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.

High office building vacancies may mean trouble for banks (New London Day)
Vacancy rates in office buildings exceed 10 percent in virtually every major city in the country and are rising rapidly, a sign of economic distress

Commercial parking lots approved for South Beach residential areas in Fort Pierce (Fort Pierce Tribune)
The City Commission gave final approval Monday night to allowing commercial parking lots to be built in certain residential areas on South Beach, despite objections from some residents.

U.K. Commercial Property Index Fell Most on Record in 2008 (Bloomberg)
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. commercial property companies recorded their worst year in 2008 as real estate values plummeted in the global credit crisis.

Vacancies in office buildings rise faster (Seattle Times)
Every major city in the U.S. is seeing office-building vacancies top 10 percent, creating another big problem for already hurting lenders.

Damac Properties' 'XL Tower' rising at Business Bay (AME Info)
Luxury lifestyle provider, Damac Properties has announced that XL Tower, a modern and elegant commercial tower located at Business Bay has reached the Podium 3 level.

Turbine on the rise (The Daily News of Newburyport)
NEWBURYPORT and mdash; The 280-foot-high crane arrived in pieces last week, courtesy of about eight tractor-trailers. This week, it's being used in the industrial park to erect an even taller structure, as the massive wind turbine going up at Mark Richey Woodworking begins to take shape. Richey received permission from the city over the summer to build the 600-kilowatt Elecon TurboWinds wind ...

Open office space down in Bergen and Passaic (The Record)
Office markets in Bergen and Passaic counties fared better than the rest of northern and central New Jersey in 2008's fourth quarter, according to new data, as tenants took over slightly more space.