Top Stories

NEW YORK CITY — Starwood Capital Group has unveiled a new luxury hotel brand, Baccarat Hotels & Residences, which the company says will fill a void at the very top end of the upscale hotel market. The brand shares the name of the world-renowned French crystal maker. Additionally, Starwood Capital and Tribeca Associates have announced plans to build the 46-story, 114-room Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York, located at 20 W. 53rd St. just off Fifth Avenue in New York City. Skidmore Owings & Merrill is the architecture firm for the project and Gilles et Boissier is the interior designer. The hotel, which is slated for completion in 2014, will cost $403 million to build, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some room rates are expected to exceed $800 a night. “A truly iconic luxury European brand now enters the hotel segment,” said Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital. “Baccarat’s name is synonymous with hand-crafted quality and a nearly 250-year-old pursuit of perfection. We’re excited to introduce a super luxury hotel to the world’s most important travel market, New York City.” The hotel will also feature luxury residences, which will include access to hotel services and amenities, as …

SUNBURY, PA. — Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK), a supermarket chain based in Sunbury, announced it will invest $125 million in building and renovating its stores this year — a 25 percent increase compared to 2011. The plan was announced during the company's annual shareholder meeting Thursday. Vice chairman Jonathan Weis says the budget includes two new stores and 18 major remodels. Among the projects underway this year is a new, 65,400-square-foot Weis Market in Fogelsville, Pa., which is currently under construction. The market will be the first grocery store for residents in the Fogelsville area and is slated to open in 2013. “In addition, we expect to soon complete the purchase of three Genuardi's units near Philadelphia, which we hope to reopen later this summer,” says Weis. The company agreed to buy the supermarkets from Safeway Inc. in February. The Pennsylvania stores are located in Conshohocken, Doylestown and Norristown, and will operate under the Genuardi's Family Markets name until the deal is finalized. Douglas Green, a principal at Philadelphia-based Michael Salove & Associates, a retail real estate brokerage firm, says the remodeling strategy undertaken by Weis will help the company remain competitive in today's marketplace. “Weis is certainly a very …

NEW YORK CITY — Jamestown Properties has purchased a 241,000-square-foot office building, located at 325 Hudson St. in New York City’s Hudson Square area, for $110 million. “325 Hudson St. is an example of Jamestown’s strategy to acquire properties in dynamic neighborhoods with opportunities to add value over time, especially in areas that show promise for media and technology,” said Michael Phillips, COO of Jamestown, in a prepared statement. “Hudson Square is the perfect example of such an area and we are excited to have yet another opportunity to add value in New York City.” The 10-story property is a former industrial building that was redeveloped in 1998 into a telecommunications center. The building offers special telecommunications features, including floors that can support 200 to 250 pounds per square foot and 12-foot ceilings. Jamestown has teamed up with Amerimar Enterprises and Hunter Newby as operating partners. Because of these features, the office building is home to many telecommunication and media tenants. In March, Pearson PLC, a publishing company focused on education materials, signed a 7,400-square-foot lease to become the building’s newest tenant. Jamestown has generated approximately $8 billion in strategic investments during the last 29 years. — Savannah Duncan

SARASOTA, FLA. — Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers (NYSE:TCO) has unveiled its plans to construct the $315 million, 880,000-square-foot Mall at University Town Center, located at Interstate 75 and University Parkway in Sarasota. Taubman and Sarasota-based Benderson Development are developing the enclosed mall, which is slated to commence construction later this year. The mall’s anticipated delivery date is fall 2014. Taubman and Benderson will each own 50 percent of the property, while Taubman will be responsible for the development, management and leasing. The mall will feature an 80,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue, a 160,000-square-foot Macy’s and a 180,000-square-foot Dillard’s. The property will also host approximately 115 retailers and restaurants, more than half of which will be new to the market. There will also be a fourth department store added at a future date. Executives of the mall’s three department stores spoke highly of the new development. “We are excited about expanding Saks Fifth Avenue's presence in Sarasota by opening our new store … which will be double the size of our existing store,” said Steve Sadove, chairman and CEO of Saks, in a press release. “We look forward to showcasing our increased assortment of designer offerings in the new space and …

CHICAGO — CME Group has sold two of the buildings that comprise the Chicago Board of Trade Building Complex, located at 141 W. Jackson Blvd. in Chicago, to a joint venture between GlenStar Properties and USAA Real Estate Co. for $151.5 million. The towers include 1.3 million square feet of space. CME Group will sign a 15-year lease for the 150,000 square feet of space it currently occupies in both the north and south buildings, which include the Agricultural Trading Floor, as well as office and trading floor support space. “CME Group, which has been headquartered in Chicago for more than a century, continues to be committed to this city and to maintaining our trading floors and office space in the 141 W. Jackson building,” said Jamie Parisi, CFO of CME Group, in a press release. CME Group will maintain ownership of the 288,000-square-foot east building, which has no third-party tenant space and is primarily comprised of the larger of the two active trading floors which houses the CME Group financial products. The address will be changed to 333 S. LaSalle St. Holly Duran and Jeff Mulder of Chicago-based Holly Duran Real Estate Partners, along with Bruce Miller, Jim Postweiler …

BETHESDA, MD. — StonebridgeCarras, PN Hoffman, Northwestern Mutual and Montgomery County have broken ground on a $200 million, mixed-use development, located at the corner of Woodmont and Bethesda avenues in Bethesda. The project will include the redevelopment of two surface parking lots into a building with 250 residential units and 40,000 square feet of retail space above a 950-car public parking garage. The residential component will include two portions. The 88-unit The Darcy will offer luxury condominiums, and the 162-unit The Flats will contain apartments. “We are truly excited to start the construction of this project to meet the growing demand for luxury residential units in the heart of Bethesda,” said Monty Hoffman, CEO of PN Hoffman, in a prepared statement. “The market’s response to The Darcy condominiums has exceeded our expectations, and we will see interest grow significantly with the construction activity at the project.” PN Hoffman Realty is directing sales for The Darcy and KNLB Retail is handling retail leasing. SK&I Architecture Design Group designed the project and Clark Construction Group is the general contractor. Northwestern Mutual is a financial partner and HFF arranged financing for the development. “We are extremely proud to have been able to get …

CHICAGO — With $21.7 billion of hotel CMBS loans due to mature this year amid an improving lodging sector, lenders have an opportunity to bring to market the non-performing assets that have been bogging down their balance sheets. So says Mathew Comfort, executive vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, who expects large portfolio note and REO sales to dominate the select-service hotel market in 2012. Many of the troubled CMBS hotel loans that were originated in 2006 and 2007 have already gone through one round of workouts, and in many instances borrowers received a loan extension of 12 to 24 months. Now, banks and special servicers are “realizing the time is right to divest these assets as the discount to par is not as significant as it’s been over the past 2 years,” said Comfort in a news release highlighting disposition trends in the hotel sector. Large note sale portfolios, those in excess of $150 million or collateralized by multiple select-service hotel properties, will be in greater demand this year as investors look to put capital to work in search of higher returns, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which operates as a subsidiary of Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle. …

ENGLEWOOD, COLO. — Englewood-based Archstone has closed a $350 million acquisition fund targeting apartment communities in major markets where it has an operating presence. Archstone is sourcing and managing the fund's investments. “We are very excited about closing this fund and expect to make several additional acquisitions in premier locations in the country through it,” said Scot Sellers, Archstone's chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. “We are confident we will invest the capital in highly desirable apartment assets in protected locations, and expect to produce very attractive returns for our partners in this fund,” added Charles E. Mueller, Jr., Archstone's chief operating officer. The fund has already acquired four apartment communities in coastal markets. The communities, which have been renamed, are Archstone Kips Bay in New York; Archstone Boca Town Center in Boca Raton, Fla.; Archstone Kirkland at Carllon Point in Kirkland, Wash.; and Archstone Sunnyvale in Sunnyvale, Calif. M3 Capital Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor to Archstone in the transaction. As of March 31, 2012, Archstone owned 434 communities in the U.S. and Europe, representing 73,135 units, including units under construction. Much of the company's portfolio is concentrated in neighborhoods in and around Washington, D.C., Los …

CHICAGO — Ventas (NYSE: VTR), a Chicago-based healthcare REIT, has agreed to acquire a 100 percent interest in 16 private pay seniors housing communities for $362 million. Ventas is purchasing the properties from a joint venture between Sunrise Senior Living (NYSE: SRZ) and an institutional investor partner. The transaction will be funded through Ventas’ revolving credit facility, and all the properties will be acquired unencumbered. “With the acquisition of these exceedingly high-quality seniors living communities, we continue our enterprise growth while also expanding our private pay revenue source,” said Ventas chairman and CEO Debra Cafaro in a prepared statement. Sunrise will receive approximately $28 million for its 20 percent ownership interest in the portfolio. Sunrise will remain the manager of the communities under the pre-existing terms relating to management fees and contract length, which now range from 18 to 27 years. The acquired assets were developed by Sunrise, have a median age of 4 years and contain 1,274 units. The 16 properties span 12 states coast to coast, according to Lori Wittman, vice president of capital markets with Ventas. The senior living space has been a lucrative venture for Ventas and other REITs because it generates healthy returns. According to …

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — In a massive deal, Sydney-based DEXUS Property Group (ASX:DXS), an Australian listed REIT (A-REIT), has sold its U.S. central portfolio of 65 industrial properties and capital management initiatives to New York City-based Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII for $770 million. The portfolio spans 16.62 million square feet of industrial space and has an average occupancy of 89.6 percent. The sales price is in line with the projected net book value on June 30, 2012. The properties in the central U.S. portfolio consist of industrial facilities in Atlanta; Baltimore, Md.; Charlotte, N.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Minneapolis; Virginia; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; and San Antonio. “This sale is consistent with DEXUS’ strategy to exit non-core U.S. markets,” said Darren Steinburg, CEO of DEXUS, in a prepared statement. “The residual investment is a high-quality portfolio concentrated in the core West Coast markets. We are focused on driving the most effective outcome from this business, both in terms of returns and overall platform efficiency.” The transaction also includes capital management initiatives, which feature an on-market securities buyback, a revised distribution policy effective fiscal year 2013 and a U.S. debt restructure. The securities buyback of up to $200 million will use …