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BOSTON — Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) and its real estate advisor, Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership (Bentall Kennedy), have acquired $250 million of property in Boston’s South End and Seaport District submarkets. MEPT is a $7 billion real estate equity fund that invests in a portfolio of institutional-quality real estate assets in 25 metropolitan markets across the United States. In three separate transactions, the Washington-based fund acquired nine buildings totaling more than 650,000 square feet. One portfolio purchased by the fund is adjacent to the Boston Medical Center and is comprised of two fully leased medical office buildings, three properties intended for redevelopment, and two acres of land for potential multifamily development. The buildings are located at 660 and 720 Harrison Ave., 575 Albany St., 100 East Canton St., and 123 East Dedham St. This portfolio was acquired as part of a joint venture with Boston-based Leggat McCall Properties. A second portfolio contains three operating office buildings (313 Congress St., 330 Congress St. and 300 A St.) totaling 220,993 square feet in Boston’s Fort Point Channel submarket of the Seaport District. Additionally, in the Fort Point Channel submarket, MEPT acquired the Necco Street Garage, a six-level, 588-space parking garage. Bentall …

IRVINE, CALIF. — Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III Inc. has completed the acquisition of 19 healthcare properties for approximately $340 million. The acquisitions were comprised of 17 medical office buildings, an acute care hospital and a seniors housing facility. “These latest acquisitions represent high-quality assets leased by very strong tenants and operators with whom we look forward to sharing mutually rewarding business partnerships,” says Danny Prosky, president, chief operating officer and one of the largest stockholders of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III. “They also add tremendous diversification to our rapidly growing portfolio.” Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III’s most recent acquisitions include: • Southlake Hospital in Southlake, Texas: Built in 2013, Southlake Hospital is a 70-bed acute care hospital spanning 142,000 square feet and 10.6 acres. The site includes a three-story, 400-space parking garage. The hospital is leased through April 2033 to Forest Park Medical Center, a physician-owned hospital system that currently operates four medical facilities comprising a total of 280 beds in the Texas cities of Dallas, Frisco, San Antonio and Southlake, with campuses in Fort Worth and Austin currently under development. Forest Park will operate Southlake Hospital under an absolute net lease with annual rent escalations tied to the U.S. Consumer Price …

NEW YORK — One of the most recognizable buildings on Manhattan’s skyline was purchased today. Montreal’s Ivanhoé Cambridge and its partner, Callahan Capital Properties, purchased three Bryant Park from Blackstone Group LP for $2.2 billion. The 1.2-million-square-foot office building, located at 1095 Avenue of the Americas between 41st and 42nd streets, has a trademark green façade and currently features MetLife and Verizon as major tenants. “The opportunity to acquire a truly iconic property like Three Bryant Park is extremely rare,” says Arthur Lloyd, executive vice president of global investments for Ivanhoé Cambridge. Three Bryant Park is now the second largest sale of an office building in U.S. history, according to The Wall Street Journal, trailing only a 2008 sale of Manhattan’s General Motors building for $2.8 billion. The Ivanhoé/Callahan partnership continues to grow its Manhattan portfolio, which already featured 1411 Broadway and 1211 Avenue of the Americas, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tenants at those two buildings include The Wall Street Journal and News Corp. “When we considered the quality and unique characteristics of this property, along with the continued enhancements in the immediate area around Three Bryant Park, it was clear this is a compelling long-term investment opportunity,” says …

NEW YORK — Brookfield Property Partners (NYSE: BPY; TSX: BPY.UN) has begun construction on a 62-story residential tower at Manhattan West that will contain 844 units with 20 percent of the studio, one- and two-bedroom units priced at affordable rates. Brookfield has closed on $479 million in Housing Finance Agency (HFA) credit enhanced bonds through the Bank of China with a seven-year term to fund the construction. Credit enhancement provides security for the holders of HFA bonds and insures an investment-grade rating for the bonds. Designed by SLCE, the Manhattan West residential tower is an $800 million structure slated to welcome its first residents in the first quarter of 2017, with substantial completion in 2018. Located at 435 W. 31st St. between Ninth and Dyer avenues, it will feature an array of amenities including a regulation-sized basketball court, a climbing wall, kitchens and dining rooms available for private entertaining, and a roof deck with grills. Hunter Roberts is the construction manager of the residential project. When completed, the $4.5 billion Manhattan West development will include two new Class A office towers, retail, a five-star hotel, rooftop gardens, restaurants and cafes in addition to the residential building. A two-acre public park …

NEW YORK — Meridian Capital Group has arranged $180 million in financing for the Club Row Building office property located in Midtown Manhattan on behalf of APF Properties. A global investment bank provided the CMBS loan, which features interest-only payments for the entire 10-year term and a fixed rate in the mid-4 percent range. “We are pleased to have worked with APF Properties, a leading institutional sponsor, to facilitate the financing used to assume full control of this historic asset and continue its dominance of the best-in-class-B+ office niche in the Grand Central area,” says Tal Bar-Or, managing director in Meridian’s New York City headquarters who negotiated the transaction. The 22-story Club Row Building is located at 28 W. 44th St., between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas. The property totals 372,000 square feet and features 14,600 square feet of retail on West 44th and West 43rd streets. This section of West 44th Street is known as Club Row, and is one block north of Bryant Park. Club Row is one of the most prestigious streets in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, according to Meridian. The building recently underwent more than $9 million in capital improvements, including a new …

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Hawkeye Partners LP has committed $175 million from its Scout program to Blue Moon Capital Partners LLC (Blue Moon) to seed Blue Moon Senior Housing I LP (BMSH I). BMSH I will acquire, reposition and develop seniors housing properties throughout the United States. Scout is a series of real estate private equity funds that Austin-based Hawkeye manages that invest in and support the development of new and emerging managers. Hawkeye is currently investing Scout Fund II and anticipates seeding more new manager platforms. The new manager platforms Scout Fund I seeded have grown in excess of $3.3 billion in assets under management. “Seniors housing is a property type that institutional investors have limited exposure to and one where the fundamentals should remain favorable for the foreseeable future,” says Claudia Faust, managing partner of Hawkeye. “Blue Moon’s team has an exceptional track record of investing in the sector.” Seniors housing specialist Kathryn Sweeney and capital markets specialist Susan Barlow lead Boston-based Blue Moon. They are joined by other seniors housing industry veterans. Hawkeye is an independent real estate private equity firm founded in 2004 for the purpose of serving leading institutional investors. Hawkeye’s flagship program, Scout, begun in …

NEW YORK — TPG Real Estate, the real estate platform of global private investment firm TPG, has acquired a majority stake in a $2.5 billion portfolio of real estate loans from Deutsche Bank’s Special Situations Group. Under the terms of the agreement, TPG Real Estate will acquire a 75 percent stake in the portfolio, with Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) retaining a 25 percent stake. “We are very excited about this unique, proprietary opportunity to acquire the existing portfolio, as well as to expand the business as we grow the platform through new originations,” says Avi Banyasz, TPG partner and co-head of TPG Real Estate. “We are very fortunate to have the same strong Deutsche Bank team in place, which will provide continuity for current borrowers and open the door to relationships with the growing number of new borrowers in need of financing.” As part of the transaction, 11 origination and risk management professionals from Deutsche Bank’s Special Situations Group have joined a newly created mortgage REIT — known as TPG Real Estate Finance Trust (TRT) — that will own the existing portfolio, as well as originate new loans to existing and new borrowers. TRT raised capital from a group of …

NEW YORK — Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) has acquired three Class A office buildings located in major East Coast markets for a total of $588 million. The transaction includes a 341,330-square-foot office building in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park submarket, a 244,565-square-foot building in the Washington, D.C., submarket of Reston, and a 274,218-square-foot building in Boston’s Back Bay district. The Manhattan property is a historic office building located at 315 Park Ave. South. It was purchased as part of an office portfolio that included the D.C. building, located at 1881 Campus Commons Drive. They were acquired from Spear Street Capital in an off-market transaction for a total of approximately $436 million. The Boston property is located at 116 Huntington Ave. It was purchased from Broadway Partners for $152 million. The Manhattan property is 95 percent occupied, while the other two stand at 78 percent occupancy. “With these two significant transactions, we continue to execute our strategy of improving the overall quality of Columbia’s portfolio through investment in value- creation opportunities in our target markets,” says Nelson Mills, Columbia’s president and CEO. “These acquisitions provide us with a greater presence in Manhattan, as well as a significant foothold in Boston’s urban core …