CHICAGO—The fate of Lovell's, a renowned fine dining establishment in suburban Chicago, shows that designers will need to be more creative to keep costs down so that these restaurants can enjoy a more regular customer base, says Lee & Associates' Rick Scardino.

INDIANAPOLIS—The employment market has stabilized here, with strong activity from companies in the high tech, business services, healthcare and legal sectors.

CHICAGO—The advantages of scale and diversity are quite high, said Debra Cafaro of Ventas at a Chicago conference on Monday.

CHICAGO—The growing popularity of e-commerce, and the consequent need for new fulfillment centers, is just one of the factors that had industrial developers at a Chicago conference feeling optimistic.

CHICAGO—The general feeling expressed at today's BMO Capital Markets conference here was that the real estate market now has some built-in safeguards that will prevent a return to the overbuilding seen in 2007.

CHICAGO—Richard Baker of HBC says that says that online shopping, far from threatening bricks-and-mortar stores, is the best thing to happen to the business.

CHICAGO—At yesterday's 10th Annual North American Real Estate Conference by BMO Capital Markets, industry leaders said that the level of new supply was still outstripped by demand.

MINNEAPOLIS—Minneapolis has seen a renaissance in its multifamily sector, and St. Paul is also getting its share.