Check It Out (Israel National News)
(IsraelNN.com) French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European officials met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Achmed Abu El-Reit Monday. In the meeting the parties discussed the possibility of brokering a cease fire between Egypt and Hamas.

U.S. Private Equity Firms Seek Bargains in Japanese REIT Market (Commercial Property News)
Japanese REITs, which have lost more than 50 percent of their value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since their peak last year, are increasingly attracting the attention of U.S.-based private equity firms like Oaktree Capital Management, which has launched the first tender offer for a REIT in Japan.

Commercial real estate in for tough 2009 (San Jose Mercury News)
In the commercial real estate market, the balance of power between landlords and tenants will shift dramatically in 2009.

No federal bailouts for commercial real estate developers (Seattle Times)
The federal government should refuse the latest group with a request for a federal bailout — commercial real-estate developers. The federal infusion of money to shore up financial institutions was reasonable because the potential domino effect of failure threatened international banking system. The U.S. Treasury cannot heal every economic ill, and it needs to draw the line well short of ...

Sell versus lease stalls DeSoto Police Jury land deals (The Shreveport Times)
Police jurors had agreed to sell land at the west industrial park for $6,000 an acre. The verbal agreements were moving forward until District Attorney Don Burkett advised the Police Jury in December that it must first get an appraisal, advertise the land for sale and have a public hearing to allow comments.

Suit targets FEMA, business park in St. Peters (Suburban Journals)
An environmental group with a long-standing opposition to building on flood plains has launched another legal battle involving the development of a business park near the Mississippi River in St. Peters.

Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Normal Course Issuer Bid (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance)
Allied Properties REIT announced today that the Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted its notice of intention to conduct a normal course issuer Bid to enable it to purchase up to 3,003,667 of its 31,235,668 outstanding units, representing approximately 10% of the REIT's public float of 30,036,674 Units as of December 23, 2008, pursuant to TSX rules.

A tenant market's meltdown (Channel NewsAsia)
SINGAPORE - Tenants for office space are beginning to enjoy more bargaining power as increased supply for such commercial property and a weakening economy drive rents lower.

DJ DGAP-PVR: Publication according to § 26 paragraph. 1 WpHG with the objective of Europe-wide distribution (Financial.de)
alstria office REIT-AG / Release of an announcement according to Article 21, Section 1 of the WpHG [the German Securities Trading Act] (share) 05.01.2009 Release of a Voting Rights announcement, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.

Commercial Real Estate Market Cools (KITV Honolulu)
In the new year, many are predicting tougher times for commercial real estate.