HOUSTON-Mayor Bill White taps Ed Wulfe of Wulfe & Co. to lead the all-volunteer task force. The group's size and membership are now being determined, but the mission is clear...evaluate what is owned and leased and make recommendations.

HOUSTON-One local investment group passes the deed to another after an eight-year hold of Hedwig Square on the city's West Side. The 97%-occupied asset was on the market five months for $7.3 million.

STAFFORD, TX-After sinking $2 million into a retooling four years ago, Applera looks around, but is swayed to stay put for the long term at 13215 N. Promenade Blvd. in the Freeport Business Center.

SHENANDOAH, TX-The San Francisco investor, crossing from multifamily into retail, acquires the Portofino Plaza, a two-year-old center with a 90% occupancy that brought close to the $8.6-million ask for the developer.

HOUSTON-SouthTrust Bank, with 18 locations in Greater Houston, buys 1.4 acres in the northwest submarket in an expansion plan with contracts out on eight other tracts while its broker looks for more. As many as 20 more branches could result from the push.

STAFFORD, TX-An Illinois computer components maker sells the 2.8-acre property after five failed attempts in the past year. The Houston buyers, picking up an extra 1.4 acres, are retrofitting the structure for distribution of spices and food products.

HOUSTON-Trammell Crow's Houston division and Dallas-based Granite Properties end a four-year hold with the 1.3-million-sf sale of four centers in Florida, Kentucky and Texas. The REIT goes the distance with a top offer of $160.4 million to win the deal.

HOUSTON-General Stevedores, a steel and iron supplier, slides into a 25,800-sf structure at 630 McFarland St. while CDC, a design/construction firm, steps into its old address, a 10,900-sf building right next door.