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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, …

TRUMBULL, CONN. — NorthMarq Capital’s New York office has arranged $115 million in construction financing and a permanent mortgage for an expansion of the Park Avenue campus of Bridgeport Hospital in Trumbull, located 65 miles northeast of New York City. The 120,000-square-foot Class A facility will consist of a parking garage, as well as a three-story outpatient facility that includes three surgical suites, two lead-lined radiation treatment rooms, chemotherapy lounges, a phlebotomy lab, a radiology practice and a healing garden. Ernest DesRoshers and Deanna Polizzo of the New York office of NorthMarq arranged the transaction, a 25-year fully amortizing, private-placement bond deal with a set rate that may be lowered at a future time. The transaction provides for phased funding to minimize negative arbitrage as well as a free loan to the interest holder. NorthMarq arranged the financing with a credit tenant lease lender. “We were able to restructure the existing debt on the two pre-existing properties that will be connected by the to-be-built medical office building,” says Polizzo. Other amenities of the development include multiple entrances for patients for close proximity to doctors, skybridges and awnings to provide protection from the elements, and well-lit parking and entry areas.

NEW YORK — Greystone has provided financing for five multifamily properties in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex areas in Texas totaling $59.3 million. The New York-based lender provided the acquisition financing through its Fannie Mae DUS platform. Robert Russell of Greystone originated the loans with 10-year terms and 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) in two pools. The properties acquired, which total approximately 1,442 units, include: • Cypress Club in Arlington • Windsprint Apartments in Arlington • Hunters Cove in Grand Prairie • Arbors of Austin in Austin • Northgate Hills in Austin In the first two months of 2014, Fannie Mae recorded roughly $2.4 billion in multifamily lending volume. In all of 2013, the agency closed approximately $28.8 billion in loans. Greystone has been a Fannie Mae DUS lender for more than 15 years. Multifamily investors and developers are targeting apartment markets in major metros across Texas due to the state’s growing job market and population base. In the Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research’s report from November 2013, entitled “The Lone Star State Shines Bright,” Fannie Mae economists Francisco Nicco-Annan and Kim Betancourt write that the average annual job growth in the majority of the Texas metros is expected …

BAKERSFIELD, CALIF. — American Tire Distributors has signed a 20-year lease for more than 1 million square feet of space at the master-planned Paramount Logistics Park in Shafter, a city about 20 miles northwest of Bakersfield. The lease is valued at $119 million. The 1,625-acre logistics park, owned and managed by Roll Real Estate Development, is located at 5000 Capital Road. The new $65 million, built-to-suit facility will be situated on more than 45 acres and will include 10,000 square feet of office space. It will break ground this spring. American Tire has occupied a 176,500-square-foot industrial building at Paramount Logistics Park since 2007. The company had entered into a build-to-suit lease agreement with Roll Real Estate Development this past May for a 350,000-square-foot building within the park. American Tire recently restructured that lease, however, and tripled its requested space due to a consumer demand increase in the Western U.S. “American Tire's expansion in the Central Valley will significantly improve its capability to distribute to tire retailers quickly and more efficiently,” says Jason Gremillion, Roll Real Estate Development’s vice president of development. “Being located at the Paramount Logistics Park provides strategic access to customers throughout the western states, and they …

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — HAP Investments LLC has agreed to purchase 500 Summit Avenue, a development site at Journal Square in Jersey City’s central business district. The New York-based real estate investment and development company is planning to build a $400 million mixed-use building, to be known as HAP Tower, on the land. The project will include office, retail and multifamily space totaling approximately 1 million square feet. The land, nearly one acre, can accommodate a structure of up to 42 stories. The surrounding area, known as Journal Square as the home of the former Jersey Journal headquarters, is undergoing a city-sponsored redevelopment. HAP Investments paid $28 million for its site, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We are excited to have purchased this strategic site in Jersey City,” says Eran Polack, CEO of HAP Investments. “We look forward to building a future development that will provide new rental housing for local residents as well as others in the metropolitan area, in addition to adding needed office and community facilities to this thriving urban location.” “HAP Investments is also committed to sound environmental development, and to creating an open urban green space environment for this project,” Polack adds that the …

PHILADELPHIA — Cedar Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: CDR) has acquired Quartermaster Plaza, a 456,000-square-foot retail property in Philadelphia, for $92.3 million, including the assumption of $53.4 million in fixed-rate debt. A publicly traded REIT, Cedar Realty will initially fund the purchase through the company’s credit facility, pending anticipated proceeds from asset sales. Constructed in 2004, the shopping center was 98 percent leased at the time of the sale and anchored by BJ’s Wholesale Club. With this purchase, Cedar Realty owns five shopping centers in Philadelphia totaling more than 1.3 million square feet, as well as the largest share of open-air retail space within the city of any publicly traded REIT. “We are excited about the acquisition of Quartermaster Plaza,” says Bruce Schanzer, president and CEO of Cedar Realty. “Our now dominant presence in the South Philadelphia submarket allows us to leverage our operating and leasing expertise to continue to serve the needs of this large and growing urban population.” Quartermaster Plaza is located on more than 43 acres and has already been approved for expansion of up to 98,000 square feet. The property is adjacent to South Philadelphia Shopping Center, a 283,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored center also owned by Cedar Realty. Other …

TUNICA, MISS. — Full House Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: FLL) has entered into a definitive agreement to buy the 53-acre Fitzgerald’s Casino in Tunica from The Majestic Star Casino LLC for $62 million. Majestic Star, based in Indiana, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009, leaving the “Fitz Casino” available for purchase, according to the Memphis Business Journal. Las Vegas-based Full House, which owns five casinos in Nevada, New Mexico, Indiana and Mississippi, also purchased the Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, Miss., in 2012 for $70 million. The Fitz Casino features 38,000 square feet of gaming space, including approximately 1,100 slot and video poker machines, as well as 20 table games. The site also includes a 506-room hotel with 68 suites, a fine dining restaurant, buffet, two casino bars and an 8,100-square-foot event center. “This transaction is consistent with our long-stated growth strategy,” says Andre Hilliou, chairman and CEO of Full House Resorts, “and we believe it will create long-term shareholder value. We believe we can leverage our knowledge and proven track record of managing properties catering to local customers to further improve the profitability of Fitz Casino.” According to a press release, Macquarie Capital was Full House’s …

NEW YORK — Meridian Capital Group LLC has arranged $200 million in acquisition financing for 530 Broadway, an 11-story, 194,500-square-foot mixed-use building in New York City. Meridian arranged the loan on behalf of the buyer, a joint venture led by Wharton Properties. Jeff Sutton, a prominent retail investor in New York City, is the founder and president of Wharton Properties. Ronnie Levine and Tal Savariego of Meridian Capital Group’s New York City headquarters office arranged the three-year loan through an unnamed national balance sheet lender. The loan features two one-year extension options. “530 Broadway not only has an irreplaceable location, but its sponsorship is uniquely positioned to execute a value-add strategy over time and capture additional upside from the asset,” says Savariego. 530 Broadway is located at the corner of Broadway and Spring Street and is composed of three interconnecting buildings. Eastern Mountain Sports leases the ground-level retail space at 530 Broadway. The asset, built in 1900, is located in Lower Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood and across the street from 529 Broadway, where a venture between Wharton Properties, Aurora Capital Associates and Thor Equities is developing a 34,000-square-foot retail building. Meridian Capital Group is one of the nation’s largest commercial real …