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DENVER — Bill Hoffman’s business goes up as the performance of commercial real estate loans goes down. With more than $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans slated to mature between 2012 and 2015 and many borrowers still underwater, the CEO of Trigild, a San Diego-based distressed real estate, loan recovery and receivership specialist, fully expects his business to continue thriving. Unlike lenders and investors, Hoffman doesn’t lay awake at night worrying about the euro debt crisis or the ripple effects of an economic slowdown in China. “I hate to say that because we sound like an undertaker. I prefer that you think of us as an emergency doctor. You’ll never want to see us, but when you need us we’re there,” Hoffman said half-jokingly during a panel discussion Thursday morning at the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Conference in Denver. Hosted at the historic Brown Palace Hotel downtown, the panel discussion was titled, “Commercial Real Estate: The Crash That Never Happened?” Hoffman outlined a scenario that he believes will cause a relapse in the recovery of commercial real estate prices. If the mortgage on a property is 120 percent of the value and the loan is coming …

SKOKIE, ILL. — Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII (NYSE: BX) and DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR) have completed the $1.4 billion acquisition of Skokie-based EPN Group’s 46-property shopping center portfolio. The properties include open-air, value-oriented power centers totaling 10.6 million square feet in 20 states. Top tenants by base rent include the TJX Cos., Kohl’s, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, JoAnn’s, Old Navy, Walmart and The Home Depot. The portfolio is 90 percent leased. Additionally, the joint venture has assumed $635 million of senior non-recourse debt and has originated an additional five-year, $320 million non-recourse loan facility. Blackstone owns 93 percent of the common equity of the joint venture and an affiliate of DDR owns 5 percent. DDR will continue to lease and manage the properties, and has the right of first offer to acquire 10 of the shopping centers under specified conditions. To read the initial article regarding the announcement of the acquisition, click here. Blackstone’s share price closed at $12.3 per share on Wednesday, down from $15.94 a year earlier. DDR’s share price closed at $14.26 per share, up from $13.51 a year ago. — Savannah Duncan

NEW YORK CITY — Toll Brothers City Living, a division of Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL), and Starwood Capital Group, have formed a joint venture to develop a 200-room luxury hotel and a 159-unit condominium community adjacent to Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The 10-story, eco-friendly hotel will carry Starwood Capital’s 1 Hotel brand, and the condominium community is marketed under the Toll Brothers City Living brand. “We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Toll Brothers to build one of the most exciting new developments in New York City in many years,” says Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group. “With its incredible views of the Manhattan skyline and the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, extraordinary amenities, attractive and affordable location, and close proximity to transportation hubs, Brooklyn Bridge Park is the perfect location to showcase the 1 Hotel and adjoining residences. This development will be perfectly positioned to take advantage of the significant renaissance occurring along the Brooklyn waterfront.” The development will be located immediately south of the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighborhood and the Brooklyn Bridge, west of Brooklyn Heights and adjacent to the park entrance at Pier 1. The properties will feature …

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Sysco Long Island LLC, part of the nation’s biggest food service company, has opened a $92 million distribution center in Central Islip. The 420,000-square-foot facility will be used to serve customers on Long Island and the metro New York area. The building, which is located at 199 Lowell Ave., includes dry- and cold-storage facilities and an administration area. Additionally, the facility includes a culinary center area in which chefs create dishes for customers and a state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel station to power all of the forklifts used in the facility. Aurora Contractors constructed the building, and the Town of Islip Industrial Development Agency provided $7.3 million in financial assistance. “The construction of this distribution center will allow Sysco to serve Long Island from one centralized location,” says Frank Recine, president of Sysco Long Island. “In terms of size, this facility is unparalleled by any other food-service provider on Long Island. It was built to ensure that our customers could be served both efficiently and with the widest variety and best quality products. More than 10,000 separate food and specialty items are housed within our facility.” Sysco distributes food and other products and services to locations where food …

While the reimbursement-dependent portions of the seniors housing market remain at a crossroads, other segments of the industry are benefitting from an improving economy and housing sector, according to a new research report completed by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. The occupancy, rent and construction data is based on the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country as tracked by NIC MAP, a data analysis service of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC). Independent living properties — which recorded the sharpest decrease in occupancy during the Great Recession — are now posting healthy gains. By the end of this year, average occupancy is projected to reach 90.4 percent, up 110 basis points from 2011. Rents are expected to climb 3 percent to an average of $2,780 per month. The quick turnaround in occupancy in the independent living segment is significant and a reflection of conditions in the market-rate apartment market, explains Gary Lucas, director of the National Seniors Housing Group at Encino, California-based Marcus & Millichap. “As nationwide occupancy for traditional apartments has soared over the past 2 years, rents have climbed to a level where traditional apartments are no longer …

OAHU, HAWAII — DeBartolo Development has announced several retailers that will occupy the first phase of a $350 million regional shopping center for West Oahu, which will break ground next year. The mall will be called Ka Makana Ali'i and will total 1.4 million square feet when completed. Walgreens, 24 Hour Fitness, Butterfly Ice Cream, State Farm Insurance and Nail Tek will be among the first tenants in the project's 200,000-square-foot first phase, while McDonald's is in final lease negotiations. The fast food chain currently has 76 locations across the state of Hawaii. The shopping mall will be built in two phases, with the first phase expected to open in 2014. “Ka Makana Ali'i will be one of the only regional malls built in the United States in years, and we are very excited to partner with the West Oahu community to make this a reality,” says Edward Kobel, president and chief operating office of Tampa, Florida-based DeBartolo Development. The second phase of the project will include a major department store, movie theater, retail shops, restaurants, two hotels and a pedestrian plaza with outdoor cafes. Plans for Phase II also call for the construction of a 200,000-square-foot office tower. The …

FORT LAUDERDALE, WEST PALM BEACH AND ORLANDO, FLA. — Harbor Group International (HGI) has acquired a three-property multifamily portfolio totaling 1,218 units for $99.7 million. “The acquisition of the portfolio reflects HGI’s strategic decision to expand our investment and operational presence in major Florida markets,” says Richard Litton Jr., president of HGI. The portfolio includes the 302-unit Serramar in Fort Lauderdale, the 444-unit Turtle Cove in West Palm Beach and the 472-unit Island Club in Orlando. CBRE Group represented the seller of the portfolio. HGI plans to invest $4.9 million, approximately $4,000 per unit, for various exterior and interior upgrades. “All three of the assets are located in stable, high-traffic submarkets and are well-positioned to benefit from improving apartment fundamentals in South Florida and Orlando, particularly upon completion of our capital improvement program,” Litton says. According to Marcus & Millichap, vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2012 were down from the prior quarter in all three cities. In Orlando, vacancy declined 30 basis points in the first quarter to 6.4 percent. Vacancy also fell 30 basis points in West Palm Beach, bringing the vacancy rate to 6.3 percent. Fort Lauderdale experienced the largest change with a 40 basis point …

NORTHBROOK, ILL. — The Boulder Group, a Northbrook-based net lease investment brokerage firm, has arranged the sale of a portfolio of nine East Coast Walgreens stores for $68.7 million. The buyer is a Midwest-based institutional investor that acquires core, net leased assets. “This portfolio represented a rare opportunity for an investor to acquire a large portfolio of long-term, triple-net leased Walgreens properties and we were able to achieve a sale price within one percent of the asking price,” says Randy Blankstein, president of The Boulder Group. Blankstein and Jimmy Goodman of The Boulder Group represented the seller, a private investment company, in the transaction. The buyer was self-represented. The portfolio of nine Walgreens properties include the following: • 980 Farmington Ave.; Berlin, Conn. (Hartford MSA) • 1036 W. Main St.; Branford, Conn. • 880 N. Montello St.; Brockton, Mass. (Boston MSA) • 1 Glenwood Ave.; Dover, N.H. • 17 Crystal Ave.; Derry, N.H. • 897 Main St.; Melrose, Mass. (Boston MSA) • 20 W. Kings Highway; Mount Ephraim, N.J. (Philadelphia MSA) • 1131 U.S. Highway 46; Ledgewood, N.J. (New York MSA) • 500 Egg Harbor Road; Sewell, N.J. (Philadelphia MSA) The recently sold portfolio of nine Walgreens stores are located …

NEW YORK CITY — Starwood Capital Group has acquired the 571,667-square-foot 1372 Broadway, a retail and office building located at the intersection of 37th Street and Broadway in midtown Manhattan, from BLDG Management for an undisclosed price. “We are pleased to complete our second deal with BLDG within the past couple of years,” says Chris Graham, managing director of acquisitions at Starwood. “We believe this is an exceptional investment due to its high double-digit, cash-on-cash returns on our fund equity over our anticipated hold period, supported by the length of the leases and credit of its tenants.” The 21-story building is fully leased, and contains retail space on the ground and mezzanine levels. The property was purchased on behalf of Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX, which raised $1.2 billion in its first round of marketing. Starwood plans to raise between $2 billion and $3 billion for the fund. “We are excited to purchase a strong rent roll in one of the best office markets with rents close to market lows at a significant discount to replacement cost,” says Marcos Alvarado, senior vice president at Starwood. “The investment represented an excellent risk-adjusted return for our investor partners as we anticipate receiving …

SAN FRANCISCO — Union Investment has purchased a 556,319-square-foot office tower, located at 555 Mission St. in San Francisco, from Tishman Speyer for $446.5 million. The 33-story building has earned LEED Gold certified. “In addition to the compelling quality of the building itself, 555 Mission St.’s location in one of North America’s strongest economic regions makes it a particularly sustainable investment for us,” says Volker Noack, member of the management team at Hamburg-based Union Investments Real Estate GmbH. The property was purchased on behalf of the open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Europa, and is 88 percent leased to 12 tenants including anchor tenant Deloitte, an international consulting firm. Kohn Pederson Fox designed the property. According to Colliers International, Class A buildings in San Francisco experienced positive absorption of 414,373 square feet in the first quarter of 2012. 555 Mission St. sits in the city’s Financial District, which is known to attract companies from the creative and technology industries “The impressively dynamic development of the submarket should see 555 Mission St. benefiting from rising rents,” Noack adds. Overall weighted average rents for the Financial District in the first quarter of 2012 were $49.65 per square foot, up from $43.56 in the …