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Men's Wearhouse Identifies 145 Stores for Probable Closure
03/12/10
During 2009, Men's apparel retail chain, Men's Wearhouse, opened 6 new, but closed 41 stores. Due to geographic overlap caused by its 2006 acquisition of the AfterHours Formalwear chain, the company has identified 145 stores that it would likely close...

American Eagle Shuttering 28 MARTIN +OSA stores
03/11/10
Pittsburgh, PA-based specialty apparel retailer, American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), is shuttering its MARTIN + OSA banner, including its 28 stores and online business. The company expects to conclude the liquidation of the MARTIN + OSA stores, which...

HHS Leases 114,500 SF in Quincy
03/09/10
The Executive Office of Health and Human Services for Massachusetts signed a lease for 114,451 square feet of office space at HarborSouth Tower in Quincy. MassHealth and other related divisions will occupy floors four through eight at 100 Hancock St....

Thinning Loan Loss Coffers May Restrict CRE Lending
03/10/10
In addition to keeping an eye on declining property values, falling rents and rising vacancy rate numbers, the commercial real estate community is also concerned over ominous signs in banking industry numbers. One big area of concern is the fact that...

Recent Improvement in CRE Liquidity Welcomed, But Loan Maturities Loom Large
03/10/10
Commercial real estate lending has tentatively started to flow, but as any building owner will attest, credit isn't easy to obtain and the onslaught of maturing commercial mortgages is chipping away at the confidence of investors. The challenges to...

NEW PLAYER: Cassidy Turley's Mark Burkhart On Launching a Major New CRE Firm
03/10/10
Eight regional commercial real estate firms that teamed up to become one in January officially launched as Cassidy Turley on March 1. The firms comprising Cassidy Turley include Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers in Washington, DC, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker...

Shopping Center Execs Voice Improving Confidence Despite Major Challenges
03/10/10
The International Council of Shopping Centers' (ICSC) latest Shopping Center Executive Survey showed that shopping center executives' confidence in the present economic situation and expectations for the future, while muted, are better and improving....

Lease Up/Lease Down (Mar. 7-13): UBS Renews, Postal Service Unveils 10-Year Plan
03/10/10
CoStar compiles news of corporate expansions, relocations, extensions, closures, layoffs, lease cancellations and mergers in the weekly Lease Up/Lease Down news report, a concise read keeping you updated on major corporate moves affecting commercial...

Investors Picking Up Unfinished Condo Projects
03/10/10
LeaseFlorida LLC in Miami Lakes, FL, foreclosed on two failed residential condominium projects. In the first deal, Cypress Bay condo project in the Sunset Harbor area of Miami Beach. Cypress Bay was a planned 20-unit with ground floor retail at 1225...

Bank Watch: Building a New Banking Company Out of Distress
03/10/10
One Main Street LLC, a New York-based investment fund, agreed to acquire tiny Liberty Bank Inc. of Salt Lake City. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. One Main Street has filed an application to become a bank holding company with the...

Updated: Pershing Square & Fairholme Capital Offer $3.925B to General Growth
03/11/10
General Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP) announced that a joint venture between Pershing Square Capital Management and Fairholme Capital Management said they would commit $3.925 billion of new equity capital, at a value of $15.00 per share, to facilitate...

In The Pipeline: CoStar Development and Construction News for March 7-13
03/08/10
In this week's edition of In The Pipeline, Forest City's Atlantic Yards mixed-use project is scheduled to finally break ground this week. Meanwhile, another long delayed development project, the Guasti Historic District in Ontario, CA,has begun with...

UBS Renews, Consolidates in Chicago
03/08/10
UBS is extending its stay at One North Wacker Drive in Chicago, also known as the UBS Tower. The Swiss financial services firm has renewed for 400,000 square feet in the office tower, a total of 13 floors. The 10-year lease, set to commence in 2012...

10-Year Plan Indicates Post Office Closures
03/08/10
Faced with a probable $238 billion shortfall over the next 10 years, the United States Postal Service has outlined a new plan to cut costs and return the agency to long-term profitability. The Postal Service's new plan outlined several additional...

CoStar's Retail News Roundup: Mar. 7 - 13, 2010
03/07/10
This week in the Retail Roundup, CoStar reports on expansions or new concepts at TJX Companies and Kohl's; closings, cutbacks, bankruptcy, default, receivership or foreclosure news at Swoozie's and the Northgate Mall; acquisition, merger, loan, sale...

Elbit Plaza USA Aims to Invest up to $1B in U.S. Retail Real Estate
03/05/10
Elbit Plaza USA, a new real estate investment venture jointly formed by Elbit Imaging and Plaza Centers N.V., has entered into a co-investment agreement with Eastgate Property, an affiliate of international real estate fund manager, NCH Capital. Specifically...

Inland Acquires 16-Center Portfolio for $424M
03/04/10
Oakbrook, IL-based Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc., the purchasing arm of The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, Inc., completed the acquisition of a portfolio of 16 shopping centers totaling 3.5 million square feet. The REIT acquired the portfolio...

Signs of Hope Seen in Investment Sales Activity
03/03/10
Large dollar property sales seem to be emitting faint sparks of hope for the commercial real estate outlook so far in 2010, particularly in the multifamily and hospitality sectors. To be certain, the number of property sales with price tags of $5 million...

By The Numbers: Commercial Developers Off to A Rough Start in 2010
03/03/10
Commercial real estate development and construction activity continued to plumb new depths in 2010, according to new government data. And a leading indicator of future construction activity finds even fewer projects on the drawing boards. According...

Retailers Expected to Close Fewer Stores in 2010
03/03/10
Add store closings to the list of categories where 'less bad' has become the 'new good.' The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) issued its latest semi-annual report on store closings and found that the huge wave of store closures that...

General Growth Granted Extension to File Reorganization Plan
03/04/10
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper granted General Growth Properties an additional 120-day exclusive window to file its bankruptcy reorganization plan. The four-month extension is less than the 180 days that General Growth requested, but is significantly...

Lease Up/Lease Down (Feb. 28 - Mar. 6): Hummer: Stalling Out for Good?
03/03/10
CoStar compiles news of corporate expansions, relocations, extensions, closures, layoffs, lease cancellations and mergers in the weekly Lease Up/Lease Down news report, a concise read keeping you updated on major corporate moves affecting commercial...

CMBS Outlook: Multifamily Still Stressed; Retail Half Way There
03/03/10
While multifamily vacancy rates are expected to stabilize in certain markets, Fitch Ratings' outlook for the sector in the near-term remains negative. Although vacancy rates are expected to reach their peak of 8.9% in 2010, rents will take longer to recover...

Bank Watch: Pacific Western Bank Sells $324 Mil. of Impaired Loans
03/03/10
Pacific Western Bank in San Diego, CA, sold 61 non-covered adversely classified loans totaling $323.6 million, which includes $107.6 million of nonaccrual loans, to an institutional buyer for $200.6 million in cash - or about 62 cents on the dollar. Among...

LaSalle Invests $95M in Sofitel Washington
03/01/10
LaSalle Hotel Properties, a Bethesda, MD-based hotel REIT, purchased the Sofitel Washington, DC Lafayette Square for $95 million. Gem Realty Capital Inc., a real estate investment company headquartered in Chicago, sold the 237-room property at 806 15th...

Peerless Industries Consolidating International Operations
03/01/10
Peerless Industries is consolidating operations, inking a full-building lease just west of Chicago. The manufacturer of television and speaker mounts plans to add about 85 jobs over the next three years, and retain its 405 local employees. Peerless...

Equity One May Acquire Liberty International's $560M U.S. Retail Portfolio
03/01/10
Liberty International Plc, the largest owner of shopping centers in the U.K., is considering selling off its U.S. office buildings and malls in an effort to reduce its U.S. exposure, according to a Feb. 24 report from Bloomberg. Bloomberg identified...

Blockbuster Shuttering Up to 545 Stores During 2010
02/28/10
Keeping with the ongoing contraction of the traditional movie rental retail business, Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B) said it would close 500 to 545 of its company-owned U.S. retail stores during 2010. To date, the retailer has already closed 253...