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.

More empty office space bodes poorly for banks (Pioneer Press)
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 that could lead to yet another wave of problems for troubled lenders.

New park could come with nod to noted architect (Portland Tribune)
New designs for a future park on Lakewood Bay will give a nod to the late architect Richard Sundeleaf, if the public approves. Once constructed, Lakefront Park will open views of Lakewood Bay from South State Street. It will also sit adjacent to a unique downtown building, a nonresidential design ...

Commercial real estate's 2008 ride was bumpy (Daily Press)
After a year of "examining," the local market is projected to take a hit from the slow economy in 2009. The region's commercial real estate market had some ups and downs in 2008.

Office Demand Is Down, and So Are the Deals (New York Times)
The credit crisis and recession crushed deal making in office buildings in 2008.

China PBOC Official: Agencies Discussing Plan For REIT Trial (Nasdaq)
BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's government agencies are discussing a plan to launch a trial for real estate investment trusts, a senior central bank official said Tuesday.

Proposed downtown office buildings off to mixed starts (BizJournals)
THEN Date: March 14, 2008 Headline: ‘Downtown office towers jump off starting block in tandem’

Projects responding to needs for new services (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The concrete hardly has time to cure on one hospital-building project before the foundation is being poured for another. . Last summer, Bon Secours Richmond moved its Heart Institute into new medical-office space at Reynolds Crossing in western Henrico County. In October, VCU Health System opened a 15-floor Critical Care Hospital with mostly single-patient rooms on the congested downtown medical ...