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InterContinental Hotels Group, in conjunction with Lane Hospitality, opened the first Crowne Plaza modeled after a new prototype that IHG unveiled in 2006, in mid-March. The new hotel is a 298-room Crowne Plaza Milwaukee-Wauwatosa. IHG wants to increase Crowne Plaza’s presence in a variety of key locations, including secondary suburban markets, airports, and urban markets. Gina LaBarre, vice president of brand management for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, talked about plans for the Crowne Plaza brand CPNHospitality: What elements of this prototype are different from the old Crowne Plaza prototype? LaBarre: This is actually the first Crowne Plaza prototype ever….

In a recent speaking engagement I was talking about the downside of passion and was quickly interrupted with the question: “How could being passionate about what you do ever be a bad thing?” As most people understand, anything taken to the extreme, or in excess, can in fact be harmful. Therefore I thought it might be of value to examine the downside of unbridled passion in this week’s column, so that passion can remain an asset and not end-up becoming a liability for you or your company. Most of the professionals I know would agree with me that passion is…

In the midst of a gloomy economic climate, some top executives offered a cautiously optimistic view of the industry’s prospects Thursday at New York University’s annual REIT conference in Manhattan. “I think the housing crisis, and the sub-prime catastrophe, was the best thing that ever could have happened to the commercial real estate industry,” said Martin Cohen, co-chairman and co-CEO of Cohen & Steers Inc., during the morning keynote address. Cohen explained that the credit squeeze put a stop to the unsound financial structures that threatened disaster for commercial real estate finance. In the absence of high leverage that fueled…

A subsidiary of Hines U.S. Core Office Fund L.P., an investment vehicle of international real state firm Hines, has just taken the 1.4 million-square-foot One North Wacker office property off the hands of a German investment fund operating under the guidance of RREEF. With a sale price of $540 million, the Class A building commanded approximately $386 per square foot.One North Wacker, which the seller owned since 2002, was developed in 2001 by the John Buck Co., and sits in the central business district’s coveted West Loop submarket. The 51-story tower, designed by architectural firm Goettsch Partners, is presently 98…

Nearly four months after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission pulled the casino license from the owner of the Tropicana Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, the commission this week denied a bid to return the title to the unlicensed owner, Adamar of New Jersey.The request had come from Gary Stein, a retired New Jersey State Supreme Court Justice who the commission had named as conservator of the property after ruling Dec. 12, 2007, that the company that owned Adamar, Tropicana Entertainment L.L.C., was not qualified to own a casino hotel in Atlantic City. Once a license has been taken away,…

The details released late yesterday for Madison Square Garden’s proposed $500 million makeover appear to scuttle plans for a $3 billion transit hub in Midtown Manhattan, as well as an $11 billion redevelopment of the surrounding area. Yet the stakes are high, as state and local officials consider the new train station vital to Midtown’s revitalization.   Cablevision Systems Corp.’s decision to overhaul the 40-year-old arena rather than building a new facility would remove the linchpin of the project. Madison Square Garden sits on top of Pennsylvania Station, which would be renovated and expanded as part of the Moynihan Station rail…

Ground has been broken on The Banks, an 18-acre, $600 million mixed-use development on the Ohio River in Downtown Cincinnati.  The initial part of the project’s first phase consists of about 300 apartments and 70,000 square feet of retail and restaurants; construction is scheduled for completion in 2010. A spokesperson for the project told CPN that there is no retail preleasing yet, and that the retail will focus on “eatertainment” and on support retail for the residents.  The Banks’ master developer is Riverbanks Renaissance L.L.C., a joint venture of Carter & Associates Commercial Services L.L.C. and The Dawson Co., both…

Naples-Fla-based Industrial Nanotech’s sales of its patented energy-efficient products continue to grow. Industrial Nanotech products, brought out for industrial use in 2004, provide thermal insulation and a resistance to moisture and mold. The industrial coatings have tiny nano-particles in them that funnel heat waves through maze-like passages to increase insulation value. The nanotech coatings have other advantages: they fight corrosion, mold and moisture. Unlike usual ceramic coatings, the Nanotech coating is thinner as well, ande is actually a water-based acrylic latex, containing the tiny-tunnel-filled particles“Nanotechnology sounds to some people very space-age, like Darth Nader, but we are actually very Mother…

Powermat, an Israeli and New York technology start-up company, and the privately held Japanese developer Denpeki, are collaborating to manufacture an new wireless technology that delivers power directly through surfaces such as mats, counters, tabletops, and walls. The technology would replace electric wiring and open sockets. Appliances placed on the embedded power substrate, such as coffee makers, laptops, or cell phones, will work with energy created by magnetic induction  instead of a directly wired connection. The wireless technology consists of a very thin layer of printed electronics, like wall paper, that can be overlaid, put inside of or integrated into…

Minneapolis-based ADC continues to improve connections in wireline, wireless, cable, broadcast, broadband and enterprise networks around the world, most recently by acquiring LGC, a privately help San Jose, Calif., firm. Noted John Spindler, vice president of product management for ADC, “Enterprises are simply demanding more coverage indoors. First and foremost, the usage of wireless and cellular is quite ubiquitous – even 8 year olds carry cell phones now, and everyone expects them to work wherever they go.”Originally cell phones were intended to be used in cars. Now usage patterns have changed. About 70 percent of all calls are initiated or…