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NorthMarq is adding six new third-party retail assignments to its retail property management and brokerage business in the Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The six properties total 845,000 square feet, and include Calhoun Square in Minneapolis; Southdale Square in Edina; The Shoppes at Oak Park Heights; Plymouth Town Center in Plymouth; Fountain Place in Eden Prairie; and Fischer Marketplace in Apple Valley. Northmarq also announced it has hired new staff to assist with the new assignments. Gayle Siegler, Jim Larson and Ken Seifert will handle the Calhoun Square assignment, while Wendy Aaserud will be working on the remainder of our portfolio. With…

ProLogis has pre-leased approximately 190,000 square feet near Tokyo to Arata Co., a wholesale distributor and third-party logistics provider.Construction on ProLogis Parc Zama I, a five-story distribution facility totaling more than 1.2 million square feet and located in the city of Zama, commenced in April 2008. Arata is expected to occupy the space upon completion in June of 2009.This is ProLogis’ second lease with the company.  Arata currently occupies approximately 129,000 square feet at ProLogis Parc Funabashi in the city of Funabashi, near Tokyo.The city of Zama is a central logistics hub in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, providing convenient access to…

Stocks advanced after the Fed cut a key short-term interest rate to the lowest level on record to a range between zero and 0.25 percent, but the excitement wavered this morning as U.S. stock futures appear to be returning to their dismal status quo today, according to CNNMoney.com. Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley is due to post quarterly results before the market opens with an expected report of big losses on the heels of the  Goldman Sachs deeper-than-expected quarterly loss of $2.1 billion reported Tuesday, the report stated. The Washington Post reported that the loss was its first since going…

Even if the generals have a brilliant plan for victory, wheels still need to roll at the front line if it’s all going to mean anything. In the case of ProLogis, time might still have to tell regarding the warehouse/distribution giant’s recovery strategy, but the ground-level activity seems to be rolling forward much as usual. ProLogis today announced a lease of about 174,000 square feet of new distribution space near Chicago to Canon USA Inc., the maker of copiers, printers, scanners, fax machines and other office equipment. ProLogis noted in a prepared statement that Canon now occupies multiple ProLogis distribution…

Yesterday, it was Goldman Sachs. Today it’s Morgan Stanley, posting a $2.36 billion loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Nov. 30. Much of the loss stemmed from older investments that are still losing money, and reduced revenues unable to balance out these continuing losses, as the company managed to do in previous quarters. The two former investment banks may have the distinction of not being voted off the Wall Street island, but that doesn’t mean they’re making the big bucks they used to. Neither is the hotel business, which proved so profitable in the years following the industry’s…

Hilton Hotels Corp. has unveiled plans to develop 13 Hilton Garden Inns, comprising a total of 2,500 rooms, in Saudi Arabia. The plan will mark the Garden Inn brand’s entry into the Saudi market. Hilton’s partner on the project is Abdulmohsen Al-Hokair Group for Tourism and Development. The first property is expected to open in 2009 in the city of Riyadh. Additional developments will take place over the next five years in cities across Saudi Arabia. Hilton Hotels already operates four properties in Saudi Arabia; three Hilton hotels in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, in addition to the 46-all suite The…

Investors await several economic indicators today including the consumer price index and housing starts data as well as news from the Fed regarding interest rates and the central bank, Reuters reported. The Fed is expected to lower interest rates closer to zero and point toward emergency tools it could deploy to end a year-long recession, the report stated. Goldman Sachs is expected to report a quarterly loss of as much as $2.5 billion, hit by the falling value of many of its investments, the report stated. Apart from Goldman Sachs, companies reporting earnings on today include Adobe Systems and Best…

Though an interest rate cut had been widely anticipated, the Fed made a more extreme move than many had expected today, knocking down its benchmark interest rate to between 0 and .25 percent, its lowest ever level. The markets rallied in the wake of announcement, with the Dow Jones rising about 370 points by late afternoon.The Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index dropped 1.7 percent last month, a new record amount that came on top of October’s record 1 percent drop. It isn’t necessarily a sign of impending deflationary doom, however. Chalk it up to the falling price of energy…

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has closed three new deals, securing a total of $173 million in new financing. Part of the proceeds have been used to repay the $93 million mortgage on Exton Square Mall in Pennsylvania, and another portion will go toward paying off outstanding debts under the company’s credit facility.   The three loans are secured by three separate properties, all of which are malls: Exton Square and Viewmont Malls, both in Pennsylvania, and Francis Scott Key in Maryland. The Exton Square Mall, in Exton Pa., is secured for $70 million. The non-recourse 5-year mortgage loan that…

The labor market will likely continue to struggle in 2009, and as a result, tenant demand for commercial real estate may not “firm up” until 2010, according to Bob Bach, senior vice president & chief economist for Grubb & Ellis Co.The Labor Department said on Thursday that the number of initial job claims soared 58,000 in the week ended Dec. 6, to 573,000, a 26-year high, as companies slash jobs as part of their efforts to survive the economic turmoil. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of jobless claims rose from 526,250 to 540,500.Job creation is a direct driver of demand…