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THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS — The Howard Hughes Corp. has completed a $75 million expansion and renovation of The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center in Texas. “The Woodlands Resort & Conference Center is the premier destination for business meetings, social occasions and getaways in the Houston region,” says David Weinreb, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corp. “We will continue to innovate and enhance the resort in the years to come to provide our visitors with a best-in-class hospitality experience that will draw them to return again and again.” The 20-month renovation and expansion included the replacement of 206 lodge-style rooms with Fairway Pines III; the addition of a new wing of 184 guest rooms and suites; and the renovation of 222 existing guest rooms and suites in the Fairway Pines I and II guest wings. A new 3,036 square-foot living room area connects the three guest room wings. A new lobby featuring native Texas stone and three-story windows; a new lazy river that winds 1,005 feet through the surrounding forest and 60,000 square feet revitalized meeting and event facilities were also apart of the renovations. Robard’s, a new 156-seat, high-end steakhouse restaurant and lounge, sits adjacent to an 18-hole golf course, …

RENTON, WASH. — SECO Development Inc. has received all design review and master plan approvals for the construction of Southport Waterfront Corporate Campus, a complex of three Class A nine-story office buildings on Lake Washington in Renton. Southport Waterfront Corporate Campus is the final phase of the $570 million, 17-acre Southport Development, a mixed-use development of office, retail, restaurants, luxury apartments and a four-star hotel and convention center on Lake Washington. The corporate center will consist of 724,520 square feet of Class A office space and 10,400 square feet of retail space to go along with the 383 units of luxury, multifamily residences completed in 2008, as well as the 350-key hotel and convention center currently under construction. The office complex is situated on 5.6 acres and will feature direct marine access and a 200-foot dock outfitted with water and electricity, in addition to 2,078 parking spaces. Offices will be outfitted with 100 percent fiber Gigabit Passive Optic Network, providing Internet access of up to 100-gigabyte data speeds. Southport Waterfront Corporate Campus will have waterfront views of Lake Washington, the Seattle skyline, Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier, and is adjacent to the 55-acre Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park. The campus …

PASADENA, CALIF. — Carey Watermark Investors Inc. (CWI), W. P. Carey’s non-traded lodging REIT based in New York, has purchased the Westin Pasadena from HEI Hotels & Resorts. CWI acquired the 350-room hotel located in downtown Pasadena for $142.5 million. The Westin Pasadena is a Four Diamond AAA-rated hotel located within the Plaza Las Fuentes, a mixed-use complex with a 178,000-square-foot office building and 15,000 square feet of retail space, including two restaurants. The hotel is located near the Pasadena Convention Center, Civic Auditorium, Rose Bowl and Paseo Colorado shopping and entertainment center, as well as 10 miles outside of downtown Los Angeles. “CWI’s investment in the Westin Pasadena represented the opportunity to secure a well-located asset that benefits from the overall strength of the Southern California lodging market,” says Michael Medzigian, CEO of CWI. “The Four Diamond property generates attractive cash flow and we believe that it will continue to benefit from the diverse corporate and leisure attractions in the area. Our ability to acquire a high-quality, well-positioned asset in a strong market adds additional market diversity, as well as solid long-term cash generating capability to our portfolio.” The hotel features 19,000 square feet of meeting space, a full-service …

BOSTON — Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. has purchased the ground lease for 100 Cambridge St. in Boston for $280 million from the MassDevelopment/Saltonstall Building Redevelopment Corp. As a result of the sale, all of the debt associated with the project will be paid off, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will receive nearly $90 million while retaining ownership of the underlying real estate. The sale covers the remaining 67 years of the lease through April 2082. The Commonwealth will continue to lease floors two through 12 of the 600,000-square-foot property until 2052. Colliers International arranged the sale of the 22-story building. The redeveloped property contains office space, along with 34,539 square feet of retail space and 75 residential condos. All of the residential units were sold following redevelopment and are not part of the current ground-lease assignment. Douglas Jacoby and Scott Dragos of Colliers International’s investment sales team in Boston, with support from their retail and downtown office leasing groups, brokered the leasehold interest sale. Other Colliers team members involved in the transaction included Tony Hayes, Mike McLaughlin, Tim Mulhall and Lyndsey Ferreira. “The transaction affirms the fresh interest we’re seeing in Boston’s government center area and validates this location with its …

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Investcorp’s U.S.-based real estate arm, through separate transactions, has acquired a portfolio of residential properties in the metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C., Orlando, San Diego and Baltimore for approximately $300 million. The acquired properties include The Arcadian in Silver Spring, Md., a garden-style townhome apartment property; Orion on Orpington in Orlando, Fla., a Class A, 156-unit, 624-bed, student housing property near the University of Central Florida; Waterleaf Apartment Homes in Vista, Calif., a 456-unit apartment complex; and Fairways at Towson in Baltimore, Md., a 15-story apartment building. The four properties acquired total more than 2.1 million square feet with approximately 1,900 multifamily and student housing units. The properties currently have an average occupancy rate of approximately 96 percent. “We are pleased to enhance our real estate portfolio with the acquisition of these properties, which perfectly align with Investcorp’s strategy of targeting high-quality assets with what we believe to be attractive yields that demonstrate upside potential,” says Brian Kelley, a principal at New York-based Investcorp. “The properties are highly occupied and have the potential to offer stable cash flows from strong, diverse, and growing markets,” adds Kelley. Investcorp completed these acquisitions through joint ventures with four different …

BRENTWOOD, TENN. AND IRVINE, CALIF. — Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) and HCP Inc. (NYSE: HCP) have entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a portfolio of 35 private-pay seniors housing communities from Canadian real estate investment trust Chartwell Retirement Residences for $849 million. Located in eight states including Florida, Texas and Colorado, the portfolio consists of 5,025 units and is comprised of 33 senior housing properties representing 4,792 units, with a mix of 46 percent assisted living, 45 percent independent living, 5 percent memory care and 4 percent skilled nursing. The portfolio also includes leasehold interests in two communities, which are wholly owned by HCP, representing 233 units that include purchase-option rights exercisable in 2017. “This portfolio acquisition provides attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders, and also creates value for our operating partner through a real estate-driven transaction,” says Lauralee Martin, president and CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based HCP. “Brookdale’s familiarity with this portfolio will be a tremendous asset as we avoid any transition issues and immediately implement capital investment plans to generate future growth above traditional triple-net rent escalators,” she adds. The portfolio will be acquired using a RIDEA (REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act) joint-venture structure, with …