the nation’s largest program encouraging investment in historic structures, had a banner year last year. In fiscal 2007, the park service approved 1,045 historic building projects, some involving multiple buildings, under the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit Incentives Program. In the process, the agency leveraged a record $4.34 billion in private investment in such projects….

Shoe Pavilion Inc. and its subsidiary Shoe Pavilion Corp., have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based retailer filed its petition in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California-San Fernando Valley Division and will continue to operate the business as “debtors-in-possession.” The company operates more than 115 stores nationwide, mainly in the West, which will remain open despite the filing. Court filings showed that the retailer had $61 million in assets against more than $25 million in liabilities. Last month, Shoe Pavilion received a notice from the NASDAQ stock market that the company’s stock price…

CPI/Gazit Holdings Ltd., a joint venture involving Tel Aviv-based international real estate investment company Gazit-Globe Ltd. and CPI Austria Holdings Ltd can take the next step in its planned investment of as much as $1.3 billion in Meinl European Land Ltd., now that Meinl certificate holders have given the deal the go-ahead. CPI/Gazit plans to rename the Channel Islands-headquartered real estate investment and development company Atrium European Real Estate. Meinl presently has a portfolio consisting predominantly of retail assets across Central and Eastern Europe. As of the close of 2007, the company owned 162 properties with an aggregate market value…

Technology-related real estate firm Digital Realty Trust has announced the pricing of a public offering of 5,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $38.42 per share, for net proceeds of approximately $183.9 million after underwriting discounts, commissions and estimated offering expenses. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full the proceeds may reach $211.6 million. Digital Realty Trust has granted the underwriters the option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on July 21, 2008. The company intends to utilize the…

Denver-based industrial real estate giant ProLogis is expanding its presence in greater Nagoya, Japan, with the development of a four-story, multi-tenant facility distribution facility totaling about 458,000 square feet (42,500 square meters). The complex, to be called ProLogis Parc Kitanagoya, will be in Kitanagoya City, a suburb of Nagoya, and will be completed next year. Though less-well known outside Japan than the urban centers of Tokyo and Osaka, Nagoya–on the Pacific coast of the main Japanese island of Honshu, roughly between Tokyo and Osaka–is an important domestic and international distribution hub, according to ProLogis. The metro Nagoya population is about…

Marcus & Millichap has announced the listing of a 74-unit multi-family complex in San Francisco. The Clay Park Towers, located at 1890 Clay St., is currently listed at $39.95 million, a price of about $540,000 per unit. The 10-story building is located on approximately one-fifth of an acre in the city. Around half of the units in complex are one bedrooms, and 40 of the 74 units are fully furnished. The building operates as a short-term corporate rental property, with minimum stays of 30 days. The seller, Lembi Group, retained the services of Marcus & Millichap to handle the sale…