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ALPHARETTA, GA. — North American Properties Ltd. (NAP), through a joint venture with Sarofim Realty Advisors, has secured $126.5 million in construction financing for Phase I of Avalon, a 2.4 million-square-foot mixed-use project in the affluent Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. Phase I of the $600 million development will include more than 350,000 square feet of retail, 100,000 square feet of office space, 101 single-family homes and 250 multifamily units. The construction financing includes an $86.5 million syndicated senior loan from Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America, in addition to a $40 million mezzanine loan provided by JP Morgan Asset Management. Eastdil Secured arranged the financing. Phase I of the project is 75 percent leased. The 86-acre development will be anchored by Whole Foods and a 12-screen Regal Cinemas. Recently secured tenants for the retail component include Giovanni Di Palma's Antico Napoletana, Bantam + Biddy by Chef Shaun Doty, Tommy Bahama, Vineyard Vines, Exhale Spa, West Elm, Kinnucan’s Specialty Outfitter, Sage Boutique, Free People, Janie and Jack, C. Wonder and L’Occitane. “The collection of restaurants and retailers we have assembled is phenomenal,” says Mark Toro, managing partner of NAP. “Avalon is the first project of its scope to start construction …

NEW YORK— ING Real Estate Finance (USA) LLC has agreed to sell 29 of its real estate loans in the United States with a total outstanding balance of $1.6 billion to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. The portfolio consists entirely of performing loans and represents approximately 50 percent of ING Real Estate Finance's total U.S. loan portfolio. The move by ING follows the company’s announcement in September 2012 that it would curtail its U.S. property lending business in order to sharpen its real estate finance platform. The company plans to focus on its core markets. “This divestment is a result of the successful execution of our strategy to capitalize on current robust U.S. market conditions to generate strong interest in the loan portfolio among a high-quality pool of potential buyers,” says Michael Shields, managing director and head of ING Real Estate Finance Western Europe, UK, USA and Structured Products. “As ING sharpens the focus of its real estate finance business, we will continue to deliver tailored real estate financing solutions in our other real estate finance markets,” adds Shields. Mark Myers, head of commercial real estate at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, believes that adding high-quality, performing loans to the bank’s portfolio …

NEW YORK — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) has agreed to acquire The Olivia, a mixed-use property on Manhattan’s west side, for $386 million. The deal further diversifies the portfolio of the real estate investment trust, which touts itself as New York City’s largest office landlord. New York-based real estate company Stonehenge currently owns The Olivia, according to Bloomberg. “We see this acquisition as a great opportunity to expand our multifamily investment platform at a time when the New York residential market is strong,” says Andrew Mathias, president of New York-based SL Green. “The property is located in a neighborhood that is expected to absorb thousands of new jobs during the next decade. With those jobs, the local demand for luxury housing also is expected to climb sharply.” The Olivia totals 36 stories and 492,987 square feet, the residential portion of which consists of 333 rental apartments in studio, one- and two-bedroom configurations. Among the amenities are a doorman-attended lobby, valet and concierge services, top-floor health club and social lounge and rooftop sundeck. According to the property’s website, rents start at $2,850 for a studio apartment. The building’s commercial space, which takes up 270,000 square feet of the total …

BOSTON — Winthrop Realty Trust (NYSE: FUR) has entered into an agreement to acquire four recently constructed Class A apartment buildings for $246 million. The agreement is with ST Residential, an affiliate of Starwood Capital, along with an unnamed third-party investor and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC acquired the interest from the failed Corus Bank. Built to condominium specifications prior to a lender foreclosure, the properties include 44 Monroe in Phoenix; Highgrove in Stamford, Conn.; Mosaic II in Houston; and San Pedro Lofts in San Pedro, Calif. Winthrop expects to close on the purchase of these properties by October. The Boston-based company provided a $25.5 million nonrefundable deposit on the properties. A combination of cash reserves and new secured financing is slated to pay the remaining balance, according to Winthrop. “We like the optionality created by the opportunity to acquire a cash flow positive portfolio of high quality condo-constructed multifamily assets at what we believe to be well below replacement cost,” says Michael Ashner, chairman and CEO of Winthrop. 44 Monroe is a 34-story, 184-unit condominium building that includes 1,377 square feet of ground-level retail. Constructed in 2008, the property's amenities include a spa and swimming pool with …

FOSTER CITY, CALIF. — Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), a multifamily REIT based in Palo Alto, Calif., has sold Harbor Cove Apartment Homes, a 400-unit waterfront apartment complex in Foster City. Essex sold the Bay Area property to a fund sponsored by Acacia Capital Corp. for $138 million, or $345,000 per unit. The apartment community is located on a 15-acre site at 900 E. Hillside Blvd. in Foster City, which is about midway between San Francisco to the north and Silicon Valley to the south. The $138 million sale is the largest transaction by dollar volume in the Bay Area so far this year, according to Essex’s broker, Institutional Property Advisors (IPA). “Opportunities to acquire larger multifamily assets in the mid-peninsula market are extremely rare. In fact, Harbor Cove is the only 100 plus-unit asset that has traded hands in Foster City since 2004,” says Philip Saglimbeni, vice president of investments at IPA, which is the multifamily brokerage division of Calabasas, Calif.-based Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. IPA serves institutional and major private investors, such as Essex. Saglimbeni represented Essex alongside Stanford Jones and Salvatore Saglimbeni of IPA. The brokerage team of Jones, Saglimbeni and Saglimbeni has brokered …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Skanska has signed a contract with American University to build the school’s new $78 million East Campus in Washington, D.C. Skanska will provide construction management services for the six-building campus, which will total approximately 344,445 square feet. The new buildings will seek LEED Gold certification. Currently a 900-space parking lot, East Campus will include three residence halls that will be home to 590 students. Two additional buildings will accommodate administrative offices and instructional space, while the final building will serve as a welcome center. The new development is part of the college’s larger strategy for growth and consolidation of its school, according to Greater Greater Washington. The pre-construction and design for the facility has already begun. The new campus buildings will open for occupancy in the fall of 2016. American University is a private liberal arts and research university in Washington, D.C. The school’s enrollment includes about 7,200 undergraduate and 5,230 graduate students. Skanska USA is a development and construction company based in New York. The company consists of four businesses — Skanska USA Building, Skanska USA Civil, Skanska Infrastructure Development and Skanska Commercial Development. Skanska USA’s 2012 revenues were approximately $5.7 billion. — Brittany Biddy

OAK BROOK, ILL. — Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. has agreed to sell its core net lease portfolio consisting of 294 retail, office and industrial assets to New York-based AR Capital LLC (ARC) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion. The deal includes the assumption of approximately $795.3 million in debt. “The sale of our core net lease portfolio is a major step in executing our long-term strategy of focusing our energies and investment capital in the multi-tenant retail, lodging and student housing asset classes,” says Thomas McGuinness, president of Oak Brook-based Inland American Real Estate Trust, a non-traded REIT. “We believe these asset classes will generate consistent cash flows, which will allow us to continue providing our stockholders with sustainable distributions while allowing us the opportunity to benefit from current real estate trends.” The deal represents “the culmination of a robust evaluation process to achieve maximum value for this portfolio of core net lease assets,” adds McGuinness. From the disposition, Inland American expects to realize up to approximately $1 billion of net proceeds, which could be received during the next nine months. The company intends to use these net proceeds for, among other things, investing in …

NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Property Partners LP (NYSE: BPY) has agreed to acquire Atlanta-based Industrial Developments International Inc. (IDI) from the U.S. unit of Kajima Corp. for $1.1 billion. The transaction will add 75 distribution facilities totaling 27 million square feet to Brookfield’s industrial portfolio. IDI also brings to Brookfield its 49 million square feet of future development projects and third-party property management business. The corporation’s properties are located in several key industrial markets in 12 states. Among the markets IDI has a presence in are Chicago, Cincinnati, Memphis, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Jersey, Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Following the acquisition, Brookfield’s industrial portfolio will total 62 million square feet, plus 79 million square feet of future development potential. “The addition of IDI to Brookfield’s existing industrial operations will create a leading global industrial real estate company able to deliver high-quality distribution facilities to clients around the world,” says Ric Clark, CEO of Brookfield. “The combined business will own irreplaceable assets and development sites near major markets and transport routes, with a 25-year track record of delivering superior service, and is now positioned for significant long-term growth.” As a result of the transaction, which is expected to close in …

NEW YORK CITY — SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) has committed $5 billion to fund commercial mortgages originated by MetLife (NYSE: MET). Atlanta-based SunTrust has agreed to fund MetLife's newly formed real estate investment management platform, MetLife Real Estate Investors, for three years. MetLife Real Estate Investors originates and manages commercial mortgages on behalf of institutional investors. “We welcome SunTrust as a client and partner as it brings strong regional and national expertise that complements our long standing real estate investment heritage,” says Steven Goulart, executive vice president and COO of MetLife Inc. “This unique partnership supports our larger strategy to provide innovative and reliable investment vehicles to our clients.” MetLife is one of the largest portfolio lenders in the industry with $43.1 billion in commercial mortgages outstanding at the end of 2012, and with more than $9.6 billion in commercial mortgage loan originations in 2012. “Our goal is to be one of the top five institutional real estate investment managers, and with this mandate from SunTrust, we are confident the company is headed in the right direction,” says Robert Merck, global head of MetLife Real Estate Investors. As of June 30, SunTrust had a total of $171.5 billion in assets …