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Target Reduces Capital Spending by $1B, Cuts Back on New Store Openings Just when it seems the latest financial news has hit rock bottom and things surely have to be looking up, another round of bad news sends the market spiraling downward again. News of trendy bargain retailer, Target, stemming new store openings won’t make the commercial property world happy either. Weingarten, Hines REIT Form $271M Venture Weingarten Realty Investors and Hines Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. have formed a joint venture, in which a subsidiary of Hines REIT will acquire a 70 percent interest in a Weingarten portfolio of 12 supermarket-anchored shopping centers. Edens & Avant Buys Retail Portion of D.C. Mixed-Use Lowe Enterprises, lead developer of CityVista, a $200 million mixed-use project in Washington, D.C., said the development team has sold the 116,000-square-foot retail portion of the site to Edens & Avant. General Growth Stocks Slide Downward, Global Economy Struggles A little more than two weeks after CPN reported the ongoing woes of General Growth Properties Inc., the Washington Post reported this morning that the second-largest U.S. shopping mall owner had its worst trading day ever Tuesday after saying it may seek creditor protection if plans to refinance $958 million in debt do not succeed. General Growth dropped 64 percent to close at 49 cents--the firm?s biggest decline since its April 1993 IPO. The Trends: Gloomy Confidence Pummels Transaction Value The shaky economy has bruised the retail sector, as jittery consumers keep a tight rein on their expenditures and investors examine the market with a more cautious eye. To that end, third-quarter retail property sales transactions totaled $3.4 billion, a staggering, year-over-year drop of 80 percent, according to a Real Capital Analytics Inc. Capital Trends Monthly report. In fact, sales volume for the entire year will probably come in lower than that tallied during just the first half of 2007. The News: Executive Confidence Plunges Fading consumer confidence is taking an increasing toll on retail executives? fortitude. After a roller coaster of a year, the view of market conditions among shopping center executives? is heading sharply south, according to the most recent monthly survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers, released last Wednesday. CBRE Arranges 80,000 SF Retail Leases in Manhattan CB Richard Ellis arranged more than 80,000 square feet of retail and garage leases at the Manhattan House on behalf of O?Connor Capital Partners. Forest City Completes Trio of Financing Deals Totaling $167M Despite the sagging economy and possible recession, Forest City Enterprises Inc. recently completed three financing transactions totaling more than $167 million. Still, even the $10.9 billion Forest City has learned that the nagging credit crisis is making it ever more difficult to ferret out lenders with money to lend. Dow Sluggish After Morning Jump After a morning up, the Dow Jones index ended the day down 73.27 points, or 0.82 percent, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq a bit down as well (1.27 percent and 1.86 percent, respectively). It could be that the initial enthusiasm investors showed in other parts of the world for the Chinese stimulus plan had worn off by the time U.S. markets were open very long. Part of the downward movement in the market today also involved Goldman Sachs shares, which were down about 8.7 percent seemingly on rumors that the company is planning a new secondary equity offering, only six weeks after its most recent offering. Retail REITs Show Continued Weakness The outlook for retail REITs continues to darken, as shoppers are cutting back on their trips to the mall amid the economy's struggles. Credit Crunch Gives Blue Chip Builders the Blues in Boston, Philadelphia As if more proof were needed that the lending environment is hammering even top-of-the-line development, project backers in Boston and Philadelphia have acknowledged that the capital markets crisis is forcing them to put some of those cities? showcase projects on hold. Developers Diversified, Cole Form JV for Missouri Shopping Center Developers Diversified Realty Corp. has formed a $62 million joint venture with Cole Real Estate Investments for the ownership of Independence Commons, a 386,000-square-foot shopping center in Independence, Mo. NPC International to Acquire, Sell Pizza Huts NPC International Inc. will acquire 191 Pizza Hut restaurants from Pizza Hut Inc. for $52.9 million, and will sell 70 additional units to Pizza Hut for $19.6 million. REBNY Report: No Crisis Thus Far for NYC Retail Despite the economic downturn, Manhattan?s retail market is showing surprising strength, as least as evidenced by current asking rents, according to a survey released by the Real Estate Board of New York. Flagler Breaks Ground on 400,000-SF Expansion at Miami Retail Center Flagler Real Estate has broken ground on the new 400,000-square-foot retail expansion at The Palms at Town & Country in Miami. When completed, the 75-acre site located at 8268 Mills Drive and owned by TIAA-CREF, will house 700,000 square feet of mixed retail components in an open-air design and a 133,000-square-foot Professional Arts Center. Cormac Nets $145M Loan for Kansas Retail Project The Chicago office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. has arranged a total of $145.3 million in construction financing and joint venture equity for Corbin Park, a regional, open-air retail village being developed in Overland Park, Kan., by Cormac Co. Simon FFO Up, But Outlook Cautious Simon Property Group said that funds from operations (FFO) for the first three quarters of 2008 increased 10.8 percent to $1.312 billion from $1.184 billion in the same period of 2007. Financial Market Update-Mon., Nov. 3 It's been an unusually relaxed day on Wall Street so far--but maybe everyone's holding off until the election, at long last, will be over tomorrow. We hope. As of mid-day, the DJIA, after a meandering morning, was down slightly: 8.6 points, or 0.09 percent. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq likewise moved slightly: down 0.33 percent and up 0.42 percent, respectively. AEI Puts Up $100M to Build, Buy Net Leased Retail Assets St. Paul, Minn.-based AEI Capital Corp. has revealed a planned $100 million equity contribution for the development and purchase of net leased retail properties in various markets across the U.S., but primarily in Minnesota. The capital is being raised through the company's net lease property investment funds. Mid-America Closes Sale with Target at Wilson Yard Redevelopment in Chicago Mid-America Asset Management Inc. announced that Target closed on the sale of 132,000 square feet at the Wilson Yard mixed-use redevelopment that is under construction in Uptown Chicago.

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