CINCINNATI -- The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has begun the planning and development of the MidPointe Crossing mixed-use development in Cincinnati's Bond Hill neighborhood. The project is valued at $80 million.

MidPointe Crossing will be located within one mile of Interstate 75, with the potential for up to 500,000 square feet of office and retail. The nearby intersection of Reading Road and Seymour Avenue sees more than 37,000 vehicles each day.

"MidPointe Crossing is Cincinnati's next great office and retail location," says Laura Brunner, Port Authority president and CEO. "The Port Authority and City of Cincinnati have teamed up on making a significant investment in this location that complements all of the other momentum nearby. We now expect the market will respond favorably, because there are only a handful of development-ready city sites of this caliber."

The site of MidPointe Crossing was the former home of Swifton Commons, the region's first shopping mall. The 400,000-square-foot Swifton Commons opened in 1956 and was demolished in December 2013.

The development authority has selected Cassidy Turley senior vice president Scott Abernethy and associate Joshua Smitherman to lead office land sales for the 25-acre development, as well as vice president Andrew Sellet and associate Terry Ohnmeis to handle retail land sales.

Click here to read more of Scott Reid's story.

CARBONDALE, ILL. -- A new $3.1 million fire station will open July 1 in Carbondale, a city in southern Illinois. The new Carbondale Fire Station is a 12,400-square-foot, single-story brick building, which will replace the city's 50-year-old fire station. 

The new facility features four apparatus bays, seven bunk rooms, a living and kitchen space, a workout room, a training room and office space. In addition, the city of Carbondale's Emergency Operations Center and Storm Watch Center will relocate from city hall into a space at the new fire station. 

The building has been designed to be energy efficient and meet all energy codes and seismic standards. Design features include a backup generator, capable of powering the entire building; geothermal heating and air-conditioning for the living area; and provisions for the addition of future solar equipment. 

FGM Architects and general contractor Fager McGee Commercial Construction are a part of the design team for the project. 

KENOSHA, WIS. -- Faris Lee Investments has arranged the $3 million sale of Williams Corner, a 10,100-square-foot multi-tenant retail center in Kenosha. The property is located at 7410 118th Ave. and is 100 percent triple-net leased to five tenants including Starbucks Coffee, Supercuts and Sparti's Gyros. 

Jeff Conover of Faris Lee Investments represented the seller, San Diego-based Williams Corner Investors LLC. Suheil Sahouia of the Trafton Group represented the buyer, Forest Hills, N.Y.-based DJ Commercial Properties. The property sold at a 7.5 percent cap rate.

ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH. -- Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions has arranged the sale of a 26,310-square-foot industrial space in Rochester Hills. The property is located at 1949 Rochester Industrial Drive. 

Meridian Real Estate Investment LLC sold the space to Rochester Industrial Associates LLC. Phil Konopitski of Friedman represented the buyer in this transaction.

ST. PAUL, MINN. -- The Opus Group will complete a 41,500-square-foot expansion and renovation project for St. Catherine University in St. Paul. Opus will expand the university's existing 59,000-square-foot Butler Center, which will house student wellness and athletic facilities. 

The addition will feature separate varsity locker rooms and lounge space for athletic teams at the school, a cardio room with fitness equipment, a dance studio, as well as a one-story, multi-purpose training center.

Opus will also redesign the front entry to include a controlled access point for added security and access to events in the arena. In addition, 10,000 square feet of previous gymnasium space in the neighboring Fontbonne Hall will be renovated into additional university classroom space, which will connect to the Butler Center. Opus will also install a new elevator to improve the building's accessibility. 

Construction is scheduled to begin this month. Renovation of Fontbonne Hall is slated for completion before the fall semester. The full project is set for completion in February 2015. Opus Design Build LLC will serve as the design-builder and Opus AE Group LLC will serve as the design-architect.

LAS VEGAS -- The way retailers use real estate around the globe is fundamentally changing in response to shifts in consumer preferences, spending patterns and robust growth in e-commerce. International retailers are focused on acquiring high-quality retail space in markets with healthy fundamentals.  

London, New York, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Shanghai continue to attract top retailers and are outperforming their regional peers. Yet, these markets aren't the only pockets of opportunity, according to global retail experts at JLL. 

The international retail market is taking center stage at this year's ICSC RECon show in Las Vegas, which has drawn more than 33,000 retail and shopping center professionals, as well as 1,000 exhibitors.

LAS VEGAS -- Some of the nation's largest shopping center owners and managers took a break early this week from discussing the physical attributes of their properties to focus on their technological infrastructure during RECon 2014 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

While the shopping center is still the priority, much of the conference's talk so far has focused on the properties' unseen attributes -- its Wifi capabilities, omni-channel presence, appreciation for social media, data analysis, sophisticated information technology systems -- in the quest to get more shoppers in the store and ring up more sales.

"It takes a huge shift in thinking to say that we as a property, or we as an owner, value technology enough that we're going to make an investment because we believe that investment is going to keep bringing customers to our shopping centers," said Corbett Guest, CEO of Dallas-based Imaginuity, a digital marketing agency that works with business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies.

"If you just throw a bunch of money at different things and hope they stick, you're going to spend a whole bunch of money," said Guest.

Therein lies the problem that panelists addressed during an educational session, titled The New Math: 1 + 1 = 3: Leveraging the Omni-Channel Shopper, on Sunday, May 18.

A majority of shopping center decision-makers seem to realize they must develop or increase their online communications with consumers to maintain foot traffic and provide the best experience possible. For many, unfortunately, the strategy ends there as a lack of knowledge -- and sometimes money -- prevents many centers from reaching their ideal saturation points with the new omni-channel consumer.

Click here to read more of Nellie Day's story.