CHICAGO-Brokers struggle to stay positive as the good vibes from the first half of 2011 are dashed with the cold reality of almost flat job creation in Chicago.

MOSCOW-This city is seen as the most desirable to expand into by European firms, though London, Paris and Frankfort still hold the titles as top three places to have an office, says C&W.

KENT, OH-BGL Real Estate arranged the lending for the further development of the retail and multifamily project, already worth more than $100 million.

LONDON-The two environmental companies will jointly offer services to real estate firms on both sides of the pond.

ST. CHARLES, MO-Construction of the first 100,000-sdquare-foot retail/office building should be complete by spring, the Peoria, IL-based firm says.

CHICAGO-JER Partners, based in McLean, VA, is exiting its 13 European investments to focus on its US portfolios. The European JER team will join LaSalle’s office in London and Prague.

LONDON-The global upheaval has pushed investors to back down on investment just about everywhere but the United States, where cross-border capital is investing about 10% of capital.

LOS ANGELES-The buyers are Ares and the Canada pension board fund, which overbid Leonard Green by almost $3 per share for the discount retail chain.