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LEAWOOD, KAN. — Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE:GRT), a Columbus, Ohio-based owner, manager and acquirer of shopping centers, has completed the $67.5 million purchase of One Nineteen, an outdoor property located in Leawood, a suburb of Kansas City. The approximately 165,000-square-foot center is located adjacent to another Glimcher property, Town Center Plaza, which Glimcher purchased in December 2011. “We are pleased with the strategic acquisition of One Nineteen to complement Town Center Plaza,” said Michael Glimcher, CEO of Glimcher Realty Trust. “Together these properties represent 600,000 square feet of retail space, generating sales of more than $550 per square foot. They offer tremendous growth potential and will generate efficiencies in leasing and property management.” One Nineteen’s tenant sales average more than $900 per square foot and the center in currently 93 percent leased. The occupancy rate of Glimcher’s mall portfolio closed at 95 percent at the end of 2011. The open-air center is an attractive asset for Glimcher, which targets these outdoor centers for its portfolio. “When we consider acquisitions, redevelopments or expansions, we are very attracted to the open-air concept,” said Glimcher in a recent interview with Heartland Real Estate Business, a France Media publication. One Nineteen features upscale retailers, …

HOUSTON — Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) has completed the sale of its 52-property, wholly owned industrial portfolio to DRA Growth and Income Fund VII for $382.4 million. The sale price represents a capitalization rate of approximately 8 percent. “We are pleased to acquire this sizable industrial portfolio featuring solid income returns and value-added upside,” said David Luski, president and CEO of New York City-based DRA Advisors. “This transaction is exemplary of our strategy of collaborating with public REITs who wish to strategically divest assets via outright sale or joint venture.” The properties total 9.6 million square feet and are located in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. As part of the transaction, DRA assumed one secured loan of $4.9 million. “The completion of this portfolio sale is a significant step in our previously outlined capital recycling initiative and effectively positions Weingarten as a pure-play retail REIT,” said Drew Alexander, president and CEO of Weingarten. “We will continue our commitment in building shareholder value through the repositioning of the retail portfolio into core markets with high barriers to entry, strong growth potential and strong demographics.” The company will use the money retained from the sale to pay down amounts …

BOSTON — Shorenstein Properties has completed its purchase of Seaport Center, a nine-story office building on the South Boston waterfront. The company did not disclose financial terms, but industry sources have cited the sales price of 451 D St. at $115 million. San Francisco-based Shorenstein made the purchase on behalf of Shorenstein Realty Investors Ten LP, a commingled fund formed in 2010 with $1.2 billion of committed capital. The seller was a partnership between The Beal Cos. and Rockpoint Group. Built as a wool warehouse in 1909 and used as an induction center by the Army during the World War II, the 461,046-square-foot property underwent extensive renovations in the 1990s. Today it features fiber-optic cable, modern heating and air-conditioning systems, a two-story atrium lobby, new windows and on-site parking. Douglas Shorenstein, chairman and CEO of Shorenstein, noted that the building's “modern infrastructure, flexible floor plates and great views” will help the property appeal to a broad range of Boston office users. Currently, the property is 88 percent occupied and major tenants include Monster Worldwide and Verizon. Both companies signed leases for 28,000 square feet in 2010. Seaport Center is also the headquarters of Herald Media, which publishes the Boston Herald. …

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles-based J.H. Snyder Co. has broken ground on The Vermont, a $200 million, 464-unit high-rise apartment complex with retail space and public open space. The project is located in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles and is the largest residential development to be built in the city since the beginning of the downturn. Completion is slated for 2014. Located at a long-vacant, two-acre property on the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, the LEED-certified project will feature two high-rise towers, a quarter-acre central courtyard, approximately 40,000 square feet for ground-floor retailers, underground parking, a shared workspace, a pool and a high-end gym and spa. The retail component will include restaurants, a grocer, bank, dry cleaner and coffee house. “Given the economic challenges of the past several years, we are thrilled to begin construction on a mixed-use community of this scale and quality,” said Jerry Snyder, senior partner at J.H. Snyder Co. “This is a significant investment that will transform the long-vacant two-acre dirt lot into the new heart of one of LA’s most energetic neighborhoods.” Los Angeles is slated to add approximately 2,900 new multifamily units this year, a 0.4 percent increase in Los …

LAS VEGAS — The economic recovery “is happening sooner and better than expected” given the one-two punch of a cyclical recession and a financial crisis led by the collapse of the housing market, says Hessam Nadji, managing director of research and advisory services for Marcus & Millichap. He cautions, however, that the growth of the economic expansion will be hampered by record U.S. debt. “When you have a crisis like we had, you are going to end up with a lot of public debt because of the stimuli that was required to reignite the system,” remarked Nadji during his presentation as part of “Retail Trends 2012,” a market outlook hosted by Marcus & Millichap at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel on Monday in conjunction with RECon 2012. “In every other recovery, we had some 30 percent to 60 percent of economic activity being generated and spurred by for-sale single housing. In this cycle, there is no contribution. Housing pulled us down much more severely than most recessions, and it’s not helping us continuing forward,” said Nadji, who set the table for the one-hour program that included a panel discussion. Featured speakers were Wayne Brandt, managing director of real estate capital …

LAS VEGAS — As co-CEO of Auction.com Commercial, Eric Paulsen has his finger on the pulse of online trends in the sale of real estate properties and loan notes. In 2011, the commercial real estate division of the Irvine, California-based company arranged the sale of 1,169 notes totaling more than $4.6 billion at a recovery rate of 52 percent. The commercial division last year also auctioned off 1,087 real estate owned (REO) properties valued at $1.2 billion with an average recovery price at 103 percent of the reserve price. Prior to 2011, Paulsen served as vice president of acquisitions and dispositions for Miami-based LNR Property Corp. He has more than 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. REBusinessonline caught up with Paulsen on the show floor at RECon 2012 to discuss the growing popularity of online auctions in the commercial real estate industry and some of the driving factors. REBO: What’s the profile of the online buyer for retail properties in today’s market? Paulsen: We literally have sold everything from the single tenant pad Starbucks to the 800,000-square-foot mall. It’s across the board nationally. It can be any retail product type, any location and in any condition. …

LAS VEGAS — Bill Rose, director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Group, doesn’t hesitate to use the word “awesome” when discussing recent trends in the 10-year Treasury yield, which dropped last Friday to 1.7 percent. It was the lowest closing level ever for the benchmark yield, and the ninth consecutive weekly drop. In contrast, the 10-year yield hovered around 5 percent at the peak of the last real estate cycle in 2007. “This low interest rate has been extraordinarily favorable for commercial real estate,” says Rose. “This is awesome to have sub-2 percent Treasury rates. We’ve never seen that before. How long do we get it?” That is one of the burning questions on the minds of many attendees of RECon 2012 hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The show, which runs through Wednesday, kicked off Sunday afternoon at the Las Vegas Convention Center. More than 30,000 professionals from different disciplines across the retail real estate industry will participate in educational sessions, network and establish deals. Godsend for borrowers The persistently low interest rate environment is enabling property owners with maturing loans to breathe a little easier because their loan constant, or cost of capital, has dropped. …

WEST COVINA, CA. — Phoenix-based Cole Real Estate Investments has acquired Eastland Center, an 805,000-square-foot retail power center in West Covina, for $147 million. The seller is The Westfield Group. Eastland Center was originally built in 1957 and has been redeveloped twice, in both 1979 and 1997. The mall consists of a two-story main building, which houses the majority of tenants, and is accessible from two sides at grade level. The sale also included a grocery-anchored community shopping center and eight additional buildings that house junior anchors, shop tenants and outparcels. The property is fully leased and includes more than 100 stores. Anchor tenants include Target, Burlington Coat Factory, Albertson's, Dick's Sporting Goods and Bed Bath & Beyond. The center also features several specialty retailers and restaurant tenants including Dollar Tree, Starbucks Coffee and BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse. Construction is also under way for another major anchor retailer that has yet to be announced. Last April, property developer Westfield Group announced it would sell eight non-core shopping centers in the U.S. for $1.1 billion, including Eastland Center. Starwood Capital Group took a 90 percent stake in seven centers, while Eastland was to be sold in a separate transaction. Westfield Group …

CHICAGO — Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines have plans to construct the $300 million River Point, a 900,000-square-foot office building located in downtown Chicago’s West Loop. Construction is slated to begin before the end of the year, and completion is scheduled for early 2016. “The River Point project is truly exceptional, not only for its prime location and architectural quality, but also because it is taking shape at an auspicious moment, with all signs pointing to a substantial increase in demand for new office properties in downtown Chicago in the years to come,” says Bill Tresham, president of global investments for Ivanhoé Cambridge. “This is great news for Ivanhoé Cambridge, for Hines, for the City of Chicago and for the many large-scale corporations seeking prestigious and functional office space.” Chicago’s 136.7 million-square-foot office CBD market reported a 14.9 percent vacancy rate at the end of the first quarter, a welcome decline from the 15.4 percent reported during the fourth quarter of 2011, says Matthew Ward, senior vice president of Skokie, Illinois-based The Alter Group. “Downtown Chicago’s prospects going forward remain strong,” he says. “Strengthening consumer and professional/business services sectors will drive Chicago’s expansion. The local economy is expected to add 35,000 …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily loan originations increased 36 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to newly released data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The largest gains in lending activity were in the healthcare, retail and multifamily sectors. Loan originations for healthcare properties spiked 118 percent, retail loans increased by 109 percent and loans for multifamily rose by 45 percent. “Multifamily lending is being buoyed by the overall strength in multifamily markets — with strong fundamentals supporting property incomes and values,” explains Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s vice president of commercial real estate research. “Lending on healthcare properties also increased significantly, on a percentage basis, showing a rise from the relatively low volumes at the beginning of last year.” There were also decreases in loan originations in the office, industrial and hotel sectors in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year. Hotel loans decreased by 7 percent, office loans were down 9 percent and industrial loans slumped by 32 percent. Among investor types, loans from commercial bank portfolios increased by 104 percent and loans from government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) posted a 40 percent increase when compared to the first quarter …