Commercial Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate Industry News Headlines | Bizjournals.com

• Boston to swap parking for 'parklets' in 3 districts, eyes a 4th
  Parking spaces are set to become "parklets" in Allston, Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill – three neighborhoods selected by City Hall for the installation of miniature parks. According to the City of Boston the portable public spaces will be placed by the end of the summer at 174 Harvard Ave. in Allston, 351 Center St. in Jamaica Plain and 1524 Tremont St. in Mission Hill. The miniature parks, dubbed "parklets," are small, portable spaces with plants, benches and sometimes tables, built on the street…
  
  
  
  
• NC adds 500 construction jobs
  North Carolina added 500 construction jobs between March and April, one hopeful sign of a turnaround in the works. But taking a longer frame of reference, the sector still has a way to go before the promise of a recovery is realized. As of the close of April, statewide construction employment totaled 169,900 jobs, down 4,000, or 2.3 percent, from the same month in 2012, according to Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America. The number includes all segments of the industry, including…
  
  
  
  
• Some landlords seek to dissolve DID program
  The Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District staff -- those green-shirted workers who give directions, clean sidewalks and watch for trouble in Minneapolis — have won plenty of fans. But a group of Warehouse District landlords, who say they're not seeing enough benefit, are threatening a protest that could kill the program. The Journal Mpls has a breakdown on the dispute over the DID program, which is authorized by the city but largely paid for by businesses. Property owners in the Warehouse…
  
  
  
  
• Coming Up in Lists: Baltimore crab houses, construction firms
  Coming Up On May 24, we’ll publish our famous List of the top crab houses in Greater Baltimore, ranked by Yelp.com ratings. We’ll also have our List of top 25 construction and general contracting firms in the Baltimore area, ranked by local contracting revenue and based on our own survey results. Next in May and June For May 31, it’s our List of the fastest-growing public companies headquartered in the Baltimore area (yes, we still have some of those), ranked by revenue growth between 2011…
  
  
  
  
• Three Triad counties could be removed from regional partnership
  Major changes are slated for how economic development is done in North Carolina, and that includes a move to remove Davie, Surry and Yadkin counties out of the region's economic development group, the Piedmont Triad Partnership, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. A Senate bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown would eliminate four of the state’s seven economic development commissions in favor of eight “prosperity zones.” Davie, Surry and Yadkin counties would be lumped into…
  
  
  
  
• Convergys selling downtown Cincinnati headquarters
  Call center operator Convergys Corp. (NYSE:CVG) is selling its downtown Cincinnati headquarters, but expects to lease space in the building once it's sold, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. It paid $63.8 million in 2003 for the Atrium I office building which has 97,600 square feet of space available. Since then, Convergys sold off its human resources management segment to NorthgateArinso in 2010 and its information management business to NEC Corp. for $449 million last year. "Our ability…
  
  
  
  
• Does N.C. need solar mega-projects?
  O2 Energies CEO Joel Olsen sees big things ahead for the N.C. solar industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean big mega-projects are in the state’s future. And that will be good for the state’s solar market, he says. North Carolina is much more likely to be a center for distributed generation solar projects — utility scale solar farms of 20 megawatts or less. A number of 100-plus megawatt projects have gotten a lot of attention in the Western United States. There are right now in the United…
  
  
  
  
• N.C. adds 500 construction jobs
  North Carolina added 500 construction jobs between March and April, one hopeful sign of a turnaround in the works. But taking a longer frame of reference, the key sector still has a way to go before the promise of any recovery is actually realized. As of the close of April, total statewide construction was 169,900, down 4,000, or 2.3 percent, from the same month in 2012, according to Virginia-based Associated General Contractors of America. The number includes all segments of the industry, including…
  
  
  
  
• Vote expected Monday on giant downtown Ferris wheel
  The Atlanta City Council is expected to vote Monday whether to allow a private developer to build a 20-story Ferris wheel in a parking lot across from Centennial Olympic Park, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV. An affiliate of St. Louis-based Pacific Development LLC recently filed plans for a 180-foot-tall Ferris wheel called “SkyView." The amusement is expected to feature 42 “fully enclosed climate-controlled gondolas” that fit six people each. Rides would take…
  
  
  
  
• Baker, McCullough to lead new Saratoga Springs restaurant
  Experimental chef Jason Baker and Paul McCullough, the former manager of Creo and McGuire’s, will open 15 Church in Saratoga Springs, NY. The restaurant is backed by developer Tom Burke of Malta-based Burke Cos. Burke paid $440,000 for the 1870s-era, three-story building and property at 15 Church St. The building has been vacant for at least 10 years, when it closed after operating as a bar. Burke and his wife, Regina Burke, and McCullough and his wife, Susan Diep, are partners in the restaurant.…