Office

STAMFORD, CT-Ending an office search that lasted more than two years, international global information solutions firm Thomson Corp. will significantly expand its corporate presence here with its signed leases at Metro Center and First Stamford Place totaling more than 130,000 sf of office space.

SAN DIEGO-According to research by Burnham Real Estate Services, San Diego County's office market posted a steady fourth quarter for 2002, with 627,000 sf of net absorption. The 2002 net office absorption at 1.6 million sf outpaced the previous year's figure of one million sf.

NEW YORK CITY-We're on the threshold of war, there are no jobs, the Bush tax plan is a dubious bet and business confidence is still in the dumpster. So why is Mark Zandi so upbeat?

DENVER-The country's fifth largest cable TV company, plans to move its corporate headquarters to Denver if the bankruptcy court approves.

GLENDALE, AZ-The buyer, a family-owned investment group, gets a fully leased 19,141-sf office building, stable tenant roll and prime location along West Olive Avenue. The asset had been on the market about eight months.

PHILADELPHIA-The Browns Summit, NC-based garden parts and equipment supplier whistles a happy tune after signing a 26,970-sf lease for space in Keystone Property Trust's 7520 Morris Ct. in the Westpark Business Center in Allentown, PA.

ROCKVILLE, MD-The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute gets good news with the governor's recent allotment of funding from the fiscal 2004 capital budget for the $50-million development of the Center for Advance Research in Biotechnology II.

PORTLAND-The president of Portland-based Harsch Investment, a major player in several Western real estate markets, will give a presentation on how Portland stacks up against the rest of the West Coast. US Bancorp's Western Regional Economist John Mitchell also will be on hand.