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CBRE Global Investors has acquired Midtown I & II on behalf of Korea Post. According to Real Capital Analytics, CBRE acquired the property from a joint venture between VEREIT and American Realty Construction Inc. for $260 million. Midtown I & II, also known as AT&T Midtown Center, are two Class A office buildings located in the Innovation District of Midtown Atlanta. The buildings total 794,110 square feet and are fully leased to AT&T. “Atlanta boasts a diverse economy and continues to attract major corporate users,” said Jeffrey Torto, senior managing director of the U.S. Managed Accounts Group of CBRE. “Atlanta is quickly becoming a technology and data center hub for companies looking to relocate or expand outside of the traditional technological hubs such as Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas.” AT&T Midtown Center includes the 512,101-square-foot, 16-story Midtown I building at 754 Peachtree St. N.E. and the 282,009-square-foot, eight-story building at 725 W. Peachtree St. N.E. The office buildings feature a conference and training center, restaurants, a coffee shop and a fitness center. The property also includes a nine-story, 2,459-pace parking garage, which also offers 13,257 square feet of ground-floor retail space and AT&T’s 5,000-square-foot Drive Studio. The Drive Studio is …

CHICAGO — DePaul University and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority have broken ground on a 10,000-seat, $165 million basketball arena in Chicago known as the McCormick Place Event Center. The 300,000-square-foot Event Center will serve as a key component of the McCormick Place Entertainment District, and, in addition to hosting home games by the DePaul Blue Demons, will also host entertainment, large-scale conventions and trade shows. Both DePaul and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority are contributing $82.5 million to the construction of the arena, while the city contributed approximately $40 million in tax increment financing funds to acquire the land, according to Crain’s Chicago Business and The DePaulia, DePaul’s student newspaper. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority awarded New Haven, Conn.-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects the $7.2 million design contract in 2013, according to Crain’s. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Pelli Clarke Pelli CEO Lori Healey, Chairman Jack Greenberg of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, DePaul University President Rev. Dennis Holtschneider, and Chicago Alderman Pat Dowell all attended the groundbreaking. The arena occupies a full Chicago city block, with landscaped setbacks at the corner of Cermak Road and Indiana Avenue, and a spacious plaza for spectators to congregate before and after events. The arching roof with rising arcs will be lit in the evenings. The fully transparent main entrance is comprised of lightweight glass walls. DePaul has used Allstate Arena in suburban …

NEW YORK CITY — W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), a New York-based REIT, has acquired a portfolio of six Courtyard by Marriott hotels for $52 million. The portfolio is net leased to a wholly owned subsidiary of Marriott International Inc. The leases have a remaining term of approximately 11 years and include fixed rent escalations. The deal was announced just days after Marriott agreed to buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for $12.2 billion. The acquisition will create the world’s largest hotel company with 30 brands under its belt. The portfolio has shown growth in average daily rate, occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR), and has generated consistent operating margins and rent coverage, according to Marriott. In addition, the company says each hotel within the portfolio has received high guest satisfaction ratings. “The acquisition of the Courtyard by Marriott portfolio presented the opportunity to acquire six established operating properties with strong performance,” says Jason Fox, president of W. P. Carey. “The steady, predictable cash flows and annual rent escalations, coupled with the strength of Marriott International’s brand and credit, made this an ideal addition to the W. P. Carey portfolio.” In business since 1957, Marriott International Inc. is …

NEW YORK CITY — Northwind Group and Newmark Holdings have acquired 40-42 Exchange Place, a 20-story office building with ground-floor retail in Lower Manhattan’s Financial District. Eastern Consolidated arranged the $115 million sale. The office building was on the market for the first time in 25 years. “This office building is a great value-add opportunity in Lower Manhattan, which is undergoing a significant renaissance and has become a thriving, 24/7 live/work/play neighborhood,” says Jason Marin, director of Eastern Consolidated. Marin and former Eastern broker Lipa Lieberman represented the seller, Weiss Realty, in the transaction. Lieberman and former Eastern broker Abie Kassin represented the buyer. Gary Meese, senior director of financial services at Eastern, was the analyst for the deal. At one point the tallest building in Lower Manhattan, the 250,000-square-foot property is located at the southeast corner of Exchange Place and William Street, one block from Wall Street. The corner property includes 18-foot ceilings on the first floor, 14-foot ceilings on the 2nd floor and more than 11-foot ceilings throughout the rest of the building. Originally built as a neo-Renaissance residential building in 1896 and ultimately converted to office, the building has two primary entrances — one on Exchange Place and one …

SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — Wells Fargo Bank has provided a $256 million loan for the construction of a fourth office building in Moffett Place, a 1.9 million-square-foot office campus under development by Jay Paul Co. in Sunnyvale. The loan includes the cost of constructing the building and land financing for the remaining undeveloped portion of the project now in its second phase. The entire 55-acre Moffett Place campus is leased to Google. The campus is centrally located alongside Silicon Valley’s Highway 237 corridor and near Highway 101 and is a 45-minute drive from San Francisco. Moffett Place will contain a total of six LEED Gold certified buildings when complete. In addition to obtaining the construction loan from Wells Fargo for the second phase of the project, Jay Paul Co. has received a $501 million loan from Barclays and a $149 million mezzanine loan from a Korean sovereign wealth fund for long-term financing on the three completed buildings in the project’s first phase. Each building on the sprawling campus will include energy-efficient, floor-to-ceiling windows, while on-site amenities include a café, outdoor meeting spaces, a rooftop garden, 15 acres of green space with various amenities and a fitness club. The 50,000-square-foot fitness club …