Linens 'n Things Closing Ten Texas Stores

NEW JERSEY (Dallas Business Journal, Associated Press) – Home furnishings retailer Linens 'n Things has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will close 120 stores — including ten in Texas — as part of its restructuring.

Linens Holding Co., the New Jersey-based parent of the chain, will close its stores at Best Buy Plaza and Alpha Parkway in Dallas, The Marketplace at Towne Center in Mesquite, Plaza at Cedar Hill, and one store each in Plano and Wichita Falls. The chain will also close stores in Austin, Brownsville, Houston and Laredo.

The closures will leave the chain with 43 Texas stores.

"The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising improvements that we have made over the past two years," said Robert J. DiNicola, Linens Holding executive chairman.

Linens 'n Things reported $2.8 billion in sales last year. The chain has 589 stores in 47 states and seven Canadian provinces.

2008 Market Reports Now Available

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The 2008 real estate market reports for the state's 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas are now available on the Real Estate Center’s website.

The reports cover census data, employment and unemployment, major industries, business climate, education, transportation and infrastructure issues, growth patterns and much more. Best of all, they are free of charge.

Rose Donates $5 Million to ULI Leadership Center

DALLAS (Urban Land Institute) – Real estate industry legend Daniel Rose has committed $5 million to the creation of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership.

The mission of the center will be to empower leaders in the public sector to envision, build and sustain successful 21st century communities by providing access to information, best practices, peer networks and other resources to foster creative, efficient and sustainable land use practices.

Rose’s gift is among the largest individual contributions ever made to the Institute.

ULI is a global education and research organization dedicated to responsible land use.

Savannah Sold

AUSTIN (globest.com) – Lane Co. has purchased the 290-unit Savannah Apartments in the Northwest Hills submarket and plans to invest $2 million to $3 million in upgrades.

The Atlanta-based buyer will manage and lease the 34-year-old, 98 percent occupied Class-B complex at 7201 Hart Lane. Savannah features a mix of one- and two-bedroom units ranging from 750 to 950 sf. Monthly rents range from $737 to $935.

Transwestern represented the seller, locally-based Falcon Southwest. Lane was self-represented.

$1 Billion Redevelopment Begins

ADDISON (Dallas Morning News) – Denver-based developer UDR Inc.'s $1 billion Vitruvian Park project could ultimately house 10,000 or more residents. Construction began yesterday on the first 667 apartments in the redevelopment that will eventually include almost 6,000.

Projected to take ten years, the development could increase Addison’s population by more than 60 percent. It will be built in six phases.

Some 3,000 old apartments south of Spring Valley Rd. will be demolished to make room for the new project. As much as 500,000 sf of retail and office space is planned for the project, which currently encompasses 99 acres.

New apartment buildings will range from three to five stories. A 12-acre park will be in phase one. A landscaped waterway running through the project is in the plans. The project is being developed to meet green standards under a new Addison town program designed to maximize energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

World's Largest Propane Plant Planned

HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – When completed in 2010, a propane dehydrogenation plant near the Houston Ship Channel will be the largest of its kind in the world, according to PL Propylene LLC of Houston, which is building the facility.

The 1.2 billion pound-capacity plant will produce both chemical grade and polymer grade propylene. It also will produce commercial quantities of hydrogen and other co-products. S&B Engineers and Constructors Ltd. of Houston is the project’s principal engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

The new plant will be built on a site purchased from ExxonMobil Corp. of Irving.

New Home Inventory Falling in Bayou City

HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – After a new survey this week showed area home sales outpacing construction, the president of the Houston Builders Association had two words for those waiting until summer or later to buy. “I wouldn’t,” said Brian Binash of GHBA and Wilshire Homes.

He noted that builders have scaled back so much that he is expecting a shortage of homes as early as this summer.

The latest survey by Metrostudy reports that housing starts fell 33 percent in first quarter 2008 to 7,049 compared with a year earlier. During that same period, however, builders closed on 8,485 new homes. The inventory of unsold new homes during the quarter fell to 2.7 months.

The median price of a new home in the first quarter was $202,287, up 15 percent over last year. Every price segment less than $500,000 recorded a decline in annual starts, with entry-level housing posting the steepest drop, according to Metrostudy data.