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NEW YORK — Sony Corp. of America, a subsidiary of Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE), has reached an agreement to sell its U.S. headquarters, located at 550 Madison Ave. in New York City, for $1.1 billion. The sale is to a consortium led by New York-based The Chetrit Group, owner of a bevy of commercial properties. The deal is expected to close in March. The Tokyo-based electronics maker expects the sale of the property to generate net cash proceeds of about $770 million after repaying debt tied to the building and other transaction costs. The company will also realize a gain of $685 million on the sale, which will be recorded as operating income. The company and other units of the Japanese parent, including Sony Music Entertainment, will remain in the building for up to three years. “Given the opportunities and challenges in the current economic and real estate landscape, selling 550 Madison now is a timely and logical strategic move,” Nicole Seligman, president of Sony Corp. of America, told Bloomberg in a statement. “Regarding our new headquarters, we continue to look at a number of spaces in Manhattan, but have not yet made a decision about where to lease.” The company …

NEW YORK CITY — American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT Inc. (ARC) has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to acquire the fee simple interest in a 166,000-square-foot office building in New York City for $112 million. The property is located at 218 W. 18th St. in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. The seller is a joint venture between Atlas Capital Group and GreenOak Real Estate. Last year, Atlas and GreenOak purchased the defaulted loan and subsequently took ownership of the property though a prepackaged bankruptcy restructuring. Since then, the joint venture has signed lease agreement with Red Bull North America Inc., SAE Institute of Technology Corp. and Yammer Inc. (a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.) to occupy seven floors of the building. Other tenants at the building, which is 84 percent leased, include Company 3 LLC and SY Partners. “This acquisition will kick-start 2013 for our fund by adding another institutional-quality office building to our portfolio,” says Michael Happel, chief investment officer of ARC. The property at 218 W. 18th St. gives ARC its first exposure to the Midtown South submarket known as “Silicon Alley” in exclusive Chelsea. The building has a roster of first-class tenants and has …

NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (NYSE: BPO) has kicked off construction of the platform for the $4.5 billion Manhattan West Development site on Ninth Avenue between West 31st and West 33rd streets and Dyer Avenue in Manhattan. Manhattan West will be a 5 million-square-foot, mixed-use development including two 60-story LEED Gold office towers, a residential tower, large public gathering spaces, shops and restaurants. The platform will consist of a series of 16 bridges and will complete the surface on which the entire development will sit. The total site is five acres, of which the platform will occupy 60 percent. Construction of the platform is slated for completion in 2014, and the Manhattan West project is scheduled to receive tenants in 2016. “Brookfield is thrilled to have kicked off construction on our premier development on the west side of Manhattan,” says Dennis Friedrich, CEO of Brookfield Office Properties. “With today’s groundbreaking, we’re taking a major step forward in the transformation and rebirth of the far west side of Manhattan,” continues New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The platform will be located above a rail yard and will be launched with $340 million of financing in place. A bank …

SAN DIEGO — Lowe Enterprises has begun construction on the third phase of the San Diego County Operations Center and Annex redevelopment (COC) — the $73 million Registrar of Voters Headquarters — which will be built to LEED standards. The 118,500-square-foot building will include: staff offices, election ballot-processing capabilities, warehouse production space and public art installation. “This is an important facility and another vital component of this modern, sustainable campus serving the county and residents of San Diego,” says Mike McNerney, senior vice president of Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group. “The building will be state-of-the-art at all levels, creating an efficient work environment and providing ample space for the processing of ballots and vote counting on election night.” Development of the 47-acre County Operations Center, located on Overland Avenue, is occurring in multiple phases. The second phase of the COC was completed in August 2012 and includes two 150,000-square-foot four-story office buildings, and a 15,000-square-foot conference center and cafeteria. The conference center was recently awarded LEED Platinum certification. It features natural lighting through solar tubes and skylights; energy-efficient mechanical, architectural and solar electrical features; a solar hot water system and a vegetated green roof that naturally filters rainwater and provides …

EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. — Supervalu has reached a deal to sell five of its largest grocery chains for $100 million, plus more than $3.3 billion in debt. The sale to AB Acquisition, an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management, will include 877 stores. Cerberus will also offer to buy up to 30 percent of the remaining Supervalu for $4 per share. Supervalu is selling its Albertson's, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Star Market stores, along with related Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies. The Eden Prairie-based company will remain an independent, publicly traded company and will retain ownership of the Cub Foods chain in Minnesota, Save-A-Lot, Farm Fresh, Shoppers, Shop 'n Save and Hornbachers as well as its food distribution business. According to The Wall Street Journal, the real estate has an estimated value of $150 to $200 per square foot and the properties could be worth a total of between $3.3 billion and $4.4 billion. The investor group will acquire the stores for $100 million in cash and the new company will assume $3.2 billion in existing debt. The deal will reportedly cut Supervalu's annual sales in half, but relieve the company of much of its debt load. “The transactions …

LOS ANGELES — Construction of the first residential building of Related California’s Grand Avenue Project is under way in downtown Los Angeles. The $120 million, 19-story Grand Avenue apartment building is the first high-rise building in Los Angeles designed by world-renowned firm Arquitectonica. The residential apartment tower, which will be located at 225 N. Grand Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets, is scheduled for completion in late 2014. Featuring 271 units, including 20 percent affordable apartments, the multifamily property will bring the first apartments to Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles in more than a decade and add more than 500 new residents. The project is expected to generate create 417 construction jobs during the next two years. Located next door to The Broad, a new contemporary art museum now under construction and set to open in 2014, the apartment tower will front Grand Avenue in the heart of downtown’s cultural core. It is within walking distance of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Music Center, MOCA and the Colburn School’s Zipper Hall as well as Grand Park, the new park between Grand Avenue and City Hall. “This is a welcome next step in the Grand Avenue Project, adding to …

PHOENIX— Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, the real estate venture backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has completed the acquisition of Hendricks & Partners, the multifamily property commercial real estate firm, headquartered in Phoenix. With 37 offices nationwide, Hendricks & Partners’ encompasses more than 180 apartment professionals throughout the country. The firm is regarded as one of the nation’s largest privately held multifamily investment sales and research firms. The acquisition closed on Dec. 31, 2012. “Our industry continues to evolve toward providing as many services as possible to our customers and we are pleased to welcome Don and the rest of the Hendricks team to our Berkadia family,” says Hugh Frater, CEO of Berkadia. “In this new partnership we see tremendous opportunities to not only expand our existing client relationships with the offer of additional services, but also to build new relationships in the commercial real estate industry.” Hendricks & Partners will now operate under the name Hendricks-Berkadia to form another major business unit next to Berkadia’s loan servicing, mortgage origination and proprietary lending operations. Current Hendricks & Partners CEO, Don Hendricks, will join Berkadia’s executive committee as the CEO of Hendricks-Berkadia and executive vice president of Berkadia. Hendricks-Berkadia will …

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE: GRT), a retail real estate investment trust, has purchased University Park Village, an open-air retail center in Fort Worth, for $105 million. The center has approximately 173,220 square feet of leasable retail space. “We are pleased with the acquisition of University Park Village, a highly productive, dominant retail property in the vibrant Fort Worth market,” says Michael Glimcher, chairman and CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust. “This quality property offers tremendous growth potential and aligns perfectly with our acquisition strategy.” The center, which originally opened in 1986, is 97 percent occupied and features upscale merchants such as Apple, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, J. Crew, lululemon athletica, Madewell and Pottery Barn. The tenants average more than $800 per square foot in sales. Glimcher financed the acquisition through a $60 million term loan, plus the remaining funds from the company’s credit facility. The term loan matures on April 8, 2013. Glimcher expects to obtain long-term mortgage financing on the property prior to the term loan’s maturity date, provided market conditions are favorable. University Park Village, located at 1612 S. University Drive, is situated in one of the most affluent areas of Fort …

CHICAGO — Equity Residential has entered into an agreement to sell a $1.5 billion portfolio of multifamily assets to a joint venture of Greystar Real Estate Partners and Goldman Sachs & Co. The Chicago-based firm’s assets to be sold includes 27 apartment communities, which total 8,010 units, located across the U.S. The deal values each apartment at approximately $187,000 per unit and a capitalization rate of approximately five percent. The transaction is expected to be completed in two separate closings, both of which will occur in the first quarter of 2013. The assets under contract for sale are located in the following markets: Washington, D.C. and Northern New Jersey (2,105 units at $517.7 million); South Florida (1,896 units at $276.7 million); San Francisco Bay Area (711 units at $188.5 million); Southern California (720 units at $180.8 million); Phoenix, Ariz. ( 1,575 units at $180.3 million) and Denver, Colo. (1,003 units at $156 million). Pursuant to the agreement, the joint venture has the right to exclude up to 8 percent of the value of the assets from their purchase. As a result, New York-based Goldman and Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar have the right to acquire all of the assets for $1.5 billion, …

LAS VEGAS — Inland Diversified Real Estate Trust has entered a joint venture to acquire a majority interest in a portfolio of six grocery- or home improvement-anchored retail properties in Las Vegas. The value of the portfolio, which includes approximately 1.7 million square feet, is $296.3 million. The six properties comprise what is known as the Territory Portfolio. Las Vegas-based Territory Inc., the seller, originally developed several of the properties through joint venture limited liability companies. All of the assets were built between 1999 and 2009. Inland Diversified’s joint venture partner in the transaction includes affiliates of Territory Inc. Inland purchased less than a 100 percent interest in some of the properties. Therefore, the limited liability companies retain membership interests in the joint venture that owns the properties, according to Barry Lazarus, president and COO of Inland Diversified. The 857,498-square-foot Centennial Center is anchored by a Walmart Supercenter, Sam’s Club and Home Depot. Centennial Gateway, located next to Centennial Center, includes 193,009 square feet of retail space. Tenants include Sportman’s Warehouse, 24 Hour Fitness, Walgreens and Smashburger. The 525,225-square-foot Eastern Beltway and 96,604-square-foot Eastgate are both anchored by a Walmart Supercenter. Other properties included in the portfolio are the 44,472-square-foot …