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ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Opus South Corp., a division of the Minnetonka, Minn.-based developer Opus Corp., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, along with some of its subsidiaries. The filing allows Opus South to financially restructure its operations and does not affect the company’s separate entities in the North, Northwest, East and West. Employees in Opus South’s Atlanta and Tampa, Fla., offices currently are working on the disposition of assets, and the company will staff the offices with 25 employees until the disposition is complete. “We are working on the wind down of operations for Opus South,” says Winston Hewitt of Opus Corp. “We are exiting the market.” Officials at Opus South saw a dust up over commercial real estate on the horizon a few years ago and began anticipating a decline in the demand for construction. “We slowed development more than 2 years ago because we saw this coming,” Hewett says. “We’ve not experienced such a sharp decline in commercial real estate development or seen the complete shut down of capital and refinancing.” In the next year, Hewett says that $324 million worth of loans Opus South has taken out with banks to finance construction will mature. This includes four …

CHICAGO — Chicago-based General Growth Properties (GGP) has sought additional relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The additional relief was sought for certain subsidiaries, including eight regional shopping centers. On April 16, 2009, GGP announced that it was seeking voluntary relief under chapter 11 to reduce and restructure its debts for approximately 158 regional shopping centers and certain other subsidiaries. Other subsidiaries, including GGP's third-party management business and GGP's joint ventures, have not filed for protection. All day-to-day operations and business of all of GGP's shopping centers and other properties will continue as usual. According to a statement from Adam Metz, chief executive officer of GGP, the additional filings were part of an overall plan to restructure the company’s debt. He notes that the company does not currently plan to file any other subsidiaries for additional protection, but that could change during the restructuring process. The properties seeking relief in the filing include: Retail Properties • Capital Mall (Jefferson City, Missouri) • Columbiana Centre (Columbia, South Carolina) • Gateway Mall (Springfield, Oregon) • Grand Traverse Mall (Traverse City, Michigan) • Greenwood Mall (Bowling …

OCEANSIDE, CALIF. — Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has sold two Oceanside apartment properties totaling 658 units to San Francisco-based The Prime Group for $84 million. The purchases reinforce the company’s recent multifamily investment strategy. The Prime Group acquired a 560-unit California apartment complex in December. “The Prime Group has continually pursued institutional-size apartment buildings in good locations in the western United States,” says Alejandro Lombrozo of Cushman & Wakefield’s San Diego office. “They felt these assets would produce a favorable return at the offer prices they submitted.” Lombrozo, along with the firm’s Ed Rosen and John Chu, represented Northwestern Mutual in the transaction. Rosen and Chu also represented The Prime Group. The 424-unit Villages of Monterey complex, located at 3901 Mesa Dr., was acquired in the deal for $52 million. Located on a 42-acre site, the 21-year-old property encompasses 28 buildings. Amenities include three swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, a racquetball court and a sauna. The 234-unit Montecito Village, located at 4302 Cassanna Way, also was purchased for $32 million. Montecito Village was built in 1989 on 11.6 acres. The property includes a swimming pool and spa, sand volleyball court, basketball court, fitness facility and a business center. …

ST. CHARLES, ILL. — Chicago-based JCF Real Estate has begun construction for something that has gone much the way of the dinosaur lately — speculative office space. The firm is working on two single-story, 15,000-square-foot office buildings within The Corporate Reserve of St. Charles, the company’s new 50-acre business park located along State Route 64 near Randall Road in St. Charles. Initial plans for the project call for the two office buildings, as well as a three-story, 45,000-square-foot office building. JCF is not as sure about bringing a 45,000-square-foot building to market completely on spec, so construction of it will begin after some leasing commitments are obtained. Completion of the two office buildings is scheduled for this August. Paul Robertson, executive vice president of JCF Real Estate, says that he was worried about bringing spec office product to market in a year like this one, but he believes there is an opportunity to develop product that is lacking in the St. Charles market. Many Chicagoland decision makers call this area home, but get in their cars every day and commute in-town to work. “What we are trying to do is create a corporate park, which is a type of development …

SAN DIEGO — Locally-based BLOKHAUS has launched its communal office space concept, theHIVE, in San Diego. The concept is simple — offer a shared office space for creative entrepreneurs who want up-to-the-second technology and a collaborative environment. HIVEhaus, an entity of the BLOKHAUS enterprise and management arm of theHIVE, is the brainchild of a partnership between Graham Downes, founder of BLOKHAUS, and Jason Harper, a graphic artist and web designer/programmer who oversees BHAUSmedia. The flagship property opened in February at a 6,000-square-foot renovated urban warehouse building, which is located at 770 Eleventh Ave. in the revitalized East Village area of downtown San Diego. The space is already more than 33 percent leased. “We’ve had a great deal of interest from self-employed artists, designers, filmmakers, real estate consultants, programmers, fashion industry innovators and other creative types who’ve been drawn to the upbeat, communal environment,” says Harper. “For many [users], it replaces the solitary home office for the opportunity to share leads, skills and ideas with like-minded professionals. It’s also ideal for those looking to downsize and decrease their overhead.” Individuals can rent a variety of space options, starting with a 6-foot by 6-foot workstation module complete with desk furniture. Additionally, facilities …

CHICAGO — Chicago-based General Growth Properties (GGP), the second largest shopping center owner in the country, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York. Approximately 158 properties owned by GGP and its subsidiaries are included in the Chapter 11 protection. Some subsidiaries, including the company’s third-party management business and GGP’s joint ventures, were not included in the filing. GGP currently owns more than 200 shopping centers in 44 states, with a portfolio totaling approximately 200 million square feet. The company will continue normal day-to-day operations at all of its’ holdings. It has already received a commitment for a debtor-in-possession credit facility of approximately $375 million from Pershing Square Capital Management that will provide a source of funds for the company as it proceeds through its restructuring. “Our core business remains sound and is performing well with stable cash flows,” said Adam Metz, CEO of the company, in a prepared statement. “We believe that Chapter 11 is the best process for restructuring maturing mortgage loans, reducing the company’s corporate debt, and establishing a sustainable, long-term capital structure for the company. He added, “While we have worked tirelessly in the past several months to address our …

MOUNTAIN BROOK, ALA. — Birmingham, Ala.-based Evson, a family-owned development firm, submitted plans Monday to the city of Mountain Brook for the $200 million Lane Parke of Mountain Brook Village mixed-use project. The development is located 3 miles from downtown Birmingham and sits adjacent to the Birmingham Zoo and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. When complete, Lane Parke will encompass 210,000 square feet of retail space, 45,000 square feet of office space, residential units and a 75-room hotel. The entire development will be built to LEED certification, and green spaces, walking trails and water features will be prominent throughout the property. A two-phase construction schedule will commence when plans for the project are approved by the city. The 27-acre property will replace the 63,000-square-foot Mountain Brook Shopping Center and the 276-unit Park Lane Apartments currently housed on the Mountain Brook site. During the first phase of the project, tenants in the shopping center — including the anchor, Western Supermarkets — will be relocated to the new development. In addition to commitments from these tenants, officials would like to lease three junior anchor spaces of 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet before breaking ground. “We’re very optimistic that the demand is …

COLUMBIA, MD. — idX Baltimore, a division of the St. Louis-based firm, has leased 434,490 square feet of industrial space from RREEF in its Columbia Gateway Commerce Center. Terms of the lease were not disclosed. idX Baltimore was formed in 2005 with idX’s acquisition of Russell-William Ltd., an acrylic manufacturer. The company started life in two buildings in Odenton, Md. Over time, the property’s combined 325,000 square feet started to hamper expansion plans. The company will move into the new space at the end of the summer. “idX was operating out of two separate buildings, which was totally inefficient,” says John Wilhide of CB Richard Ellis’ Baltimore office, who, along with the firm’s Mike Roden, represented idX in the lease. “Columbia Gateway gave them a footprint that would allow them to occupy 325,000 square feet and grow into the 434,490 square feet over the next couple years.” CB Richard Ellis’ Ed Harris represented RREEF. The property encompasses 25,000 square feet of office space, which will undergo upgrades before the company moves in. “idX is a very energy-slash-green focused company,” Wilhide says. “They’re putting in new, high-efficiency HVAC in the office space. They are redesigning the warehouse with high-efficiency air circulation. …

ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Duke Realty Corp. has broken ground on a 1.7 million-square-foot office property, located in its 12-building Mark Center office park in Alexandria, that will house U.S. Army personnel affected by 2005’ Base Closure and Realignment Commission campaign. The development encompasses two office towers, two parking garages and a public transportation center. The property will be built to LEED Silver certification, and construction of the transportation center will follow LEED Gold guidelines. Delivery of the $1 billion project is slated for September 2011. Completion of the project will relocate a substantial workforce into the immediate community. Although most of the workers have been going to work in various offices in the area, the new development will concentrate all the employees in one space. “A lot of these folks already work within 5 miles of here,” says Peter Scholz of Duke Realty’s Washington, D.C., office. “It’s not as if there will be a substantial number of folks relocating from other parts of the country or even other parts of the city. It’s just going to be a matter of people reorienting their commuting patterns.” Development of the site, Scholz says, has not been affected by the recession because the …

GAINESVILLE, GA. — Greenville, S.C.-based Pacolet Milliken Enterprises has tapped Greenville-based Carolina Holdings to develop a 460,000-square-foot retail project in Gainesville. The property will span 55 acres at the intersection of Jesse Jewell Parkway and Limestone Parkway. No groundbreaking date has been set. “It’s a fairly big piece of property for the Gainesville community,” says David Winburn of Carolina Holdings. “We really are at the very early stages of it. We’ve just begun figuring out how best lay out the boxes on the site.” It’s so early in the process, in fact, that the company is still waiting on soil tests and other prep work before moving forward with the development’s layout. The location, Winburn says, is one of the “gateway entrances” to the city and will be well-served by a retail project. Winburn says that Carolina Holdings is moving forward with the development because Gainesville is weathering the recession with vigor. “We feel that our site is well-positioned in an area that’s been fairly stable,” he says. Carolina Holdings has targeted the area for a retail project, but with a site location close to Gainesville’s central business district and the proliferation of medical office buildings in the area, that …