SALH HASISH, EGYPT-Under construction in Salh Hashish, the 520-room hotel will open as one the city's most luxurious five star resorts. The project is owned and designed by architect Amr El Alfy. Le Meridien manages four other hotels in Egypt.

VANCOUVER, WA-The $71-million development calls for a seven-story building with 225 hotel rooms and a 30,000-sf conference center. The building would occupy the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Columbia Boulevard, on the south side of Esther Short Park.

MADRID, SPAIN-Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Fund and Lar Grosvenor sell Paseo de la Castellana 280 to Metrovacesa SA, one of Spain's largest property companies. The 10-year-old property is situated opposite a planned development that will include a new major hotel and a Sports Pavilion to assist in Madrid's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

SYDNEY-Lend Lease Corporation Ltd. sells its 23% interest in IBM Global Services Australia Ltd. to IBM Australia Ltd. for $102 million plus repayment of a $10.2-million loan. Half of the money was received on Friday, with the rest due in 12 months.

SEATTLE-After gaining better lease terms, Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson decides to stay at Two Union Square, a 55-story class A office building Downtown owned by the state of Washington.

SAN FRANCISCO-One quarter of positive net absorption after 10 quarters of the opposite does not a recovery make, but be thankful nonetheless, says Dan Mihalovich in his locally based firm's mid-third quarter report.

TUALATIN, OR-Of the four appeals filed, one has been settled, two have been recommended for denial and one, related to methane emissions at the site, is prompting the Tualatin City Council to recommend what the developer was planning to do anyway--wait on building permits until there is direction provided by the state Department of Environmental Quality. The city council hearing is scheduled for later today, Sept. 8.

SALT LAKE CITY-The real estate subsidiary of Hawaii's fifth largest private landowner continues diversifying its portfolio with mainland assets, satisfying the back-end of a Section 1031 tax-deferred exchange by dropping $8 million on a three-building industrial complex located three miles south of the Salt Lake International Airport.