Houston-based Hines

was named to do another Texas-size project in Washington: the conversion of Walter Reed Army Medical Center into a sprawling master-planned community. Hines and partners including Urban Atlantic and Triden Development Group on Tuesday beat out other developers, including Forest City Enterprises, FCEA -0.76% in their bid for the 67-acre campus. The Hines-led team is planning over 2,000 apartments, town houses and more than 200,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. It is unclear what Hines has agreed to pay for the long-term lease of the land. Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins said only that it "was the best economic deal for the city" of the bids submitted, and it had "the least subsidy." although he declined to discuss specifics. Hines also is putting the finishing touches on the $700 million first phase of a giant mixed-use project in Washington's downtown named CityCenterDC. Walter Reed closed in 2011, when it consolidated with other military facilities elsewhere. Up From the Basement Out of the ashes of Syms Corp. a real-estate company is being born. Syms and subsidiary Filene's Basement LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2011. Last year, the failed clothing retailer emerged from bankruptcy as Trinity Place Holdings Inc., a holding company now valued at roughly $100 million whose assets include nine former Syms department stores. Now, Trinity CEO Matthew Messinger, a former executive with developer Forest City Ratner Cos., is hoping to build a new real-estate empire from Trinity's assets. The company's crown jewel: a vacant, 59,000-square-foot former Syms store in Manhattan's Financial District, along with the air rights and an adjacent land parcel. Mr. Messinger, a former chess prodigy, is considering knocking down the building and replacing it with a high-rise residential project. Trinity Place has secured a $13.5 million equity investment from Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund. On Tuesday, Third Avenue selected Joanne Minieri, a former No. 2 at Forest City Ratner, to join Trinity's board, says a person familiar with the company's plans. Mr. Messinger hopes to use Trinity's existing assets as seeds for a larger company. "What's exciting to me is what this small company might become," he says. Levels of Grief Many in New York's real-estate industry hit the panic button earlier this fall when it started becoming increasingly clear that Bill de Blasio would become the city's next mayor. But by Tuesday's election, many had made their peace with the likelihood of the pro-business Bloomberg administration being succeeded by the former Brooklyn city councilman who has called for higher taxes on the rich. Big property owners and industry officials predicted they would be able to work with him, while playing down concerns over his policies on such issues as taxes, public safety and development. "We are guardedly optimistic that Bill de Blasio understands the limitations of keeping a city safe, keeping tourism active and keeping a tax base from fleeing," said Andrew Mathias, president of SL Green Realty Corp., at an investor conference last month. Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said real-estate owners have felt better about Mr. de Blasio as they have gotten to know him. "We're prepared to work with him to help him accomplish what he wants to do," he says.