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NEW YORK CITY — Nomura Holding America Inc., the U.S subsidiary of Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings, Inc., has leased more than 900,000 square feet of space at Worldwide Plaza for its Americas headquarters. The financial services company expects to relocate to its new home from its current headquarters at 2 World Financial Center in mid-2013. According to Cushman & Wakefield, which brokered the transaction for Nomura, this is the largest new office lease in Midtown Manhattan since 2004, when Bank of America took 1.1 million square feet at One Bryant Park. In all, Nomura has leased 20 full floors in the 1.8 million-square-foot, Class A office tower, which occupies the entire westerly blockfront of Eighth Avenue, between 49th and 50th Streets. The company is taking 10 vacant floors as well as 10 floors currently occupied by Universal Music Group, which is leaving the building at the end of the year. Developed by William Zeckendorf, Jr. and completed in 1989, the property was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The building has three separate lobbies around a center core design, allowing large corporate tenants the opportunity for private entrances leading to large blocks of space. WWP Office, LLC, owns …

NEW YORK CITY — BRE Retail Holdings Inc., an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI L.P., has closed its acquisition of the U.S. assets and platform of Centro Properties Group and its managed funds for approximately $9.0 billion. Blackstone announced its winning bid for the Centro portfolio on February 28, 2011. Included in the sale are 585 community and neighborhood shopping centers and related retail assets totaling 92.1 million square feet. Centro’s retail properties are located in 39 U.S. states, and the portfolio includes 37 centers held through joint ventures. Centro’s property management platform, which includes 18 offices and approximately 600 employees, was also included in the deal. Centro is the second largest owner of community and neighborhood shopping centers in the United States, and its properties are primarily grocery or name-brand discount chain anchored. The company is the largest landlord (by gross leasable area) to The TJX Companies, The Kroger Company, Ahold USA, Dollar Tree, Inc. and Staples, Inc. Centro Property Group's Brentwood Plaza in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company is the largest landlord to The Kroger Company, among other large retailers. Centro plans to position itself to actively manage its portfolio, shifting from asset preservation to growth, expecting …

WASHINGTON — Cassidy Turley has handled a year-long project to achieve LEED Silver Certification for 10 separate office properties owned by affiliates of Beacon Capital Partners. The buildings encompass approximately 2.5 millions square feet, all of which are located in Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Cassidy Turley oversaw the day-to-day project management to qualify for LEED® for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. The properties implemented several sustainable strategies including energy and water efficiency as well as an enhanced recycling and waste diversion program. Some of the specific features included: Full building retro-commissioning for select buildings Implementation of select energy conservation measures that reduced overall energy consumption across the portfolio Energy audits for all buildings Eight of the ten buildings have been awarded the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for energy efficiency and environmental protection Participation in a demand response program that helps reduce the peak demand on the utility grid, benefitting utility providers, the community and the environment An electronic recycling event that has diverted over 10,000 pounds of printers, batteries, monitors and other electronic equipment from the main waste stream Including these buildings, Beacon Capital’s portfolio now encompasses more than 18 million square feet of LEED-certified space. …

WASHINGTON — Paramount Group recently acquired Liberty Place from Beacon Capital Partners, a 169,542-square-foot, 12-story landmark property located at 325 7th Street NW in Washington. Though Paramount did not disclose its purchase price, The Wall Street Journal reports that the building sold for $139 million, or $808 per square foot. Liberty Place was built in 1991 and later annexed the Fireman’s Fund Building, a historic property constructed circa 1882. With views of Pennsylvania Avenue and iconic Washington landmarks, the building is situated within the Penn Quarter District, equidistant from the White House and Capitol Hill. Tenants include Pfizer, Fidelity Real Estate Company, the National Retail Federation, the American Hospital Association and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The property is currently 94 percent leased. “Liberty Place is an exceptionally attractive investment for the Paramount Group,” said company president & CEO Albert Behler. “The property met, and in fact exceeded, our acquisitions criteria, which includes its location in a prominent central business district with a sought-after address and easy access to public transportation.” Paramount Group was represented in-house in the transaction by Vice President Dan Lauer and Assistant Vice President David Zobel, both in Paramount’s Acquisitions group. Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets team …

NEW YORK CITY — C-III Capital Partners LLC has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NAI Global, the largest network of independent commercial real estate firms worldwide. NAI Global will continue to operate as a separate company under its current management following the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011, for which financial terms were not disclosed. “This agreement represents a tremendous opportunity for NAI and our members,” said Gerald Finn, chairman of NAI Global. “We expect NAI will be able to significantly grow its service offerings and present new opportunities to our members.” NAI currently manages a network of commercial real estate firms comprising 5,000 professionals and 350 offices in the U.S. and 55 countries throughout the world. NAI’s network members provide a full spectrum of corporate, financial, technology and project management services. “The combination with C-III will provide a depth of resources, talent and tools from which we can draw upon to accelerate our growth,” said Jeffrey Finn, president and CEO of NAI Global. “Rarely do you find partners so perfectly strategically aligned as NAI Global and C-III. This is a natural fit and extremely exciting news for the industry.” C-III …

NEW YORK CITY — Denihan Hospitality Group and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) have entered into agreements wherein Pebblebrook will invest in a joint venture with affiliates of Denihan that own six upper upscale hotels in Manhattan. The transaction values the six hotels at approximately $910 million. Denihan will continue to manage the hotels, which include the following six upper upscale properties: Affinia Manhattan, Affinia Shelburne, Affinia Dumont, Affinia 50, Affinia Gardens and The Benjamin (pictured below, right). The properties currently comprise 1,640 guestrooms, but that number will increase to 1,730 rooms following the completion of a renovation at the Affinia Manhattan this fall. “Jon Bortz [chairman and chief executive officer of Pebblebrook] said this is the first time in a long time he’s invested in a partnership, and he’s done it with us due to our relationship. That’s a great vote of confidence for our company,” says David Duncan, chief financial officer for Denihan Hospitality Group. “We’re perfectly aligned here, and we look forward to Pebblebrook’s insight to add best practices. Both partners in this deal have a clear understanding of how we’ll add value to our hotels.” The hotels are currently subject to approximately $600 million in existing …

CHICAGO — Magellan Development Group has commenced construction of Coast, a 45-story, 499-unit rental apartment tower in downtown Chicago. The property, located at 345 E. Wacker Dr., is the eighth high-rise tower within the company's Lakeshore East community. Designed by architectural firm of Brininstool Kerwin & Lynch (BKL) and constructed by McHugh Construction Co., which has also constructed six buildings at Lakeshore East, Coast also will feature 18,000 square feet of retail space, an additional 18,000 square feet of amenities including an outdoor pool, fitness center, resident lounge, business center, media room and indoor spa, as well as a 272-car parking garage. First occupancy is targeted for February 2013. Coast’s modern design is described by BKL as “a composition of light and translucency.” A curtain wall on the east and west facades is a combination of translucent and fritted glass combined with aluminum while continuous inset balconies on the north and south elevations provide views of the Chicago skyline, Lake Michigan and Grant/Millennium Parks. (see photo at right) “Our successful experience with Aqua at Lakeshore East — a project that has thrived in a difficult market — reinforces our belief that going forward, high-quality design must remain a critical factor …