CHICAGO-Patrick Sullivan, principal at the firm he founded in 2006, is winding down the company and has joined the local office of HFF to lead an industrial platform.

HOUSTON-The two companies will focus on the design and construction of retail stores, offices, public facilities and office parks.

LONDON-According to Real Capital Analytics’ first quarter Europe Capital Trends Report, transaction volumes increased to $47.3 billion, the sixth consecutive quarterly improvement.

ELGIN, IL-Cushman & Wakefield brokers say the reported $130 million purchase by Stockbridge of eight properties here and in Milwaukee shows that big sales are returning.

CHICAGO-Innovation is stressed for developers looking to the downtowns of the future, but there’s a lot of sustainable choices, panelists said during the CoreNet Global Summit here.

DALLAS-The two companies have purchased a 163,000 square-foot grocery anchored shopping center in Dallas, Texas, in Dallas’s Oak Cliff neighborhood.

CHICAGO-The locally based Jameson Commercial is handling the 30-store expansion of Buffalo, NY-based New Era.

I was going to write this column about despair – what I saw from the train as I traveled from Chicago to Detroit, a moving picture of empty, crumbling industrial buildings and blight that is copied throughout the Midwest.Instead, I’m writing about hope.