River Point was designed by architectural firm Pickard Chilton and will be built at 444 West Lake Street on the western bank of the Chicago River near two rail hubs in the West Loop, overlooking the river towards Lake Michigan. Containing approximately 900,000 square feet of leasable space, the project also calls for construction of a majestic 1.5-acre public park atop the existing rail infrastructure that will connect the tower and its 450-linear feet of newly landscaped walkway to the Chicago Riverwalk. The tower is pre-certified LEED Gold.

“This unprecedented expansion of the West Loop is the most significant modification to Interstate 610 in years,” said Mark Sikes, principal with Deal Sikes & Associates. “The acquisition of this much West Loop frontage is an extremely rare and noteworthy property purchase that will lead to the expansion of US Highway 290 and a noticeable change in Houston traffic patterns.”

Deal Sikes & Associates, a leader in eminent domain consulting, is providing valuation counseling for a significant number of the land owners impacted by the West Loop North widening. Some 30 parcels, located primarily on the west side of Interstate 610, between the Katy Freeway and Highway 290, are in the process of being acquired by the state.

“We consider there to be significant disparity between market value and what TxDot has offered to pay for the West Loop frontage. We are working with the private property owners, ensuring they will receive a fair price from TxDot,” said Sikes. Sikes previously served as a consultant for the majority of commercial property owners contesting compensation amounts offered by the state in the Katy Freeway widening, prior to becoming the leading Highway 290 eminent domain consultant today.

Several well-known retail locations are being obtained for the West Loop North expansion, including the Antique Center of Texas building; the former Malibu Grand Prix entertainment center; and a portion of Macy’s and Northwest Mall.

The land acquisitions are part of the planned TxDot expansion to relieve traffic congestion on Highway 290 in northwest Houston.  As residential and commercial development has boomed in the northwest over the last decade, traffic issues have become acute.

1. Metropolitan Life purchase of  Reynolds Plantation 70 miles east of Atlanta, which includes The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, six  golf courses, four  marinas and nearly 5,000 acres of undeveloped golf and waterfront property.

2. Prudential Real Estate Investors,  in a joint venture with Lodging Capital Partners, acquired the 291-room Austin Four Seasons hotel in Austin.  In April, PREI purchased the Axis apartment development on Atlanta’s perimeter for $53.5 million. PREI also is expectd to buy the 20-story Ten Peachtree Place in midtown Atlanta from a partnership between Cousins Properties and Coca-Cola.

3. USAA Real Estate Co. and GlenStar Properties LLC purchased the landmark Chicago Board of Trade Building, a 1.3 million sf project.

For the full story: http://www.okcreview.com/nationalnews.php?nationalnews_id=357&page=1

WILLISTON, N.D. — A new property in the Bakken Shale,  the Williston Garden Apartments is 100 percent pre-leased. When completed, this development will provide 90 furnished units and 55 unfurnished units. Currently, two of the four buildings are open and the remaining two are scheduled to open this summer.  Investors Real Estate Trust (IRET) owns a majority interest in the project.

HOUSTON – Wood Partners will begin construction in May on Alta Heights, a 256-unit project at 145 Heights Blvd., near Washington Ave.

 FOR MORE APARTMENT NEWS  click here.

“This project has been part of the master plan in downtown Fort Worth for decades,” said Ed Bass, project developer. “To finally see dirt moving is gratifying for our team and it will forever change the landscape of Sundance Square.”

“Interest in space from office and retail users has been strong since we announced the project,” said Johnny Campbell, president and CEO of Sundance Square. “Now that the construction is in full swing, we expect to start signing leases and making some announcements this year. With these buildings in the heart of Sundance Square, we want to create a perfect blend of retail and restaurants. The merchandising will play an important role in activating the plaza. We are taking a little more time to make sure we have the right fit.”

The Westbrook at 425 Houston Street is named after the historic seven-story Westbrook Hotel, which was built in the early 1900s, closed in 1969, and was demolished in 1978. It will stand six stories tall and encompass more than 93,000 square feet including 12,393 square feet of retail space. The ground floor of the building will include an office lobby on Houston Street and retail space fronting Houston, 3^{rd and 4th Streets, as well as the future plaza space to the east.}

The Commerce Building at 420 Commerce Street will encompass more than 83,000 square feet with nearly 17,000 square feet of significant retail and restaurant space. The ground floor will include an office lobby on Commerce Street and retail space fronting Commerce, 3rd and 4th Streets, as well as future plaza space to the east.

The Cassidy at 407 Throckmorton Street will be six floors in height and more than 99,000 square feet, including 12,196 square feet of retail and 12,187 square feet of residential space. This L-shaped site will have frontage on W. 3rd and Houston Streets as well as Throckmorton Street with different portions featuring three distinct architectural façades. The Cassidy’s top floor will feature residential living with six luxury penthouse apartments. The one- and two-bedroom units will have outdoor terraces with floor to ceiling glass walls and sweeping views of Sundance Square and the City of Fort Worth.

Houston home prices will increase over the next couple of years as the city’s economy adds new jobs while home inventory shrinks, Houston economist Ted C. Jones predicted at an economic forecast luncheon.

“We have the highest home prices in the history of Houston, Texas. The market is back,” Jones said.

Jones, speaking at the Spring Symposium of the University of Houston’s Institute for Regional Forecasting at the Hobby Center for Public Policy said rising apartment rents also will be driving consumers into home purchases.

“Rental rates are going up. As rents go up, people will say: ‘I’ve got to buy a home,’” Jones said.

Jones, chief economist for Stewart Title, told a packed ballroom audience at the Hyatt Regency hotel that home builders have “under-built” the market and suggested that home builders could be more aggressive in construction starts.

He predicts that the number of Houston area home sales will go up about 7.5 percent in 2012 and another 8 percent in 2013.

Commercial real estate developers have also been conservative in constructing new projects in recent years, Jones said.  Meanwhile, the Houston economy has been expanding and the office and warehouse markets are exceptionally tight.

The energy business has expanding as domestic production increased in North America. “You will see a significant increase in manufacturing jobs at the Port of Houston in the next five years,” Jones said.

Based at the Brown Palace Hotel, NAREE’s 46th Annual Conference combines news-making panels, trend-setting tours and sessions of NAREE University to sharpen broadcast, social media, technology and data analysis skills.

The four-day NAREE conference, “Covering Real Estate With Altitude” will draw writers, editors, bloggers, freelancers and authors along with the nation’s leading real estate experts to focus on trends in residential, resort, commercial and financial real estate. NAREE Vice President Kris Hudson, Wall Street Journal, is chairing NAREE’s Denver conference.

Chief executive officers speaking at the NAREE conference include: Ken Riggs, Real Estate Research Corp.; Bill Rayburn, FNC; Bill Hoffman, Trigild; Marty Collins, Gatehouse Capital; Scott Ryles, Home Value Protection; Walter Isenberg, Sage Hospitality; Terry Considine, AIMCO; and Tom O’Grady, Pro Teck Valuation Services.

Chief economists include: David Crowe, NAHB; Stan Humphries, Zillow; Ted Jones, Stewart Title; Mark Obrinsky, NMHC; and Lawrence Yun, NAR.

“NAREE’s Denver conference brings together the strongest roster of speakers on commercial and residential real estate. It’s expected to generate a tremendous amount of real estate news,” said Hudson, who is working on NAREE’s conference with veteran journalists John Rebchook of InsideRealEstateNews.com and Ralph Bivins of RealtyNewsReport.com.

For more information on this conference, please go to www.NAREE.org

Hillwood will serve as the developer of the project. The joint venture  will serve as the landlord for the facility and will lease the space to       Golden State FC LLC once the building is complete. Golden State FC LLC  will operate the fulfillment center for Amazon.

The facility will be located on Central Avenue, east of Tippecanoe  Avenue.

The business park will someday contain $5 billion worth of industrial, office, retail and medical space, along with hotel and multi-family development, according to an Houston Business Journal article by Jennifer Dawson.

Generation Park, located in northeast Houston and a 10 minute drive from the airport, is bisected by a newer section of Beltway 8 and it has Union Pacific rail on-site, Dawson reported.

HFF marketed the properties exclusively on behalf of the seller, Insite Commercial Real Estate.

Acquisition financing was secured through American Family Life Insurance, which was arranged by Kirk Oden with Trinity Finance in San Antonio.

Commerce Center is located at 9000 Southwest Freeway close to Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway and the Westpark Tollway in southwest Houston.  The property is leased to 40 tenants.

The HFF investment sales team representing Insite Commercial Real Estate was led by senior managing director Rusty Tamlyn and associate director Trent Agnew.