Top Stories

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Balfour Beatty has closed on the financing for a $104 million student housing project at Texas A&M University’s main campus in College Station. Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions LLC, a developer and operator for the college and university market, is the lead developer for the development, and Balfour Beatty Construction, based in Dallas, is the design/build partner on the project. The development, which is Phase I of the project’s two planned phases, will feature 1,274 beds and community areas that will house residence life offices and other amenities for Texas A&M’s undergraduates. Construction is expected to begin this summer, and the development is expected to be ready for occupancy in August 2015. “This is an exciting project that harnesses the significant capabilities of both Balfour Beatty’s investments and construction teams to deliver a creative development and financing solution that meets the university’s specific goals,” says Jim Short, senior vice president for Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions. “We’ve worked closely with university representatives and are very pleased with the ultimate design which will result in an exceptional living environment for the students at Texas A&M.” Developed through a public-private partnership on a long-term ground lease with the university, the …

NEW YORK CITY — A partnership led by Thor Equities has purchased a 26-story office building in New York for $595 million. The property, 530 Fifth Avenue, occupies the entire block of Fifth Avenue between 44th and 45th streets. The structure contains about 480,000 square feet of prime office space and another 55,000 square feet of retail space. Notable retail tenants include Desigual, JPMorgan Chase and Fossil. Office tenants include Massachusetts Mutual, Diageo North America, Cablevision, Lionsgate and Athyrium Capital. The sellers, which purchased the building in 2011 and have invested more than $10 million to modernize its infrastructure, included Rockwood Capital, Jamestown, Murray Hill Properties and Crown Acquisitions. Eastdil represented the sellers in the transaction. The deal is expected to close in mid-September. “530 Fifth’s dynamic location and architectural features have provided a strong foundation from which to reposition this building as a top-tier asset,” says Joe Gorin, Rockwood’s managing director. “This property epitomizes Rockwood’s strategy of investing in well-located real estate that provides an opportunity to outperform over the long term.” Fifth Avenue will always serve as an iconic location in New York City for retail and office space, says Michael Phillips of Jamestown. “Once we repositioned the …

CHICAGO — Sterling Bay Cos. and International Property Developers North America (IPDNA) have formed a strategic partnership to redevelop Chicago’s historic Old Main Post Office. Located at the nexus of the Eisenhower Expressway, multiple train lines, the south branch of the Chicago River and the growing South Loop and West Loop neighborhoods, the developers’ long-term plan is to turn the site into a bustling hub of shopping, entertainment and residential activity. “We are very excited to partner with IPDNA and serve as the development partner on such a high-profile project,” says Andy Gloor, managing principal of Sterling Bay Cos., a seasoned Chicago-based real estate investment and development company. According to IPDNA Chairman Bill Davies, Sterling Bay was a clear choice to launch the project and make it come to fruition. “Sterling Bay has had great success transforming large, underutilized properties into highly desirable office destinations,” explains Davies. “The firm has played a significant role in transforming Chicago’s West Loop, and we feel that their knowledge of the city and current market trends will lead us to initiate the first phase of one of the most notable projects in Chicago in the last 50 years.” Sterling Bay and IPDNA will embark …

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. — Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO)and Starwood Capital Group have reached an agreement for Starwood, through a controlled affiliate, to purchase a portfolio of seven Taubman malls for $1.4 billion. The malls in the transaction include MacArthur Center in Norfolk, Va.; Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Va.; Northlake Mall in Charlotte, N.C.; The Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, Fla.; The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas; The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, Mich.; and Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Mich. The purchase price of $1.4 billion before transaction costs includes $785 million of cash and $620 million of property-level debt that will be repaid or assumed at closing by the buyer. The sale is part of Taubman’s ongoing strategy to recycle capital, maximize its net operating income growth rate and create net asset value for investors over time. “Given today’s investor interest in high-quality regional malls, we have taken advantage of the opportunity to further enhance our growth and valuation, while increasing our industry leading productivity and modestly reducing the size of our base,” says Robert Taubman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Taubman Centers. “As a result of these sale …

NEW YORK — The Board of Directors of Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) has approved a plan to spin off its seniors housing business into a publicly traded real estate investment trust that primarily targets seniors housing related investments. The new company will be called New Senior Investment Group and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SNR. The approval by the board occurs six months after Newcastle purchased a 51-property portfolio from an affiliate of Holiday Retirement for more than $1 billion. “The spin-off of New Senior from Newcastle will be a key step towards optimizing the future growth of each standalone company,” said Newcastle CEO Kenneth Riis in a prepared statement. “As two separately traded public companies, both Newcastle and New Senior will be better positioned to capitalize on respective market opportunities and further enhance shareholder value creation.” An affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC will manage New Senior Investment Group. In an investor call on Monday, Newcastle Chairman of the Board Wesley Edens said the reasons for the spin-off include the expected growth of the U.S. senior population, the cost of capital both on the equity side and the debt side that will create …

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has unanimously approved an agreement to award MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) a license to operate a proposed resort casino in downtown Springfield. This is the first approval of a casino license in Massachusetts. The casino and entertainment development, known as MGM Springfield, is an $800 million investment. The development will be located on approximately 14.5 acres between Union and State streets, and Columbus Avenue and Main Street. Springfield is approximately 90 miles west of Boston. MGM plans to break ground on the casino property this summer with an anticipated opening in early 2017. “This is a great day for Springfield, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and MGM,” says Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts. “We thank the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for its thorough vetting process and look forward to continuing our work with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and other Springfield and Western Massachusetts elected officials and governmental leaders, along with residents and businesses of Springfield and the region, as we move this project forward.” The integrated resort casino is designed as a mixed-use development project with a 25-story, 250-room hotel; 125,000 square feet of gaming space with 3,000 slot machines, …

BOCA RATON, FLA. — Carey Watermark Investors Incorporated (CWI) has acquired the 256-room Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center for an undisclosed sum. The full-service hotel is located at 5150 Town Center Circle. CWI is W. P. Carey’s non-traded REIT. The Marriott resides within the Boca Center, a mixed-use development that includes 375,000 square feet of Class A office space, 21 stores and 12 restaurants. It sits adjacent to the 1.5-million-square-foot Town Center at Boca, Florida’s second largest mall by square footage. The mall is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Sears. The Boca Raton Marriott contains a three-meal restaurant, fitness center, pool, spa, business center and more than 13,500 square feet of meeting space. CWI plans to invest more than $7 million to renovate the guestrooms, corridors and meeting space. The hotel’s public areas recently underwent a renovation as well. The hotel will remain a member of the Marriott International family. It will continue to be managed by an affiliate of HEI Hotels & Resorts. The Palm Beach market, which includes Boca Raton, achieved RevPAR growth of 10 percent in 2013. This exceeded the national RevPAR growth of 5.2 percent, according to CWI. “The acquisition …

BEACHWOOD, OHIO AND NEW YORK — DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR) and an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII today announced the formation of a third joint venture to acquire 76 shopping centers currently owned by American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCP). The joint venture has executed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the portfolio for nearly $1.98 billion. The transaction includes assumed debt of $461 million and approximately $800 million of new financings. “We are pleased to once again announce a transaction with our partners at Blackstone, further reinforcing our unique relationship and again highlighting both partners' ability to source and execute efficiently,” says Daniel Hurwitz, CEO of DDR. “We expect to generate outsized asset-level growth by leveraging our operating platform, and have appropriately structured our investment to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns while securing access to acquisition opportunities in the future.” Blackstone owns 95 percent of the common equity of the joint venture and an affiliate of DDR owns the remaining 5 percent. DDR will also invest up to a maximum of $300 million in preferred equity in the joint venture, and has agreed to provide leasing and management services. The 16.4 million-square-foot portfolio primarily consists of …

GREENVILLE, S.C. — General Electric (NYSE: GE) has broken ground on a new Power & Water advanced manufacturing facility in Greenville. GE plans to invest $400 million over the next 10 years to expand the company’s advanced manufacturing capabilities and create more than 80 jobs. The GE Power & Water Greenville Advanced Manufacturing Works facility will be operational in 2015. This will be GE Power & Water's first advanced manufacturing facility. The 125,000-square-foot facility will serve as an incubator for innovative advanced manufacturing process development and rapid prototyping for the Power & Water businesses, including wind turbines, heavy-duty gas engines, distributed power gas engines, nuclear power services and water processing. “Greenville serves as the ideal location for the Power & Water advanced manufacturing site. Here we will be able to deliver even more innovative breakthrough products and services, work better with each other and our customers, and bring best-in-class technologies to market quicker,” says Steve Bolze, GE Power & Water president and CEO. Bolze, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Tim Scott and Greenville County Council Chairman Bob Taylor attended a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 10 at the current GE Greenville Manufacturing site where the …

PHILADELPHIA — Keystone Property Group and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) have jointly purchased Curtis Center, a Class A office and retail building overlooking Independence Hall and Washington Square Park in Philadelphia’s Center City, for $125 million. The companies acquired the building in an all-cash transaction, and plan to redevelop the property into a mixed-use development consisting of luxury rental apartments, office space and an outdoor pedestrian experience. Curtis Center totals approximately 885,000 square feet and comprises a city block. Current tenants include the General Services Administration and several ground-floor retailers. Keystone and Mack-Cali plan to convert approximately 90,000 square feet of office space in the building into 90 luxury rental apartments. “Not only is Curtis Center rich with cultural importance, but it's also perfectly aligned with our company's overarching goal to expand our regional footprint by creating exciting live-work-play spaces in dynamic markets,” says Bill Glazer, president of Keystone Property Group. “We're thrilled to have the chance to transform this icon into a vibrant mixed-use environment, while maintaining the historical significance of one of Philadelphia's most recognizable buildings.” A redeveloped Curtis Center will also feature new corner restaurant spaces with frontage on Walnut and Sixth streets, as well as …