IBJ Real Estate Weekly

	Tuesday, July 31, 2007
	Downtown, suburbs report higher vacancy rates Vacancy rates downtown and in the overall suburban markets were up in the first half of the year, compared with rates at the end of last year, according to Meridian Real Estate. The vacancy rate for multi-tenant office buildings downtown increased to 14.6 percent in the first six months of the year, compared with a 12.8 percent vacancy rate at the end of 2006. The report includes Class A and Class B buildings. Downtown net absorption for the period was 15,354 square feet, Meridian said. Vacancy in the overall suburban market increased just less than 1 percent, to 18.5 percent. Among the suburban markets, the west/southwest area had the highest vacancy rate at 30.6 percent, but that was an improvement over a 32.6-percent vacancy rate at the end of 2006.
	The east/southeast suburban market had the lowest vacancy rate in the first six months of the year at 1.2 percent, a significant improvement over an 11-percent vacancy rate at year-end. Vacancy in the North Meridian/Carmel suburban market increased to 14.8 percent, from 11.1 percent. Meridian could not immediately be reached to provide additional information. Sales/acquisitions A 321,600-square-foot industrial building in Plainfield Business Center at Airwest was the only local property in a portfolio of nine buildings bought by California-based KBS Real Estate Investment Trust. The total portfolio sold for $124.5 million. The seller of Building 8, as the local building is referred to, and the other eight structures was Opus Corp., based in Minneapolis. Building 8 is fully occupied by Brightpoint Inc. Leases/leasing contracts - Sagamore Institute for Policy Research has leased 3,717 square feet at 1630 N. Meridian St., the former Indiana Energy headquarters now owned and occupied by Metropolitan Indianapolis Public Broadcasting Inc. Chris Carmen of Carmen Commercial Real Estate Services Inc. represented the tenant. David Buchanan of Mansur Real Estate Services represented the local public broadcasting organization, which recently moved its radio and television stations from the 1400 block of North Meridian Street into about half of the 94,000-square-foot building. Most of the rest is still available for lease. Sagamore Institute is relocating from 340 W. Michigan St. - Craig Kastle, CEO of Bowl West LLC, will lease a 65,000-square-foot building in Avon being built by Urbahns Cos. Inc., which also will own the building. The building will house Storm Zone Entertainment Complex. Investments/financings/stock sales - Simon Property Group Inc. had funds from operations in the second quarter of $373 million, an increase of 4.1 percent over the year-ago period. Occupancy at Simon's regional malls is 92 percent and nearly 93 percent at its lifestyle centers. Among its ongoing projects, Simon is developing Hamilton Town Center, a 950,000 square-foot open-air mall in Noblesville. The first phase of the center is slated to open in about nine months. During the quarter, the local mall developer, along with Farallon Capital Management, closed on its acquisition of The Mills Corp. for $1.6 billion. - Duke Realty Corp. reported second-quarter funds from operations of $87.3 million, up 11 percent from the year-ago quarter. Duke attributed the increase to gains on sales of properties in the period. At June 30, Duke's 692 properties spanned 108.6 million square feet and were 93.7 percent leased. Its pipeline consisted of $1.6 billion of developments, about half of which it plans to sell within a year of completion.
	Housing - U.S. foreclosure filings totaled 573,397 in the first six months of the year, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. The number is 30 percent higher than during the prior six months and 55 percent higher than the first half of 2006. It represents one foreclosure filing for every 134 households across the country. Indiana ranked No. 10 nationally in the first half of the year with 24,388 foreclosures, or one in every 112 households. Indiana's January through June numbers are 13 percent higher than in the prior six months. - The pace of mortgage loan applications was at a five-month low last week, falling 3.6 percent from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinancings accounted for 38.5 percent of all applications, up from 37.7 percent in the prior week. Interest rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.59 percent, down from 6.61 percent. Rates on 15-year loans fell to 6.24 percent, from 6.29 percent.
	- Sales of new homes nationwide fell 6.6 percent in June, from the month before, to a lower-than-expected annual rate of 834,000, the Commerce Department said. Economists had expected sales to fall to an 890,000 annualized pace in June. Analysts say an improvement in sales likely won't occur until next year at the earliest. Once built, a home takes six months to sell-the longest since 1993. At the end of last year, it was taking 4.3 months after completion to sell. Sales in June were down 22.3 percent from a year ago. Last week, IBJ Real Estate Weekly reported home sales in central Indiana last month dropped 19.8 percent, to 2,961, from the same month in 2006. People - Curt Bailey has joined Duke Realty Corp. as senior vice president, national retail development. Most recently, Bailey was with Archon Group LP's Midwest office. - Real estate developer David Boncosky has been named director of Indiana Economic Development Corp.'s life sciences initiative. Boncosky is developing Georgetown at the Crossing-16 upscale townhouses near 86th Street and Keystone Avenue, where a Whole Foods Market is slated to go up. At one time, Boncosky was senior development manager for Duke Realty Corp.'s Anson project. - Rachel Weifenbach has joined Century 21 Scheetz in Carmel as a Realtor. Marian College plans new dorm Marian College is about to add its first new student housing in more than 40 years. Construction is set to begin this summer on a 78-room, 144-bed residence hall, designed by locally based CSO Architects Inc. The 114-acre campus just south of 38th Street and Cold Spring Road also is getting a new athletic facility, in part to host a new football team. Read the item above and more real estate conversation starters at Property Lines, IBJ's real estate blog. You can link to the blog, which is hosted by real estate beat reporter Cory Schouten, at www.ibj.com. Edited by Tracy Donhardt
	Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Manage Subscriptions We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy. Copyright © IBJ Media Corp. 2007. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is strictly prohibited. Reprint orders: To request reprint permission contact IBJ's managing editor. Phone: 317-634-6200 - E-mail: managingeditor@ibj.com This email was sent by: IBJ Corporation 41 East Washington Street, Suite 200 Indianapolis, IN, 46204-3592, United States of America

Clergy to resume Market Tower protest

DJIA 13,407.6 +49.3 / S&P 500 1,477.8 +3.9 / NASDAQ 2,584.8 +1.6 Tonight: Clear and mild. Low 68. Wednesday: More heat and sun. High 92.
	Tuesday, July 31, 2007
	Clergy to resume Market Tower protest A clergy group that's trying to help Indianapolis janitors join a union planned to protest outside Market Tower downtown at noon today after a similar protest May 17 failed to persuade building owner HDG Mansur to soften its stance. Indianapolis Clergy Committee said HDG Mansur is key to helping it reach its goal of having 60 percent of square footage of Indianapolis office buildings cleaned by janitorial companies that don't hinder workers from organizing. A protest organizer said the event was sparked by the recent firings of two pro-union janitors, but the employer denies the charge.   Franklin restaurant owners fight smoking ban A Franklin couple who changed their restaurant into a private club are asking a judge to bar city officials from enforcing a smoking ban against them. Jim and Mary Barnaby, who operate the D&D Club in the city about 20 miles south of Indianapolis, asked a
	Johnson County Superior Court judge yesterday for a preliminary injunction requiring officials to stop citing the club, which the club operators say is exempt from the smoking ordinance. The ordinance, passed in July 2006, bans smoking in public establishments and workplaces but exempts private clubs and bars open only to those 21 and older.   Biomet sues Zimmer for interfering in operations Warsaw-based prosthetics maker Biomet Inc. has filed a 13-count lawsuit against cross-town rival Zimmer U.S. Inc. for a string of actions that Biomet says were an attempt to give Zimmer an unfair advantage. Zimmer misappropriated confidential Biomet information and tried to buy Biomet's distributors, the suit claims. Also named in the suit is former Biomet executive David Montgomery, who joined Zimmer this year.   Wabash National profit improves on manufacturing prowess Profit at Wabash National Corp. rose to nearly $5.9 million in the second quarter from $5 million a year earlier due to performance of its manufacturing organization, the Lafayette truck trailer maker said yesterday. Also contributing to the results were strategic sourcing and pricing initiatives. Wabash said it has cut its work force, and imposed a hiring freeze and spending restrictions in order to ride out what it expects to be temporary softness in the market. Orders will improve in the second half of next year, the company said.   Portland pet food maker to expand, add 51 jobs Mars Pet Care USA will expand in the east-central Indiana city of Portland, creating 51 jobs, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said today. The subsidiary of McLean, Va.-based Mars Inc. will invest $12 million to add several production lines for products such as Pedigree, Whiskas and Shebas. The plant was owned by Doane Pet Care, which Mars bought last year. Mars received $978,250 in incentives.     Glaxo diabetes drug allowed to stay on shelves A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel yesterday stopped short of suggesting that GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia be taken off the market, and instead said the FDA should require that the drug carry the agency's strictest warning. One panel member said the drug should be pulled from shelves. Had the FDA withdrawn the product, the Eli Lilly and Co. diabetes drug Byetta could have benefited from the $2 billion void left in the market.   From IBJ staff and Associated Press--Compiled by Norm Heikens
	Robbery ends in downtown police pursuit A man is under arrest following a police chase this morning that started in the 800 block of Woodruff Place Middle Drive on the eastside and ended at Washington and Delaware streets downtown. Officers say the man led them on the 20-minute pursuit after they tried to pull him over on suspicion he robbed a home. They believe a second suspect might be on the loose. Fox 59 will have updates at 10 p.m. Police search Noblesville for robbery suspects Police with guns drawn searched an area near the 12000 block of Lindley Drive in Noblesville this morning after two suspects burst into a home where five to nine people were playing cards, forced them to the ground, took their wallets and shot one in the stomach. Officers are investigating.
	Thieves snatch copper pipes from Gleaners Police are searching for two men who broke into Gleaners Food Bank over the weekend and stole copper pipes from refrigeration units. Gleaners says it had to deny at least 20 charities frozen and refrigerated foods yesterday because of the theft. Roberts said to be fine after seizure Chief Justice John Roberts has undergone a "thorough evaluation" after suffering a seizure yesterday at his vacation home in Maine. The attack caused the 52-year-old native of Long Beach, Ind., to fall and suffer a few minor scrapes. According to a court statement, Roberts had a similar episode in 1993. A spokesperson says test results indicate "no cause for concern."   Motorcycle race to cost Speedway seats Indianapolis Motor Speedway will forfeit around $500,000 a year in ticket revenue after it eliminates seats to accommodate the MotoGP motorcycle race near year.   Trucking to the top Jeff Stoops has parlayed a single truck into a truck dealership empire that churns out $325 million in revenue a year.   Pampering part of turnaround plan The Columbia Club is aiming to sign 1,000 new members as part of a turnaround that saw $5.5 million in debt refinanced.     What should replace Pan Am Plaza? Downtown's Pan Am Plaza is about to change ownership, and its ice rinks and outdoor areas are likely to be replaced. What should be built there? |   Largest Indianapolis-Area Credit Unions Largest Directors' Fees of Indianapolis-Area Public Companies Largest Indianapolis-Area On-Premise Sign Companies   Sign up today for IBJ's Health Care Weekly E-mail Alert. This once-a week e-mail is delivered every Wednesday. Readers will find news about local hospitals, medical practices and health care companies as well as updates of stories that first appear in Indianapolis Business Journal. They'll also get people and event news and public policy changes that affect the health care industry. Sign up today for your free subscription.
	Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Manage Subscriptions We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy. Copyright © IBJ Media Corp. 2007. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is strictly prohibited. Reprint orders: To request reprint permission contact IBJ's managing editor. Phone: 317-634-6200 - E-mail: managingeditor@ibj.com This email was sent by: IBJ Corporation 41 East Washington Street, Suite 200 Indianapolis, IN, 46204-3592, United States of America  *The Dow Jones Indexes(SM) are compiled, calculated and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of The Dow Jones Indexes(SM) Copyright © 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.