While demand in many areas of commercial real estate has dropped since 2007, logistics properties are weathering the economic storms a little more safely, according to a logistics research report prepared by Grubb & Ellis Co.“The outsourcing of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China, Mexico and other countries with low labor costs has given rise to [...]

Barclays Capital, in its quarterly research report, says the foundations of a bottom in the global business cycle appear to be in place, and suggests a turn for the better in economic news over the next three to six months. Given that, the report urges investors to become more aggressive.Barclays Capital’s Economic and Financial Market [...]

There has not been a great amount of positive news at the World Trade Center site, but things brightened a bit today. Vantone Industrial Co. has signed a lease at One World Trade Center, also known as the Freedom Tower, which will create the China Center, a 190,800-square-foot business and cultural facility, to be located [...]

As the commercial development market continues to struggle, yet another project may be in jeopardy. The $1 billion Victory Park near Downtown Dallas may be at risk of defaulting on a $185 million debt owed to German investors.Developed by Fort Worth-based Hillwood, a Perot company, the Victory Park project includes the W Dallas Victory Hotel [...]

Even though Canada’s economy is faring better than many others, the global credit crunch and recession have hampered the country’s hotel sector. According to a new report by Colliers International, the Canadian hospitality market experienced a 77 percent decline in investment activity over the past year, falling to $1.1 billion.  But despite the downturn in [...]

With the credit crisis in full swing, even secured loans are hard to come by, but Liberty Property Trust has managed to snag six of them totaling $317 million. Relying on industrial and office properties as collateral, the Malvern, Pa.-based REIT obtained the mortgage loans through several leading life insurance concerns.Liberty depended on industrial portfolios [...]

Are the recent economic initiatives by the U.S. government putting the country on “the road to hell,” to quote a certain Czech politician whose own government imploded recently? It is worth noting that good intentions are known to be a common paving material on the road to that unpleasant destination. Or will our ultimate destination [...]

After the surprising announcement earlier this week that existing home sales jumped in February, the housing market got another bit of unexpected news on Tuesday, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency said that housing prices actually moved up a little in January 2009 compared with December 2008. The agency’s House Price Index increased 1.7 percent, [...]

In the midst of economic uncertainty, falling markets and a stimulus package that may or may not help business grow, a new Ernst & Young report on real estate business risk advises property firms to go back to the basics. The 2009 Ernst & Young real estate business risk report, produced in conjunction with strategy [...]

Action in Asia is proving to be fruitful for ProLogis. The Denver-based industrial REIT has just walked away with $845 million in cash on a $1.3 billion transaction involving the disposition of its operations in China and property fund interests in Japan to GIC Real Estate, the real estate investment company of the Government of [...]