BOSTON James Campbell Sells 50 Milk St. for $170.4 Million by Michelle Waiters James Campbell Co. LLC sold 50 Milk St. in Boston to Ponte Gadea, a Spanish real estate investment group, for $170.4 million, or about $620.50 per square foot. The... [View the article here]

California-based investors Nikolas and George Pries acquired the Pep Boys auto shop at 3518 W. Cactus Road in Phoenix for $3 million, or about $130 per square foot, from Orlando, FL-based National Retail Properties. The 23,010-square-foot building... [View the article here]

Sara Lee Corp., the consumer products and foods maker based in Illinois, leased 74,268 square feet of industrial space at the Washington Airport Center in central Phoenix for five years. Washington Airport Center will serve as a "just-in-time" distribution... [View the article here]

This week in the Retail Roundup, CoStar reports on expansions or new concepts at S&K Menswear, 85c Bakery Café and Nike/Finish Line; new retail developments in VA, MS, LA, WA and IN; acquisition, merger, loan or sale activity at Centro Properties Group... [View the article here]

Harjinder Sihota of Royal Express Inc., a refrigerated truckload carrier out of Fresno, CA, purchased a 5.92-acre site in Phoenix from Kansas-based Liberty Propane Operations for $1.77 million, or about $300,000 per acre. Located at 815 and 825 S.... [View the article here]

Greg Coxon has joined Grubb & Ellis Co. as president, Transaction Services - Western Region, a newly created position in the firm's Phoenix office. Coxon will oversee Grubb & Ellis' offices west of the Mississippi and help manage the company's brokerage... [View the article here]

In this week?s issue: -- The Federal Reserve tells us that it is getting harder to get a CRE loan; -- However, Fitch Ratings says most borrowers with large loans coming due should be able to extend or refinance with little trouble; -- American Realty... [View the article here]

This article is excerpted from Watch List, a weekly column of market conditions, company expansions and contractions and real estate investment opportunities. Pliant Corp. in Schaumburg, IL, plans to consolidate a number of locations: 299 Clukey Drive... [View the article here]

ALMO Distributing Wisconsin leased 107,505 square feet at 7515 N. 81st St. in Milwaukee, WI. It will move from its current site at 4200 N. Port Washington Road this month. Tom Shepherd of Inland Cos. represented Centerpoint Properties. Jim Young of Colliers... [View the article here]

Winthrop Realty Trust announced that the condition to transferring the property at 600 W. Jackson St. in Chicago, IL, a property in its Marc Realty portfolio, has been satisfied and that the sale of the property is expected to occur within the next 90... [View the article here]

PHOENIX-The company is opening stores in major lifestyle-center projects going up around the area. [View the article here]

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-The homebuilder becomes the first tenant in the 500,000-sf Terra Verde Corporate campus, signing a 10-year lease for office space. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-The Minneapolis, MN architecture company opens offices in Phoenix and Tucson as part of a three-pronged strategy. [View the article here]

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-Demand outstrips room at the 2,370-acre Scottsdale Airpark. As a result, city leaders want input from businesses and property owners about ways to expand. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Craig Henig becomes CBRE's senior managing director to replace Gregory Coxon, Grubb & Ellis' new president of transaction services for the western region. [View the article here]

SUN CITY, AZ-Bell Plaza Holdings will invest nearly $1 million into two buildings bought in January as part of a value-add strategy to invest up to $80 million in the coming years. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-The bakery company will open another distribution center in the metro. Lights go on in July in the 255,768-sf Washington Airport Center in Central Phoenix. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Right Place buys MacArthur Park Apartments for $3.2 million in South Texas, where it wants to amass 2,000 units after putting deals in its hometown on the backburner. [View the article here]

MESA, AZ-Ground breaks Tuesday on 700,000 sf of retail for the 1.3-million-sf Mountain Vista Marketplace. Residential, office and hospitality space are included in the plan. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Well-known veteran Carl Johnson closes the door on his 16-year-old company to rejoin DAUM Commercial. His son, Ben, and analyst are at his side. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-In a two-part deal finalized yesterday, Principal Financial Group has paid $41.1 million for two just-completed warehouses in Buckeye Logistics Center. [View the article here]

AVONDALE, AZ-In an off-market deal, two private investors get a three-year-old flex office building, with Cummins Rocky Mountain's name on the long-term lease. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Q1 industrial reports show backslides from 59,140 sf to 234,576 sf. Single-digit vacancies persist, with the southwest submarket posting the most activity for the quarter. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Equus will put $15.5 million into the 121,000-sf office building to develop a 192-room Hilton Garden Inn. The work is ticketed for a fourth-quarter completion [View the article here]

SURPRISE, AZ-Jacor Partners pays $3 million for the development site. The developer is planning four pad sites, 10,000 sf of retail and up to 14,000 sf of office space. [View the article here]

SCOTTSDALE, AZ-The company is slowing expansion as it refines the Pei Wei concept. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-LGE Design Build has 86 projects in various stages for end users. The latest groundbreaking is a 48,000-sf office building for an executive search firm. [View the article here]

PHOENIX-Vestar rolls out an eco-friendly program, GreenStar. The 900,000-sf Oro Valley Marketplace and one-million-sf Technology Marketplace are its poster children. [View the article here]

TEMPE, AZ-Arizona State University and University of Arizona in Tucson may be rivals, but they share the same challenges in delivering more on-campus student housing. [View the article here]

MESA, AZ-The acreage is near the 5,300-acre General Motors Proving Grounds. Entitlements allow up to 1.7 million sf of commercial space and 900 multifamily units. [View the article here]

How do you tell when a business 'franchisable'? What are the benefits of franchising, and what is involved? In this article Mark draws on his experience in franchising to explore each of these issues. [View the article here]

What makes a franchise successful today may not work tommorrow. This article explores four key trends and challenges that are forcing many big names to change operating practices and product/service offerings. [View the article here]

In this article Jerry Wilkerson explains how progressive franchisors encourage and stimulate their employees to think and grow with the system. [View the article here]

Determining appropriate franchise income streams and setting their levels is one of the most difficult and important structural decisions made during the franchise system development process. Michael Seid explains some of the options, complexities and methods involved in determining the optimal income mix. [View the article here]

You'll undoubtedly want to know how much you can expect to earn when considering a franchise. Finding out may be more difficult than you think. Experienced franchise writer, Pamela Gold, explains the complexities and offers advice. [View the article here]

Stewart Germann and Clive Neifeld of SGL (New Zealand) explain the ins and outs of franchise territories. [View the article here]

Mark Siebert, iFranchise CEO, provides expert tips for developing your franchise's national expansion plan. [View the article here]

What makes a franchise successful today may not work tommorrow. This article explores four key trends and challenges that are forcing many big names to change operating practices and product/service offerings. [View the article here]

In this article Jerry Wilkerson explains how progressive franchisors encourage and stimulate their employees to think and grow with the system. [View the article here]

Just because a particular business can be franchised does not mean it should be franchised. Mark Siebert, CEO of iFranchise, explains why. [View the article here]