(RTTNews) - Wednesday, Feldman Mall Properties, Inc. (FMP | charts | news | PowerRating) announced that it closed the joint venture agreement with an affiliate of Heitman in connection with Colonie Center Mall located in Albany, New York. According to the joint venture agreement, Heitman will contribute 75% in the joint venture equity. The company will retain 25% of the total equity in the property. The company will continue to manage the property and will receive customary management, construction and leasing fees.

In connection with the recapitalization of the mall, the company has refinanced the $50.7 million first mortgage bridge loan with a new construction facility with a maximum capacity totaling $109.8 million. The new construction loan matures in October 2008 and has an all-in fixed interest rate of 6.84%.

Basescu urges construction companies to continue works

President Traian Basescu said the rate of construction imposed by U.S.-based Bechtel on the Transilvania Highway must not respect the rule by which "when winter comes we no longer work."
"We must eliminate the rule according to which during winter, the construction sector is dead. We can excavate, work on the foundations, because we must eliminate the old Romanian rule," said Basescu. The president believes that if the Ministry of Transportation decides the company does not have the capacity to work properly, there will be a way to renounce the services offered by Bechtel.
In late June, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu asked Bechtel to speed up works on the Transilvania Highway.
Tariceanu said, during his visit to a construction site in Cluj County that works needed to be sped up so that the Cluj-Oradea section is ready first.

Home construction, sales projected to decline this year

Given the Pittsburgh region's slow pace of employment growth and declining population, it's not all surprising that the housing market is due for a slowdown.

"The area's weak rate of household formation limits growth of housing demand, and higher mortgage rates have helped further soften demand growth," noted the August economic forecast for the seven-county region by the Economics Division of PNC Financial Services Group.

PNC is projecting a 5.4 percent decline in housing construction for 2006 -- to 5,300 units versus 5,601 units last year -- based on its analysis of housing permit application data from the U.S. Census Bureau, according to Richard Moody, a PNC regional economist.

That includes a drop of about 8 percent -- 4,300 units versus 4,672 units -- in the larger, single-family segment of the market covering Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Construction of Jordan Valley Innovation Center

When it opens in April, Jordan Valley Innovation Center will be known as the Roy D. Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center. The new name, approved by the Missouri State University Board of Governors on Dec. 15, is the latest development for JVIC, which houses MSUs Center for Applied Science and Engineering and Center for Biological and Life Sciences, and several research partners.

JVIC will create opportunities for the regions job market that are new and distinct in Springfield, and serve as a high-tech center and major investment in the economic future of Springfield and southwest Missouri, said MSU President Michael T. Nietzel in a news release, noting that Blunts support of JVIC is essential to its success.

He shared the vision and has been steadfast in his support to make the vision a reality, Nietzel added.

Construction work destructs city traffic

Lucknow, December 27: Long traffic jams and unruly crowd! This is how the city is bolstering its identity by each passing day and Wednesday was no different. With the construction and repair work in progress in many parts of the city, the commuters had a harrowing time, particularly during the rush hours. There was a major jam at the Sankalp Vatika tri-crossing and Bandha Road due to the ongoing road construction work there. The barricades were put up and building material scattered on the road.

I was left stranded for around 20 minutes before I managed to find another way to my shop, said Surendra Kumar who got stuck here this morning. They (construction agencies) do not even bother to put up proper signboards to avoid public inconvenience, he rued. A guard who was at the spot trying to handle the traffic admitted it was not an easy task.