NEW YORK (Reuters) – A group of Chinese investors including Zhang Xin, the chief executive of commercial real estate developer Soho China Ltd (0410.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), are in talks to buy a 40 percent stake in the iconic General Motors building in Manhattan, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The deal would value the GM building at $3.4 billion, the sources said, making the 50-story office building on Fifth Avenue near Central Park the most valuable office building in the United States.

March 5 (Reuters) – J.C. Penney Co Chief Executive
Ron Johnson has only to the end of the year to turn around the
ailing retailer and stem a massive decline in sales or risk
being fired, a person familiar with the board’s thinking said on
Tuesday.

Directors are leaving little doubt that there is a fresh
sense of urgency after Penney reported terrible holiday sales
numbers last week and board member Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty
Trust dumped 10 million shares in Penney.

By Ilaina Jonas and Olivia Oran

(Reuters) – Vornado Realty Trust (VNO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is selling nearly half its stake in U.S. retailer J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

The news, which saw Penney shares fall in after-hours trade, came less than a week after the department store chain reported its sharpest sales drop since announcing a grand transformation plan 13 months ago.

By Ilaina Jonas

(Reuters) – In the past year, defense company SAIC Inc has shrunk the office space it either owns or leases by 306,000 square feet (28,428 sq meters), the size of about five football fields.

Now, it is thinking about tearing down many of the walls at its headquarters in McLean, Virginia, replacing private offices with open-floor layouts. Fewer offices mean the same space can accommodate more people, which will help cut costs further at a time when the defense industry is facing a downturn.

March 4 (Reuters) – In the past year, defense company SAIC
Inc has shrunk the office space it either owns or leases
by 306,000 square feet (28,428 sq metres), the size of about
five football fields.

Now, it is thinking about tearing down many of the walls at
its headquarters in McLean, Virginia, replacing private offices
with open-floor layouts. Fewer offices mean the same space can
accommodate more people, which will help cut costs further at a
time when the defense industry is facing a downturn.

NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Vornado Realty Trust,
the second-largest U.S. real estate investment trust after Simon
Property Group Inc, in an unexpected move said on
Wednesday its chief executive officer will step down next month.

Michael Fascitelli, 56, who has been with Vornado for 16
years, serving as CEO for the past four years, said he would
step down on April 15. Chairman Steven Roth, whom Fascitelli
succeeded as CEO in 2009, will resume his dual role of chairman
and CEO. Fascitelli will remain a director on the board.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Starwood Retail Properties is in talks to buy four lower sales- generating malls from Macerich Co (MAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), two sources familiar with the deal said on Tuesday.

Last year, Macerich put 17 lower sales-generating or “B” malls up for sale to gauge the interest in the assets. The four malls Starwood wants are Rimrock Mall in Billings, Montana; Northridge Mall in Salinas, California; The Centre at Salisbury, Salisbury, Maryland; and Kitsap Mall in Silverdale, Washington.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An offer by MacKenzie Capital Management LLC to buy 170 units from the owners of the Empire State Building has largely fizzled, according to regulatory documents filed on Tuesday.

MacKenzie made the offer of $110,000 per unit to investors in Empire State Building Associates LLC in December. By the February 8 deadline, MacKenzie had acquired only 13.83 units, according to the filing. There are 3,300 units in total.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – London elbowed its way past Hong Kong to regain the title as the world’s most expensive market in which to rent office space, while Rio de Janeiro jumped to the No. 3 spot from No. 8, according to a report by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

It was the first time since 2008 that London took the top spot. Competition for the scarce high quality office space in London fueled office rents by 2 percent in the city’s West End bolstering rents sufficiently to leapfrog over Hong Kong, according to the report on Tuesday. Office rents in the West End are expected to continue to grow as the economy improves, Cushman & Wakefield said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – London elbowed its way past Hong Kong to regain the title as the world’s most expensive market in which to rent office space, while Rio de Janeiro jumped to the No. 3 spot from No. 8, according to a report by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

It was the first time since 2008 that London took the top spot. Competition for the scarce high quality office space in London fueled office rents by 2 percent in the city’s West End bolstering rents sufficiently to leapfrog over Hong Kong, according to the report on Tuesday. Office rents in the West End are expected to continue to grow as the economy improves, Cushman & Wakefield said.