AUSTIN-High Fashion Decorative Fabrics has set up shop in a 28,000-sf leased building in the city's eastern corridor. The high-end fashion business has inked a three-year lease, picking the state capital for its first Central Texas location.

HICKORY, NC- The number of available rooms are increasing by about 30% over the past four years with national hospitality chains just discovering this area 50 miles northwest of Downtown Charlotte.

SEATTLE, WA-Vacancy rates in in the region's apartment market are up a percentage point or two, depending on the sub-market. Downtown Seattle, however, appears to be picking up more tenants than the outlying areas as traffic drives them to live closer to the office.

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ-The "transit village" concept is alive and well in New Jersey, most recently in the form of two multifamily projects being built near this city's commuter rail station.