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WAYNE, PA. — CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE) has closed on its acquisition of a 22-property self-storage portfolio from Storage Deluxe for $560 million. The assets total 1.6 million square feet and are located in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The acquisition makes Wayne, Pa.-headquartered CubeSmart the largest owner and operator of self-storage properties in the greater New York City region. Under the terms of the contract, the deal closed in two phases. Phase one included the sale of 16 assets, which closed for $357 million last November. According to CubeSmart, the $202.7 million second phase includes the assumption of $88 million in secured debt. The conclusion of the deal, first announced in October 2011, leaves Storage Deluxe with seven operating self-storage facilities in the boroughs of New York City and six additional facilities under construction. Aaron Swerdlin, who led the HFF team that represented Storage Deluxe in the transaction, says the sale presented a unique opportunity for both parties. “Storage Deluxe spent 13 years developing a portfolio unequalled in scale to anything I've ever seen in the self-storage industry.” “To have an assemblage of this many first-class assets in the boroughs, and in surrounding areas, presented CubeSmart an opportunity to acquire …

CHICAGO — A luxury hotel, the closest one to Navy Pier in Chicago, has traded hands for $126 million, or approximately $242,000 per key. Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) has acquired the 520-room W Chicago — Lakeshore from Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT). “This is a unique opportunity for Chesapeake to expand its Chicago footprint with the only lakefront, luxury-branded hotel in Chicago,” says James Francis, president and CEO of Chesapeake. “The acquisitions further complements and creates operational and sales synergies with our W City Center property that we also purchased from Starwood in May of last year.” The W Chicago — Lakeshore features one three-meal restaurant, two full-service bars, the 9,600-square-foot Bliss Spa, SWEAT fitness center and more than 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The 32-story hotel is located at 644 N. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. The buyer plans to invest between $35 million and $38 million to renovate the property, which is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013. Starwood will continue to manage the hotel under the W flag. “The W brand has evolved into one of the world’s most recognized luxury lifestyle brands and we are energized about elevating …

TOLEDO, OHIO — Health Care REIT (NYSE:HCN) has positioned itself as among the largest seniors housing owners in the world by entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Sunrise Senior Living (NYSE:SRZ) for approximately $844.6 million in cash. The deal was announced today. The purchase price reflects a real estate value of approximately $1.9 billion. Approximately $950 million will be paid in cash and the balance will be assumed debt at an average interest rate of approximately 4.9 percent. The REIT purchased Sunirse at $14.50 per share, which is a 62 percent premium to Sunrise’s stock price at the close of business on Tuesday at $8.93 per share. The acquisition will bring Health Care REIT’s holdings to 58,000 units in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. The REIT will acquire Sunrise’s 20 wholly owned seniors communities, as well as Sunrise’s interest in joint ventures that own 105 seniors housing communities. Of the wholly owned facilities, 17 are located in the U.S. and three are in Canada, while 78 of the joint venture communities are located in the U.S. and the rest (27) are located in the UK. The communities have a median age of eight years and 90 percent …

NEW YORK CITY — Gramercy Capital Corp. (NYSE: GKK) and Garrison Investment Group have formed a joint venture to acquire 100 percent of the membership interests in entities owning 115 office buildings from an affiliate of KBS Real Estate Investment Trust. The purchase price for the portfolio includes $470 million in cash, plus the issuance of six million shares of Gramercy’s common stock, valued at approximately $15 million, upon closing. The office portfolio, which totals 5.6 million square feet, is 81 percent leased to Bank of America through June 2023. The joint venture plans to leverage the portfolio with approximately 55 to 60 percent mortgage financing. “This transaction present Gramercy with an opportunity to buy a high-quality office portfolio primarily leased to Bank of America for $87 per square foot with a 10.9-year remaining lease term and an initial capitalization rate of approximately 8.5 percent,” says Gordon DuGan, CEO of Gramercy. The joint venture plans to identify and market for sale certain non-core assets with the objective of arriving at a core portfolio of primarily single-tenant properties subject to a long-term lease with Bank of America. “This agreement begins the implementation of our strategy to create durable, recurring cash flows …

NEW YORK CITY — Strategic Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BEE) has entered into an agreement to purchase the 518-unit Essex House Hotel, located at 160 Central Park S. in Manhattan, from Dubai Investment Group for $362.3 million. Additionally, Strategic Hotels has signed a 50-year management agreement with Marriott International to rebrand the hotel as the JW Marriott Essex House New York. “The Essex House is one of New York City’s most recognized high-end hotels, and I am pleased that we are able to reacquire this landmark asset and convert it to the first JW Marriott in Manhattan,” says Laurence Geller, president and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts. The 40-story iconic hotel, which was built in 1931, includes 509 hotel rooms and nine condominiums. An affiliate of Strategic Hotels previously owned the property, which sold to Dubai Investment Group in 2005 for approximately $440 million. At the time, the hotel contained 605 hotel rooms and 10 condominium units, until it underwent a $90 million renovation in 2007. Upon closing, Strategic Hotels plans to invest $18.3 million in property improvements, including renovations of the common areas, system upgrades as well as new signage and other branding efforts in conjunction with the …

LOS ANGELES — Developer BRE Properties and Bernards, a commercial builder with five offices in the Southwest, have broken ground on a $105 million mixed-use project in Los Angeles. The groundbreaking follows three years of pre-construction at the site, which is located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. When complete, the 800,000-square-foot community will include 480 residential units atop 44,000 square feet of retail space. The building will also feature two-and-a-half levels of underground parking. Amenities will include two pools, fitness facilities and themed facades on the street-facing sides of the structure. According to Steve Pellegren, vice president of preconstruction services for Bernards, the community is the first residential development in the region to go under construction since the housing crisis began four years ago. “This is a high-density project, directly in the middle of one of the city's hottest areas and we are excited to have the opportunity to work on such a unique and spectacular project,” says Pellegren. The property site is comprised of an entire city block of the Los Angeles Miracle Mile, and includes 3.3 acres. The community is also one of the first projects to take advantage of the city's new …

ATLANTA AND DALLAS — Cushman & Wakefield has entered into an agreement to acquire the third-party client services group of Atlanta- and Dallas-based Cousins Properties (NYSE: CUZ). “This move marks a key milestone as we begin the next phase of our strategic growth plan,” says Glenn Rufrano, president and CEO of Cushman & Wakefield. “Integrating such a quality group into our platform enables Cushman & Wakefield to continue to balance our service mix across our global platform and provide consistent quality service to our clients.” Cousins’ client services group provides third-party services to owners of Class A office buildings in Atlanta and Dallas, including leasing, property management and project management services. Approximately 128 professionals will join Cushman & Wakefield’s corporate occupier and investor services group, and will provide immediate enhanced capabilities for clients supported by the company’s investor services and leasing groups. The transaction is expected to close by year’s end. “We are very excited about this transaction. We really consider it a partnership, and view this as a win-win for Cousins, Cushman & Wakefield and most importantly, our clients,” says Larry Gellerstedt, president and CEO of Cousins Properties. “This not only ensures that our clients will be part of …

LAUREL, MD. — A partnership between Greenberg Gibbons, Somera Capital Management and AEW Capital Management has begun construction on Towne Centre at Laurel, a $130 million mixed-use development at the site of the existing Laurel Mall site in Laurel. The joint venture is demolishing the 31-year-old mall to make way for the open-air center, which will feature 400,000 square feet of retail space and 435 residential units. “It’s exciting to begin transforming this property into a first-class destination,” says Brian Gibbons, chairman and CEO of Greenberg Gibbons, a retail and mixed-use developer operating in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region. “The time is right to breathe new life into this prime location, making way for the kinds of high-quality retailers and restaurants that the Laurel community deserves.” Town Centre at Laurel will include a grocery anchor, sporting goods tenant, movie theatre and other merchants and restaurants in a Main Street setting. Greenberg Gibbons has managed Laurel Mall for more than a year and had been creating plans for its redevelopment during that time. The developer was also finalizing the partnership between Somera and AEW as well. Greenberg has developed similar mixed-use destinations such as Hunt Valley Towne Centre and Annapolis Towne Centre. …

BALTIMORE — Beech Street Capital has secured $371 million in Freddie Mac CME loans for the recapitalization of nine multifamily properties, located in the Baltimore metro area and one property located in the Washington, D.C., region. The communities include two- to four-story, garden-style and townhome-style apartment buildings. Under the recapitalization, Kushner Cos. acquired approximately 25 percent in the ownership group from a Rockpoint Group Partnership, which retained the remaining interest. Westminster Management, an affiliate of Kushner Cos., will manage the properties. According to commercial real estate services firm Transwestern, the average apartment effective rent in Baltimore in the second quarter grew by 5.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, the Class A vacancy in the second quarter registered 3.2 percent, down 130 basis points from this time last year. Meridian Capital Group originated the 10-year, fixed-rate loans with partial interest-only payments. Beech Street financed the transaction as part of its correspondent relationship with Meridian. The funds will pay off the remaining existing debt and preferred equity on the 5,517-unit portfolio, as well as fund immediate capital expenditure reserves and budgets. New York City-based Kushner Cos. has owned more than 35,000 apartments in the company’s 30-year history. In 2011, Kushner Cos. …

IRVINE, CALIF. — Goodman Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have launched Goodman North America Partnership (GNAP), a logistics and industrial joint venture with a targeted equity amount of $890 million. “This latest partnership broadens CPPIB’s successful relationship with Goodman, with whom we hold investments in Australia, Hong Kong and China,” says Peter Ballon, vice president of real estate investments in America for Toronto-based CPPIB. “We believe that this joint venture will provide significant opportunities to invest in prime logistics and industrial locations across key American markets.” The partnership will initially focus on development-led opportunities, with value-add and stabilized assets to be considered over time. Targeted markets include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, however, other key logistics hubs based around inland ports, intermodals and tier-one ports will also be considered. “GNAP further builds on our relationship with CPPIB and reinforces our strategy of matching third-party capital with our development pipeline, enabling us to enter North America in a measured way,” says Greg Goodman, CEO of Sydney, Australia-based Goodman. “We will continue to work closely with our global customers to deliver high-quality logistics and industrial space, consistent with our prudent development approach.” …