RICHMOND, VA-The locally based company completes or has under contract four separate acquisition transactions representing more than 6,000 housing units, mostly located in Southern California. The transactions, which include the 4,600-unit Essex Apartment Value Fund portfolio, will make Southern California the company's largest market.

MEMPHIS-With close to one million sf here already, the third party logistics provider signs a three-year lease for another 435,000-sf of distribution space located a few minutes down the road--in Mississippi.

ALAMEDA, CA-The Mill Valley, CA-based developer of commercial condominiums launches construction here for Venture Commerce Center, a 41,000-sf development on 3.4 acres within the 75-acre business park.

ROCHESTER, WA-The 70-room hotel, which will cost about $7 million, is tentatively scheduled for completion in March. The addition will enable the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation to go after more than the day-trip market.

PORTLAND-The Port of Portland will decide this week whether to purchase the property for $17.5 million, or $1.86 per sf. The land surrounds a closed aluminum smelter between Troutdale and the Columbia River. It would be used for an industrial park development and, possibly, an intermodal rail yard.

GRESHAM, OR-In response to a request for ideas to fund parks without property taxes, the preliminary proposal suggests a piece of Main City Park could be used for a city-owned three-story mixed use development that would throw off enough cash flow to pay for ongoing park maintenance.

LAS VEGAS-A group led by Douglas Teitelbaum, Robert Earl and Theodore Darnall this week takes possession of the hotel-casino it is buying out of bankruptcy in a $637-million deal. Also this week, plans are detailed for a $1-billion project adjacent to the Bellagio that will include some four million sf of hospitality, residential, retail and entertainment space.

BELLEVUE, WA-Aslan Realty Partners II LP, Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co.'s institutional investment fund gains an 80% interest in the 408,000-sf property by buying out the interests of Wafra Investment Advisory Group and Citigroup North America Inc. and acquiring a portion of the interest held by Seattle-based Unico.