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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — CBRE Global Investors has sold the 421,317-square-foot Metropolitan Center, a 15-story office building located at One Meadowlands Plaza in East Rutherford across from MetLife Stadium. An affiliate of KBS purchased the LEED Gold-certified property for $104.9 million. “The sale of Metropolitan Center is consistent with our overall value proposition — to aggressively reposition and operate high-quality real estate, creating exceptional environments for our tenants’ businesses while seeking to provide market-leading performance for our investors,” said Vance Maddocks, president of CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. When CBRE Strategic Partners acquired the property almost 2 years ago, the property was 72 percent leased. Metropolitan Center is now 98 percent leased to tenants including AEGIS Insurance, Hudson News, MWW Group, Cushman & Wakefield and Michael Kors. CBRE has been retained to lease and manage the property. “We are pleased with our success in repositioning Metropolitan Center through our signature 5-Star Worldwide service program and aggressive leasing campaign to increase value for our investor clients,” said Mark Zikakis, managing director of CBRE Investors, in a statement. Jeffrey Dunne, Kevin Welsh and Brian Schulz of CBRE’s New York Institutional Group, along with Don Sperling of CBRE’s Saddle Brook, N.J., office, represented both …

GREENVILLE, S.C., AND JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — BI-LO and Winn-Dixie Stores (NASDAQ: WINN) have plans to merge to create an organization of approximately 690 grocery stores in eight states in the Southeast. “We are very excited about the merger of BI-LO and Winn-Dixie,” said Randall Onstead, chairman of Greenville, S.C.-based BI-LO, in a statement. “With no overlap in our markets, the combined company will have a perfect geographic fit that will create a stronger platform from which to provide our customers great products at a great value, while continuing to offer exceptional service.” BI-LO currently has 207 stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, and Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie has 480 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi. The stores will continue to operate under their current banners. Under the terms of the agreement, BI-LO will acquire all outstanding shares of Winn-Dixie stock in the merger, valued at $560 million. Shareholders will receive $9.50 in cash per share of Winn-Dixie common stock, a premium of approximately 75 percent more than the closing price of Winn-Dixie common stock on Dec. 16, which was $5.43 a share, down from $6.92 a year ago. Upon completion of the merger, Winn-Dixie will become a …

MIAMI —Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) has plans to develop the 1.6 million-square-foot Miami International Tradeport, a $135 million industrial park located on Florida’s Turnpike, south of Okeechobee Road in Miami. Coconut Creek, Fla.-based Butters Construction & Development has been selected to oversee construction of the park. “We feel there is a tremendous opportunity for well-designed and located industrial product in Miami-Dade County, and we are excited to begin development and to grow our footprint in South Florida,” said Andy Petry, vice president and city manager for Malvern, Pa.-based Liberty. Currently, the company is moving through the entitlement process with final zoning approval anticipated in January. Institutional-grade warehouse and distribution space will be included in the park. Construction on the first speculative distribution buildings is slated to begin in late 2012, along with the basic infrastructure for the park. The project will be built in phases during the next 5 to 7 years, and will create 4,000 new construction jobs and 2,000 full-time jobs upon completion. “Miami is quickly becoming one of the top industrial gateway cities in the United States and is considered, along with Southern California, as one of the uber-core markets where all the institutional real estate …

CHICAGO — McShane Development Co. has launched Union Pointe, a 100-acre industrial and office business park in Woodridge, Ill., that offers build-to-suit sites for industrial and office users. Situated at the northeast quadrant of I-355 and I-55, Union Pointe is readily accessible from O’Hare International Airport, Midway Airport and DuPage County Airport and able to accommodate the needs of distribution, industrial and corporate office users. Edward Don & Co., a food service equipment and supplies distributor, has selected Union Pointe as the location for its new 362,500-square-foot office headquarters and distribution center. The family-owned firm, celebrating its 90th year in business, will relocate its operations and nearly 400 employees from its current facility. The contemporary facility will feature 55,000 square feet of office space, 32-foot clear height ceilings, 38 external docks, two drive-in doors and parking to accommodate 20 trailers and 380 vehicles. The two-story office and industrial building incorporates a modern ESFR sprinkler system and numerous sustainable features such as T-5 lighting throughout the warehouse. The facility, which will be leased to Edward Don & Co. for 20 years, is currently under construction and will be situated on a 20-acre parcel with prominent visibility along I-355 and I-55. Rosemont, …

NEW YORK CITY — Englewood, Colo.-based Archstone has purchased the 209-unit Eastbridge Landing, an apartment high-rise located at 377 E. 33rd St. in the Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood, for $131 million. The sellers were Madison International Realty and RFR Holding. The building will be renamed Archstone Kips Bay. “Kips Bay and Murray Hill are among the most sought after neighborhoods in one of the most vibrant cities in America,” said Charles Mueller Jr., COO of Archstone, in a statement. “Our talented operations team is looking forward to adding even more value to the incredible location through our commitment to providing best-in-class customer service.” The building contains one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments with large windows, city views, wood flooring, European cabinetry and granite countertops. Some units include washers and dryers, fireplaces and/or terraces. Amenities include a media room with a kitchen and a fully equipped fitness center. “We are extremely excited about being back in the business of acquiring incredible apartment communities in the best neighborhoods in the country,” said R. Scot Sellers, CEO of Archstone, in a statement. “Archstone Kips Bay will increase our presence in New York, one of our core markets, to 14 apartment communities.” Archstone focuses …

ST. LOUIS — Behringer Harvard and Kingsdell LP have secured a $59 million loan from PFP Holding Co. LLC for the refinancing of Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis. The floating-rate loan will replace the existing debt that has reached maturity. Chase Park Plaza is a roughly 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use complex, located in the Central West End of the city. It includes 338 hotel rooms, 82 condo units, and 51 corporate apartments. The property also has five food outlets and 35,000 square feet of retail space. Dallas-based Behringer Harvard purchased a 95 percent majority interest in the property in 2006. According to a Nov. 15 SEC filing, the three-year loan has two extension options of 12 months each. The loan bears an interest rate of LIBOR, capped at 3 percent, plus 6.75 percent. “The Chase Park Plaza is an irreplaceable luxury hotel that is on the cusp of capitalizing on the resurgence in demand and upturn of the St. Louis lodging market,” said Mathew Comfort, executive vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle, in a statement. “Anticipated gains in the the coming years represent a substantial opportunity for Behringer Harvard to capitalize on both increased RevPAR and NOI growth.” The Chase …

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — A joint venture between Oakbrook, Ill.-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust and Toronto-based RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust has purchased the 469,031-square-foot Alamo Ranch, a shopping center located at the intersection of Loop 1604 and Culebra Road in San Antonio, from Las Colinas, Texas-based Archon Group for $92.2 million. RioCan will own 80 percent of the asset and Inland Western will own the remaining 20 percent. “This acquisition continues our strategy of acquiring Class A retail properties in high-growth metro areas,” says Shane Garrison, chief investment officer of Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust. “Currently, the venture is focused on core, Class A properties in the four big Texas markets: Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. We are looking at a number of properties as future [acquisition] possibilities.” Best Buy, OfficeMax, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less anchor the center. Super Target, JCPenney and Lowe’s shadow-anchor the center and were not included in the sale. “At approximately 88 percent occupied, we feel there is still upside in the asset due to the opportunity to increase occupancy through our numerous national and local tenant relationships,” Garrison says. Chris Cozby and Chris …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The delinquency rates for commercial mortgages held by banks and in commercial mortgage-backed securities dropped slightly in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Delinquencies for loans held by life insurance companies and held or insured by Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac rose, but are still at low levels, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group says. The rate for loans more than 90 days delinquent owned by banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. decreased 0.19 percent to 3.75 percent between the second and third quarters. The rate for loans that are 60-plus days delinquent and held in life company portfolios increased 0.07 percent to 1.19 percent in the third quarter. The delinquency rate of 60 days or more for multifamily loans held or insured by Fannie Maeincreased 0.11 percent to 0.57 percent, while those insured by Freddie Mac increased 0.02 percent to 0.33 percent. “There were modest changes in commercial/family delinquency rates during the third quarter,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's vice president of commercial real estate research, in a statement. “The delinquency rates for loans held by life insurance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each ticked up slightly in the quarter, but remained …

CHICAGO — The European debt crisis coupled with ongoing financial concerns in some emerging markets will likely result in the U.S economy proceeding on a slow, but positive growth trajectory in 2012. So says Ben Breslau, managing director of research for the Americas at Jones Lang LaSalle. Breslau and his research team hosted a webcast on Thursday that focused on national commercial real estate outlook for 2012. What follows is a synopsis of what to expect in the year ahead across four major property types. Multifamily The multifamily sector will continue to experience low vacancy rates and an uptick in rent in 2012. The fundamental shift away from home ownership, positive demographic trends, slow employment growth and a dearth of new product position the multifamily sector to remain the strongest in 2012. During the first half of the year, Breslau anticipates delivery of new product will remain slow, which means vacancy rates could fall below 5 percent by mid-year. According to New York-based Reis, the national multifamily vacancy rate currently stands at 5.6 percent. He adds that new supply deliveries will increase during the second half of the year, but if the single-family housing market continues to be stagnant and …

NEW YORK CITY — Five banks in the United States failed in November, according to Trepp’s November 2011 U.S. Bank Failure Report. In October, 11 banks failed, and six banks failed in September. This brings the total failures so far for 2011 to 90 banks, and Trepp anticipates that number will stay just under 100 banks as the year comes to a close. “The drop in November (vs. October) is part of a pattern we have seen in 2011, with a spike in failures in the first month after the end of a quarter, followed by a lower volume in the following two months,” says Matthew Anderson, managing director of New York-based Trepp. Anderson continues, “The uptick after the end of the quarter is likely related to the quarterly reporting cycle. Each quarter, FDIC-insured banks file quarterly condition reports (“call reports”) with the bank regulators. Those reports give the regulators a fresh update on the condition of the banks, and for the troubled banks especially, a perspective on whether the bank is improving or worsening.” The largest failure in November was Central Progressive Bank in Louisiana with $383 million in total assets. Community Bank of Rockmart failed in Georgia, which …