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A huge mixed-use development in a Houston suburb has recently both broken ground and potentially added another major component. The 150-acre WaterLights project, being developed by Historic Real Estate Inc., is under way in the growing Houston suburb of Pearland. WaterLights will rely on customers and tenants generated by the nearby Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical district, with 13 hospitals and two specialty institutions, two medical schools, four nursing schools and schools of dentistry, public health and pharmacy. As of 2006, the center employed more than 75,000 people, including 4,000 physicians and 11,000 registered nurses. Additionally, the center’s…

Jobless claims are at their highest level in 16 years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. For the week ended Nov. 15, initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits were 542,000. The four-week moving average of new jobless claims also rose, from 490,750 last week to 506,500, which was the highest in 25 years. Reports like this week after week are bound to reflect a larger ill wind blowing through the economy, and sure enough the Conference Board reported today that the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators declined 0.8 percent in October, following a 0.1 percent increase in…

Boston-based STAG Capital Partners has initiated STAG Investments V L.P., a fund targeting commitments of $400 million for the acquisition of predominantly high-yield single-tenant industrial properties across the country. The newly launched fund marks STAG’s fifth such investment vehicle, and, as has been the case with the previous four funds, approximately 85 percent of STAG V will focus on industrial properties, with the remaining investments encompassing both flex and office assets. STAG V will have an anticipated buying power of approximately $1.3 billion. Markets across the U.S. will be fair game for STAG V, but acquisitions will not necessarily center…

While Wall Street rebounded Tuesday in another turbulent session as investors rushed back into the market after the Standard & Poor’s 500 index tested a 2003 low, the market for debt used to finance hotels, offices and shopping malls tumbled Tuesday on worries that the long-feared rise in defaults for commercial mortgage-backed securities had begun, possibly ushering in the next phase of the financial crisis, according to the Wall Street Journal. Analysts at Credit Suisse said two big commercial mortgages that had been packaged into securities in the past year were likely to default. The rapid deterioration of these loans…

The bosses of the Big Three automakers, who are facing the prospect of being bosses of the Not-So-Big-Three anymore, came before Congress today to beg, “Please, sir, can I have some more?” As in more loans to stay afloat, besides the $25 billion already committed to retool to build fuel-efficient cars. Congress wasn’t particularly sympathetic. It wants to keep the auto jobs and the industries that depend on the automakers afloat, but isn’t too keen on helping the actual car companies themselves. Whether these conflicting impulses can be reconciled isn’t clear yet.”Their discomfort in coming to the Congress with hat…

Guardian Management L.L.C. has agreed in principle to acquire a 4,000-unit multi-family portfolio from Atherton-Newport Investments (ANI), a firm that filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in January. Guardian will carry out the acquisition through one of its investment funds. While terms for the transaction were not disclosed, the Irvine, Calif.-based ANI acquired the apartment developments since its founding in 2001 for some $390 million total. The properties are located in Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Seattle. “They’re all in troubled markets,” Tom Brenneke (pictured), president of Guardian, told CPN. “Some of the properties are working; some are not. This is…

The Federal Deposit Insurance Co. is temporarily taking 200,000 square feet of office space at 40 Pacifica Place in Irvine, Calif., to manage receiverships and to liquidate assets from failed financial institutions, mostly in the Western United States. The government entity, which insures deposits at nearly 8,500 banks and savings associations across the country, will hire non-permanent employees and contractors to staff the office. While financial terms of the agreement were not revealed, the lease is for three years with two one-year options. The FDIC plans to begin moving into the space at the end of year. “The location and…

Just when it seems the latest financial news has hit rock bottom and things surely have to be looking up, another round of bad news sends the market spiraling downward again. News of trendy bargain retailer, Target, stemming new store openings won’t make the commercial property world happy either. Forbes.com reported that Target announced Monday that it would temporarily halt its share repurchase program and reduce its capital spending by $1 billion – including cutting new locations – to conserve capital. The company’s third-quarter earnings fell 23.6 percent after hearing the news, Forbes reported. Citigroup’s CEO said Monday that around…

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair is on the warpath for more aggressive government intervention in the foreclosure crisis, saying today before the House Financial Services Committee that the government is “clearly falling behind the curve” on the issue. Last week, Bair suggested using $24 billion to guarantee millions of modified mortgages, but the Bush administration rebuffed the idea. This week, she brought up the idea again while testifying before the committee. Various key members of Congress also piped up in favor of some form of the idea, such as Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.), chairman of the committee. U.S….

Historically, hard times signal an increase in gambling, so perhaps the joint venture of MGM Mirage and Asian Coast Development Ltd has eyed and will seize the prize, with the planned $4.2 billion MGM Grand Ho Tram, a multi-property complex that will be located along the shores of the South China Sea, some 80 miles from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.Plans for the Ho Tram strip are to eventually encompass 2.2 kilometers of white sandy beaches, to include five 5-star hotels and to become the largest resort complex in the country. Asian Coast Development Ltd. will supply the financing and…