EVERETT, WA-Huddled around three regional malls spanning two counties, the 1.25-million-sf Northend office market has the lowest vacancy rates in the Puget Sound, according to the latest report from CB Richard Ellis.

TRENTON-Acting governor Donald DiFrancesco signed an executive order yesterday to create the Office of Recovery and Victim Assistance. Its leader will have cabinet-level status.

BOSTON-Wells Fargo Retail Finance, LLC reports it has supplied Minneapolis-based retailer Paper Warehouse, Inc., with a $15 million line of credit for working capital, operational support and financing some retail expansion it has planned.

McKINNEY, TX-The 351-unit El Lago at the "front door" of a Dallas suburb is the latest in a string of high-ticket sales in the DFW metroplex. The three-year-old multifamily property brings close to $27 million in a bidding war by 10 possible buyers.