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NEW YORK — Carey Watermark Investors Inc. has acquired Courtyard Times Square West, a 224-room select-service hotel, for $95 million. The 27-story hotel is located at 307 W. 37th St. in the Times Square area of midtown Manhattan. The $95 million investment includes the purchase price, acquisition-related costs and planned capital expenditures. The acquisition was financed with $56 million of debt. “The acquisition of the Courtyard Times Square West represented the opportunity to invest in a newly built, high-quality, select-service property with strong brand affiliation in one of the strongest domestic hotel markets,” says Michael Medzigian, chief executive officer of ?Carey Watermark Investors. “Given these attributes, we believe that the investment will be a solid cash flow-generating addition to our growing portfolio.” Courtyard Times Square West is within walking distance of Madison Square Garden, the Fashion District, the Theater District and the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Midtown Manhattan also houses more than 75 percent of New York City's 389 million square feet of office space. Built in 2013, the hotel was designed with a more open, expansive lobby and larger guestrooms and public spaces when compared to the select-service supply in the market. The hotel includes 655 square feet of …

PORTLAND, ORE. AND IRVINE, CALIF. — RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ) has acquired two hotels on the West Coast, the 256-room Courtyard Portland City Center in Portland, Ore., and the 293-room Embassy Suites Irvine Orange County in Irvine, Calif., in an off-market transaction for $120 million. The purchase price, which equals approximately $219,000 per key, represents a 7.4 percent cap rate on the hotels’ projected 2015 net operating income. “Both assets benefit from prime central locations, strong brand affiliations and strong operating performance,” says Thomas Baltimore Jr., president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust. “With the acquisition of these two hotels, we continue to expand our West Coast presence and upgrade our portfolio’s overall quality.” The custom-designed Courtyard Portland City Center’s location in downtown Portland enables the hotel to benefit from corporate, group and leisure demand throughout the city. According to RLJ, downtown Portland’s relatively high barriers to entry are expected to limit new hotel supply. The all-suite Embassy Suites Irvine Orange County hotel is located less than one mile from the John Wayne Airport. According to RLJ, the hotel is located in the largest office submarket in Orange County, with more than 22 million square feet of office space …

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. — Prudential Real Estate Investors has acquired One Pacific Plaza, a 384,303-square-foot office campus in Huntington Beach, for $93.6 million. The three-building plaza is located at 7755 Center Ave., just off Interstate 405. Lincoln Property Company and GEM Realty Capital acquired the Class A plaza in October 2011 through a receivership sale. That sale included the 193,081-square-foot office tower and two mid-rise office buildings, in addition to the adjacent 24-Hour Fitness center and Buca Di Beppo restaurant. The retail assets have since been sold. Many other retail outlets are also nearby, as the Bella Terra shopping center is just steps away from One Pacific Plaza. The joint venture has made significant upgrades to the property over the past three years. The lobby, elevators and common areas were all remodeled, while new outdoor courtyards with seating areas were added to the exterior. “This was a strategic acquisition of a ‘broken’ and distressed asset that we were able to stabilize in less than three years,” says Kevin Hayes, Lincoln’s senior vice president. “We focused on driving premium lease rates in a location-driven market, which required a nuanced understanding of our leverage in each situation. We accomplished this while addressing …

NEW YORK CITY — Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon has agreed to sell its 1.1 million-square-foot One Wall Street office tower in Manhattan to a joint venture led by Macklowe Properties for $585 million. CBRE is brokering the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter. Completed in 1931, the art deco building stands 50 stories. Investment services provider BNY Mellon has occupied the property since 1989, when The Bank of New York acquired Irving Trust Co. “We’re pleased to have reached this agreement,” says Gerald Hassell, chairman and CEO of BNY Mellon. “Once finalized, it will advance our plan to consolidate office space in New York City, lead to a more functional and efficient work environment for our employees and deliver a solid financial gain to the company.” Hassell adds that BNY Mellon expects to announce a new lease for space elsewhere in the New York region within the next two months. The company’s headquarters moved from 48 Wall Street to One Wall Street in 1998. Irving Trust Co. purchased the original lot in 1927 for $14.5 million. Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker designed the skyscraper, which was constructed with a base of Maine granite and Indiana …

NEW YORK — American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCP) intends to sell its multi-tenant shopping center portfolio for approximately $2 billion in cash to affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII. ARCP plans to use the capital from its multi-tenant business to fund the purchase of a previously announced Red Lobster portfolio. ARCP has entered into a letter of intent to sell its multi-tenant shopping center portfolio to Blackstone and expects to finalize definitive documentation with Blackstone with respect to the sale in the next 30 days. The New-York based REIT would then use the proceeds from the sale to fund its Red Lobster sale-leaseback transaction. The properties included in this portfolio are the same properties that ARCP previously announced would be spun off into American Realty Capital Centers Inc. “We continued to look at options to create stockholder value through a disposition of our multi-tenant assets, and we believe that through the sale to Blackstone of the multi-tenant shopping center portfolio, we have accomplished this,” says David Kay, president of ARCP. “This sale will allow us to acquire what in our view are the 500 best Red Lobster stores profitably by selling our multi-tenant portfolio at a cap …

CINCINNATI — The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has begun the planning and development of the MidPointe Crossing mixed-use development in Cincinnati’s Bond Hill neighborhood. The project is valued at $80 million. MidPointe Crossing will be located within one mile of Interstate 75, and has the potential for up to 500,000 square feet of office and retail. The nearby intersection of Reading Road and Seymour Avenue sees more than 37,000 vehicles each day. “MidPointe Crossing is Cincinnati’s next great office and retail location,” says Laura Brunner, Port Authority president and CEO. “The Port Authority and City of Cincinnati have teamed up on making a significant investment in this location that complements all of the other momentum nearby. We now expect the market will respond favorably, because there are only a handful of development-ready city sites of this caliber.” The site of MidPointe Crossing was the former home of Swifton Commons, the region's first shopping mall. The 400,000-square-foot Swifton Commons opened in 1956 and was demolished in December 2013. The development authority has selected Cassidy Turley senior vice president Scott Abernethy and associate Joshua Smitherman to lead office land sales for the 25-acre development, as well as vice president Andrew …

GAINESVILLE, FLA. — Bass Pro Shops plans to open a new store on the northwest quadrant of Interstate 75 and Archer Road in Gainesville. It will be the primary anchor for Celebration Pointe, a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development that will include retail, restaurants, entertainment, a hotel and residential units. The development will be Alachua County’s first green, transit-oriented project. The outdoor retailer’s news came just a few days before ICSC RECon 2014, the annual networking and information conference in Las Vegas featuring more than 33,000 retail and shopping center professionals from across the globe. The largest convention of its kind in the industry, RECon also features 1,000 exhibitors. The new 80,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops Sportsman’s Center store will be the company’s 13th store in Florida. The company currently operates nine stores in the state, and other locations have been announced for Brandon/Tampa, St. John’s County/Jacksonville and Daytona. “Having the opportunity to build a super outdoor store directly fronting I-75 will allow us to bring Bass Pro Shops’ low prices and famous friendly expert service to serve the many sportsmen and women, as well as the visitors to this area each year,” says Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops. “This …

NEW YORK CITY — American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCP) has entered into a $1.5 billion sale-leaseback for more than 500 Red Lobster restaurant properties. This deal will be completed in conjunction with Golden Gate Capital’s (GGC) acquisition of Red Lobster from Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI). About 93.5 percent of the portfolio’s leases will be structured with a 25-year initial term. Another 6.5 percent will have a weighted average 18.7-year initial term. The portfolio’s master leases will include 2 percent annual contractual rent escalations. “With strong financial metrics, built-in 2 percent annual rent growth and long-term lease commitments, this acquisition affords shareholders value and supports our future earnings growth,” says David Kay, ARCP’s president. “When consummated, the Red Lobster transaction will allow us to achieve the high end of our acquisition guidance, which we set at $3 billion for 2014.” The deal represents a GAAP cap rate of 9.9 percent and a cash cap rate of 7.9 percent. ”We previously promised acquisitions at cap rates north of 8 percent and have done so this year in small, self-originated transactions,” explains Kay. “Now, we have duplicated that effort on a large scale.” This is ARCP’s fourth transaction with GGC. …

BETHESDA, MD. — Walker & Dunlop Inc. (NYSE: WD) has arranged a $278 million Fannie Mae credit facility for Milestone Apartments REIT (TSX: MST.UN). The facility, which consists of both fixed and variable rate notes with staggered maturities, is collateralized by 20 Milestone multifamily properties in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. The Toronto-based REIT holds a total portfolio of 55 properties in the Southwest and Southeast United States. Walker & Dunlop structured the original facility for Milestone in 2005 and added additional assets to the facility in 2008. “We have worked on this portfolio for years and each time have taken steps to ensure that we structure a loan that meets Milestone’s strategic needs,” says Howard Smith, COO of Walker & Dunlop. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with Milestone and providing them with the financing to continue to grow their multifamily portfolio.” Milestone is using approximately $28.1 million of this facility to fund, in part, its two most recent acquisitions: the 316-unit Harbor Creek apartment community in metro Atlanta and the 384-unit Legacy Heights multifamily complex in metro Denver. The REIT purchased the Atlanta asset for a total of $28 million, representing a cap rate of 6.8 …

TAMPA, FLA. — Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT Inc. has acquired two data centers for approximately $46 million. The acquisitions include the Milwaukee Data Center in Harland, Wis., which was acquired for a purchase price of $19.5 million; and the Windstream Charlotte Data Center in Charlotte, N.C., acquired for $26.4 million. The Milwaukee Data Center is a 59,000-square-foot net rentable area. The property is fully leased to Thomson Reuters U.S. LLC, an affiliate of Thomson Reuters Corp. The Windstream Charlotte Data Center is a 60,850-square-foot multi-tenant property built in 1999. The property was renovated in 2013 for data center use. “The Milwaukee Data Center and Windstream Data Center are investments consistent with our strategy of buying high-quality assets that diversify our holdings by geography and tenancy,” says Michael Seton, president of Carter/Validus Advisors. The Tampa, Fla.-based non-traded REIT has a total investment portfolio of approximately $1.1 billion, which consists of 3.5 million rentable square feet across 16 states. The weighted average remaining lease term of the portfolio is approximately 12 years and the portfolio has average annual rental rate increases of 2.3 percent. ­— Danielle Everson