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Ground broke today on phase two of the $75 million mixed-use lifestyle and entertainment center, Shoppes at Surprise Pointe, in Surprise, Ariz. At the groundbreaking, developer Glimcher Ventures Southwest L.L.C., also announced the company’s joint endeavor with Victory Lanes, which will make its debut at Shoppes at Surprise Pointe. Glimcher and Victory Lanes (pictured) will unveil an Arizona roll-out plan for additional venues in the coming months. Phase two of the development consists of 17 acres that will include 125,000 square feet of retail shops, restaurants and entertainment venues valued at $30 million. “As a Surprise resident for over 12…

Among the world’s great headquarter markets, New York City’s Midtown Manhattan ranks tenth for office occupancy costs, according to the latest edition of an annual survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. The report, titled Office Space Across the World 2008, cites New York’s occupancy costs–a combination of rent, taxes, and utility–at an average of about $100 per square foot, a bargain according to Cushman & Wakefield. By comparison, London, which ranked first in the survey, averages $312 per square foot of office space. At $238.58, Hong Kong placed second and was followed by Tokyo ($210.12), Mumbai, India ($166.04) and…

Centro Properties Group, whose fortunes late last year were weighed down by a $3.4 billion mass of short-term debt it was unable to refinance, is reportedly on the verge of winning more time from its creditors to deal with the problem.The debt was mostly incurred when Centro bought U.S. retail assets in 2006 and 2007, especially New Plan Excel, a REIT that specialized in neighborhood and community centers. In December, the Melbourne-based Centro worked out an agreement with its banks to postpone the due date on its debt until Feb. 15–this Friday.As of this morning, a number of news outlets…

The size of the global commercial real estate market is larger than previously thought, with more than $1 trillion in significant property sales across 75 countries and five continents, according to the new Global Capital Trends report released by Real Capital Analytics.  And because RCA only tracks sales greater than $10 million, the total size of the marketplace may be closer to $1.5 trillion, noted RCA founder & president Robert White. RCA is the first independent research firm to report on the global property markets.  Of the cities reported, 114 recorded more than $1 billion of commercial property sales, with…

It’s not necessarily all about rolling the dice in Atlantic City, and Cape Advisors Inc. plans to capitalize on the demand for upscale accommodations with the development of a 332-room hotel that will forego the seemingly requisite casino. The Chelsea (pictured) will be the first non-gaming hotel to be built on the Boardwalk in the last four decades. Cape Advisors has partnered with investor group Normandy Real Estate Partners on the project which, according to construction market information provider BuildCentral Inc.’s database on new construction, is a $93 million endeavor. The Chelsea will sit near the Tropicana Casino & Resort…

Leading multi-family developer The Related Group has joined forces with real estate private equity firm Lubert-Adler to form a $1 billion investment vehicle focusing on the multi-family market in Florida, Related’s home state. The partners will acquire property and mortgages from third-party developers, owners and lenders.  A bevy of real estate assets are up for consideration by the Related/Lubert-Adler investment instrument; everything from existing condominium properties to developable land will be targeted. Working in partnership with Lubert-Adler provides Related with the financial freedom to orchestrate deals on a grander scale.  The decision to focus on Florida stems from the firms’…

The hotel construction pipeline reached a new milestone in 2007, according to Lodging Econometrics. But a record number of hotel rooms may be entering the U.S. market at a time of softening demand. The lodging real estate consulting firm, based in Portsmouth, N.H., said that the lodging construction pipeline stood at 5,438 projects, encompassing 718,387 guestrooms as of the fourth quarter of 2007, breaking the 700,000 barrier for the first time. The lion’s share of the projects are in the upscale tier, encompassing brands such as Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn; and the mid-scale, without food and beverage…

Capital Senior Living Corp., one of the country’s largest operators of senior living communities, has backed out of a deal announced in late December to acquire 32 purpose-built assisted living and dementia care facilities from Hearthstone Senior Services L.P. Initially, Capital Senior Living said the acquisition would increase its resident capacity by about 40 percent. However, after “due diligence and financial analysis,” Capital executives recommended that the company’s board of directors reject the deal because it would not “create demonstrable value” for the company, according to a company release. On Dec. 27, CPN reported that the agreement called for Capital…

Two deals have been struck that will leave GMH Communities Trust under new ownership. The Newtown Square, Pa.-based REIT will merge with American Campus Communities Inc. in a $1.4 billion deal after selling off its military housing division to the U.S. subsidiary of Balfour Beatty Plc for $350 million. The bulk of the money involved in the definitive agreement between specialty housing REIT GMH and Austin-headquartered ACC–which owns, develops and manages student housing properties across the United States–involves the buyer’s assumption of existing debt. ACC will take on responsibility for GMH’s $963 million in outstanding debt, leaving a remaining payment…

SCI Real Estate Investments, a Los Angeles-based tenant-in-common sponsor, has acquired three new properties totaling about 1 million square feet.Each of the three are in different markets, all of which the buyer calls “robust”–Dallas, Greenville County, S.C., and Tempe, Ariz.In Dallas, the company acquired Estancia Townhomes, a 207-unit apartment building in North Dallas. The property features two-, three-, and four-bedroom units with two-car garages and gated entries.The South Carolina property is Verdae Village, a 241,500-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center in Greenville. The property is located adjacent to Verdae Development, a 1,100-acre master-planned project currently under construction, and its tenants include Super…