News briefs

Manhattan retail is economic contrarian. While the national economy is in the doldrums, retail rents and property prices are still robust on major shopping arteries. For 777 Madison Avenue in New York City, for example, Friedland Properties paid a princely $22.7 million - a stratospheric $4,400 per square foot for the 5,167-sq.-ft. ground floor.

AOL to build in India. Up to $100 million in facility and business investment over five years is envisaged by New York City-based AOL Time Warner Inc. for the high-tech area of Bangalore, India. A new Netscape office is planned for the city, where numerous U.S. companies have located outsourced computer work.

New Chinese airport set to beat Hartsfield. A $2.36 billion airport under construction near Guangzhou, China, could handle as many as 80 million passenger arrivals and departures per year, putting it on a par with Atlanta's Hartsfield facility. Set to open in 2003 - but with construction continuing to 2010 -t he facility is also expected to have a yearly cargo capacity of 1 million tons.

'Server farms' target of concern. Developers, zoning officials, engineers and electric utilities convened recently with the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) to consider the impact of Internet data centers and their huge appetite for power. Located near fiber-optic cable runs, the facilities house mainly computers and cooling equipment, drawing from 50 to 200 watts per square foot. An average-sized center can consume as much power as a small city. 'We often have to make huge investments in generation and transmission infrastructure to support them,' says Steve Kiesner, an EEI executive.

Big business, labor go solar. California's power problems are pushing owners to invest in photovoltaics. Alameda County, Los Angeles-based Neutrogena and San José's local office of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have announced projects, which benefit from incentives of up to $1 million.