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The reports of retail real estate’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. That was the consensus of a panel of major retail property owners at the Deutsche Bank 2008 Real Estate Outlook Conference this afternoon, moderated by Louis Taylor, a managing director of the bank.Taylor kicked the panel off by describing the reports of gloom he¹s seen in recent weeks regarding retailers and the real estate industry that they support, because of a consumer-led recession on the horizon. “One research firm said recently that retail is going to get killed,” he said. “We’re here today for the views of the people…

Have you ever finished listening to an explanation from a purported subject matter expert only to wonder what it was they just said? It has been my experience that the more vague, general, or ambiguous an explanation, the less command of the subject matter the person doing the explaining likely possesses. It is one thing to toss around the latest buzz-words, but it is quite another thing to actually know what they mean and have the ability to correctly apply them. In today’s column I’m going to reveal the tricks of those who practice what I call “the black art…

Houston’s Energy Corridor office market is among the dominant areas of the region for new office construction and Dow Chemical Company plans to move its Houston Dow Center and Memorial Plaza operations into one of the larger new projects in the works. Financials were not disclosed. The company is expected to move into the new building – the Plaza at Enclave, a six-story, 344,053-square-foot building at 1254 Enclave Parkway – in September. The Plaza at Enclave is among some of the largest new office construction projects in the growing Energy Corridor of Houston, according to a Grubb & Ellis Office…

FirstCal 3, a joint venture between First Industrial Realty Trust’s Strategic Land and Development and the California State Teachers’ Retirement Pension Fund, CalSTRS, has acquired a 261-acre site near DuPont, Wash. The deal is the third major acquisition announced by the pair this year. The site is located near I-5, which serves all the major cities in the area including Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Portland. The development, First Park Northwest Landing, is now in its initial stages for entitlements. The motivations for the project stem from the projected growth, both of population and port activity in the region, according to…

Just a few days after bringing former Amgen executive Richard Nanula onboard as a principal, Los Angeles-based private investment firm Colony Capital L.L.C., according to reports by various New Jersey media outlets, has offered to acquire Atlantic City’s Tropicana Casino & Resort for $850 million. The bid is one of many that have come to the fore within the last month. Nanula brings to the table six years of experience as a leader at Amgen, where he held the roles of executive vice president & CFO, and took the lead on financing, corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions activities. He…

Las Vegas-based gaming and entertainment company MGM Mirage and U.A.E. investment holding firm Dubai World, which owns approximately 19.5 million shares of MGM Mirage common stock, have revealed pans to join forces in a cash Dutch auction tender offering of as many as 10 million shares of MGM Mirage common stock. The stock will carry a price between $75 and $80 per share.  At last count two days ago, there were about 293.8 million shares of issued and outstanding MGM Mirage stock. While MGM Mirage and Dubai World are putting a portion of their stock holdings up for grabs, majority…

The planned World Jewelry Center in Las Vegas has moved a substantial step forward with the completion of all local approvals. The Las Vegas City Council has approved the Disposition and Development Agreement, Owner Participation Agreement and related documents, allowing the Jewelry Center to proceed as part of the master-planned 61-acre Union Park redevelopment in Downtown Las Vegas, between The Strip and I-15. The multifaceted project will include 800,000 square feet of Class A office condo space, gem-grading labs, educational facilities, and meeting and exhibition space. In addition, the tower’s top seven floors will feature 20 to 25 luxury residential…

Development of industrial and retail properties may remain stable or slow a bit in 2008, but five top officials of companies in those sectors say growth will be strong in Mexico this year as well as in Europe, China and Japan.The executives made their comments during a panel discussion this morning at Deutsche Bank’s 2008 Real Estate Outlook Conference at The Grand Hyatt in New York City. Responding to questions from moderator Louis Taylor, Deutsche Bank managing director, and the audience were: Gene Reilly, president of AMB Property Co.; Michael Brennan, CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust; David Henry, vice…

In what’s presumably the biggest office lease so far in 2008–and likely to still be one of the biggest at year’s end–marketing and advertising giant Ogilvy has signed a lease for the entire 11-story, 564,800-square-foot building at 636 Eleventh Avenue on Manhattan’s West Side. The building, completed in 1913 and originally a chocolate factory, will become home for all of Ogilvy’s New York–based companies, including Ogilvy & Mather Advertising. Ogilvy expects to move into the building in 2009.A spokesperson for The Hakimian Organization, the building’s owner, along with Peykar Brothers Realty and Gorjian Properties, said that Hakimian had bought the…

In the wake of market-spanning questions of the viability of debt loads held by major real estate ownership entities–with Centro as a poster child for owners struggling with the problem–Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. has unveiled a “capital roadmap” for the new year and 2009 as well. The document was filed as an 8-K with the SEC, which is used to “announce major events that shareholders should know about,” according to the agency.”Refinancing properties every five years or so is a normal part of our business,” Timothy Goebel, GGP’s director of investor relations, told CPN this afternoon. “CMBS lending has…