LOS ANGELES-In 1994, Leventhal retired and his 45-year-old accounting firm merged with Ernst & Young to become the E&Y Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group. This July, he will be inducted into the California Building Industry Foundation Hall of Fame.

LONDON-US real estate investors The Blackstone Group and JER Partners have signed deals to back three London office developments by Resolution Property.

DALLAS-Hotel Reservations has headed to a community of about 40,000 to set up its third call center. Other centers are in northeast Dallas and southwest Ft. Worth. The 14,000-sf center will share space with a sister entity, Ticketmaster.

CHICAGO-The mayor of the "City of Big Shoulders" wants to make sure it's a city with high-tech, fiber-optic infrastructure, which would raise real estate values. CivicNet would serve as a "giant co-op" for technology.