NEW YORK CITY-Forget the hedges against a down market. Panelists at a recent RICS/CRE meeting say CBDs are still the thing.

NEW YORK CITY-What's being termed a "little movement on wages" isn't quite enough for union officials to express optimism that a strike will be averted. The contract that binds 28,000 apartment workers to their jobs runs out at midnight.

NEW YORK CITY-Eleventh-hour fears that the apartment workers union and building owners were still far apart have been realized. Some 28,000 janitors, doormen and elevator operators have struck the New York City multifamily sector.

NEW YORK CITY-Some 28,000 apartment workers-- including doormen, janitors and elevator operators--will be on the job today as union officials and the RAB come to terms after weeks of contract negotiations.

NEW YORK CITY-Mitsui & Co. inks a 15-year re-up at the MetLife Building, where rents hover in the mid 60s per foot. While Insignia is mum on details, sources familiar with the deal put the agreed-upon rent between $55 and $60 per sf.

NEW YORK CITY-No one ever said '03 was going to be a cake walk. REITs are on their way to proving it. The only ray of hope falls on retail and finance sectors.

NEW YORK CITY-We've hit bottom and the market has stabilized, local area players are telling GlobeSt.com. Of course, how long we bounce along the bottom is still a matter of guesswork.

NEW YORK CITY-RFPs are going out today for bids on commercial loans secured by nine portfolios of assets around the country. Carlton executives plan final bids to be awarded at the end of May.