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NASHVILLE, TENN. ― Bridgestone Americas Inc. has broken ground on its new 30-story, $200 million headquarters to be located in the SoBro area of downtown Nashville. When completed in mid-to-late 2017, the new office building will house more than 1,700 employees, which will include the 1,100 currently in Nashville along with 600 new jobs from three out-of-state business units being relocated to the city. “Today is an historic day for our company, for Nashville and for Tennessee,” says Gary Garfield, CEO and president of Bridgestone Americas. “We proudly call Nashville home and are very eager to welcome our teammates from out-of-state as soon as possible. The leadership and support of the state and city are to be applauded for reaching this groundbreaking milestone — it marks the next step in our journey to shape tomorrow together.” The ceremony was also attended by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, Tennessee Economic and Community Development commissioner Bill Hagerty, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Highwoods Properties president and CEO Ed Fritsch and Bridgestone executives and team representatives from the employee units to be relocated to Nashville. “Today is an exciting day for the continued partnership we share with Bridgestone,” says Haslam. “This is a company that …

DALLAS, TEXAS — Cobalt Capital Partners has sold a portfolio of 256 primarily light industrial assets for $1.6 billion to Colony Financial Inc. In addition to the portfolio sale, Cobalt’s management team, led by Lewis Friedland, has joined Colony to run the day-to-day operations of the business, including investments, asset and property management. The 256-property portfolio is leased to more than 600 tenants and comprises over 30 million square feet across 16 major U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago. “We’re pleased to have executed this sale on behalf of our investor partners, including our long-time partner USAA Real Estate Co.,” says Friedland, former managing partner of Cobalt Capital Partners. “Our entire team has done an excellent job over the last 10 years building this business into a leader in the industrial sector. We’re excited to be joining Colony, one of the real estate industry’s premier companies, and look forward to continuing to grow our portfolio.” Cobalt was represented in the transaction by an Eastdil Secured team led by Steve Silk and Jay Borzi, the CBRE National Partners team led by Jack Fraker and Chris Riley, and Gannon Gerrity Advisors, led by Kristin Gannon and Kevin Gerrity. Locke Lord served …

NEW YORK — Meridian Capital Group LLC (Meridian) has arranged a $135 million mortgage for the refinancing of the Holiday Inn Manhattan-Financial District. The Holiday Inn Manhattan-Financial District is a 50-story, limited-service hotel totaling 492 rooms. The hotel is located at 99-103 Washington St. and is two blocks south of the World Trade Center. The developers recently completed construction of the property, which is the tallest Holiday Inn in the world. The hotel opened in October 2014. Meridian arranged the mortgage on behalf of developers Sam Chang and Jubao Xie. The two-year loan, provided by a national balance sheet lender, features a competitive floating rate with interest-only payments for the full term. Emanuel Westfried, Meridian’s vice president, negotiated the transaction. According to Westfried, the loan was provided to recapitalize the current sponsorship. The existing debt was $45 million from Cathay Bank. New York-based Meridian was founded in 1991 and arranges financing for transactions ranging from $1 million to more than $500 million for multifamily, co-op, office, retail, hotel, mixed-use, industrial, healthcare, student housing, self-storage and construction properties. — Scott Reid

NEW YORK — American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust II Inc., a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests mostly in healthcare facilities like medical office buildings and seniors housing properties, has completed its $2.1 billion non-listed, initial public offering (IPO). The company has invested approximately $1.84 billion in healthcare properties through Dec. 31, 2014, including those under contract. ARC Healthcare Trust II expects to deploy all of the net proceeds available for investment by the end of the first quarter of 2015. “We would like to thank our broker dealer partners and the thousands of financial advisers for the confidence they have shown in us through their support of the capital raise,” says Thomas D’Arcy, CEO of ARC Healthcare Trust II. “We believe the depth and experience of the entire ARC Healthcare Trust II team, coupled with our deep relationships within the healthcare industry, have played a key part in the company’s ability to deploy capital in a disciplined and highly effective manner.” The company had registered a maximum 82.7 million shares of its common stock, or $2.1 billion, including shares registered under the company’s distribution reinvestment plan (DRIP) based on its public offering price of $25 per share …

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. —Stiles Property Fund (SPF) and Prudential Real Estate Investors have acquired New River Center, a 20-story Class A office tower in Fort Lauderdale’s central business district. The joint venture acquired the asset from Invesco Ltd for $108 million, or $383 per square foot. New River Center is located at 200 East Las Olas Blvd. The building is 86 percent leased and includes 281,713 rentable square feet of office and ground floor retail space. Stiles developed the property in 1990. “The opportunity for SPF to acquire prime office real estate on Las Olas Boulevard with upside potential made this investment very attractive,” says Kyle Jones, fund manager of Fort Lauderdale-based SPF. “We are looking forward to executing our business plan and creating further value at the property utilizing Stiles’ diverse range of services.” New River Center is situated on 1.4 acres and includes views of the New River and downtown Fort Lauderdale. The property consists of a 12-story office tower above an eight-story parking garage with 675 spaces, as well as nearly 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It is currently leased to tenants including Fifth Third Bank, Akamai, Yum! Brands, Brinkley Morgan and Stearns Weaver. Following the …

NEWTON, MASS. — Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) has entered into an agreement with CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. to purchase 38 seniors housing communities for approximately $790 million. The 38 communities have 3,466 total living units, including 826 independent living units, 1,860 assisted living units, 744 memory-care units and 36 skilled nursing beds. “We are very pleased to acquire such a high-quality portfolio of private-pay senior living communities,” says David Hegarty, president and COO of SNH. “Upon closing of the acquisition of these 38 communities, approximately 56 percent of SNH’s consolidated net operating income will come from senior living properties.” In addition, says Hegarty, rents from Newton, Massachusetts-based SNH’s largest tenant, Five Star Quality Care Inc., will now account for less than 20 percent of its annualized revenues. Eighteen of the 38 communities in the acquisition, with 1,847 living units, are currently leased to six seniors housing operators. These 18 communities are located in 12 states: four in California; two each in Georgia, Washington and Oregon; and one each in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina and Rhode Island. Six senior living operators currently manage the remaining 20 communities, with 1,619 living units. These 20 managed communities …

DALLAS AND PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. (NYSE: AHT) and Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI) have signed a definitive agreement in which Ashford Trust will acquire the remaining 28.3 percent ownership interest of the 28-hotel Highland Hospitality portfolio from its joint venture partner, a value-add fund managed by PREI. Ashford Trust currently has a 71.7 percent ownership interest in the joint venture. The expected total transaction value is $1.73 billion, or $215,000 per key. The portfolio includes 19 full-service hotels and nine select-service hotels with a concentration in major brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and Starwood. The purchase of the PREI-managed fund’s interest will be made by a cash payment of $250.1 million. Ashford Trust’s buyout will be funded with cash and is expected to be completed sometime during the first quarter of 2015, simultaneous with an anticipated refinancing of the Highland portfolio. “We are very pleased to acquire the remaining ownership interest of this high-quality hotel portfolio whose performance has well exceeded our expectations,” says Monty Bennett, Ashford Trust’s chairman and CEO. “With the strong hotel fundamentals the industry is experiencing, we expect to benefit from further upside in this portfolio and believe this as a …

FORT LEE, N.J. — HFF has arranged the $120 million sale of The Crest at Fort Lee, a 351-unit apartment community. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Capri Capital Partners LLC. Pantzer Properties purchased the asset for $120 million, or $341,880 per unit, free and clear of any existing debt. The Crest at Fort Lee sits on 13 acres at 900 Crest Lane in eastern Bergen County near the New Jersey Turnpike/George Washington Bridge as well as nearby shopping and dining. The gated property, which was built in 1999, is 96 percent leased and has a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans averaging 1,058 square feet. The property consists of seven residential buildings with amenities including garage parking, tenant storage and balconies. Community amenities include a clubhouse, pool, fitness center, indoor basketball court, community room, business center, playground and grilling area. Jose Cruz, Kevin O’Hearn, Steve Simonelli and Andrew Scandalios led the HFF investment sales team. Hyland Levin LLP served as legal counsel for the buyer and Krawnow Saunders, Kaplan & Beninati LLP represented the seller. “The buyer has an opportunity to add value to the property in a market that is seeing new development and …