During the mid-2000s, when it seemed any project had a chance ofcompletion, it was common to hear about $1-billion to $2-billionmixed-use development plans. That’s true even in the Midwest,typically a region known for slow and steady growth, as well as itsrestraint against grandiosity.

Then the financial crisis ended the party in 2007, and all thebills came due. When the downturn hit, it became “the decade fromhell,” according to a recent joint real estate report,“Expectations & Market Realities in Real Estate 2010,” by RealEstate Research Corp., Holliday Fenoglio Fowler and Real CapitalAnalytics.

In most American cities, these multi-million-dollar, mixed-usecomplexes were revealed as what they were all along: houses ofcards with too much leverage and not enough demand. Nowhere is thistruer than in Middle America, which has been hit especially hard bythe downturn. Here’s a look at the state of development in three ofthe Midwest’s major cities.

for the full story, click here.