WHITE PLAINS-Veteran hotelier Robert Koren recently arrived back in the U.S. after an extended stint in Spain in order to take over as vice president of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's W Hotels division.

STAMFORD, CT-GE Capital's Commercial Real Estate business reports that it has structured the ProLogis Trust component of its pending $4-billion acquisition of Security Capital Group of Santa Fe. N.M.

TARRYTOWN-Major medical institutions, Westchester County government, area developers and local business organizations have banded together to organize the first-ever Lower Hudson Valley Regional Biotechnology Conference on June 28 to explore economic opportunities the burgeoning sector could bring to the region.

WHITE PLAINS-EastRidge Properties, the owner of four office parks built by pioneer Westchester developer Lowell Schulman which will mark its 10th year in operation next month, reported continued strong leasing activity at its portfolio of properties here in the first quarter of 2002.

WHITE PLAINS-Cappelli Enterprises has secured approximately $197 million in financing from a variety of public and private sources for the first phase of its mixed-use City Center at White Plains development.

WESTPORT, CT-A portfolio of four office buildings totaling about 120,000 sf here have been sold by MetLife to a group of local investors for $26.5 million, according to CB Richard Ellis' Tri-State Investment Team which helped broker the deal.

STAMFORD, CT-Increased tenant demand and the recent sale of the Chevron/Texaco building helped bolster the Westchester County office market in the first quarter leading some to say that the county is in the early stages of a recovery.

GREENWICH, CT-Starwood Global Opportunity Fund VI, Starwood Capital Group's newest fund, has assembled a portfolio of assets valued at $485 million, which represents roughly $145 million of investor capital.