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Daily News for Commercial Real Estate & Business – February 8, 2011

PICOR BROKERS APPROX. $8.29 MILLION SALE OF APTS. LEASED TO U. OF ARIZONA University Communities LLC has purchased a 76-unit apartment property, located at 1050 E. 8th Street in Tucson, for nearly $8.29 million. View article…

New digs for Lux Coffee Lux Coffee Bar is planning to move into a bigger place next door. The independent coffee house, which has picnic tables out front and a busy clientele who stop by its location at 4404 N. Central Ave., will be moving just a little bit north — to 4412 N. Central — by this summer. View article…

Chandler seeks developer for downtown ARTyard Chandler is looking for an entrepreneur who’s willing to lease a vacant city maintenance facility and turn it into a signature downtown ARTyard. The 32,620-square-foot warehouse-style building on nearly three acres is within walking distance of City Hall and downtown arts and entertainment venues. View article…

Hotel planned next to new Gilbert cancer center In anticipation of a fall opening for the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, a developer plans to build an adjacent Marriott hotel to accommodate patients and families. A four-story, 100-room Residence Inn will tailor its services to meet the needs of patients, doctors and support vendors, said developer Paul Welker, CEO for Mesa-based Sunridge Properties, a local company that builds Marriott and Holiday Inn franchises in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. View article…

Scottsdale tax collections slip 3 percent Scottsdale sales-tax collections of $11.26 million for December were down 3 percent from a year ago, according to the city’s monthly report. The collections, for business activity in November, increased 23 percent in the automotive category and 2 percent for food stores and dining and entertainment. View article…

Sky Harbor traffic up, but not back to peak Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport saw a slight improvement in passenger traffic in 2010 compared to 2009 but travel remains off from pre-recession counts. Nearly 38.6 million passengers flew in and out of Sky Harbor during 2010, according to the Phoenix Aviation Department. View article…

The era of cheap capital draws to a close Interest rates are rising in the long term. Businesses will have to adapt, while governments must prevent an era of creeping financial protectionism. The global economy faces a dilemma. Attempts to boost growth have lowered interest rates in advanced economies. View article…

Commercial Real Estate Coming Back, but Unevenly Commercial property took less of a drubbing than residential real estate in the recession but still faces a long and painful recovery. Banks have already taken $80 billion in commercial-real-estate losses – about half of what they are expected to take as a result of the recession, according to the Federal Reserve. View article…

Industry Reports Point to Renewal in Commercial Real Estate Financing Mortgage bankers originated $110 billion of commercial and multifamily mortgages during 2010 – an increase of 36 percent from 2009, according to preliminary estimates released by the Mortgage Bankers Association Monday. The bulk of that increase came in the fourth quarter of last year. View article…

David Lynn’s Top 10 Challenges Facing Commercial Real Estate in 2011 As the economy shows signs of substantial improvement, the commercial real estate industry is emerging from a transitional phase in 2010 to a recovery stage in 2011. Institutional-quality real estate assets in primary markets have begun to stabilize and appear to be poised for recovery. View article…

If you want a copy of the latest foreclosure spreadsheet, email me and I will send it to you.

Feel free to contact me regarding any of these stories, the current market, distressed commercial real estate opportunities or your property.