Talk about your contrarian views. Peter Linneman thinks a jobless recovery is not only necessary, it's normal. And he thinks that real estate types who bemoan the horrors of the recent recession and the attendant loss of jobs to places like India are displaying twin lapses of memory and imagination.

When you're going into South America, look at all the issues and adjust your return requirements accordingly.

NEW YORK CITY-John Moody and Thomas Nye--from the early 1990s to 2000 CEO and treasurer of Cornerstone (respectively)--are now on board with HRO. The pair will head the US investment push the firm is mounting for HausInvest Global Fund.

HOLLYWOOD, CA-Sources close to the deal say that CIM, backed by pension fund money, is in due diligence now for the massive mixed-use entertainment complex. Shedding the beleaguered asset will allow Trizec to "Get on with their life as an office REIT.

NEW YORK CITY-A different take on the jobless recovery was laid out last night as NAI unveiled its 2004 Global Market Report.

NEW YORK CITY-The investment and development firm is not only looking for "get-your-hands-dirty" redevelopment deals around town, but now it's also asset managing North American investments for a German open-ended fund.

NEW YORK CITY-In 2003 Wells Real Estate Funds vowed to make a splash in the Manhattan market. They're doing it, apparently. The firm's REIT Fund I closed on the one-million-sf asset on New Year's Eve--its first Manhattan buy.

ATLANTA-Some insiders say that the class A office asset wasn't sufficiently marketed and that, as a result, there was "money left on the table." Not true, say the sellers, who closed yesterday on what is being billed as one of the highest-priced transactions in recent local history.