SAN ANTONIO-Austin's loss is San Antonio's win in a federal competition for designation as an empowerment zone and all the perks that come with it. The zone focuses on KellyUSA, Fredericksburg Road and Interstate 10-I-35 commercial corridors.

LONDON-Laing Property beat off competition to achieve its third recent speculative industrial letting in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. MacFarlane Group is taking 62,000 sf at Whitehall Avenue, Kingston.

SANFORD, FL-The Seminole County Port Authority board votes this week on giving port director Dennis Dolgner a 35% annual salary hike to $127,036. Dolgner, 60, has run the 120-acre, 54-tenant industrial park for 24 years with a staff of two--himself and his wife.

DALLAS-There's a new CEO, new look and new initiative for Web-Real-Estate.com. Credible sources say the current burn rate could spell doom. Not so, says CEO Chuck Briant, who is bargaining with two firms to get 5,000 properties onto a listing component.