Commercial Construction & Renovation

Meliá Hotels International is looking to boost its presence in North America, beginning with a 313-room Innside-branded hotel in development in Manhattan. Meliá is targeting markets with significant traffic from Europe and Latin America, including Miami, New York and Los …

IKEA‘s first U.S. wind farm investment will be in an Illinois facility that will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 34,000 homes, or about 65 percent more electricity than the global retailer’s U.S. stores consume. IKEA already has …

Best Western International believes that North America is ripe for hotel growth, saying it will target urban areas for its Premier-tiered properties, especially in new construction. Extended-stay hotels will be part of that mix. Read the HotelsMag.com story here

Department store operator Belk opened its first flagship in Texas, a three-level, 185,000-square-foot store in the former Saks Fifth Avenue space at the Dallas Galleria, according to a story in Women’s Wear Daily. The store opening is part of the …

Cabela’s opened its first Georgia store in Augusta last month amid much fanfare. The large outdoor retailer drew thousands of customers to its grand opening of a new 42,000-square-foot Outpost store in the Village at Riverwatch development, at 833 Cabela …

Cobblestone Hotels has made good progress in expanding its brand, having a total of 39 properties in 13 states and 13 more in development. The hotel chain plans to have 50 hotels in operation by 2015 and is also on …

Restaurants and foodservice companies accounted for 30,000 of the 192,000 new jobs added in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it the second-largest job creator behind professional and business services, which grew by 57,000 jobs. March was …

General Growth Properties‘ Ala Moana Center, the largest retail center in Hawaii, has installed one of the state’s biggest rooftop solar-energy projects. Situated on 85,000 square feet of previously unused space, the 1.17-megawatt project of more than 4,730 panels now …

Footwear retailer DSW‘s Affiliated Business Group will team with California-based shoemaker Yellow Box to open and operate three to five branded stores. The Affiliated division manages shoe departments for retailers, including Stein Mart and Gordmans Stores. Read the American City …

La Quinta Holdings raised $650 million in its initial public offering. The midmarket hotel operator offered 38.25 million shares at $17 per share, valuing the firm at roughly $2.1 billion. Read the Reuters story here