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SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles-based Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE:HPP) has completed the $90 million acquisition of 901 Market Street, a mixed-use property located at the intersection of San Francisco’s Union Square and South of Market submarkets. The 212,000-square-foot historic building consists of 149,000 square feet of office space and 63,000 square feet of ground floor and lower level retail space. The purchase price comes out to be approximately $425 per square foot. “We are very pleased to close the acquisition of the 901 Market Street property,” said Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific. “901 Market Street is a great complement to our San Francisco portfolio and represents a tremendous opportunity to reposition a property in one of the best locations and best markets in the country.” The property, a former Hale Department Store building, is located adjacent to the Westfield San Francisco Shopping Centre and Union Square BART entrance. It is currently 62 percent leased to a diverse tenant base. The seller was CFRI/Urban 901 Market LLC. The San Francisco market is considered a marquee arena for commercial real estate activity and development. ULI and Pricewaterhouse Coopers named San Francisco the third best market in the U.S. …

SEATTLE — Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC) has acquired two office properties in the Lake Union submarket of Seattle and has entered into an agreement to purchase a Bellevue office tower in the third quarter. Combined, the three separate transactions total $330 million. “Seattle’s Bellevue, Eastside and Lake Union submarkets present a compelling set of characteristics that KRC looks for in its real estate portfolio,” says John Kilroy Jr., president and CEO of KRC. “These include an economically vibrant core, a unique coastal locations, a quality of life valued by fast-growing, knowledge-based businesses and their employees, and a regional approach to development that effectively limits supply.” In Lake Union, the company purchased three-building Fremont Lake Union Center and Fremont Lake View, a 420,000-square-foot office campus, for $145 million. The property is fully leased, and tenants include Adobe Inc., Tableau Software and Ubermind. KRC assumed approximately $34 million of debt as part of the acquisiton. In downtown Bellevue, KRC is in escrow to acquire the 417,000-square-foot Skyline Tower, a Class A office building, for $186 million. The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter. The 42-story tower is certified LEED Silver, and is 92 percent leased. Tenants include Expedia …

The pleasant surprise in an otherwise disappointing U.S. nonfarm payroll report for May was the healthy increase in jobs tied to the industrial sector, says Bob Bach, chief economist for Grubb & Ellis. The manufacturing, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing sectors added a combined 63,500 jobs in May compared with just 3,600 in April. “The surprising surge in jobs important to industrial real estate indicates the continued health of the manufacturing sector and the strong volume of goods flowing through corporate supply chains,” says Bach. His analysis is based on the latest employment figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last Friday, June 1. Overall, the U.S. economy added 82,000 private-sector jobs in May while the government shed 13,000 positions, resulting in a net gain of 69,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, well below economists’ consensus forecast of 150,000. In another setback,the BLS revised the March and April figures lower by a combined 49,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate climbed one-tenth of a percent in May to 8.2 percent. Victor Calanog, director of research for New York-based Reis, says a slowdown in job creation had been expected but not at such a rapid pace. “It is disheartening that almost three …

BETHESDA, MD. — RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ) expanded its portfolio of properties with the acquisition of two hotels in New York City and Bethesda for a combined total of $146.5 million. The Bethesda-based company purchased the 226-room Courtyard New York Manhattan Upper East Side in a bankruptcy court sale for $82 million, or approximately $363,000 per room. The purchase price represents a forward capitalization rate of approximately 7.5 percent on the hotel's projected 2013 net operating income. RLJ paid $64.5 million for the second property, the Residence Inn by Marriott Bethesda Hotel Downtown, in an off-market transaction. The hotel is located in the Bethesda central business district. “We were able to leverage our extensive network and strong industry relationships to source and execute accretive transactions in key gateway cities,” said Thomas Baltimore Jr., president and CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust. “We expect these two new additions to yield strong results and strengthen our overall portfolio.” In a statement, the company said the acquisitions were compliant with its overall investment strategy. The hotels are located in key gateway markets and exhibit signs of high growth and high barriers to entry, RLJ stated. RLJ now owns 143 hotels and more than …

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Gaylord Entertainment Co. (NYSE: GET) has entered into an agreement to sell the Gaylord Hotels brand and rights to manage its four hotels to Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) for $210 million. The four hotel properties include the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville; the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas; the Gaylord Palms Resorts and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida; and the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Gaylord Hotels will join the Marriott portfolio of brands, and the properties will continue to be managed under their current flags. Marriott’s initial management contract includes a 35-year term with a 2 percent base management fee and an incentive fee linked to improvement in profitability. “We’re delighted to be able to make this announcement today, and look forward to adding the Gaylord brand to our portfolio,” says Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International. “Working with the Gaylord brand, the existing four hotels and a Gaylord team that provides outstanding customer service, we are convinced there is tremendous upside potential for growing hotel revenues and profits and developing careers.” Following completion of the all-cash transaction, Gaylord will continue …

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 …