HOUSTON--Avera, a commercial real estate development, construction and investment firm, is developing Phase II at Bombardier Business Park in Midland, Texas.

IRVINE, CA—As Safeway and Albertsons merge they must jettison a number of stores, and Haggen Food & Pharmacy plans to buy them.

LOS ANGELES—The combined company, to be led by Colony Capital's Thomas Barrack and Richard B. Saltzman, will unite the two entities' investment activity and resources under a single structure.

The REIT sector is ablaze and interest in non-traditional REITs and IPOs growing apace. But the question remains: What will interest rates do?