HOUSTON-With the approval in hand, Hines REIT is ready to launch on an initial offering of 200 million shares. The sale is projected to generate up to $2.2 billion in equity with a buy-in minimum of $2,500.

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA-A 450-acre future home of a gargantuan mixed-use development is put forth as just the right spot for a new $360-million baseball stadium to accommodate the team now known as the Montreal Expos. Project developer Diamond Lake Associates and local baseball organizations present the package to Loudoun County officials, who eagerly await a decision from Major League Baseball about which one of several competing locations will become the host of the team.

QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA-Lend Lease Corp. Ltd. and Japan's largest publicly traded condominium developer sign an agreement for the development of 12 residential apartment towers in Surfer's Paradise, a city on the south side of Brisbane.

INDIANAPOLIS-Simon will acquire all of Chelsea's outstanding common stock and operating partnership units for $3.5 billion and also assume the company's existing indebtedness and preferred stock, which totaled approximately $1.3 billion as of the end of March.

NEW YORK CITY-Essen Hyp is looking at increases of up to $400 million in private mortgage lending and as much as $1 billion in public-capital activity as it unveils its locally based center of US operations. Retail, multifamily and office assets--in that order--form the core of its lending strategy.

<!--.tabletext {font-size: x-small;font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;}.boldjohntext {font-size: 12px;font-weight: bold;font-family: "Times…