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SAN FRANCISCO — SOMA Hotel LLC, a privately held hotel development company, has acquired a prime development site in San Francisco’s South of Market area on which it plans to build a 250-room hotel. The announcement marks the city’s first full-service hotel project since 2008. The purchase price of the development site was undisclosed. The site was purchased from Block 1 Associates LLC, a joint venture between Blackrock Real Estate and Strada Investment Group. Block 1 owns the adjacent land and has announced plans to build 350 units of residential condominiums and apartments. Construction on the 15-story hotel is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with an expected opening in the fourth quarter of 2016. The property will be a four-star, premium-branded lifestyle hotel yet to be named and will feature specialized meeting spaces and food and beverage offerings. The hotel will be environmentally constructed in accordance with LEED Gold standards. Affiliates of SOMA will oversee construction of the hotel and operate it upon opening. The fully entitled 23,000-square-foot site is part of the Mission Bay Redevelopment Plan and is located on Channel Street between 3rd and 4th streets, a block away from AT&T Park, home …

PHILADELPHIA — A joint venture between Comcast Corp. and Liberty Property Trust will develop a 59-story mixed-use tower in Philadelphia for approximately $1.2 billion. The building, to be known as the Comcast Innovation and Technology Center and located on the 1800 block of Arch Street, will total 1.5 million square feet. The development will include office space for Comcast employees and facilities for local broadcast television stations NBC 10/WCAU and Telemundo 62/WWSI, as well as a Four Seasons hotel, restaurant and connections to the Suburban Station of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The tower will be the tallest building in the United States outside of New York and Chicago and the largest private development project in the history of Pennsylvania. “This is yet another historic moment for Comcast,” says Brian Roberts, Comcast chairman and CEO. “We continue to be proud to call Philadelphia our home and are thrilled to build a world-class media, technology and innovation center right in the heart of the city; to bring NBC 10 and Telemundo 62 downtown; and to create thousands of jobs and further drive economic activity in the region.” Comcast and Liberty will break ground this summer, with completion slated for the …

IRVINE, CALIF. — Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc., a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Irvine, has acquired a portfolio of four seniors housing facilities totaling 1,209 units in Illinois, Ohio and Colorado. The REIT purchased the four communities for $300 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The four facilities provide the full continuum of care from independent living to skilled nursing for more than 1,300 residents. The assets include Liberty Heights in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Lincolnwood Place in Lincolnwood, Ill.; Seasons in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Evergreen Retirement Community in Cincinnati. The REIT purchased the facilities from West Loop Holdings, a joint venture between GE Capital Healthcare Financial Services, KMF Senior Housing Investors and Senior Lifestyle Corp. Senior Lifestyle Corp. has entered into a long-term agreement to continue operating the communities. Cushman & Wakefield’s Senior Housing Capital Markets Group has arranged the sale of the portfolio on behalf of West Loop Holdings. The Cushman & Wakefield team involved in the transaction includes Richard Swartz, head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Senior Housing Capital Markets team; managing director Jay Wagner; director Aaron Rosenzweig; associate Stuart Kim and associate Timothy Hosmer. “We received strong interest from investors across the seniors …

DALLAS — Woods Capital Management has received $105.8 million in acquisition financing for the 1.4 million-square-foot Thanksgiving Tower, a trophy office property in Dallas. The 50-story tower is located in the city’s central business district at the intersection of Ervay and Elm streets. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corp. provided the three-year, floating-rate loan. Steve Heldenfels, Trey Morsbach and Brian Carlton with HFF secured the financing on behalf of the borrower. The company will use the loan proceeds to fund an extensive capital improvement program to Thanksgiving Tower, which includes improving the property’s infrastructure and amenities. The project is expected to accelerate the ongoing revitalization of downtown Dallas’ Main Street District. The office building features a 745-space, subterranean parking garage, as well as the Tower Club restaurant on the 48th floor. Thanksgiving Tower is 74 percent leased to tenants including Santander Consumer USA, Gardere Wynne Sewell, Looper Reed McGraw and Petro Hunt. Founded in 2007, Dallas-based Woods Capital Management is a real estate investment firm that seeks to make opportunistic equity and debt investments. The company has completed more than $4 billion in real estate acquisition or development transactions for office, retail, industrial and mixed-use properties. Chicago-based Ares Commercial Real Estate …

SAN DIEGO — Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC) has completed the sale of 13 San Diego office properties in multiple transactions for total gross proceeds of approximately $327 million. “The sales price reflects strong investor demand for well-located, high quality properties,” says John Kilroy Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Kilroy Realty. “The successful transaction demonstrates our team’s ability to execute on our core investment philosophy and create meaningful value in each part of the real estate investment cycle.” The portfolio includes 1.1 million square feet in the I-15 Corridor/Sorrento Mesa submarket, about 14 miles north of downtown San Diego, and was approximately 91 percent leased at the time of sale. As part of the company’s capital recycling strategy, it will reinvest the proceeds into its expanding West Coast office development program and other potential acquisition opportunities. The sale of 4910 Directors Place occurred in December 2013 and the sale of 12 other office buildings occurred in early January this year. Those 12 properties are located at 10020 Pacific Mesa Blvd.; 6055 Lusk Ave.; 5010 and 5005 Wateridge Vista Drive; 15435 and 15445 Innovation Drive; and 15051, 15073, 15231, 15253, 15333 and 15378 Avenue of Science. As of …

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS), a self storage real estate investment trust (REIT), has acquired seven self storage facilities in five separate transactions for a combined purchase price of $98.7 million. The properties total more than 575,000 square feet of rental space. Sovran Self Storage funded the acquisitions through advances on the company’s line of credit, proceeds from the sale of several properties and through the company’s at-the-market (ATM) stock offering program, a form of equity raise. Five properties were acquired during the fourth quarter of 2013 for a combined purchase price of $44.7 million and are all located in markets where the company already has a presence — one each in Connecticut, Texas and southeast Florida, and two in New Jersey. Early this year, the company purchased two additional facilities located in southeast Florida for a combined purchase price of $54 million. The newly acquired properties provide an upscale mix of amenities that include climate-controlled storage spaces, wireless Internet, as well as record and wine storage. All of the storage facilities will be rebranded under the Uncle Bob’s Self Storagename and fully integrated into the company’s operating platforms. “We are pleased to add these modern, …

DENVER — A joint venture between full-service real estate company Vestar and a fund advised by UBS Global Asset Management has acquired the Orchard Town Center retail development in the Denver suburb of Westminster for $123.5 million. The 914,000-square-foot, open-air property is anchored by national brands such as Super Target, JC Penney, Macy’s, AMC Theatres and REI. The acquisition marks Vestar’s entry into the Denver market. In the past 30 months, the company has purchased more than $1 billion in retail centers nationwide. “We are very bullish about these types of value-add opportunities and are aggressively seeking more properties like it in Denver and throughout the West,” says Ryan Desmond, director of acquisitions and development at Vestar. Forest City Enterprises Inc. was the seller in the all-cash transaction. The center, which was 89 percent leased at the time of the sale, is located on the northwest corner of Interstate 25 and 144th Avenue. Besides the aforementioned stores, tenants such as Forever 21, Chico’s, Victoria’s Secret, Eddie Bauer and Old Navy also occupy space at the property. Designed to replicate the atmosphere of a town square, the development features tree-lined paths bordered by restaurant, entertainment and specialty venues. “Orchard Town Center …

EWA BEACH, HAWAII — Terramar Retail Centers has purchased the Laulani Village Shopping Center, a newly developed, 223,000-square-foot neighborhood retail center in Ewa Beach in Oahu, for $99.5 million. Terramar, a privately held commercial real estate investment, management and development firm, purchased the asset from Property Development Centers, a subsidiary of Safeway Inc. “This is a strategic, high-quality addition to Terramar’s retail portfolio. Grocery-anchored retail centers like Laulani Village are solid, long-term performers and a top target for Terramar Retail Centers as we continue an aggressive expansion of our portfolio,” says Steve Bowers, president and CEO of Terramar Retail Centers. “The Ewa Beach area is experiencing prolific growth and the center has a dominant location with leading retailers in a region with very strong demographics and a large customer base.” A 60,000-square-foot Safeway anchors Laulani Village, which also features a 33,000-square-foot City Mill hardware store and 35 shops and restaurants, including Petco, Ross Dress for Less, Walgreens, Starbucks Coffee, Panda Express and Teddy’s Bigger Burger. Safeway and City Mill opened in 2012, while the remaining stores opened in 2013. The center is currently 89 percent occupied with additional stores to be completed and opened this year. Located on approximately 20 …

BLUFFTON, S.C. — Crescent Communities will invest $100 million to expand the Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a hotel on the South Carolina waterfront in Bluffton. The expansion will add 150 rooms to the property’s 50 individual cottages. The addition will also include a new spa, fitness center, meeting rooms, special event facilities and expanded dining facilities. Hotel management company Montage Hotels & Resorts will become the new operator of the expanded inn, effective Feb. 1. The property will then be rebranded as The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort. “Crescent is thrilled to announce this significant investment to consecrate Palmetto Bluff as the quintessential southern experience,” says Todd Mansfield, CEO of Charlotte, N.C.-based Crescent Communities. “This expansion, along with Montage’s strong record of delivering extraordinary guest service, will enable Palmetto Bluff to continue providing award-winning hospitality while maintaining the original vision of this special place.” Phoenix-based The Athens Group will serve as development partner and manage the expansion. The design team includes Hart Howerton, HKS Hill Glazier Studio and Wilson Associates. The expansion and resulting growth in the surrounding community will have an economic impact of more than $500 million during the next 10 years, according to Crescent. Founded …

MALVERN, PA. — Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) has sold a 49-property office and industrial portfolio for $367.7 million. Greenfield Real Estate LLC purchased the properties, which are located in Jacksonville, Fla., Fort Washington, Pa., and Minnesota. The properties comprise approximately 140 acres and 4 million rentable square feet, including 1.9 million square feet of office space, 1.8 million square feet of industrial space and 274,000 square feet of flex space. This sale is part of a previously announced transaction in which Greenfield Real Estate is purchasing 97 total properties from Liberty for an aggregate $697.3 million. The 32 properties located in Jacksonville, which represent all of Liberty’s holdings in the market, total more than 2.1 million square feet. This portion of the portfolio includes the Executive Park and Liberty Business Park developments as well as 4190 Belfort Road, a four-story, 120,000-square-foot asset. The five properties in Fort Washington, which is a northern suburb of Philadelphia, total nearly 1 million square feet. This portion of the portfolio includes 1100 Virginia Drive, a 753,607-square-foot asset in Fort Washington Office Park. The 12 properties in Minnesota, which total approximately 916,000 square feet, are located in the Minneapolis suburbs of Oakdale, Plymouth, Eden …