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CHICAGO — Two independent directors at Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) have assumed senior interim management positions: Adam Metz will serve as interim CEO, replacing John Bucksbaum, and Thomas Nolan Jr. will serve as interim president, replacing Robert Michaels. Bucksbaum and Michaels resigned their positions effective Oct. 26, according to an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. Bucksbaum will continue to serve as chairman of the company, and Michaels, who has given up his board seat, will serve as COO as well as a senior officer of the company. Metz is a founding partner of Polaris Capital LLC; Nolan most recently served as a managing director of Trefethen & Co. As a response to economic challenges facing General Growth, the company has placed its Las Vegas portfolio of retail properties up for sale. The portfolio includes Fashion Show Mall, Grand Canal Shoppes and The Palazzo. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Eastdil Secured are responsible for the marketing effort, which is expected to begin immediately. Additionally, the company is working with its lenders to extend the November 28, 2008 maturity date of loans for Fashion Show Mall and The Palazzo. General Growth Properties continues to remain …

INDIANA — As many restaurant chains continue to downsize in the midst of economic uncertainty, HSG Restaurant Group has plans to expand by opening 40 Dunkin' Donuts stores throughout Indianapolis and central Indiana. Serving as project manager for the development areas, Colliers Corporate Solutions is helping HSG roll out the new stores quickly and efficiently. Located on the corner of Washington and Pennsylvania streets in downtown Indianapolis, the first turn-key store for HSG opened this summer. A unique aspect of the store that Colliers implemented on behalf of its client blends a retro Dunkin' Donuts feel with the current brand image. The 1,855-square-foot Dunkin' Donuts was completed in less than 3 months. “We opened the first store in downtown Indianapolis, the second store in Bloomington near Indiana University and the third store in Kokomo; and the fourth, fifth, and sixth stores are under construction to be completed this year,” explains Brian Ungles, senior vice president in Colliers Corporate Solutions, who is serving as account executive spearheading HSG's rollout of stores. “At this pace, we are on track to open at least one new store every month for at least the next 6 months.” Part of the teams' initial success can …

NEW YORK — After several days of negotiations, Citigroup has walked away from its efforts to secure portions of Wachovia. The New York-based bank said in a released statement, “The dramatic differences in the parties' transaction structures and their views of the risks involved made it impossible to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.” Citigroup also announced that it is no longer asking that the Wells Fargo-Wachovia merger be enjoined, but the banking giant plans to seek legal claims against Wachovia and Wells Fargo for breach of contract and for tortuous interference with contract. Wachovia has reaffirmed its intentions to acquire Wachovia as a whole, including all banking assets, its brokerage business and its investment management business, in a stock-for-stock transaction. Unlike the initial Citigroup offering, the Wells Fargo transaction will not require financial assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Wells Fargo has submitted an application to the Federal Reserve Board in hopes of expediting the approval of the merger. The combined company will have $1.42 trillion in assets, $787 billion in deposits, 48 million customers, $258 billion assets under management in mutual funds, 10, 761 stores, 12,227 ATMs and 280,000 team members.

NEW YORK CITY — Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to buy Wachovia Corp. for $15.1 billion, putting a wrench into a previously announced Citigroup deal. The deal will include acquisition of all of Wachovia’s assets — banking assets, its brokerage business and its investment management business. Wachovia’s board approved Wells Fargo’s offer Thursday night. Citigroup’s deal would have included the purchase of Wachovia’s banking operations, not its other divisions. “For Citigroup, this is a real loss,” says Cassandra Toroian, chief investment officer at Bell Rock Capital. “This was a deal that was going to save them as much as it was saving Wachovia.” Wells Fargo has been one of the few major banks who has remained profitable through the credit crisis, while Citigroup has posted more than $17 billion in losses in 2008. Wachovia shareholders will receive 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo stock in exchange for each share of Wachovia stock. “This deal enables us to keep Wachovia intact and preserve the value of an integrated company, without government support,” said Robert Steel, chief executive officer with Wachovia, in a prepared statement. “The market presence and composition of our businesses, along with our service-oriented cultures, are extraordinarily complementary and …

NEW YORK CITY — SL Green Realty Corp. has refinanced two properties for a combined amount of $410 million. The first property, 717 Fifth Ave., was refinanced through The Royal Bank of Scotland, and the second property, 28 W. 44th St., was refinanced through DekaBank. Andrew Mathias, chief investment officer of SL Green, said the transactions demonstrate that even in an anemic lending environment, his company is attracting capital. “With this additional capital added to our reserves, we now have approximately $850 million in cash and other immediately available capacity to deploy opportunistically and we have eliminated a substantial portion of our near-term debt maturities,” Mathias says. The property at 717 Fifth Ave. is a retail condominium that is currently leased by Giorgio Armani, who will locate their North American flagship store to the property. It is scheduled to open in early 2009. The property at 28 W. 44th St. is a 21-story, 359,000-square-foot building, and was acquired by SL Green for $105 million in January 2005. SL Green currently leases the office space, which is 100 percent occupied. “Our ability to complete these transactions, demonstrates the Midtown commercial real estate market’s continuing strength, overall, as well as the lending …

MIAMI — Park Capital Group will invest $1 billion in business and real estate developments over the next year. The Miami-based private equity firm hopes other financial firms will follow in its footsteps and offer a slumping economy a ‘shot in the arm.’ “This country was built by entrepreneurs and our banks have all but turned their backs on these same people in their time of need,” says Matthew Kleinsmith, chief executive officer of Park Capital Group. The firm will close on $200 million in North American projects in September alone, and is currently looking for projects both domestically and internationally, specifically, startups, recapitalization, commercial real estate and humanitarian programs. “Our goal is to form partnerships where both parties benefit,” Kleinsmith says. “We want to build long-lasting relationships with our clients. Another important goal for us is to build our philanthropic work. We are pledging 10 percent of yearly profits to charities across the U.S.” With a focus on its equity-leveraging and asset-based lending program, the company aims to grow their funding base and build overseas relationships. “Park Capital was founded on integrity, honesty and fairness,” Kleinsmith continued. “That is the basis of every project we undertake, and it guides …