SEATTLE-Developer Paul Brenneke of Portland, OR, is close to choosing a hotel company with which to partner on the development of a $130-million Downtown luxury hotel, spa and residential tower. The entitled project's design is in the process of being tweaked to accommodate the planned extension of the city's monorail line, which would cut across a corner of the site.

LAS VEGAS-The city council signs off on the disposition and development agreement with a San Diego-based firm for a full-block residential project in the city's downtown redevelopment district that will include live-work units and 10,000 sf of traditional retail space.

HAYWARD, CA-An importer buys a 230,000-sf distribution warehouse here for $14 million and a machine shop acquires a two-building, 153,000-sf industrial property here for $8.3 million.

PORTLAND-Proposed amendments to this city's historic resources code--scheduled for a city council hearing Oct. 21--would give the city power to review and deny demolition permits and also add incentives for property owners to maintain and preserve historic structures.

SYDNEY-A strong upturn in most markets pushes many planned projects into the construction phase, leaving the pipeline relatively empty for now, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' National Hotel Development Register, which tracks major tourist accommodation development in the 10 major markets in Australia.

PORTLAND-After entering the Portland market via the December 2001 acquisition of a law firm located on the 11th floor of the Rouse Co. building, Seattle-based Williams, Kastner & Gibbs is relocating and expanding to 14,000-sf on the sixth floor to make room for another acquisition.

OLYMPIA, WA-Washington's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September dropped six-tenths of a percentage point to 5.6%, the largest decrease in the September rate since 1978. The estimated number of unemployed people at the end of the month was 178,700, the lowest seasonally adjusted total since February 2001.

SAN FRANCISCO-Morgans Hotel Group, formerly known as Ian Schrager Hotels, says the Clift Hotel here has emerged from Chapter 11, which is to say the company has sold the asset for $71 million, paid off creditors and inked a 99-year leaseback agreement with the new owner.