Pinnacle reaches agreement: A Port of Lake Charles official says the port, Creative Casinos and Pinnacle Entertainment have resolved a property dispute that was the subject of a November 2010 lawsuit. Port Director Bill Rase told The (Lake Charles) American Press the agreement was finalized late Monday. Rase says there was never any doubt about the “land swap” agreement. He says the proposal regarding the 15 acres in question would have moved forward regardless of any resolutions between the parties. The property was designated for a parking lot adjacent to L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort. Last year, the port agreed to lease to Creative Casinos that property for its Mojito Pointe project. Pinnacle Entertainment claimed in its lawsuit that the 15 acres were among the 50 acres it purchased from the port.
Markets hitting lowest points: Home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities, and at least 10 major markets are at their lowest point since the housing bubble burst. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index shows price declines in 19 cities from January to February. The index fell for the seventh straight month. Prices fell at a faster rate in 11 markets in February compared with the previous month. High unemployment, stricter lending rules and fears that prices will fall further are among the reasons why few people are buying and selling homes. A record number of foreclosures are forcing down home prices in most metro areas, and prices are expected to keep falling through this year. Detroit was the only market to show a monthly gain, although the Motor City is one of five cities where home prices are now below their January 2000 levels. Prices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa are all at their lowest point since 2006 or 2007, at the height of the housing boom. The cities with the steepest declines from January were Minneapolis, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami.
