Distressed Assets; Vornado Next Up For TALF; GGP's Extension (Wednesday's News & Notes)

Here are some news and notes on retail and retail real estate from around the Web today.

• NAI Global asks, "Will Distressed Assets Cause Rental Rates to Plummet?" That's a great question. And the post does a good job starting the discussion.
• Fresh off Developer Diversified tapping TALF for some funding needs, Vornado Realty is reportedly following suit. It is said to be planning on raising between $550 million and $600 million through a bond sale that would be eligible for TALF.
• Supervalu has agreed to sell 36 stores in Utah to Associated Food Stores.
• Each day we seem to get a little more information on Microsoft's brick-and-mortar stores. Today we found out where the first two stores will be located. It's opening stores in California and Arizona. In one project it will go head-to-head with an Apple Store. Frankly, that makes sense to me. Why not compete head to head? It gives people a chance to comparison shop. It's kind of like bunching up auto dealerships. It also indicates that Microsoft is pretty confident in its concept. The L.A. Times also chimed in on this latest development.
• You've been warned. Apparently, Goldman Sachs has been dumping its commercial real estate holdings. It did the same thing on the residential side before the bottom really fell out of the market and fared much better than its competitors. Will lightning strike twice?
• I haven't seen a case of this in a while. But it's something that happens from time to time. An owner of an existing center is trying to block the construction of a new center. This case is playing out in Westford, Mass. There, Westford Valley Marketplace Inc. has filed an appeal challenging the Planning Board's approval for construction of a project called Cornerstone Square.
• General Growth won a six-month extension in its bankruptcy filing.
• New data from Real Capital Analytics indicates that up to $2.2 trillion worth of commercial property is at risk of default.
• Our July cover story, judged KKR's buyout of Dollar General as one of the most successful private equity takeovers in the retail sector in the last few years. It's worked out so well, in fact, that now KKR is reportedly considering taking Dollar General public again.