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General Growth Properties’ vision for Downtown Columbia, Md.’s renaissance will leave the master-planned community awash in green, the developer recently revealed to a crowd of area residents.Established 40 years ago, Columbia sits about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore. Chicago-headquartered GGP’s details on the extensive environmentally friendly elements that will be incorporated into the Town Center redevelopment endeavor were presented last week at GGP’s headquarters, according to the Baltimore Sun. The sustainable aspects of the project will include green roofs, solar arrays and storm-water management concealed as civic art, as well as preserved wetland areas. Landscape architect Keith Bowers of Biohabitats…

One day during a trip to Arizona in the middle of March, David Jacobstein, a senior retail advisor for Deloitte & Touche USA L.L.P., drove his rental car past a row of furniture stores in Scottsdale. He could almost count the cars sprinkling the acres of ghostly parking lots on the fingers of one hand.The sparse turnout at those Scottsdale furniture stores symbolizes the toll that the consumer spending slowdown is taking on retail expansion and the retail real estate development pipeline. “It hasn’t been shut off, but there’s an enhanced filter that has been put in there,” said Webber…

With the economic outlook remaining a top concern, economists, researchers and investors in U.S. commercial real estate offered their predictions for its performance yesterday at the Urban Land Institute’s Spring Council Meeting in Dallas. Speaking during the luncheon plenary session, “Capital Markets and Investment Trends,” and the opening general session, “Economic Outlook: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going,” the speakers generally agreed that a recession is already underway and predicted a ways to go before recovery comes. Among their key observations: Hessam Nadji (pictured), managing director of research services, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.:…

More pain is in store for the U.S. economy in the coming months, but the commercial real estate market is generally expected to endure less of it, according to economists speaking at the National Association of Real Estate Editors 42nd annual real estate journalism conference in Dallas this morning.James Gaines, research economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, anticipates a significant need for the federal government to bail out banks and other financial institutions to avoid insolvency due to involvement in commercial debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-backed paper—largely relating to the single-family housing market–purchased in the…

U.S. infrastructure is in a sad state, and little is being done to fix the situation, warned Dale Reiss, global and Americas director of real estate for Ernst & Young, during the Urban Land Institute Spring Council Forum opening general session. “The real tragedy is we’re spending money but we’re not really strategically investing,” she warned. Reiss’s observations referenced the report Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage, recently released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young. According to the report, 24 percent of roads are in poor condition, while about 25 percent of bridges are structurally deficient, she noted….

Long gone are the days where the executive leadership of a company can remain sequestered in their offices with an internal focus on hard metrics. It is the soft metrics of customer centricity and employee engagement that will create sustainable growth in revenue and brand equity. In this week’s column I’ll examine the need to have a fully engaged work force.Before you read any further, I want you to stop and ask yourself the following question: How many of your employees are truly passionate about your company, its vision, its mission and the role that they play within the organization?…

Less than a month after announcing two build-to-suit agreements in South Korea, ProLogis Korea Property Fund has acquired approximately 889,000 square feet of industrial warehouse space there for $86.3 million. ProLogis Korea Property Fund is a part of Denver-based Prologis, the world’s largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities. The fund purchased a $31 million portfolio in Milyang City totaling 292,330 square feet, a $38.1 million portfolio in Icheon City totaling 327,000 square feet and a $17.2 million portfolio in Cheonan City totaling 269,560 square feet of distribution space. “We continue to see a growth of global manufacturing and…

The massive redevelopment of rail yards on Manhattan’s Far West Side is in limbo after talks between Tishman Speyer Properties and a local transit agency broke down late yesterday afternoon. The surprise announcement puts in doubt the Metropolitan Transportation Agency’s plan to create a mixed-use community above 26-acre portion of rail yards the agency owns between 30th and 33rd Streets near the Hudson River. In late March, the MTA selected Tishman Speyer’s $1 billion bid to build up to 10 million square feet of office space, 550,000 square feet of retail, 3,000 residential units and 13 acres of open space….

Choice Hotels International Inc. prides itself on its relationship-building efforts. According to francishees, the extra effort is paying off.Take Dave Swift, owner of the 105-key Cambria Suites in Appleton, Wis. The president & CEO of Swift Hospitality Group took a chance on Choice’s new upscale brand, which is geared toward Generation X travelers. Swift believes the brand will find fans among travelers of all ages and has already heard praise from many guest on the all-suites hotel’s design. The Appleton property, which opened in 2007, was the second Cambria Suites to launch. “We get comments from our guests who say…

Growth of global markets is providing an array of opportunities for hotel companies to expand worldwide. And certain pockets are exhibiting particular potential. The United Arab Emirates, for instance, is becoming a hot spot for global hotel development, with a couple of different focuses: “Dubai wants to be the financial center of the Middle East and wants to set itself up as an alternative tourist destination,” said Lodging Econometrics Inc. president Patrick Ford. The emirate has a pipeline of 156 luxury and upper-upscale hotel projects totaling 56,000 rooms. Abu Dhabi, by contrast, has positioned itself as more of a cultural…