NEW YORK CITY-Taking prime locations, Borders Groups has inked two new retail leases here. A 31,200-sf Borders superstore opened yesterday in Lower Manhattan, replacing its lost WTC shop, and Waldenbooks opened a 2,580-store in Rockefeller Center.

NEW YORK CITY-A panel of real estate developers at a REBNY luncheon yesterday outlined the reasoning behind their decisions to build speculative properties in the Big Apple under the current market conditions.

NEW YORK CITY-During its annual shareholders meeting, W.P. Carey's president Gordon F. DuGan reported the firm broke records last year with $1 billion in sale/leaseback transactions; 2003 is also off to a record-breaking start with $272 million in similar deals.

NEW YORK CITY-Branching into the Northeast region, Houston-based Avail Consulting has opened a new office here at 104 Fifth Ave. The 10-member staff will be lead by newly appointed managing director Pamela O'Neill.

MELVILLE, NY-Polar Electro Inc., a producer of heart rate monitors, is relocating from Woodbury, NY to the iPark Lake Success complex here. Taking 51,500 sf, this deal falls on the heels of a recent L.A. Fitness transaction completed at the same location.

NEW YORK CITY-Hotel CEOs from Marriott, Hilton, Carlson, Loews and Cendant got together to kick off the 25th annual NYU Hospitality Investment Conference here yesterday. The execs offered looks into their corporate strategies, which included talks of international expansion and improved industry outlooks.

NEW YORK CITY-Jones Hirsch Connors & Bull P.C. is packing up its Midtown offices and moving Downtown to an entire floor at One Battery Park Plaza. The space, leased for 10 years, will serve as the firm's corporate headquarters.

NEW YORK CITY-Commercial loan service firm, Situs Cos., has made its debut in Manhattan via the hiring of managing director Jayson Prisand, who is now working in space occupied by business partner Ascent Real Estate Advisors.