“Debt” is going to be the name of the game for the European real estate markets in 2012, according to Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2012, the industry forecast published by PwC and the Urban Land Institute.

Following on the heels of reports that call for an uptick in industrial activity for 2012, Trammell Crow and USAA Real Estate have announced the groundbreaking on a 700,000-square-foot Class A spec distribution facility at Mountain Creek Distribution Center in Carlisle, Pa.

New leases for industrial properties “returned to levels not seen since prior to the 2008/9 recession,” according to a new fourth-quarter 2011 report by Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

In what is being described as Orange County, Calif.’s largest industrial consideration of 2011, Menlo Equities snapped up the Irvine Crossings project, a 420,000-square-foot property, for $47 million.

Newmark Knight Frank has been tapped to provide leasing services for a 900,000-square-foot industrial flex portfolio near Atlanta, Commercial Property Executive has learned.

Windsor Renewal I, a division of The Broe Group, has taken a major step toward further developing the Great Western Industrial Park in Windsor, Colo., with the acquisition of 320 acres of land and 500,000 square feet of industrial buildings from Eastman Kodak Co. in a partial sale-leaseback transaction.

Looking to capitalize on what will certainly be a growing economy in the next few years, Clarion Partners has acquired 78 acres of land in a northwest suburb of Sao Paulo. The company intends to develop and lease a Class A industrial facility that will eventually include 1.4 million square feet of space.

CPE offers a snapshot of forecasts for the new year, portraying the likely trends that will shape commercial real estate in 2012.

Taking a big step in enhancing its civil business unit, Skanska USA has acquired the Evansville, Ind.-headquartered builder Industrial Contractors Inc. for $135 million.

Courting two different sellers is no easy task, but Duke Realty Corp. has announced this week that it has done just that, adding two industrial properties in the Dallas area to its portfolio that total 1.4 million square feet.