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An Alabama developer has confirmed that his company will build a Talbot's upscale women's clothing store on the northwest corner of Northwest Expressway and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Construction will begin later this month, said John Vallas of Saad & Vallas Realty Group LLC in Mobile, Ala.

The site previously was occupied by a furniture store and Beverly's Pancake House, which is moving into a retail center on the northwest corner of Northwest Expressway and Independence Avenue.

Arkansas-based Santa Maria LLC paid $5.6 million recently to buy Springbrook Apartments, 8557 Candlewood Drive, from Tritex Real Estate Advisors Inc., a Delaware corporation.

The 328-unit complex was offered for $7 million. The buyer plans substantial renovation of Springbook, which was the subject of a foreclosure earlier in 2007. The property is about 60 percent occupied.

William Forrest, David Forrest and Eva Wills of CB Richard Ellis-Oklahoma handled the sale.

Tim Strange of Sperry Van Ness in Oklahoma City has been named as president-elect of the Commercial Real Estate Council of Oklahoma City.

Bryan Geiger of Bank of Oklahoma and Rick Pritchett of PrecorRuffin LLC have been named to the board of directors, the CREC said.

The CREC's Forecast 2008 will be Feb. 14 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, with registration starting at 11 a.m. Stephen Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics,” will be the keynote speaker.

Existing-home sales rose slightly in November, indicating stabilization in housing in the wake of mortgage disruptions earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Total sales — including single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — rose 0.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units in November from a revised pace of 4.98 million in October, but were 20 percent below the 6.25 million units sold in November 2006.

"Near term, existing-home sales should continue to hover in a narrow range, just as they have since September, and that's good news because it'll be a further sign that the housing market is stabilizing,” said Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist. "Mortgage interest rates are near historic lows and the most current data shows decelerating price declines, along with a modest reduction in the number of homes on the market.”

Disruptions in mortgage availability and pricing peaked in August, which caused sales to slow in subsequent months, the Realtors said.

Commercial real estate and the nation's economy as a whole will benefit from reauthorization of the federal terrorism risk insurance program, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"The potential unavailability of terrorism risk insurance would have had a devastating impact on many commercial financing agreements and could have negatively affected the commercial real estate market,” said Richard Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., and president of the Realtors group.

The terrorism insurance program, initiated after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, helped stabilize the commercial real estate industry, Gaylord said.

The new law extends the program for seven years, covers both foreign and domestic acts of terrorism, retains the "trigger level” at $100 million of damages — the point where federal assistance kicks in — and establishes a commission to recommending a long-term market solution.

From Staff Reports

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