KIRKLAND, WA-A separate account client of Morristown, NJ-based SSR Realty's Multi-Housing business unit acquires the 161-unit property from an affiliate of SECO Development Inc. The sale price was $31 million.

PARIS-Craig Hall and his wife Kathryn acquire and renovate two boutique hotel properties, one in the Seventh District near the Eiffel Tower and another in the neighboring Fifteenth District, in partnership with Paris-based hotelier Georges Chauve and his wife Pamela.

SAN FRANCISCO-Real estate investors are less than excited about next year, according to Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2004, a survey of the new issue of the annual report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA-In a joint venture with Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management, locally based SG Hiscock & Co. launches a high-yield global real estate securities fund for retail and institutional investors in Australia.

BELLEVUE, WA-The investment brokerage firm taps local broker Norman Olsen to be the firm's first Seattle-area affiliate. He specializes in retail and light industrial properties and will work out of his existing office at Regency Group Commercial Realtors Inc.

PORTLAND-The home improvement retailer's use of the Levitz furniture site on S.E. Johnson Road near Highway 224 wins approval from the city's design commission. An appeal is not expected. Lowe's is planning to start construction this spring on a 165,000-sf store.

SACRAMENTO, CA-The office buildings have a combined 700,000 sf of leasable space and are located in the Sacramento-area suburban markets of Roseville, Folsom and Rancho Cordova. The purchase marks the start of a buying binge by the Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investment firm.

TUALATIN, OR-The Bedminster, NJ-based developer of needle-free injection technology is moving and expanding its local operations and customer service center. It's new home will be Tualatin Corporate Center, which is owned by Multi-Employer Property Trust.