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Solidere International announced it will build a $63 billion mixed-use development, Al Zorah, in Ajman, United Arab Emirates. Al Zorah (pictured) will be a self-contained, master-planned city, containing residences, offices, retail, schools, hospitals, a championship golf course, marinas and five-star resort hotels. The development will cover approximately seven square miles. Of the area to be developed, residential buildings will make up 52 percent; offices will make up 22 percent; retail will make up 8 percent; and warehouse storage and infrastructure the final 7 percent. Other amenities include a retail mall; an equestrian center; jogging and horse trek tracks; hospitals and…

As part of a recapitalization deal, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity group co-founded and controlled by Jeffrey Neal will take a controlling interest in GVA Advantis, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate services company. In addition, GVA Advantis, which has 15 offices across the Mid-Atlantic states and the Southeast, will now be headquartered in Washington, D.C. Neal is the new chairman of GVA Advantis, and Richard Pogue, former president of Koll Northern California and chairman of CBRE’s Canadian operations, is the new CEO. GVA Advantis employs about 400 people, leases and manages more than 30 million square feet of commercial facilities,…

Few things in business are as costly and disruptive as unknowingly having the proverbial revolving door for employees from which to exit. While there are many secondary and tertiary items that can influence an employee’s decision to leave, in this week’s column I’ll address the one single factor which constitutes the overarching reason that drives a person’s decision to leave their employer.Let me begin by stating that no company in the world has a 100 percent retention factor if measured over any meaningful length of time. It is also particularly true that today’s global business climate creates a “grass is…

Barceló Crestline Corp. has acquired 17 hotels in Virginia and North Carolina. Barceló Crestline, the parent company of Crestline Hotels & Resorts Inc., purchased the properties from Virginia Beach firm Tidewater Hotels & Resorts Inc. The portfolio consists of a total of some 2,400 rooms in 15 hotels In Virginia and two in North Carolina. The purchase also includes a full-service regional laundry facility in Virginia Beach. CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented Barceló Crestline in the transaction. FInancial details of the transaction were not revealed. With this acquisition, expected to be finalized this month, Crestline Hotels becomes the fourth largest…

In one of the hottest industrial submarkets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a joint venture between Dallas-based Jackson-Shaw and Chicago-based ORIX Real Estate Capital breaks ground Wednesday on a multi-phased flex/warehouse project on the borders of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The development (pictured) will consist of nine buildings containing nearly 600,000 square feet of space. Phase I includes five buildings with more than 380,000 feet of space. MYCON General Contractors will handle construction and Dallas-based Stream Realty is responsible for leasing. During the first quarter of 2008, a wave of new construction hit the market as developers added nearly…

Work has gotten underway on North Bethesda Market, a 1.2 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Rockville, Md., about 20 miles from Washington, D.C. The JBG Cos., developer of the $120 million lifestyle center (pictured), is relying on Clark Construction Group to erect the walls and put on the roofs at the multi-structure development. Residential offerings will be the core of North Bethesda Market. Located just a block from a Metro station, the property will feature a 24-story tower with approximately 200 units and a six-story apartment building featuring 210 units. The site will also give rise to a significant amount of…

Testifying before the Senate Committee of Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs yesterday, Federal Reserve Bank vice chairman Donald Kohn offered some indications of improvement in the U.S. banking sector, but on the whole painted a somber picture of the short- to mid-term outlook for the industry. Banks have been responding to the economic turmoil touched off by the subprime meltdown last year, he said, but not enough yet. “Over the coming months, we expect banking institutions to continue to face deteriorating loan quality,” Kohn told members of the committee. “House prices are still declining sharply in many localities and losses…

The worldwide REIT movement offers vast potential, but cultural gaps continue to present hurdles to true globalization of the industry. That was the perspective offered by an expert panel in New York City this afternoon at the concluding event at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trust’s annual REIT Week forum for investors. After a difficult period marked by declining stock values, the outlook for REITs is brightening, several panelists told an audience of several hundred at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. “We still see some very positive light at the end of the tunnel,” noted Jack Foster, managing director &…

Lock up all your financing needs now, advised Ken Rosen during NAREIT’s REIT Week, because the U.S. economy’s performance is likely to grow worse before it grows better. Rosen, chairman of Rosen Real Estate Securities L.L.C., offered a somewhat negative view on the nation’s economy during a spotlight on the State of the Economy that also featured Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist & co-head of global economics for Morgan Stanley & Co., and was moderated by AvalonBay Communities Inc. chairman & CEO Bryce Blair. Berner offered a somewhat more positive outlook, with an outlook for a slightly stronger 2009, although…

Internet high-flyer Google Inc. will develop a new high-tech campus at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. The 40-year lease, valued at at least $146.4 million, is for a 42-acre campus that will include up to 1.2 million square feet of office and R&D space.