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NEWARK, N.J.— Hollister Construction Services has broken ground on the second of three separate residential buildings at Teachers Village, a $149 million revitalization project that aims to transform Newark’s downtown. Developed by Ron Beit of the RBH Group and designed by Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLC, the development, to be completed in 2014, will consist of eight low-rise buildings, with Hollister responsible for the ground-up construction of three of the eight buildings. The first floor of the buildings will encompass 60,000 square feet of retail space with the remaining floors spanning 110,000 square feet of educational space and 250,000 square feet of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments for a total of 420,000 square feet of new construction. According to The Star-Ledger, the local newspaper, the idea to incorporate teachers came after the developers realized many of the city’s current educators worked long hours and lived far away. By living closer, they in turn would bring energy and ideas to the area and possibly attract more business. Two of the project’s eight buildings, located in Newark’s historic Four Corners district, will be leased to charter schools and a daycare. The other six buildings will contain rental apartments and retail to …

NEW YORK CITY — Related Cos. has announced several big milestones for the first of several towers at Hudson Yards, a 13 million-square-foot mixed-use complex planned on Manhattan's west side. French cosmetics maker L’Oréal agreed to lease 402,000 square feet at the South Tower for its U.S. headquarters, Related said in a statement Wednesday. German software company SAP AG will take 115,000 square feet on the top four floors. The two companies will join handbag retailer Coach, which has agreed to purchase more than half the space in the first 47-story tower, set for occupancy in 2015. With the three agreements, the South Tower is now more than 80 percent committed. In addition, Related Cos. and its Toronto-based partner, Oxford Properties Group, have closed on nearly $1.4 billion in financing for Hudson Yards, including a construction loan led by Starwood Property Trust Inc. Equity investors in the first phase of Hudson Yards include Coach, Related, Oxford, institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and a sovereign wealth fund. With that money, full funding is in place for the South Tower. “The show of confidence from this elite group of investors and lenders is a testament to the strength of …

DENVER — The Bascom Group LLC has received $230 million in financing for The Breakers Resort, a six-village, 1,523-unit community in Denver. Proceeds from the loan were used to refinance the existing mortgage and mezzanine loans, as well as buy out the existing institutional equity partner and cover future renovations. The Bascom Group, an Irvine, Calif.-based private equity firm, received $165 million in first-mortgage financing, a $26.2 million mezzanine loan and $38.75 million of preferred equity. The $165 million floating-rate loan included a three-year term with two, one-year extension options. Bank of America and CIBC provided the first-mortgage loan. Prudential Real Estate Investors’ $805 million U.S. Real Estate Debt Fund provided the mezzanine loan and preferred equity. “The overall structure limited the mezzanine financing, making it necessary to fund the remaining portion with preferred equity,” says Charles Halladay, director at HFF. Situated on 127 acres and developed by Koelbel and Co., which will retain an ownership interest, The Breakers Resort is located at 9099 E. Mississippi Ave. The multifamily property is 95 percent leased and includes six interconnected communities, each with its own clubhouse, surrounding a 55-acre recreational lake. The property has 14 units per acre and a master clubhouse …

SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK CITY — Union Bank, N.A., a San Francisco-based financial holding firm with $97 billion in assets, has reached an agreement with PB Capital Corp. to acquire its commercial real estate lending arm, headquartered in New York City. The arrangement gives Union Bank $3.7 billion in loans outstanding on properties in major U.S. metropolitan areas. The acquisition is subject to closing conditions and is expected close in the second quarter of this year. Approximately 50 percent of the lending portfolio is made up of Northeast properties with the rest in the Western U.S. (21 percent), South (15 percent) or Midwest (13 percent). New York City alone houses 35 percent of the portfolio. By property type, about 53 percent of the lending portfolio includes office followed by multifamily (16 percent), mixed-use (12 percent), hotel (10 percent) or retail (9 percent). Source: Union Bank PB Capital Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), a global banking and financial services firm based in Germany. Union Bank is a subsidiary of UnionBanCal Corp., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU). According to Union Bank’s investor presentation of the transaction, …

PHOENIX — Cole Credit Property Trust III (CCPT III) has closed on its previously announced acquisition of Cole Holdings Corp., a Phoenix-based real estate investment management firm that manages more than $12 billion in assets. CCPT III, a real estate investment trust focused on net-leased properties, will pursue a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, which is expected to occur in June. Upon a successful listing on the NYSE, CCPT III will be the second largest publicly traded REIT in the net-lease sector. In late March, CCPT III rejected a $5.7 billion buyout offer from American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP). The move would have created the largest publicly traded REIT in the net-lease sector. ARCP originally asked CCPT III to withdraw its proposed acquisition of Cole Holdings and consider its proposal, which the company claimed was superior. Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and chief executive of ARCP, said that if CCPT III goes through with the merger with Cole Holdings, ARCP would have to reconsider its bid and reduce its offer. “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of Cole Holdings, which provides our stockholders with additional growth potential and increased access to capital,” said Leonard Wood, chairman of the special …

ORLANDO, FLA. — A joint venture development entity comprised of Wood Partners and the Ustler Group has started construction on a 248-unit, five-story, urban apartment community in downtown Orlando known as The Ivy-Residences at Health Village. Florida Hospital sold the 3.4-acre site to Wood/Ustler in November 2012. The site is part of Florida Hospital’s Health Village, a 172-acre mixed-use, master-planned urban development centered on health and wellness. The transit-oriented development features a variety of uses, including medical, research, medical office, commercial, hotel and multifamily. Located at 2650 Dade Ave., a block west of Orange Avenue, the $38 million Ivy-Residences at Health Village consists of two mid-rise buildings and an integrated parking garage. There are a total of 248 one-, two- and three-bedroom units averaging 941 square feet, with 233,368 square feet of total living area. The Ivy is the first true transit-oriented development project to start vertical construction in Orlando since the formal announcement of SunRail, a commuter rail transit project that will be built in phases and run along a 61-mile stretch of existing rail freight tracks in the four-county area in central Florida.Health Village offers a station with access to SunRail, which is anticipated to be operational in …

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 …