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PHOENIX — Cole Credit Property Trust III Inc. (CCPT III) has executed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Cole Holdings Corp., a Phoenix-based real estate investment management firm that manages more than $12 billion in assets. CCPT III is a real estate investment trust focused on net-leased properties. The company’s portfolio includes approximately 1,000 retail, office and industrial properties throughout the U.S. CCPT III will change its name to Cole Real Estate Investments Inc. upon completion of the transaction. The company will also seek a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Following a listing, Cole Real Estate Investments will be the second largest publicly traded REIT in the net-lease sector. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013. “Through this compelling combination, we have the opportunity to realize the vision of creating a world-class real estate platform and provide investors the benefits of owning high-quality, income-producing real estate leased long term to credit-worthy corporations,” says Christopher Cole, founder and executive chairman of Cole Holdings. The acquisition of Cole Holdings provides CCPT III with more than 350 employees, as well as a real estate investment management platform of more than 2,000 properties with over 76 …

SAN DIEGO — Seniors housing defies the old axiom that real estate is all about location, location, location. Just ask Curt Schaller, co-founder and principal of Chicago-based Focus Healthcare Partners LLC, a private investment and asset management firm. To achieve a healthy return for its investors, Focus Healthcare must partner with the right operator or suffer the consequences. “The scariest thing about seniors housing, for me, is when you go into a market and see the beautiful building on Main and Main that is four years old, 80 percent occupied and struggling. And then behind a shopping center is a 20-year-old building that you have to use a one-lane street to get to, and it’s kicking the newer building’s butt [in terms of performance],” said Schaller. “It gets right down to operations, and very often it gets right down to the executive director in that building.” Schaller’s comments came Wednesday during a panel discussion titled “Tapping Into Private Equity” as part of the 2013 NIC Regional Conference at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel. Approximately1,150 industry professionals have registered for the two-day conference, which has attracted owners, operators, debt and equity providers and intermediaries, appraisers, legal experts and others with …

HOUSTON — Hines, a Houston-based international real estate firm, has sold the 64-story Williams Tower in Houston through Hines Real Estate Investment Trust (Hines REIT) to Invesco Real Estate for $412 million. Invesco, also based in Houston, is a real estate investment firm with more than $49.9 billion in its portfolio. Williams Tower is a 1.4 million-square-foot, Class A office building. The tower was the tallest skyscraper in the world outside of a Central Business District when it was constructed in 1983. The office building is more than 95 percent leased to tenants such as Williams Corp., Hines, NextiraOne, Rowan Cos., Quanta Services and Cadence Bancorp. “Williams Tower is a world-class building that has been one of Hines REIT's most significant investments,” says Charles Hazen, president and CEO of Hines REIT. “It is also a very important property to Hines as a firm and to the city of Houston. This has been a great investment that delivered strong cash flows and a positive return to Hines REIT.” Hines has managed the property for three decades and will continue to manage it once it trades hands. Hines REIT acquired the property in 2008. Additionally, the office tower serves as Hines’ corporate …

FORT RILEY, KAN. — Picerne Military Housing, a division of the Corvias Group, has completed construction on a 328-acre master-planned community at Fort Riley. The Forsyth Neighborhood is part of $550 million master-planned community.The newspaper also reported the neighborhood’s 1,389 new homes sit on land that used to be filled with World War II barracks and includes ball fields, a new elementary school, a fitness center, a dog park and community gardens. A master-planned community is defined as a development that is designed for self-sufficiency, providing housing, educational, commercial and recreational amenities that are not typically included in a normal housing subdivision. “We were able to turn a raw piece of land into its own small town with amenities within walking distance for our residents,” says Brian Beauregard, program director for Picerne Military Housing. “Families should not have to trade comfort and amenities when they choose to live on post. This community provides it all for our military families — the comfort, quality and convenience.” Through its partnership with the U.S. Army, Picerne began construction of Forsyth in March 2007 as part of its development plan for Fort Riley’s family housing areas. Picerne managed the entire construction process from land …

JOPLIN, MO. — McCarthy Building Cos. has topped out the new 875,000-square-foot Mercy Hospital Joplin for Mercy, a Chesterfield, Mo.-based Catholic health care system. The company broke ground on the seven-story, 260-room hospital in January 2012 with a construction budget of $335 million. The facility replaces the former St. John’s Mercy Regional Medical Center, which was demolished in an EF-5 tornado on May 22, 2011. Members of Mercy and the Joplin community, along with the design and construction team, signed the final steel beam in honor of the former hospital. McCarthy and Mercy began working together just days after the tornado struck, establishing a temporary 60-bed field hospital so that Mercy could continue to serve the residents of the community. “McCarthy has given us what we’ve really needed most. They know how to make things happen,” says John Farnen, executive vice president of planning, design and construction for Mercy. “We went from the initial design to breaking ground in just five months.” The hospital will include medical, surgical, critical care, women’s, behavioral health and rehab facilities. The lower three floors of the development include hospital space, with a seven-story patient tower and four-story clinic tower located above. A separate 30,000-square-foot …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hines, an international real estate developer, has increased its ownership of the $700 million, mixed-use CityCenterDC project in Washington, D.C., after buying the ownership interest of its partner Archstone. Hines announced the acquisition a day after apartment owners AvalonBay Communities Inc. (AVB) and Equity Residential (EQR) said they completed their purchase of Archstone in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $16 billion. The total deal included the assumption of approximately $9.5 billion in debt. “We have enjoyed working with Archstone and are proud to complete and manage this momentous development for D.C.,” says Jeff Hines, president of Houston-based Hines. “The project's momentum in office leasing, strong residential condominium sales and widespread interest among retailers and restaurants make CityCenterDC an excellent vehicle for further investment.” The CityCenterDC project includes a mix of condominiums, apartments, offices, public spaces, restaurants, shops and a hotel. Neil Brown, Archstone's chief development officer, adds, “Archstone and Hines have worked together hand-in-glove on this project for the last decade, and there is no better outcome for the project than for Hines to assume full oversight of this massive mixed-use development.” In addition to increasing its ownership in the mixed-use project, Hines will assume development responsibility …

ARLINGTON, VA. — AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE: AVB) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) have completed their $16 billion acquisition of Archstone Enterprise from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The total deal includes cash and stock and the assumption of approximately $9.5 billion in debt. Equity, the largest publicly traded U.S. apartment landlord, which is controlled by real estate billionaire Sam Zell, now owns 60 percent of Archstone, or 78 apartment properties. AvalonBay, the second-biggest, owns the remaining 68 complexes. The companies have stated that the deal will help them grow quickly in coastal cities, such as New York and San Francisco, where expansion is difficult due to the scarcity and high cost of land. The properties are mostly located in Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Orlando, Southern California, Denver and Jacksonville. Equity's cash and equity portion of the transaction, which included approximately $2 billion in cash and the issuance of 34,468,085 shares, was funded by the sale of non-core assets. “By funding a portion of this acquisition with proceeds from the sale of our non-core assets, we have nearly completed the total transformation of our portfolio,” says David Neithercut, CEO and president of Chicago-based Equity Residential. “Going forward, our future earnings and shareholder …

NEW YORK CITY — Colliers International has brokered the sale of a two-building office portfolio in the Midtown South submarket of New York City for $115 million. Colliers arranged the sale on behalf of Yeshiva University, a private research university with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. “Yeshiva University owned a portfolio of well-located, in-demand office properties,” explains James Murphy, executive managing director of Colliers International. “They felt that current market conditions provided an ideal time to sell, taking advantage of Midtown South’s record rents and lack of new product.” The 12-story buildings, located at 24 & 28 W. 25th St. and 40 W. 25th St., total approximately 250,000 square feet. The buildings are located between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in Chelsea’s technology sector. Penn Station and various subway and bus lines are within walking distance. The Midtown South submarket is the nation’s tightest office market, according to Colliers. The vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2012 was at 3.9 percent, a decrease from 4 percent in the third quarter and 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011. Colliers attributes the low vacancy rate to job growth in the professional services and high-tech industries, which …

DALLAS — CBRE Capital Market’s Debt & Equity Finance group has arranged multiple loans totaling more than $1 billion to finance the acquisition of a 27-property multifamily portfolio. The properties are located in eight markets across the United States. The first 10 properties closed on February 12 and the rest will close in late March. CBRE worked on behalf of the borrower, a joint venture between Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Greystar, to arrange the 27 individual Freddie Mac loans. The seven-year loans are non-crossed and float over 30-day Libor. The joint venture purchased the portfolio from Equity Residential for $1.5 billion. “The acquisition of the EQR portfolio provides Goldman Sachs and Greystar with an incredible value-add opportunity in some of the leading apartment markets in the United States,” says Mike Bryant, vice chairman of CBRE Debt & Equity Finance in Dallas. “The high-end quality of the entire portfolio is something you don’t see every day.” The portfolio includes a total of 8,010 units, with properties located in Phoenix, Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, Denver, Washington, D.C., Orlando South Florida and northern New Jersey. Properties that were closed on Feb. 12 include: Windsor Fair Lakes and Ellipse in …

PROVIDENCE, R.I. AND PRINCETON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC has closed two loans totaling $89.5 million for multifamily properties in Rhode Island and New Jersey. The two assets include the 444-unit Regency Plaza in Providence and the 220-unit Barclay Square at Princeton Forrestal in Princeton Township. Regency Plaza has received a $48 million loan to refinance an existing mortgage on the property. The complex includes three high-rise buildings that offer studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The apartment community is 96 percent occupied. Robert Lipson with Berkadia’s Red Bank, N.J. office secured the 10-year, fixed-rate loan on behalf of the borrower, Chestnut Hill Realty, through Freddie Mac. Berkadia secured the original loan on the property, which Freddie Mac provided in 2008. “Berkadia has a longstanding relationship with Chestnut Hill Realty, and with the help of Freddie Mac, we were able to secure historically low interest rates in a short period of time,” says Lipson. “We were pleased to work on this transaction, especially with the recent renovations to the common areas of the property and the continued unit upgrades.” Lipson also arranged a $41.5 million loan for Barclay Square at Princeton Forrestal in Princeton Township through Freddie Mac. …