The news of the weekend was the shooting at Ward Parkway Center in Kansas City.

A man, after shooting a 67-year-old woman and taking her car, drove to the mall. On the way he was pulled over by a police officer. The man shot the police officer in the arm and the officer fired back, shooting out the back window of the car the man was driving. He then proceeded to the mall. After pulling into the parking lot, he shot people in cars on either side of him, killing them both, before walking into the property and opening fire. Another person was killed inside before the man was cornered and shot dead by police aided by the mall’s security team.

According to the center’s Web site, the property is “closed until further notice.”

Officials are now reviewing the mall’s security footage.

This is at least the fourth shooting of its kind since the beginning of 2005. In addition to the Trolley Square shooting in February, there were also the Tacoma Mall shooting in November 2005 and the Hudson Valley Mall shooting in February 2005.

Update: The suspect used to work at the mall, seemingly as a security guard at the center’s Target store.

Colonial Properties Trust has been working on it for years, but it appears it has found a way to sell off its remaining office and retail assets.

It is working with DRA Advisors, which over the years has been a frequent partner with Developers Diversified Realty Trust.

Real estate investment trust Colonial Properties Trust said Thursday it sold its interests in 26 office and 11 retail properties to two separate joint ventures for an undisclosed amount.

The REIT will keep a 15 percent interest in each of the joint ventures, while the partners — OZRE Retail LLC and a fund managed by DRA Advisors LLC — will hold the remaining interests. The company also said it will continue to manage and lease the properties.

As a result of these deals, Colonial Properties expects to pay out a special dividend of about $10.75 per share if approved by the company’s board. The company also said it expects to reduce its annualized dividend rate to between $2.05 per share to $2.15 per share, from $2.72 per share, beginning in the third quarter.

Tesco, which in the past had talked about taking its U.S. expansion slow, seems to be moving full blazes ahead with its growth in the California market.

British retailer Tesco has tripled the number of fresh express grocery stores it plans for Orange County.

Early Wednesday, Tesco – whose reputation in Europe rivals that of Wal-Mart in the United States – said it plans to open at least 100 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in the U.S. by February 2008. Among those will be six stores planned for Fullerton, Laguna Hills, Orange, Anaheim, Buena Park and Huntington Beach, according to the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control office in Santa Ana. Previously, only two Tesco locations in Orange County were known.

The extra Tesco stores slated for the county could give local shoppers a reason to abandon traditional supermarkets, particularly if there is a work stoppage or strike similar to the grocery industry labor dispute of four years ago. Representatives for supermarket owners and workers are meeting to discuss a new labor agreement, and both sides recently have indicated a strike or lockout is possible.

For background on Tesco’s plan, check here and here.

Here’s something you don’t read about every day, animal rights group PETA has praised Glenwood Springs Mall for canceling an exotic animal display.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is lauding the Glenwood Springs Mall for canceling an exotic animal display.

The animal rights group, also known as PETA, says the organization that was to have put on the display this week abuses the animals under its care.

Last week, PETA sent the mall a letter asking that it cancel the appearance by GW Exotic Animal Memorial Park, based in Wynnewood, Okla. And on Monday, PETA announced it was giving the mall its “Compassionate Business” Award for agreeing to PETA’s request.

“It is a huge step, the fact that the mall has done this. We’re really deeply appreciative of this and want to congratulate them for it,” said Lisa Wathne, captive exotic animal specialist for PETA.

The American Spectator offers its take on mall curfews. It links to a story that was carried on NPR.

NONETHELESS, AT THE LEVEL OF PUBLIC DISCOURSE, discomfort with teens hanging out in malls deserves some scrutiny. The idea has been discussed in town and city councils, and has been addressed in newspaper editorials.

Steve Spinetto is an architect, an urbanist, and a Boston city commissioner for handicapped access. If you’ve ridden Boston’s water taxis, you’ve seen some of his work, the floating, adjustable gangways that make it possible for people in wheelchairs to board the boats.

Spinetto, a city boy who grew up in Cambridge, immediately remarked on the differences between malls and real public spaces. “The mall, to kids in suburban towns — that’s their Harvard Square.” And he acknowledged problems. At the Cambridgeside Galleria, “They’ve even had shootings there.”

That said, “Personally I find it [a teen ban] a violation of civil rights. And I think the mayor feels that way. Kids have to have some place to go some time. You can handle it with increased patrols.”

But malls are private property, right? The owners can enforce whatever behavior they want.

Meanwhile, the Newburgh Mall in upstate New York has joined the curfew trend.

More on curfews here.

Real Estate Bloggers has a link to a Motley Fool report on 401(k)’s Investing in Commercial Real Estate.

Last year marked the biggest year for merger activity in this real estate sub-sector, with private equity playing its hand in such deals as this February’s acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust by Blackstone. It’s unlikely that much will stop the flow of money from the private equity spigot, and modest interest rates are helping to keep real estate a glamorous target.

New investors are also becoming lured into real estate investing as they become more familiar with the REIT structure. An increasing number of 401(k) pension funds have added REIT investment options, while many pension funds have increased their real estate allocation. Global markets have also witnessed the introduction of more REIT products, and curious foreign investors are apt to sightsee among the U.S. offerings.

Still, valuations are high, and it might be overly ambitious to expect double-digit returns. Demand for office space in the first quarter generally slowed, and like other segments of the real estate market, it’s all about location, location, location. Savvy investors need to look for those companies where demand for office space remains high and rent even higher.

The Retail Economic Development Blog pointed out this interesting piece in the St. Petersburg Times talking about how the area’s economic development efforts are paying off through increased taxes.

Like the rest of Florida, property values have grown dramatically in this small city just west of Westchase. But tax rolls suggest Oldsmar has doubled its property tax revenue since 2001 to $5-million.

“It’s the kind of company that I think every city would love to have,” City Manager Bruce Haddock said. “It’s high tech. Their average wages are certainly above the average wage for Pinellas County, probably the Tampa Bay area and state of Florida.”

The runup in real estate values has fueled another significant trend in Oldsmar’s tax base: Taxes from single-family homes are paying less and less of the city’s property taxes. That underscores the outcry that is prompting state lawmakers in Tallahassee to consider changing how cities and counties collect and fund their programs.

Two months after selling Equity Office Properties to Blackstone for $39 billion and in the middle of his attempt to acquire the Tribune Co., Sam Zell addressed a REIT symposium at New York University. There he predicted real estate would remain strong for at least two more years.

Speaking from notes and sporting his trademark business casual attire - a corduroy jacket over a striped shirt with the top two buttons open - Zell leaned over the podium as he walked listeners through 20 years of real estate market history. He opened with an anecdote about a 1984 Texas bumper sticker: “Please, God, give us one more oil boom. We won’t screw it up this time.”

He said the real estate market might as well have printed similar stickers - and that the industry did get its hoped-for boom. And though prognosticators have suggested that the market has peaked, he said the short-term outlook remains strong.

Macy’s is testing quick-serve eateries at several stores in Florida.

Macy’s plans to introduce its own brand of quick-serve eateries and restaurants by world-famous chefs Wolfgang Puck and Todd English to Florida stores as a part of a national expansion project.

The department store chain expects to bring Macy’s Taste Bars - featuring a menu of signature soups, salads, sandwiches, as well as Macy’s brand gelato and coffee - to as many as eight stores across the state, including a location at the Town Center mall in Boca Raton, Macy’s Florida spokeswoman Melissa Goff said Tuesday.

In addition, Macy’s will open a Wolfgang Puck Express at a Broward County store and a café by Todd English called Fig’s at a Palm Beach County store, Goff said. She declined to say which mall stores would attract the new restaurants but said plans call for them to open this year.

Women’s Wear Daily reported that JC Penney is on the verge of signing a deal to inhabit Manhattan Mall.

In a move that would reshape New York retailing, sources said Penney’s is close to a deal for major space in the Manhattan Mall — one block from Macy’s lucrative Herald Square flagship, which is said to generate about $650 million to $675 million in annual volume. Penney’s, which has stores in every New York borough except Manhattan, has been trying to find a location in the city for some time. The company is in growth mode, opening about 50 stores a year.

A Penney’s spokesman declined comment Thursday, and sources stressed a deal could still fall apart.

Manhattan Mall, a 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use building located on Sixth Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets, has 164,000 square feet of retail space on four levels. About 812,000 square feet of office space is occupied mainly by Bank of America and Interpublic Group. Vornado Realty Trust bought Manhattan Mall from Argent for $689 million in November.