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Palazzo Westwood Village in the heart of Westwood Village of Los Angeles is leasing quickly and expected to be full by the end of the year. A total of 350 rental town homes are now occupied.Retailers have signed on for most of the commercial space along Glendon Avenue. Trader Joe’s and Rite Aid are two anchors. Also scheduled to open this summer are Pastagina, Jersey Mike’s Subs and It’s a Grind coffee.Created by Casden Properties, Palazzo Westwood Village embraces the architectural tradition of Westwood with its Spanish revival design.It has integrated the controversial Glendon Manor, a building considered historically significant,…

As the energy business continues to grow in Houston, Enbridge Energy Partners L.P.– operator of the world’s longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system–have added to their Houston office space at the 1100 Louisiana building with a long-term lease renewal and expansion. Enbridge renewed their current lease of 220,000 square feet and expanded to 264,400 square feet with the addition of two floors. Other terms of the lease were not disclosed.“This was an early renewal and expansion for Enbridge. Given their size, it necessitates being out in the market a little early,” Kyle Kelley, senior vice president with CB Richard…

Tribune Co. has bought eight office properties used by its newspapers around the United States in a like-kind exchange for $175 million from TMCT L.L.C.The transaction will save the media company $24 million a year it would otherwise have paid to lease properties where newspapers including the Los Angeles Times,Newsday, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant have their operations.The company received the option to buy the properties–which total 2.9 million square feet of office space–for $175 million as a result of the 2006 restructuring of TMCT, as CPN reported on Jan. 31. The deal is structured as a like-kind exchange with…

The process of rezoning a nearly 14-acre parcel that is currently home to two retail centers in Colwood, Victoria, Canada progresses to the final stage, thereby paving the way for the development of a high density mixed-use project. League Assets Corp. and Turner Lane Development Corp. are partners on Colwood City Centre, which will cost an estimated $1.8 billion to complete at full build-out.The Colwood City Council presided over the final public hearing on the project (pictured) last night, wrapping up the third step in a four-pronged rezoning process that will allow for the development of retail, office, lodging and…

The proposed merger, officially announced yesterday, of Altus Group Income Fund and Integra Realty Resources will likely be a strong move forward for both parties.  Altus, a dominant international real estate consulting entity, has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire Integra for a consideration expected to consist of cash and equity, according to a prepared statement, with some of the cash raised through bank financing.  Though Altus is somewhat larger, the two firms are roughly similar. Altus has 1,100 employees in 31 offices in 23 Canadian cities and six offices in the U.K. Founded in 1999, Integra…

Vacancy rates in the metro St. Louis office market have actually decreased in the first quarter of 2008, according to a new report by CB Richard Ellis Inc., despite more difficult times in the nationwide commercial real estate market. The area’s industrial market, however, showed a rise in availability rates, according to the report. Metro St. Louis’ overall vacancy was 14.54 percent, down somewhat from the fourth-quarter 2007 vacancy rate of 14.99 percent. The report noted that the South County submarket had the lowest vacancy rate, at 8.87 percent, including a 4.24 percent vacancy rate in the Class A sector….

A report just released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young concludes that the U.S. will fall behind in the global marketplace if it doesn’t invest in modernizing its infrastructure. The report, Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage, evaluates the status of existing and planned infrastructure investment not only in the U.S. but in China, Europe, India, Japan and Europe, as well. According to the study, the federal government has been falling asleep on the job, having created what is now a gap in infrastructural funding that is at least $170 billion. Consequences of the inadequate financing are tangible. Vehicle…

UDR Inc. has purchased Edgewater Luxury Apartments, a 193-unit multi-family community in San Francisco, for $115 million from Urban Housing Group. Built in 2007, Edgewater features a mix of one- and two-bedroom units along with a limited number of loft units. The sale represents $595,855 per unit. Located at 355 Berry St., between Fifth and Sixth streets, the 157,200-square foot, six-story apartment building is within walking distance of AT&T Park, the San Francisco Caltrain station and light rail stations.   The Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco—where Edgewater is located–was recently named the country’s leading apartment market in Marcus & Millichap…

SL Green Realty Corp. and Hard Rock International have submitted a proposal to revitalize the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, N.Y., by developing and operating a mixed-use entertainment complex that includes racing, gaming, restaurants, retail and hotels. Financial information about the project will not be disclosed until after the venture completes its presentation to New York State later this week or next. Known for its Manhattan office and retail portfolios, gaming and entertainment is a new direction for the company. “SL Green has a history of successfully implementing real estate investment strategies that take it into new directions while capitalizing…

In an exclusive announcement to CPN today, The Tetra Cos. unveiled plans for the Crescent Centre, a 300-acre mixed-use development in Hardeeville, S.C. The Crescent Centre will be a $300 million dollar retail, commercial and lifestyle center. The site provides 2 million square feet for hotel, retail and commercial parcels, along with 320 multi-family units. Tetra estimates that the construction will be completed by 2014. The 300-acre site, acquired in January 2007, has direct access from Highway 17 and one mile of frontage on I-95. Hardeeville is centrally located fifteen minutes from Hilton Head, S.C. and Savannah Ga. The city has been…