Addison-based Behringer Harvard says it's current on interest payments on Frisco Square and expects its "technical default" to have minimal short-term impact on the operations of the mixed-use property north of Dallas. Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I Inc. defaulted on the balance of $44.1 million in loans it took out for its investment in Frisco Square. The debt came due on Jan. 28 on six tracts of land for the Frisco project, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Behringer Harvard said it was working to extend the maturity date on the loan...

The Redevelopment Commission of Greensboro anticipates having a master development agreement in place before the end of the year and selling seven acres of city-owned land to a developer in December for a mixed-used project at South Elm and Lee streets. The commission gave a nod to the timeline during its meeting that laid out the three-step process leading up to breaking ground next year on the $42 million project that is expected to include 168 market-rate apartments, retail space, a 75- to 90-bed hotel and 25 town house or condo units...

Scottsdale-based MC Companies and Phoenix-based Clark-Wayland have merged to create a joint venture called MC Clark-Wayland. The venture will focus mainly on development and construction of new multifamily projects in Phoenix and Tucson. The combined company has about 175 full-time employees. It currently has two projects under construction in Tucson. “Together, the company is a full-spectrum real estate company with a depth that investors will appreciate,” said Jere Clark, principal of Clark-Wayland...

Transmark Co. of Greenwood Village has bought the Broadridge Plaza shopping center in Littleton. The center, on south Broadway and West Ridge Road, sits on 10 acres and includes six buildings with 79,545 square feet of retail space. It was 91 percent occupied at the time of the sale. Transmark, doing business as Broadridge Plaza LLC, bought the property for $4.7 million from sellers Broadridge Jero LLC, the majority owner, and Broadridge Brad LLC. The new owners plan improvements to the common areas and building exteriors...

Central Ohio’s housing market bore the brunt of the recession and lending freeze in 2008 and 2009, but its decline appears to be slowing given the sales performance last year. Sales of single-family houses and condos in the region tumbled nearly a fourth from 2006, when Ohio’s housing troubles picked up speed. But prices have fallen at less than half that rate, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. Columbus’ housing market peaked in 2005 for sales and selling prices, but last year’s sales put the market back to 1998 levels, the statistics show...

Every week in “Top of the List,” denverbusinessjournal.com highlights one of our exclusive lists that appear in the print edition of the Denver Business Journal. The weekly lists rank Colorado businesses and other entities in a host of categories, from law firms to lenders. Online, we give you basic information on the top five from each weekly list. The full list, including additional data on the top five, is available to DBJ subscribers only. And the lists are compiled each year in our annual Book of Lists, which is sent to subscribers and is available for purchase as a desk reference or in digital format...

Longview-based Cassity Jones Lumber has purchased an existing 25-acre lumber distribution facility in Terrell, and plans to consolidate its North Texas operations in the city. The consolidation will bring roughly 30 employees into Terrell, and will consolidate the company's area lumber distribution from Cedar Hill and Mabank. "This is all part of our transformation," Chief Operating Officer Jeb Jones said. "We are moving away from being a home center and we are only supplying professional custom home builders...

It’s been a rough few years for home builders, but Tempe-based Fulton Homes thinks it has scored a touchdown with a commercial that will run during the Super Bowl Sunday. The 30-second spot will air on KPNX Channel 12 during the final break in the game. I bet they’re hoping for a close contest that goes down to the wire. Fulton will tout its home trade-in program. The commercial was created by knoodle, a Valley advertising and PR firm. “The trade-in program has been very successful for us...

Anthony Gucciardo, one of the top-selling real estate agents in the Albany, New York, area, has opened a new office in Colonie. Gucciardo is leasing space at 441 New Karner Road, inside the law firm of Tully Rinckey PLLC. Gucciardo started his own brokerage, Gucciardo Real Estate Group LLC, in January after leaving HUNT Real Estate ERA in Loudonville. Gucciardo, 29, said he will refer clients to Tully Rinckey for closings, but the two businesses are separate. Gucciardo said the arrangement enables him to keep his costs down by not leasing a larger office...

Behringer Harvard announced Friday it has broken ground on a luxury apartment property, known as Allegro II, which is the second phase of an apartment community the Addison-based company bought in December 2010. The 121-unit apartment homes will sit on a 1.2-acre tract of land at 15750 Spectrum Drive in Addison Circle, a 70-acre mixed-use development. It will be adjacent to the development's first phase of the project that includes 272-units with luxury finishes and amenities, such as private patios, brushed nickel hardware and granite countertops...

Top executives at some of the U.S.’s largest home-building companies, including the head of Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA Inc., said Thursday that they think the housing market has stabilized, reports The Associated Press. Even so, they stopped short of being overly optimistic. As the news service points out, housing experts a year ago forecast housing would begin recovering in 2011, only to see it play out as the worst year for new home sales on records going back a half-century. At Beazer Homes, (NYSE: BZH) customer traffic has been rising, reflecting what its president and CEO, Allan Merrill, sees as “significant pent-up demand for new homes forming in many of our markets,” AP reported...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday that the Obama administration plans to push forward this spring with efforts to shutter government-backed housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and attract more private funding to mortgage markets, The Washington Post reported.

Architecture, Construction & Engineering Jose Lara Gomez joined TLC Engineering for Architecture as a mechanical project engineer. Land Design South promoted Leslie Murrell, Jeff Brophy and Brian Terry to principals. Banking & Finance David Guzman was promoted to regional affluent sales director for Wells Fargo. John Socarraz was promoted to business development officer for asset-based lending at TD Bank. TotalBank announced the following promotions: Thaymell Martin, senior VP; Isabel Gomez, market lender/senior VP; Reynaldo Santana, regional manager; and Ariel Carrion, information technology director/VP...

South Florida Business Journal‘s Hot Leads feature is designed to inform readers of potential leads for new business opportunities, with listings of new businesses, relocating businesses, new products and services. Send information to newstipssfbj@bizjournals.com. Any photos should be sent electronically at a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Openings The D’Larosa~Lurie Gallery opened at 302 S. Federal Highway (Royal Palm Place) in Boca Raton. (561) 843-9291.Rick Medina opened Arcade Odyssey at Pine Lake Shopping Center, 12045 S...

Entrepreneurs are seen as the job-creating engines that can drive not only the economic recovery in South Florida, but nationwide, as major businesses continue to keep a tight rein on employment. That’s why the Business Journal focused on entrepreneurial education and resources for its first 2012 Critical Conversation after presenting broader views of education in previous years. The good news for budding entrepreneurs: South Florida universities and colleges offer an array of help, whether you are still a student or a workforce veteran looking to launch your own business...

The regional commercial real estate market offered a mixed bag of results last year, according to the annual Buffalo Niagara market overview prepared by the CBRE/Buffalo office. What makes the report so interesting is that as it was being released, two of the organization’s brokers were in the middle of closing a high-profile deal that saw Olympic Towers in downtown Buffalo sold to investors from Los Angeles, Miami and New York for $2.5 million. The deal culminated two years of work by brokers Shana Stegner and Sarah Cashimere-Warren...

The basics Background: Parker, 41, is a woman who means business in the construction field — and sometimes that means showing up on a rainy construction site in a business suit and heels because she forgot her construction boots. Despite the challenges she has faced as CEO of Elocen, which is her first name spelled backward, Parker says her only regret is not starting the business sooner. Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, Virginia Union University; master’s in project management, University of Maryland University College First job: Foot Locker as a cashier and inventory stock person Family: Son Jordan, 20; lives in Bowie...

Company: Manekin LLC Title: Vice president Age: 48 Residence: Pikesville Website: www.manekin.com Stacey Berman says small businesses better get in early if they hope to profit off new major retail construction projects. Berman, who joined Manekin LLC in June, said new malls or big-box retail developments often attract customers to previously dormant areas. She said long-term planning could help bring more businesses to Owings Mills where a mall and a former Solo Cup plant are scheduled for redevelopment...

While commercial Realtors across the country found 2011 a pretty flat year, they’re optimistic about 2012, according to a recent survey. The real estate brokers expect vacancy rates to drop in office, retail and industrial space. They also expect rent to start rising in 2012, albeit slowly. Even after seeing average rental rates drop in 2011 for industrial and retail space, Realtors are still expecting to see rental rates grow in all sectors this year. This optimism was explained in the survey as being the product of modest economic growth and job creation towards the end of 2011...

In its heyday, The Shops at Georgetown Park was a retail mecca packed with must-have items, exotic goods and elaborate window displays. The 300,000-square-foot emporium, built in 1981 by Western Development Corp., was anchored by a Garfinckel’s department store and drew shoppers from across the region and beyond. These days, Georgetown Park is the very definition of a dead mall. The laughter and chatter of hundreds of gift-laden shoppers have been silenced. Only a scattering of people mill about in the cavernous space as they hunt for the few shops that still inhabit the darkened corridors...