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KANSAS CITY, MO. — Arbor Lodging Partners has closed on its acquisition of the historic Hotel Phillips, a 217-room, full-service hotel in downtown Kansas City for an undisclosed price. The seller was The Marcus Corporation, which had owned the hotel for the past 14 years. NVN Hotels, an affiliate of Arbor Lodging Partners, will manage the hotel, located at 106 W. 12th St., and Arbor Lodging will oversee an extensive renovation of the property. Upon completion of the renovation, the hotel will join the Curio Collection by Hilton, a collection of unique hotels appealing to travelers seeking local history discoveries. The art-deco hotel, which has become an iconic structure in downtown Kansas City, opened in 1931 and has been listed on the National Registry of Historic Places since 1979. The hotel is commonly used for key business and society events. Once the tallest building in Kansas City, the hotel’s unique architecture is a tourist attraction. Elaborate bronze and nickel metalwork stand out against lustrous walnut paneling, offering a uniquely luxurious yet Midwestern ambiance, according to Arbor Lodging Partners. Today, the hotel features approximately 11,000 square feet of flexible meeting and pre-function space. The building also houses a restaurant and bar, 12 Biltmore, which features live …

NEW YORK AND CLEVELAND — NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc. (NYSE: NSAM), a global real estate management firm, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an 85 percent interest in The Townsend Group, a global real estate investment manager and advisor based in Cleveland. NSAM will acquire the interest in Townsend Group for approximately $380 million, predominantly from funds affiliated with private equity firm GTCR. Founded in 1983, Townsend Group’s assets under management totaled approximately $12.8 billion as of June 30. The firm has offices in Cleveland, San Francisco, London and Hong Kong. New York-based NSAM has approximately $24.7 billion in total assets of managed companies as of June 30, including investments under contract or acquired subsequent to the second quarter of 2015. Since its inception in 1980, GTCR has invested more than $12 billion in over 200 companies. The private equity firm is based in Chicago. “We are extremely pleased with this strategic opportunity to expand and accelerate our asset management capabilities, both in the United States and internationally, with the acquisition of one of the world’s premier institutional real estate asset management platforms,” says David Hamamoto, executive chairman of NSAM. “Townsend, which sits at the epicenter of …

NEW YORK — Investcorp, a provider and manager of alternative investment products, has acquired a portfolio of eight residential properties in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas for $400 million. The transactions increase the firm’s total real estate acquisitions for the last 12 months to more than $1 billion. All eight properties are located in major U.S. markets. Investcorp intends to add value to the portfolio through renovations and capital expenditures. “In an environment in which the U.S. homeownership rate has dropped to a 50-year low, these acquisitions affirm our confidence in the attractiveness of investing in high-quality multifamily rental properties in major U.S. markets,” says Herb Myers, managing director of real estate investment at Investcorp. “This fact, combined with the solid demographic and employment fundamentals in these areas should assist in driving the upside potential of these investments.” Investcorp, which is based in Bahrain with offices in London and New York, acquired each of the properties through joint ventures with several local and regional operating partners. The eight properties acquired total more than 3.2 million square feet across 3,400 multifamily units. The current average occupancy rate is 96 percent. The acquired properties include: Solis at …

RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the $120 million sale of The Meadows Office Complex in Rutherford. In a joint venture, Onyx Equities and SL Green sold the 600,000-square-foot property to an undisclosed buyer. The office complex, which consists of two buildings, is located at the intersection of Route 3 and the N.J. Turnpike. This makes The Meadows one of northern New Jersey’s few high-rise office towers outside of the Hudson Waterfront and the Newark Central Business District. “The purchaser secured one of the highest-quality assets in the Meadowlands market at a good basis, at a time when market fundamentals are improving,” says Gary Gabriel, executive vice president of Capital Markets for Cushman & Wakefield. “These buildings are eight miles from Manhattan and within a 45-minute drive of 12.5 million people. As rents in the city and along the Hudson Waterfront continue to increase, the Meadowlands remains a relative value. And with the completion of Secaucus Junction station, we have seen a distinct shift to the type of 24/7, mass transit-focused community desired by today’s employers and employees.” The Meadows is 90 percent leased, and tenants include MALO, Sony Music Entertainment, SGS North America and Shiseido Americas. The …

SAN DIEGO — BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) has entered into a definitive agreement with affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VIII, under which Blackstone will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of BioMed Realty for $23.75 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $8 billion. BioMed Realty Trust’s stock price closed Wednesday, Oct. 7 at $21.58 per share. BioMed Realty’s board of directors has unanimously approved the transaction. San Diego-based BioMed Realty Trust owns or has interests in properties comprising approximately 18.8 million rentable square feet. The majority of the company’s holdings are located in Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, New York and Maryland. “Demand for high-quality, institutional real estate to support the unprecedented growth of the life science industry is at historic levels as demand is outpacing supply in all of our core innovation districts,” says Alan Gold, chairman, president and CEO of BioMed Realty. “However, we believe that the public markets are not adequately valuing our assets and proven business model. Entering into this transaction with Blackstone fulfills our board of directors’ mission to maximize stockholder value.” The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, is contingent upon the …