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CINCINNATI, OHIO — Cincinnati will be the new home of a 64-acre mixed-use development known as Liberty Center. Construction of the 1.1 million-square-foot project will begin this fall. Liberty Center will be located at the junction of the new $55 million Liberty Way Interchange at Interstate 75 and State Road 129. The development team includes Steiner + Associates, a retail and mixed-use developer based in Columbus, Ohio, and Bucksbaum Retail Properties, a retail real estate owner and developer based in Chicago. Liberty Center will be comprised of approximately 600,000 square feet of retail space, including at least one 200,000-square-foot department store and specialty retailers and restaurants. The development will also include 100,000 square feet of Class A office space, a 135-room hotel, 220 luxury residential multifamily units and a 60,000-square-foot, 14-screen movie theater featuring upscale dining. Steiner and Bucksbaum also wanted to incorporate green space into the project’s design. The development will include three main parks, a series of retail/dining pavilions and tree-lined pedestrian walkways. The easternmost park will be located within the 180,000-square-foot enclosed portion of Liberty Center. The other two parks, known as The Green and The Square, will be connected via a single-level retail building with a …

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA. — Real estate investment and development firm Morgan Properties has obtained $1.2 billion in loans to refinance a large portion of its multifamily portfolio. Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC originated the financing of the 73 apartment communities, 71 of which are eligible for securitization through Freddie Mac’s K-Deal Program. The 13,799 units linked to the loans are located throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The transaction marks Morgan Properties largest refinancing. “We saw this as an unprecedented time to refinance our existing portfolio, by locking in attractive long-term financing at historically low interest rates,” says Mitchell Morgan, founder, president and CEO of Morgan Properties. Freddie Mac provided Morgan Properties with a 10-year, fixed-rate loan with a partial interest-only period. The facility includes individual property loans that are not cross collateralized. The loans amortize on 30-year schedules after the interest-only period and carry a 4 percent interest rate. K-deals, also known as K Certificates, are regularly issued, structured pass-through securities backed by recently originated multifamily mortgage loans. K-deals feature a range of investor options with stable cash flows and a structured credit enhancement and include guaranteed senior and interest-only classes. The multifamily properties consist of …

AURORA, COLO. — Waveland Ventures LLC, through a partnership with Jackson Street Holdings LLC and Arrival Partners LLC, will begin construction late this year on Block 21, a mixed-use urban development in Aurora, a Denver suburb. The $160 million project will be located adjacent to Aurora’s Fitzsimons complex of medical-related facilities. Block 21 will include a four-star hotel and conference center, with the hotel brand to be announced in late April. The six-story property will include 200 rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a pool and fitness center. The four-story apartment complex at Block 21 will feature 100 units, a clubhouse and swimming pool. The building will offer 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. Block 21 will also contain 8,000 square feet for a destination restaurant and “the Quadrangle,” a heavily landscaped urban park. “We believe that Aurora, and specifically the Fitzsimons neighborhood, deserve the experiences provided by Block 21’s hotel, conference center, restaurants, residential, and retail offerings,” says Rick Hayes, CEO of Waveland Ventures. “This development will provide the area’s only full-service hotel located directly on Colfax Avenue, opposite the Fitzsimons complex of medical-related facilities.” Hayes expects the project to be a catalyst …

SAN FRANCISCO — A 50,000-square-foot parcel that may soon be home to the West Coast's tallest tower has sold to Hines and Boston Properties for $192 million, or nearly $4,000 per foot. The firms plan to construct Transbay Transit Tower, which will be 1,070 feet tall, edging out New York's Chrysler Building at 1,050 feet on the list of America's tallest towers. Boston and Hines held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site Thursday, the same day they officially acquired the land. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the firms passed an oversized check to the seller, Transbay Joint Powers Authority, to celebrate the sale. The partnership's Transbay Transit Tower, on First and Mission streets, will consist of 60 levels of office space in a 1.4 million-square-foot complex. Construction could begin as early as summer 2013 with an expected completion in 2016. The tower will be adjacent to the Transbay Transit Center, a $4 billion transportation hub now under construction that will connect 11 area transit systems as well as long-distrance transport. The project is being billed as the “Grand Central Station of the West Coast.” “The sale of the Transbay Transit Tower property is a transformative moment for San …

SAN DIEGO AND BALTIMORE — BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Wexford Science & Technology LLC, a subsidiary of Wexford Equities LLC, bolstering BioMed Realty’s position as a provider of real estate to the life science industry. Baltimore-based Wexford Science & Technology is a private real estate investment and development company that owns and develops institutional-quality life science real estate for academic and medical research organizations. The aggregate consideration for Wexford Science & Technology is approximately $640 million, excluding transaction costs and subject to adjustment based on working capital levels and construction and development costs incurred prior to closing. Wexford Science & Technology will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of BioMed Realty. “The combination of BioMed Realty and Wexford Science & Technology further expands our footprint into the university markets with high-quality assets, credit tenants and long-term leases,” says BioMed Realty’s Chairman and CEO Alan Gold. “In addition, it accelerates our growth as the leading provider of real estate to the life science industry.” Approximately $551 million of the initial consideration is for Wexford Science & Technology's operating portfolio, which includes about 1.6 million rentable square feet of newly developed, …

NEW YORK CITY — Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team has closed the $265.1 million sale of 350 Madison Avenue, a 24-story Class A office tower in midtown Manhattan. The 394,000-square-foot trophy tower is located at the corner of Madison Avenue and West 45th Street. Richard Baxter, vice chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team, along with Jon Caplan, Ron Cohen and Scott Latham, represented the seller, Kensico Properties, in the transaction. RFR Holdings, a private real estate investment and development firm based in Manhattan, purchased 350 Madison Avenue, which features 70,000 square feet of retail space. Paul Stuart, an upscale clothing retailer, has occupied the retail portion of the property since 1938. “350 Madison Avenue is an unparalleled investment opportunity, just steps from Grand Central Terminal. The property captured the attention of domestic and international investors, with the ultimate frontrunner being RFR Holdings,” says Baxter. “350 Madison Avenue is nearly 30 percent vacant, affording the buyer to take full advantage of the robust leasing market in Midtown.” According to Baxter, the vacancy rate in midtown Manhattan’s office market is currently 9.3 percent. The submarket has tightened from its 11.6 percent vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2012, …

NEW YORK CITY — Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC has provided $275 million in financing for the acquisition of the fee position in the Milford Hotel in New York City. Meridian Capital Group LLC and Eastdil Secured, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, arranged the 10-year, fixed-rate, interest-only CMBS loan on behalf of a partnership between David Werner and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s real estate investment business. The partnership acquired the fee interest from Rockpoint Group and hotel operator Highgate Hotels for $325 million. In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rockpoint and Highgate had plans to sell the property in three parts — the land under the building, the hotel and the 26,000-square-foot retail space — for an estimated $650 million. The fee position is the underlying land, according to Meridian Capital Group. “We are pleased to add this high-quality investment to our client’s portfolio,” said Todd Henderson, head of real estate for the Americas at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, in an earlier statement. “Acquiring the leased fee interest in a prime New York City location is expected to provide strong and durable long-term returns.” The 1,331-room hotel unit is located at 700 Eighth Ave., …

FLORIDA — Westfield Group has entered into an agreement with O’Connor Capital Partners that will result in a joint venture investment in a portfolio of six Westfield regional malls in Florida. O’Connor’s investment will represent a 49.9 percent interest in the approximately 6 million-square-foot portfolio with an aggregate value of $1.28 billion. The six properties include: • The 1.15 million-square-foot Westfield Brandon in Brandon • The 986,346-square-foot Westfield Broward in Plantation • The 1.14 million-square-foot Westfield Citrus Park in Tampa • The 1.28 million-square-foot Westfield Countryside in Clearwater • The 1 million-square-foot Westfield Sarasota in Sarasota • The 421,778-square-foot Westfield Southgate in Sarasota Founded in 1983, O’Connor is a privately held owner, operator and developer of real estate. The company, based in New York, has acquired or developed more than $20 billion of all property types on behalf of various investment funds and its own account. The price paid by O’Connor is equal to Westfield’s book value. Westfield will remain as the property, leasing and development manager. “This agreement carries on the [Westfield] Group’s strategy of introducing joint venture partners into our assets globally as well as disposing of non-core assets,” says Peter Lowy, co-chief executive officer of Westfield Group. …

ARLINGTON, VA. — Mack-Cali Realty Corp. (NYSE: CLI) has acquired the 828-unit Crystal House, a multifamily property in the Crystal City section of Arlington, for approximately $262.5 million in a joint venture deal. The transaction marks Mack-Cali’s entrance into the metro Washington, D.C. apartment market. The real estate investment trust’s joint venture partner is a fund advised by UBS Global Asset Management. The acquisition includes land to accommodate the development of approximately 295 additional units. The venture has obtained a $165 million mortgage loan from Walker & Dunlop LLC through the delegated underwriting and servicing (DUS) program of Fannie Mae. The luxury multifamily property currently consists of two, 12-story towers with garage and surface parking. The apartment complex includes a mix of studio apartments and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. The vacancy rate in the Pentagon City/Crystal City submarket stood at 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to data research firm Reis. The average effective rent was $2,195 per month, up 4.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011. The property, which is 95.7 percent leased, was acquired from Washington, D.C.-based AvalonBay Communities. Earlier this month, AvalonBay also sold Avalon at Decoverly, a 564-unit apartment community located …

ATLANTA — Healthy real estate fundamentals in the U.S. lodging industry are setting the stage for another prosperous year for hotel owners and operators, say industry experts. Indeed, Atlanta-based PKF Hospitality Research expects revenue per available room (RevPAR) to increase 6.1 percent in 2013 and the average daily rate (ADR) to rise 5 percent. What’s more, PKF is forecasting that room demand will rise 1.8 percent this year, easily outpacing a 0.8 percent increase in supply (see table). “Are there some things we should be worried about? No,” said Mark Woodworth, president of PKF. “The fundamentals are as solid, if not more solid, than in the 30-plus years that I’ve been following the hospitality market.” The positive outlook from Woodworth is one of the storylines to emerge from Wednesday’s opening day of the 25th annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. More than 900 industry professionals have registered for this year’s conference — titled “Moving Forward with Confidence” — which runs through Friday. Taking a longer view, PKF forecasts that ADR growth for the U.S. hotel industry will be double the historical average through 2015, leading to similar gains in RevPAR. “If you look back …