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LA JOLLA, CALIF. — Westfield UTC in La Jolla is unveiling a newly upgraded mall today, during a celebrity-hosted grand opening party. The shopping center underwent a 14-month, $180 million renovation, adding new retail stores, restaurants, resort-style amenities and a luxury movie theater. Along with the renovations, crews added 40,000 square feet of new space to the more than 1 million-square-foot shopping center. Westfield Group acquired the open-air mall in 1998, which is located near the University of California, San Diego campus. Since the renovation began, Westfield UTC added several new retailers including Tiffany & Co., J. Crew, Vans, Ben Ridge/Rolex, Kiehl's, The Art of Shaving, Sarku Sushi Bar and Deco Floral. Additionally, five retailers opened their first locations in the San Diego market at Westfield: Splendid, Tesla Motors, ArcLight Cinemas, Eureka! Burger and Seasons 52. The renovation was designed to give the mall a “retail-resort inspired experience, including alfresco dining, new shops and entertainment,” the company states. The San Diego City Council initially approved plans for a full-scale renovation of the property in 2008, but the project was delayed due to the recession. In addition to the upgrades, the project also aims to achieve LEED Gold certification. Environmentally friendly …

BOARDMAN, ORE. — In a $200 million expansion, ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) will construct an additional 192,000 square feet at its Lamb Weston frozen potato facility in Boardman. The addition of a new production line at the plant will increase capacity for making french fries and other frozen potato products. The expansion is expected to begin in early 2013 with completion slated for 2014. As consumer demand for frozen potato products continues to grow not only domestically, but internationally, this significant capacity increase is needed to fulfill Lamb Weston’s customer growth projections, according to company officials. The Boardman facility is strategically located with easy access to the Port of Morrow, further supporting domestic and international growth plans. The plant reflects ConAgra's green initiatives. The Energy Star-certified facility has reduced energy costs and increased recycling at the property. Additionally, the plant relies on reusable water. “Our need to expand is a testament to our strong customer partnerships, our great tasting french fries, and the outstanding work our employees do every day to create food people love,” says Rick Martin, vice president of global operations for ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston. “We specifically appreciate the efforts and support of the Columbia River …

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. has acquired two portfolios of medical office assets totaling more than 1.5 million square feet. With these acquisitions, Duke Realty's investment in medical office assets now accounts for 15 percent of its total portfolio investment, a goal the company established in 2009 as part of its five-year strategy to reposition its portfolio. “These two recent transactions are significant for Duke Realty because they have enabled us to successfully meet our goal of having 15 percent of our investment in medical office assets ahead of our year-end 2013 target date,” says Denny Oklak, chairman and CEO of Duke Realty Corp. The company recently acquired a seven-building medical office portfolio totaling 334,000 square feet from Harbin Clinic LLC, the largest independent operator of multi-speciality practice clinics in Georgia. Duke also bought a 14-building medical office portfolio totaling 1.2 million square feet from Seavest Healthcare Properties. Seavest is a real estate investment management firm focused on medical office buildings and related outpatient facilities. Oklak says the high-quality properties are located in healthcare markets that Duke projects will experience high growth. “In addition, we now have a significant presence in Florida, a targeted Duke healthcare market, and expanded …

BURBANK, CALIF. —Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE: HPP) has entered into a joint venture with M. David Paul & Associates/Worthe Real Estate Group (MDP/Worthe) to acquire The Pinnacle, a two-building Class A office property in the Burbank Media District, for $342.5 million. MDP/Worthe, the developer of Pinnacle I and Pinnacle II, will contribute their existing ownership interests in The Pinnacle to the newly formed joint venture. The Pinnacle spans 625,640 square feet and is located directly adjacent to Warner Bros. Studios and Burbank Studios in Burbank. The office complex is currently 95 percent leased to several media and entertainment companies, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, NBC Universal, Sony and Clear Channel Communications. The property is expected to secure long-term cash flow due to the limited capital improvement requirements and minimal leases expiring. “The Pinnacle will be extremely complementary to our portfolio and will provide Hudson with an immediate foothold in one of the top media and entertainment submarkets in Los Angeles,” says Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific Properties. “The quality of the asset, its location and tenancy exemplifies the company’s acquisition strategy to own and operate best-in-class office properties, with a strong media and entertainment tenancy.” Pinnacle I spans …

NASHVILLE, TENN. — The Lionstone Group, a real estate investment trust based in Houston, has acquired The Carothers Building, a four-building, 509,000-square-foot office park in Nashville. The purchase price was nearly $100 million, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The Class A complex is situated on 50 acres in the heart of Nashville’s Cool Springs office submarket along Carothers Parkway with convenient access to I-65. Originally constructed as a build-to-suit for Ford Motor Credit Co. in 1994, the property was expanded in 1997 and has room for an additional 600,000 square feet of office space. The seller, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, purchased the property in 2006 for approximately $70 million. It is now fully leased to five credit tenants. The deal was originally announced at the end of September, but closed on Monday. Stewart Calhoun and David Meline of Cushman & Wakefield’s Atlanta office, along with Don Albright of the firm’s Nashville office, represented the seller in the transaction. J.P. Morgan Asset Management is part of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) with $1.4 trillion in assets under management. JPMorgan’s stock price closed at $40.48 per share on Wednesday, up from trading at $33.25 per share a year ago.

CUPERTINO, CALIF. — Mission West Properties (NASDAQ: MSW), a California-based real estate investment trust, has entered into two agreements to sell all of its real estate assets for $1.3 billion. A joint venture between DivcoWest and TPG Real Estate will pay about $400 million in cash and assume $389 million of debt and other obligations. Some of the company's operating partnerships will retain other assets and liabilities with an approximate net value of $525 million. Mission West owns and manages 101 research and development facilities, mostly in Silicon Valley, totaling about 7.6 million square feet. The REIT put itself up for sale in December to take advantage of the positive market conditions. In a statement last year, the company announced it was exploring a sale due to “an increase in portfolio sales in various markets around the U.S., including the Silicon Valley portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, lower borrowing costs and a steady decline in cap rates from the increased investor demand for yield oriented real estate investments.” Mission West says it plans to liquidate after it completes the transactions by the end of the year. The company said shareholders and owners of operating partnership units that choose …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The construction industry added 17,000 jobs in October, the fifth consecutive monthly increase and the largest since January. That trend bodes well for the U.S. housing market and the broader economy, says Victor Calanog, head of research and economics at New York-based Reis. “That is an important development because it shows that the recovery in residential and commercial real estate is gaining momentum. The economy will not fully recover until housing recovers, so that is a welcome result,” says Calanog. The construction industry has added 29,000 total jobs over the past five months after shedding jobs for much of the year. Reconstruction spending following Hurricane Sandy will provide a near-term boost to construction jobs, adds Calanog, but that will be ephemeral since other projects will probably be put on hold as resources are reallocated. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 171,000 in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported last Friday. The net gain of 184,000 jobs in the private sector was offset by a loss of 13,000 government jobs. In addition, job gains for August and September were revised upward by 84,000. “The 184,000 increase in private sector jobs is a welcome improvement, and further …

NEW YORK CITY — As the remnants of one of the largest storms to ever strike the East Coast dissipates, the full scale of the damage left in its wake is becoming apparent. In New York, Hurricane Sandy crippled mass transit as its vast network of subways were halted by flooding. Subways started running again in much of New York City on Thursday. However, traffic at bridges remains backed up for miles and commuters are waiting in massive lines for buses. In New Jersey, large swaths of the coastline lay in ruins and all 12 of Atlantic City's casinos have been shuttered for several days. Tony Rodio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and CEO of the Tropicana, told the Press of Atlantic City that he estimates the resort towns' dozen casinos are losing $4.5 to $5 million per day just from gaming revenues. With financial losses mounting, casinos are anxiously awaiting word from Gov. Chris Christie about lifting the evacuation order. The total damage from Hurricane Sandy could run as high as $50 billion, including property damage, lost business and extra living expenses, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat. That would make it the second-costliest storm in …