Apartment Market in Aspen Sizzles
The Aspen, CO apartment market posted a vacancy rate of less than 1%, according to a Q1 2007 report by the Colorado Division of Housing. Aspen’s overall vacancy rate is 0.7%, while Summit County, CO posted a healthy 2.8% vacancy rate in the same quarter. In addition, Grand Junction, CO reported its lowest apartment vacancy rate in more than a decade at 1.5%.

Office Vacancies Decline in Washington, D.C.
Office leasing picked up in Washington, D.C.’s East End neighborhood in Q1 2007. The neighborhood, which is defined as an area in Northwest D.C. recorded a vacancy rate of 6.4% in Q1 ‘07, according to a recent GVA Advantis report. The shrinking vacancy rate was credited to a couple of large relocations during Q1 ‘07, including the Department of Justice consolidating its offices into 482,000 sf at Liberty Square.

Kansas City Office Market Improves
Kansas City, MO office vacancies have dropped to 18.2% in Q1 2007, from 19% during Q4 2006, according to a report by Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. Class-A space vacancies dropped by 1.5% during the quarter to 17.1%. The improvement was largely due to Cerner Corp.’s move into 500,000 sf at the former Marion Laboratories campus in south Kansas City.

Hawaii’s Hotel Market Slows in April
Hawaii’s hotel industry saw occupancy and overall performance drop in April, according to a report by Hospitality Advisors LLC. Despite some growth in average daily room rates, room revenues declined 3.6%. Occupancy also dropped 5.9% points to 71.1%. The report cited shorter stays, a downturn in traffic from Japan, and a lag in the convention market as among the reasons for the slowdown.

Cushman to Buy Majority Stake
Cushman & Wakefield has agreed to buy a majority stake in Sonnenblick-Goldman, a boutique New York investment bank that specializes in helping clients line up debt and equity for their properties. Sonnenblick’s six principals, will retain a minority interest in the company, which handled $7.5 billion in transaction volume in 2006, most of which involved arranging mortgages for clients. This transaction marks the latest move by a brokerage giant to diversify its revenue stream.

Trump Gives Up on Tampa High Rise
Real estate mogul Donald Trump has pulled out of a proposed $300 million, 52-story condominium project in Tampa Bay and has sued the developer, according to a U.S. District Court filing. Trump claims in the lawsuit that SimDag, LLC owes him more than $1 million in unpaid licensing fees. He’s also ordered developers to stop using his name on the project. Construction on the property hit a snag last November, and no timetable to resume has been established.

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