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HOUSTON — Jones Lang LaSalle's capital markets team has arranged a $185.4 million acquisition loan for Williams Tower, a 1.4 million-square-foot Class A office tower in Houston's Galleria region. Mike Melody and Paul House led the Jones Lang LaSalle team on the transaction. Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. provided the loan on behalf of the borrower, Invesco Real Estate. “This was a very significant financing transaction that generated substantial interest from the top-tier institutional lending community,” said Melody. “Williams Tower is not only one of the most recognizable buildings in Houston, it is also an asset that has outperformed the market over the past five years, proving to be a very solid investment. We are confident Williams Tower will continue to deliver good returns for Invesco and perform favorably in the future given its high quality and position in the marketplace.” Invesco purchased the 64-story building from Hines REIT in early March 2013. Tom Melody, Michael Zietsman and Dan Bellow of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Hines on the sale. The team was assisted by Jones Lang LaSalle's tenant representation and international capital group. Completed in 1982, Williams Tower was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. The building received multiple awards, …

PLAYA VISTA, CALIF. — The legendary parcel of land that once gave rise to Howard Hughes’ aerospace empire is undergoing a $260 million transformation into Runway, a large-scale, mixed-use property located in the Playa Vista community, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. The development team, led by Lincoln Property Co., Phoenix Property Co. and Paragon Commercial Group, has begun construction on the project, which will include shopping, dining, entertainment and living space. Aided by a new $150 million construction loan through a syndicate of banks led by Bank of America, the project will include 221,000 square feet of retail, 420 apartments and 35,000 square feet of office space spread across three buildings. Construction is expected to last less than two years, with tenants opening their doors before the holiday shopping season in 2014. “This project has been a long time coming, so we are excited to be moving to the next stage in the development process and to be that much closer to injecting more energy into this already vibrant community,” says David Binswanger, executive vice president of Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. “We want Runway to be at the forefront of everything new in the worlds of fashion, art, design and …

BRADENTON AND ORLANDO, FLA. — Hendricks-Berkadia Real Estate Advisors has arranged the sale of three apartment communities, which total 1,130 units in Bradenton and Orlando, for a total of approximately $61.8 million. Situs LLC sold the 264-unit Braden Lakes Apartments on 50th Avenue West in Bradenton for $14.3 million. Lexsignia LLC acquired the property, which includes 16 two-story, garden-style buildings and a clubhouse. Situs LLC also sold The Cornerstone Apartments, situated on 27 acres along South Conway Road in Orlando, for $23 million. Robbins Property Associates LLC acquired the 430-unit complex. Additionally, Hendricks-Berkadia brokered the $24.5 million sale of Park Baldwin Palms, located at 2250 N. Semoran Blvd. in Orlando. Everglades Partners LLC sold the 436-unit multifamily property to Convenant Capital Group LLC. The community includes 38 two-story, garden-style buildings situated on 21.8 acres. Cole Whitaker, Hal Warren and Jason Stanton of Hendricks-Berkadia represented the sellers in each transaction. Hendricks-Berkadia, headquartered in Phoenix, is a real estate multifamily services firm with 68 offices across the country. — Brittany Biddy

NEWARK, N.J.— Hollister Construction Services has broken ground on the second of three separate residential buildings at Teachers Village, a $149 million revitalization project that aims to transform Newark’s downtown. Developed by Ron Beit of the RBH Group and designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLC, the development, to be completed in 2014, will consist of eight low-rise buildings, with Hollister responsible for the ground-up construction of three of the eight buildings. The first floor of the buildings will encompass 60,000 square feet of retail space with the remaining floors spanning 110,000 square feet of educational space and 250,000 square feet of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments for a total of 420,000 square feet of new construction. According to The Star-Ledger, the local newspaper, the idea to incorporate teachers came after the developers realized many of the city’s current educators worked long hours and lived far away. By living closer, they in turn would bring energy and ideas to the area and possibly attract more business. Two of the project’s eight buildings, located in Newark’s historic Four Corners district, will be leased to charter schools and a daycare. The other six buildings will contain rental apartments and retail to …

NEW YORK CITY — Related Cos. has announced several big milestones for the first of several towers at Hudson Yards, a 13 million-square-foot mixed-use complex planned on Manhattan's west side. French cosmetics maker L’Oréal agreed to lease 402,000 square feet at the South Tower for its U.S. headquarters, Related said in a statement Wednesday. German software company SAP AG will take 115,000 square feet on the top four floors. The two companies will join handbag retailer Coach, which has agreed to purchase more than half the space in the first 47-story tower, set for occupancy in 2015. With the three agreements, the South Tower is now more than 80 percent committed. In addition, Related Cos. and its Toronto-based partner, Oxford Properties Group, have closed on nearly $1.4 billion in financing for Hudson Yards, including a construction loan led by Starwood Property Trust Inc. Equity investors in the first phase of Hudson Yards include Coach, Related, Oxford, institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and a sovereign wealth fund. With that money, full funding is in place for the South Tower. “The show of confidence from this elite group of investors and lenders is a testament to the strength of …

DENVER — The Bascom Group LLC has received $230 million in financing for The Breakers Resort, a six-village, 1,523-unit community in Denver. Proceeds from the loan were used to refinance the existing mortgage and mezzanine loans, as well as buy out the existing institutional equity partner and cover future renovations. The Bascom Group, an Irvine, Calif.-based private equity firm, received $165 million in first-mortgage financing, a $26.2 million mezzanine loan and $38.75 million of preferred equity. The $165 million floating-rate loan included a three-year term with two, one-year extension options. Bank of America and CIBC provided the first-mortgage loan. Prudential Real Estate Investors’ $805 million U.S. Real Estate Debt Fund provided the mezzanine loan and preferred equity. “The overall structure limited the mezzanine financing, making it necessary to fund the remaining portion with preferred equity,” says Charles Halladay, director at HFF. Situated on 127 acres and developed by Koelbel and Co., which will retain an ownership interest, The Breakers Resort is located at 9099 E. Mississippi Ave. The multifamily property is 95 percent leased and includes six interconnected communities, each with its own clubhouse, surrounding a 55-acre recreational lake. The property has 14 units per acre and a master clubhouse …

SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK CITY — Union Bank, N.A., a San Francisco-based financial holding firm with $97 billion in assets, has reached an agreement with PB Capital Corp. to acquire its commercial real estate lending arm, headquartered in New York City. The arrangement gives Union Bank $3.7 billion in loans outstanding on properties in major U.S. metropolitan areas. The acquisition is subject to closing conditions and is expected close in the second quarter of this year. Approximately 50 percent of the lending portfolio is made up of Northeast properties with the rest in the Western U.S. (21 percent), South (15 percent) or Midwest (13 percent). New York City alone houses 35 percent of the portfolio. By property type, about 53 percent of the lending portfolio includes office followed by multifamily (16 percent), mixed-use (12 percent), hotel (10 percent) or retail (9 percent). Source: Union Bank PB Capital Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), a global banking and financial services firm based in Germany. Union Bank is a subsidiary of UnionBanCal Corp., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU). According to Union Bank’s investor presentation of the transaction, …

PHOENIX — Cole Credit Property Trust III (CCPT III) has closed on its previously announced acquisition of Cole Holdings Corp., a Phoenix-based real estate investment management firm that manages more than $12 billion in assets. CCPT III, a real estate investment trust focused on net-leased properties, will pursue a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, which is expected to occur in June. Upon a successful listing on the NYSE, CCPT III will be the second largest publicly traded REIT in the net-lease sector. In late March, CCPT III rejected a $5.7 billion buyout offer from American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP). The move would have created the largest publicly traded REIT in the net-lease sector. ARCP originally asked CCPT III to withdraw its proposed acquisition of Cole Holdings and consider its proposal, which the company claimed was superior. Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and chief executive of ARCP, said that if CCPT III goes through with the merger with Cole Holdings, ARCP would have to reconsider its bid and reduce its offer. “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Cole Holdings, which provides our stockholders with additional growth potential and increased access to capital,” said Leonard Wood, chairman of the special …

ORLANDO, FLA. — A joint venture development entity comprised of Wood Partners and the Ustler Group has started construction on a 248-unit, five-story, urban apartment community in downtown Orlando known as The Ivy-Residences at Health Village. Florida Hospital sold the 3.4-acre site to Wood/Ustler in November 2012. The site is part of Florida Hospital’s Health Village, a 172-acre mixed-use, master-planned urban development centered on health and wellness. The transit-oriented development features a variety of uses, including medical, research, medical office, commercial, hotel and multifamily. Located at 2650 Dade Ave., a block west of Orange Avenue, the $38 million Ivy-Residences at Health Village consists of two mid-rise buildings and an integrated parking garage. There are a total of 248 one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 941 square feet, with 233,368 square feet of total living area. The Ivy is the first true transit-oriented development project to start vertical construction in Orlando since the formal announcement of SunRail, a commuter rail transit project that will be built in phases and run along a 61-mile stretch of existing rail freight tracks in the four-county area in central Florida.Health Village offers a station with access to SunRail, which is anticipated to be operational in …