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NEW YORK CITY — Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD) and Starwood Capital Group have sold a 25 percent interest in the $475 million first mortgage and mezzanine financing on 701 Seventh Avenue, a 10-story retail building located in Times Square, to Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO). The financing will be used for the property’s acquisition and redevelopment, which includes new retail tenants and signage. Starwood Property Trust and Starwood Capital co-originated the financing on behalf of the borrower, a group led by New Valley LLC, which is owned by Vector Group Ltd., The Witkoff Group and Winthrop Realty Trust. Other entities of the borrowing group include Infinity Urban Century and Maefield Development. Howard Lorber, president and CEO of Vector Group, envisions the redeveloped property as more than just a retail destination. “We see many attractive redevelopment opportunities for this site, which will include premium space for retail, entertainment, food and beverage businesses, as well as a site for a potential 30-story hotel,” says Lorber. For the acquisition and redevelopment financing, $375 million was funded at the closing of the acquisition and $100 million will be funded upon reaching certain milestones during the redevelopment. Starwood Property Trust, Starwood Capital and Vornado have …

COLUMBUS, OHIO — The newly opened 532-room Hilton Columbus Downtown seeks to capitalize on the growing convention business. The $140 million hotel is located at 401 N. High St. between the city’s Short North Arts District and the Arena District. “This area is a growing center of tourism and events in central Ohio,” says Dave Horton, global head of Hilton Hotels & Resorts. “The opening of Hilton Columbus Downtown is an important and exciting addition to the Hilton family of properties.” Hilton Downtown Columbus includes 48 suites and The Gallerie Bar & Bistro, a French bistro-inspired restaurant. The hotel also boasts 31,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, which connects by a pedestrian sky bridge to the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The sky bridge features a glass-walking surface that stretches across North High Street. A rendering of the new Hilton Columbus Downtown, which officially opened Friday, Oct. 19. The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority owns and developed the hotel. Hilton Worldwide operates the property. The Hilton Hotels & Resorts portfolio includes more than 550 hotels in 80 countries. “The new, full-service convention hotel significantly enhances our convention package and allows Columbus to compete for a larger share of the …

MIAMI — Developer Espacio USA has received the green light for its first major U.S. investment, a $412 million mixed-use project in downtown Miami’s Omni area. The city’s planning, zoning and appeals board approved the project on Wednesday, paving the way for a 12-story, Class A office building, 55-story luxury residential condominium tower and street-level retail. Espacio USA, the American division of Spain-based real estate firm Inmobiliaria Espacio, will begin construction in early 2013 on the mixed-use development located at 1400 Biscayne Blvd. in downtown Miami’s burgeoning arts and entertainment district.The development marks the first real estate project to be built in the area since the last real estate boom. “Two years ago, we began investing in downtown Miami and attracting new office tenants, and now we are entering the next phase of our plans to help revitalize Omni by bringing a Class A product to an underutilized area,” says Alberto Muñoz, CEO of Espacio USA. “With an iconic design and a healthy mix of residential and commercial uses, the development will serve as an anchor for its neighborhood, while bringing an additional economic boost to downtown Miami,” adds Muñoz. In 2010, Espacio USA completed the $35 million acquisition of …

PARMA, OHIO — Phillips Edison & Co. has become the new owner of Parmatown Mall, one of Northeast Ohio's largest retail properties. The 1.1 million-square-foot complex is located on 83 acres in Parma, approximately eight miles southwest of downtown Cleveland. The Cincinnati-based shopping center owner did not release terms of the deal. However, local reports indicate that Phillips Edison took possession of the mall through a transaction approved by a Cuyahoga County judge. The company purchased a delinquent mortgage on the property, which had been in receivership since 2011. The original owners defaulted on the mortgage. Phillips Edison spent several months negotiating with the receiver to finalize the deal. According to The Plain Dealer, the mall's owner, Parmatown One LLC, handed over the property to eliminate the debt. Separately, Phillips Edison confirmed plans to buy the empty Macy's building at the mall and some affiliated small-shop space and parking. Macy's closed its Parmatown store earlier this year. “Parmatown represents an ideal opportunity to apply our expertise and revitalize this historic property to its full potential,” says Roy Williams, vice president of Phillips Edison's Strategic Investment Fund. “Now that the acquisition process has been concluded, we will focus our efforts on …

SARASOTA, FLA. — Taubman Centers Inc. and Benderson Development Co. LLC have broken ground on The Mall at University Town Center, a two-story, 880,000-square-foot mall in Sarasota. The $315 million development will be anchored by an 80,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue, a 180,000-square-foot Dillard's and a 160,000-square-foot Macy's. The project will also include more than 100 stores and restaurants, half of which are expected to be new to the market. “Retailer response to The Mall at University Town Center has been tremendous,” says William Taubman, COO of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Taubman Centers. “We will feature many distinctive retailers not found anywhere else in the local market. The shopping center will offer a distinctive collection of upscale fashion and lifestyle retailers, as well as sit-down restaurants.” The Mall at University Town Center is scheduled to open on Oct. 16, 2014, at I-75 and University Parkway. The companies expect the project to be the dominant fashion destination in the growing Sarasota region. “The Mall at University Town Center solidifies the University area as the premier shopping destination in Southwest Florida,” says Randy Benderson, president of Sarasota-based Benderson Development Co. The development is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs, in addition to 2,000 permanent …

CHICAGO — The real estate investment banking team at Jones Lang LaSalle has secured a $365 million refinancing package for Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton, a 1,639-room, full-service luxury hotel owned by Thor Equities. J.P. Morgan Chase provided a five-year, floating-rate loan as part of the overall financing. “This refinancing will allow Thor Equities to continue to augment its ongoing efforts to maintain the Palmer House’s status as a crown jewel of Chicago,” says Joe Sitt, CEO of New York-based Thor Equities, which acquired the Palmer House Hilton in August 2005 from Hilton Hotels Corp. for $230 million. One of the most famous hotels in the world, the Palmer House was built by wealthy entrepreneur Potter Palmer. The hotel opened on Sept. 26, 1871, and burned to the ground 13 days later during the Great Chicago Fire. Undeterred, Potter Palmer began construction on a new hotel across the street from the former building and reopened it in July 1873. It was the first hotel to be equipped with electric lights and telephones in each room. Between 1923 and 1925, a new hotel was built on the same site to accommodate increased demand. The property is situated on two-thirds of a city …

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — The seniors housing sector continued its recovery in the third quarter of 2012 posting an average occupancy rate of 88.8 percent, according to NIC MAP, a data analysis service of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry. This figure is up 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter and 0.8 percentage points from one year ago. “Occupancy is now at a four-year high and with inventory growth remaining tempered, we should continue to see occupancy recover in the near term,” says Michael Hargrave, vice president of NIC MAP. The average occupancy rate for the seniors housing industry has increased consistently during the past 10 quarters. The figure is 1.8 percentage points more than its cyclical low of 87 percent, which occurred in the first quarter of 2010. The occupancy rate for independent living and assisted living properties both averaged 88.8 percent in the third quarter of 2012. Both types of properties showed improvement over the previous quarter, increasing 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively. Source: NIC MAP Annual rent growth is also experiencing record highs in the seniors housing community. Annual asking rents for seniors housing increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter, …

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — Penn National Gaming is aiming to build an $807 million destination resort casino in Springfield. The Wyomissing, Pa.-based company said it has submitted its proposal to the City of Springfield and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority. If approved, the plan would include a 300,000-square-foot casino with up to 5,000 slot machines, as many as 100 game tables and up to 30 poker tables. The project would also include a hotel with up to 500 rooms, a spa, restaurants, a night club and 4,000 to 5,000 spaces of structured parking. The casino would be named Hollywood Casino Springfield. Penn will be working in partnering with Peter Picknelly, CEO of Springfield-based Peter Pan Bus Lines, to construct the facility on 13.4 acres near the city's downtown. The development would include land now occupied by The Republican newspaper on Main Street. The company said The Republican offices would be moved to a newly renovated downtown location featuring a village square and construction of a new printing plant in Springfield. The proposal also calls for Peter Pan Bus Lines' operations to be moved to Union Station. Peter Carlino, chairman and CEO of Penn National Gaming, says the casino project would be a …

A new wave of commercial real estate development is beginning to emerge in the South as cities such as Houston, Atlanta and Charleston shake off the construction slump triggered by a deep recession. In Houston's multifamily sector, for instance, new apartment supply this year is expected to double from 2011, according to brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap. During a commercial finance and investment conference last Thursday at the Westin hotel in Atlanta, the topic of growth was front and center. The panel discussion — titled “Development: What? Where? By Whom?” — featured some of the biggest names in the commercial real estate business today. Produced by the law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin LLP and France Media's InterFace Conference Group, the daylong event attracted more than 400 leading investors, developers, lenders and financial intermediaries from across the Southeast. The panel featured remarks from Jim Jacoby, chairman and CEO of Jacoby Development; Reid Freeman, president of Regent Partners; Charlie Tickle, chairman and CEO of Daniel Corp.; Chad Weaver, vice president of investments for Camden Development; Jay Jacobson, director of national acquisitions for Wood Partners; and moderator Michael McDonald, managing director of Eastdil Secured. Panelists agreed that select development opportunities do …