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ORLANDO, FLA. ­— Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) has acquired One Orlando Centre, a 356,000-square-foot Class A office building in Orlando, and simultaneously restructured the existing first mortgage loan. The purchase price was $62 million, according to the company. The seller was undisclosed. One Orlando Centre, known locally as the Wells Fargo building, is a 19-story office tower in the Orlando central business district. It includes an eight-story structured parking garage. Other onsite amenities include 24-hour security, full-service bank with drive-thru tellers and walk-up ATM, and a café. The property is 81 percent occupied and generates an initial full-year cash net operating income yield of 7 percent. Following this acquisition, Parkway Properties will own approximately 23 percent of the Class A inventory in the submarket in which the tower is located. Parkway has taken ownership of the asset by making an $8 million equity investment. In addition to the equity investment, the existing $68.3 million first mortgage note was restructured into a new $54 million first mortgage and $16.4 million B-note. “The acquisition of One Orlando Centre represents a creatively structured, off-market transaction that enables Parkway to strengthen its portfolio in a targeted submarket at an attractive basis,” says James Heistand, …

SAN FRANCISCO — Cloud computing giant salesforce.com has entered into a lease agreement for 714,000 square feet at the new Salesforce Tower, a 1.4 million-square-foot office building under construction in San Francisco. The 61-story tower is located at 415 Mission St. in the South Financial District and will be the hub of salesforce.com’s urban campus. According to the project’s developer, Boston Properties Inc., a Boston-based real estate investment trust, salesforce.com’s lease is the largest office lease in San Francisco’s history. Boston Properties and its co-development partner, Hines, expect to complete the building in early 2017 for a projected total cost of roughly $1.1 billion. “Salesforce Tower represents an incredible milestone in our company’s history —it will be the heart of our global headquarters in San Francisco,” says Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. “We founded salesforce.com in San Francisco 15 years ago, and this expansion of our urban campus represents our commitment to growing in the city.” The tech company, best known for its customer relationship management (CRM) software, will occupy floors 1, 3-30 and 61 in the building, which was formerly known as Transbay Tower. The office tower is pre-certified LEED Platinum and will feature 100 percent outside …

MIAMI — Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) has acquired Courvoisier Centre, a 346,000-square-foot office complex in Miami, for $145.8 million. The two-building, Class A complex is located at 501 and 601 Brickell Key Drive on Brickell Key Island in Biscayne Bay, which is 400 feet off the coast of downtown Miami. The seller was an affiliate of Swire Properties. Courvoisier Centre is the only office complex on Brickell Key, an exclusive gated island that contains high-end luxury condominiums and the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Spa. “The acquisition of Courvoisier Centre supports our strategy of acquiring best-in-class assets within the strongest submarkets across the Sunbelt,” says James Heistand, Parkway's president and CEO. “A heavy emphasis on multifamily development within the Brickell submarket has limited the amount of available supply of Class A office assets, which has enabled Brickell to achieve the highest rental rates in Miami.” The seven-story, 97,087-square-foot Courvoisier Centre I was completed in 1986. The 12-story, 207,489-square-foot Courvoisier Centre II and the adjacent parking garage and 22,084-square-foot retail component were completed in 1990. The complex includes banking facilities, a gourmet grocery, dry cleaner and other retail amenities. Courvoisier Centre underwent a $10 million renovation in 2013. The buildings are …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO) has acquired 1401 K Street, a 117,093-square-foot office building in Washington, D.C., for $58 million. The property, also known as The Tower Building, is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Completed in 1929, the 12-story Art Deco structure was 88 percent leased to 22 tenants at the time of the sale. First Potomac’s acquisition included the assumption of $37.3 million in existing secured mortgage debt, while the remainder will be funded through a draw on the company’s revolving line of credit. “We are very pleased to add 1401 K to our portfolio,” says Nicholas Smith, CIO of First Potomac. “This iconic building fits in nicely with our strategic plan to acquire, own and operate high-quality office properties in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.” Designed by architect Robert Beresford, 1401 K Street was the first Art Deco building in Washington, D.C. and the tallest high-rise in the city upon its opening. The structure still ranks among the 10 tallest buildings in the city. Located adjacent to Franklin Square, one of D.C.’s largest downtown parks, 1401 K Street offers access to the red, blue and orange Metro lines, as well as …

NAPERVILLE, ILL. — Select Income REIT (NYSE: SIR) has acquired 1415 West Diehl Road, a five-story, Class A office property for approximately $187.5 million, excluding closing costs, in a sale-leaseback transaction. Tellabs Inc., an optical networking firm, entered into a 15-year lease for use of the property as its corporate headquarters. The cap rate, based on current in-place net operating income, including straight-line rents, is approximately 8.7 percent. The property, constructed in 2001 and located in Naperville’s East West Corridor adjacent to Interstate 88, is approximately 820,000 square feet. Its amenities include parking structures, a Starbucks, fitness and convenience centers, and a convenience store. Naperville, located 30 miles west of Chicago, is frequently listed among Money magazine’s “100 Best Places to Live.” It has been awarded the highest bond rating available, the AAA rating, by both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s for the past 19 years. Select Income REIT, based in Newton, Mass., funded the purchase with cash on hand and borrowings under its unsecured revolving credit facility. “We are excited to have identified and executed this sale-leaseback transaction with a terrific long-term tenant,” says David Blackman, president and COO of Select Income REIT. “1415 West Diehl Road is a …

SAN FRANCISCO — LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) has purchased the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco for $130 million. The 200-room hotel is located at 8 Mission St. at the intersection of the Embarcadero Waterfront and the Financial District, across from the Ferry Building Marketplace. Newly constructed in 2005, the hotel has undergone $6.5 million in subsequent capital expenditures including restaurant upgrades and new guestroom furniture. Hotel Vitale’s 200 guestrooms average 375 square feet. LaSalle funded the acquisition through its senior unsecured credit facility. “We are thrilled with this acquisition,” says Michael Barnello, president and CEO of LaSalle Hotel Properties. “Hotel Vitale is outstanding physically and in terms of its location. The hotel is surrounded by demand generators that attract corporate and leisure business, and the views from the hotel are breathtaking.” The hotel was purchased subject to a ground lease with the City & County of San Francisco, Municipal Transportation Agency, which expires on March 8, 2070. The hotel is within walking distance of San Francisco’s office towers in the Financial District and South of Market (SoMa) area. There is roughly 21 million square feet of existing office space and 3.5 million square feet of new office development within …

NEW YORK CITY — Constellation Barclay Holding US LLC, an affiliate of Constellation Hotels Holding Ltd., has acquired an 80 percent interest in the historic 685-room InterContinental New York Barclay in Midtown Manhattan for $240 million. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) will hold the remaining 20 percent interest. Together, the joint venture will own and renovate the asset, which is valued at $300 million prior to refurbishment. IHG has retained a long-term management contract on the property. Built in 1926 with the support of the Vanderbilt family, this New York luxury hotel provides the ideal base for guests who want to shop on 5th Avenue and is just a short walk from the Museum of Modern Art, according to the hotel’s website. The JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, which arranged the transaction on behalf of IHG, was led by Mark Wynne-Smith, global CEO; Arthur Adler, managing director and CEO of the Americas; managing director Jeffrey Davis; and executive vice president Gilda Perez-Alvarado. The InterContinental New York Barclay, located at 111 East 48th St., attracted strong interest from domestic, Middle Eastern and Asian investor groups by virtue of its long-standing reputation in New York, its affiliation with InterContinental Hotels, and its location …

SAN FRANCISCO AND PALO ALTO, CALIF. — Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) and BRE Properties Inc. (NYSE: BRE) have completed the merger of the two multifamily REITs, forming a new entity with a total market capitalization of approximately $16.2 billion. Going forward, the combined company will trade under the ticker symbol ESS on the New York Stock Exchange. The REIT’s equity market capitalization totals approximately $11.1 billion. “We are excited to consummate the merger and move forward to combine these two great organizations to form the leading West Coast multifamily REIT,” says Michael Schall, president and CEO of Essex. “The integration effort is proceeding as planned, which we believe will result in a stronger platform for sustainable growth, superior service for our residents and expanded career opportunities for our employees.” With the merger complete, former Essex stockholders hold approximately 63 percent of the combined company’s stock, while former BRE stockholders hold approximately 37 percent. Each share of BRE common stock was converted into 0.2971 shares of the new common stock, plus $7.18 in cash per share. “We are pleased that our stockholders have expressed overwhelming support and approval for this merger,” says Constance Moore, CEO of BRE. “The combined …

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Carey Watermark Investors Inc. has acquired Hyatt Place Austin Downtown, a 296-room upscale select-service hotel, for $87 million. The acquisition was financed with $56.5 million of debt and includes $3.9 million of acquisition-related costs and minor capital improvements. Hyatt Place Austin Downtown is located in the heart of Austin. Completed in 2013, the hotel is one block from the Austin Convention Center at 211 E. 3rd St., two blocks from the Sixth Street entertainment district, one-half mile from the State Capitol building and one mile from the University of Texas campus. Major companies in the area include Dell, Apple, AMD, Whole Foods and Silicon Labs. The hotel is close to more than 50 restaurants and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Amenities at the 17-story hotel include free Wi-Fi, 1,800 square feet of high-tech meeting and function space, an indoor pool, a StayFit at Hyatt fitness center and free public computers with remote printing. The hotel also features a coffee-to-cocktails bar and offers a complimentary kitchen skillet breakfast. “The acquisition of the Hyatt Place Austin Downtown represented an opportunity to invest in a newly built, high-quality, select-service property in one of the strongest domestic hotel markets,” says Michael Medzigian, …