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NASHVILLE, TENN. AND SEATTLE, WASH. — Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) and Emeritus Corp. (NYSE: ESC) have signed a definitive merger agreement in a transaction valued at $2.8 billion. The merger is expected to be complete in the third quarter of this year. The new company will be the only single-branded provider operating a nationwide network of senior living communities with fully integrated ancillary services across the care continuum, according to a press release issued jointly by Brookdale and Emeritus on Thursday. Services provided will include independent living, assisted living, dementia care, skilled nursing, outpatient therapy, home health and hospice care. “In an industry with very attractive long-term growth dynamics, this strategic merger creates the first national, predominantly private-pay-based, senior living solutions company,” says Andy Smith, Brookdale’s CEO. “This combination will improve our ability to deliver the best, high-quality solutions for the growing demographic of aging seniors and their families.” Once the merger is complete, a Brookdale community will be within 10 miles of 6.5 million seniors aged 80 or older. It will expand Brookdale’s unit capacity by more than two-thirds, totaling about 112,700 units in 1,161 communities in 46 states. It will also allow Brookdale to enter 10 …

OMAHA, NEB. — Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. (NASDAQ: SBRA) has acquired six Nebraska seniors housing facilities for $90 million. The transaction is a sale-leaseback with operator Nye Senior Services LLC, which has agreed to an initial 10-year term with four renewal options of five years each. The properties, all located within a 100-mile radius of Omaha, total 213 independent living units, 168 assisted living units and 292 skilled nursing beds. With this purchase, Irvine, Calif.-based Sabra continues to expand its presence in the middle of the country, having invested $230 million in Texas seniors housing facilities last summer. “This acquisition marks our first entry into Nebraska and aligns us with a terrific company that has had success in operating senior housing and skilled nursing facilities, a valuable skill set,” says Rick Matros, Sabra CEO and chairman. “The management team also has expansion plans on the docket for certain existing assets, which we anticipate financing.” Nye’s triple-net lease agreement includes annual rent escalations of 3 percent, resulting in annual lease revenues of $8 million and an initial yield on cash rent of 7.78 percent for Sabra. The REIT will pay an “earn-out” based on incremental portfolio value created through expansion …

SAN FRANCISCO — A partnership between Woodridge Capital Partners and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management has acquired the historic Mark Hopkins Hotel at One Nob Hill in San Francisco for $120 million. Woodridge and Oaktree are purchasing the 383-room hotel from InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG), which will continue to manage the hotel. The buyers plan to invest $20 million to renovate the guest rooms and common areas of the property. The Mark Hopkins Hotel opened on Dec. 4, 1926, on the site of railroad magnate Mark Hopkins’ 40-room mansion. Hopkins was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which built the railway that linked the West Coast with the East Coast. The hotel has hosted U.S. presidents, world leaders, movie stars and business tycoons. “We are thrilled to add the Mark Hopkins San Francisco Hotel to our holdings further reinforcing our relationship with the great city of San Francisco,” says Michael Rosenfeld, CEO of Woodridge Capital Partners. “We are committed to enhancing the value of this prized asset.” Oaktree and Woodridge also own the historic Fairmont San Francisco across from the Mark Hopkins that they purchased in May 2012. With close to 1,000 rooms, the Mark …

DAVIE, FLA. — Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has broken ground on its new $80 million Center for Collaborative Research at the institution’s main campus in Davie, a suburb of Miami. ANF Group is serving as general contractor on the six-story, 215,000-square-foot research facility. The building, designed by architecture firm ACAI Associates, will include wet labs, technology incubator space and an IBM supercomputer nicknamed “Megalodon.” The moniker refers to a prehistoric shark and hearkens to the school’s mascot, the Sharks. “This university will be in an elite status of research throughout the nation,” says George Hanbury II, NSU president. According to the Miami Herald, the center will house scientists from the university’s Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research and Emil Buehler Research Center for Engineering, Science and Mathematics, as well as United States Geological Survey. Incubator space will be leased to start-up information security companies. The cancer institute will be relocating from an off-campus technology park in Plantation. According to Rumbaugh-Goodwin director Appu Rathinavelu, the new facility will make efficient, rewarding research that much easier. “Everybody’s going to be working together, interacting, collaborating,” Rathinavelu told the Herald. “This building is going to be a catalyst for all that.” The project is expected …

HAMPSTEAD, MD. — Men’s clothing retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (Nasdaq: JOSB) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Everest Holdings LLC, the parent company of the Eddie Bauer brand, for $825 million. The deal will include $564 million in cash and about 4.7 million new shares of common stock of Jos. A. Bank. Upon the deal's closing, Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm that owns Everest Holdings, will become a significant shareholder of Jos. A. Bank stock. “We have long admired the Eddie Bauer brand and its widespread appeal among those with active lifestyles and excitement about the outdoors, a large and growing customer base that overlaps significantly with ours,” says Robert Wildrick, chairman of Jos. A. Bank. “I look forward to working with the two exceptional CEOs who lead these companies — Neal Black at Jos. A. Bank and Mike Egeck at Eddie Bauer — to capitalize on the combined strengths of the businesses and the substantial synergies between them in order to drive significant near and long-term growth and value creation.” As part of the deal, Everest has the right to earn up to an additional $50 million in cash based on Eddie Bauer’s …

NEW YORK — Silverstone Property Group, an owner-developer and affiliate of Madison Realty Capital, has sold 247 East 28th Street, also known as The Grayson, for $99.75 million to an unnamed buyer from China. The Class A luxury property is a 17-story, 109,000-square-foot mixed-use residential tower located in the Gramercy/Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. The building features 128 one- and two-bedroom apartments and a ground-floor retail space occupied by Chase Bank under a long-term lease. Silverstone originally purchased the property in February 2012 in an off-market transaction secured by Steven Vegh of Westwood Realty Associates for $53 million. Silverstone allocated a significant capital investment program over the last two years that resulted in a complete renovation of the building, which included an overhaul of the exterior, the lobby, all common areas and most apartment units. The building improvements included a new roof, complete window replacement, new electric service to every apartment, plumbing upgrade, façade restoration, elevator upgrades and gas boiler conversion. Additional enhancements included the creation of a recreation room, furnished roof deck and outdoor amenity space. “Silverstone is pleased with the execution of this entire project, from our initial purchase through renovation and now sale,” says Josh Zegen, a principal …

MINNEAPOLIS — Laurus Corp. has clinched its first Minneapolis-area property with the acquisition of Woodlake Centre, a 190,000-square-foot medical and professional services complex. The purchase price was not disclosed. The center is located at 6625 Lyndale Ave. South in Richfield, just north of Bloomington. It is situated near the I-494, I-35 and the Twin Cities Crosstown Highway. There are about 1,000 new residential units within walking distance of Woodlake Centre, many of which offer assisted-living and senior care services. Some of the largest headquarters in the area include United Health, Medtronic, 3M, Target and General Mills. “Off-campus medical office vacancies in the Southwest submarket ended 2013 at 6.8 percent, and on-campus space at just a 3.4 percent vacancy rate,” says Austin Khan, Laurus’ CIO. “Given the lack of available, high-quality space in the market, Woodlake Centre presents an incredible opportunity to continue to enhance the variety of medical and related specialties offered to the community in its centralized location.” Notable tenants at Woodlake Centre include M&I Bank, Metro Dentalcare and Allina Medical Clinic. The complex also contains ground-floor retail space that is anchored by Houlihan's restaurant and bar. Laurus plans to add a new café to the center, along with …

AUSTIN, TEXAS — HFF has arranged $230 million in financing for a six-property student housing portfolio totaling 1,496 units in six states. The funds, secured through six separate loans for borrower Aspen Heights, will be used to refinance the original construction debt on the properties. Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings Inc. provided the securitized loans, each of which includes five years of interest-only payments. HFF will service the loans. The portfolio includes a 184-unit, 598-bed property at the University of Clemson in Clemson, N.C.; a 318-unit, 972-bed property at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.; a 180-unit, 600-bed property at James Madison University in Harrisburg, Va.; a 244-unit, 750-bed property at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; a 339-unit, 1087-bed property at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga.; and a 231-unit, 792-bed property at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. The properties, all operated under the Aspen Heights name and branding, are 95 percent leased for the spring 2014 semester. Each complex features a 24-hour fitness center, swimming pool, computer lab, full volleyball court and movie theater. Aspen Heights is a student housing developer and manager based in Austin, Texas with a total portfolio of 19 student housing properties. …

NEW YORK CITY — Meridian Capital Group LLC, a national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm, has arranged a $160 million CMBS loan to refinance a former nursing home on Third Avenue in New York City on behalf of The Chetrit Group. The 19-story building on the city's Upper East Side is now a student housing property. “Meridian was able to quickly procure this competitive financing for The Chetrit Group based on the strength of the sponsorship, the high-quality of the asset and a solid prior financing relationship with the lender,” says Ronnie Levine, managing director of Meridian Capital Group's New York City office. “Given the shortage of quality student housing stock in New York City, a property of this caliber will serve both our client and its inhabitants very well for years to come.” The 498-unit student housing property is located at 1760 Third Ave. and totals 247,600 square feet. The asset was formerly a nursing home that The Chetrit Group began converting in 2009. Tenants include Baruch College, Hunter College, LIM College and Educational Housing Services. Natixis Real Estate Capital LLC provided the five-year conduit financing, which features interest-only payments for the full term. Levine negotiated the …