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PHILADELPHIA — Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY) and Synterra Partners, in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and the City of Philadelphia, broke ground yesterday on Five Crescent Drive, the newest building in the Navy Yard Corporate Center. The 205,000 square-foot, four-story facility is a corporate office building for GSK, which signed a 15.5-year lease for the building in February. The property will house much of the administrative function for the company’s North American pharmaceutical group. Expected to be complete in 2012, the tenant will fully occupy by April 1, 2013. As an important anchor of the Navy Yard Corporate Center, Five Crescent represents a more than $81 million investment from Liberty. As with each of the properties within the office development, this project will be LEED certified, striving to achieve the LEED Platinum designation. In addition, specifically requested by GSK, the office space itself will be a collaborative workspace, outside the traditional concept of a typical workplace. “In many ways this project will break new ground in terms of the way interior spaces have been designed,” says John Gattuso, regional director and senior vice president for Liberty Property Trust. “It’s a very different building from much of …

REITs are leading the real estate recovery by boldly going into the market looking to acquire, develop and improve assets aggressively. At REIT Week, sponsored by National Association for Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), public companies from around the U.S. gathered to inform investors of their current plans and projects. Because the information they shared is company and market specific, it gives a wide-ranging snapshot of some of commercial real estate’s largest and most active players in every sector. Here’s a short review of several key commercial sectors sector — office, industrial, retail multifamily, and lodging — reported on site at REIT Week by REBusinessOnline. The Macro View: Mergers & Acquisitions A general session panel discussed the macro state of the REIT market, focusing in on mergers and acquisitions, and the trends affecting the public markets. One of the biggest pieces of news coming out on this front was the June 3 closing of the ProLogis and AMB Property Corporation merger. “The stars really have to align to put together a large merger like this. While this is the sixth merger we’ve had at ProLogis since 1998, all of them to this point rolled into our platform, but with AMB …

NEW YORK CITY — Continuing the trend of public money purchasing high-profile hotel assets in major markets, LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) has signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire The Park Central Hotel in New York City for $405.5 million, just over $434,000 per key. The 934-room, urban, full service hotel is located at 870 Seventh Avenue, between West 55th and West 56th Streets, in midtown Manhattan. Originally built in 1928, The Park Central Hotel has undergone more than $33 million of capital improvements since 2004, and LaSalle plans to implement further renovation of the hotel, currently estimated to cost between $30 and $35 million. The updates will include guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the lobby. The company expects the renovation to begin during 2012. Highgate Holdings, which currently manages the Park Central, will remain in that capacity. The acquisition is subject to completion of due diligence as well as customary closing requirements and conditions, and is expected to close toward the end of the third quarter 2011. LaSalle anticipates funding the majority of the purchase price with net proceeds of approximately $216.6 million from its previously completed sale of common shares on April 26, 2011, and …

NEW YORK CITY — Jones Lang LaSalle's Capital Markets team has closed a $275 million secured credit facility on behalf of Charter Hall Office REIT, which is secured by five office properties across the United States — 745 Atlantic Avenue in Boston; One & Three Christina Center in Delaware; Pasadena Towers in Pasadena; Promenade II in Atlanta; and SunTrust Financial Centre in Tampa. The debt facility includes a $190 million five-year term loan for the assets, as well as an undrawn $85 million revolver facility to fund leasing-related expenditures at those properties. Managing Director Paul House, executive vice president Matt Comfort and senior vice president Reid McGlamery led the Jones Lang LaSalle team on this transaction. “The steady cash flow generated by the portfolio, coupled with exceptional sponsorship, made this an attractive financing opportunity,” said Matt Comfort, executive vice president, Jones Lang LaSalle. “The assets have a diverse, high-quality tenant base and are located in strategic markets that benefit from strong regional economies.” The debt facility allows several advantages for Charter Hall Office’s assets. First, as a direct result, the REIT will be able to refinance the 2011 loan maturities at One & Three Christina Center and 745 Atlantic Avenue, …

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) has entered into a definitive agreement to add to its portfolio more than 90 senior living communities totaling 16,000 units in 19 states through acquisition of 100 percent equity interest in Horizon Bay Realty, L.L.C. The transaction includes a restructuring of Horizon Bay’s relationship with HCP, Inc. (NYSE: HCP), which affects 33 of the 90 properties included in Horizon Bay’s portfolio. Under the new agreement, Brookdale will own and operate 21 communities through a new joint venture with HCP and triple net lease the remaining 12 properties from HCP. The 21-community portfolio as part of the joint venture totals 5,070 units (approximately 4,252 independent living, 736 assisted living, and 82 Alzheimer's/dementia care), primarily located in Florida, Texas, Illinois and Rhode Island. The 12 leased communities are primarily located in Texas and Rhode Island, totaling 1,547 units (approximately 588 independent living, 578 assisted living, 225 Alzheimer's/dementia care and 156 skilled nursing units). The remaining 57 communities comprise approximately 9,548 units consisting of 5,445 independent living units, 3,011 assisted living units, 567 Alzheimer's/dementia care units and 525 skilled nursing beds in 15 states, to which Horizon Bay provides management services. Horizon Bay's primary …

HOLLYWOOD, FLA. — CORFAC International announced three major initiatives to expand the organization internationally in order to grow its global affiliations. Though these initiatives had been in development, the immediate move was spurred on by Jones Lang LaSalle’s $319 million pending acquisition of King Sturge, which has had a close relationship with CORFAC since 1995. “Commercial real estate is not a ‘one-size fits all’ industry, and CORFAC International has a unique organizational structure and business culture that merits a prominent place among its peers,” said Charles Sevier, CORFAC International president, who is also a principal with Crump Commercial/CORFAC International in Memphis, Tenn. “The new initiatives are necessary steps to ensure and expand the health, prosperity and competitiveness of our organization in the global marketplace.” Of CORFAC’s new initiatives, first and foremost Susan S. Newman has been hired as the organization’s new executive director, with her term becoming effective January 1, 2012. Newman starts work on a full-time basis in mid-November as part of a transition period with outgoing Executive Director Tom Bennett, who retires at the end of 2011 after 12 years. CORFAC has also taken action to become a principal member in FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, which …

ATLANTA — Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman’s Atlanta office has arranged $100 million in acquisition debt financing for 12 Class A industrial assets totaling 4.5 million square feet, located in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Texas and California. A partnership between AREA Property Partners and DW Management acquired the portfolio in an off-market transaction for approximately $170 million, purchased via the $759 million AREA Value Enhancement Fund 7. The loan is secured by ten assets comprising 3.5 million square feet. Pattillo Investment Partners, LLC, sold the properties, which are 87 percent occupied with average remaining lease terms of about 5 years with little near-term rollover. According to Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman, the lease terms allow the buyer both stable cashflow and revenue opportunities. AREA Property Partners is also seeking additional value-add industrial acquisitions. Including this deal, AREA has invested $510 million in various property types. “We’ve been impressed with the depth of the market and strong demand from lenders in the industrial sector,” said Steve Wolf, partner, and head of portfolio management and U.S. Value Enhancement Funds for AREA Property Partners. “The ability to structure a loan with a single lender that allowed for a combination of fixed rate …

NEW YORK CITY — Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE: BXP) is restarting development of at 250 West 55th Street, a 1 million-square-foot, LEED Gold pre-certified office building in Midtown Manhattan. Construction of the 39-story office tower commenced in late 2007 but was suspended in late 2009 after the completion of excavation and foundations and construction of the building to grade level. At the time, Boston Properties had also fabricated all of the structural steel to complete the tower, which was stored along with portions of the curtain wall parts. Enrolled in the New York City Department of Buildings' “Stalled Sites Program,” 250 West 55th Street's full building permit and other approvals remain in effect. Designed by architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, the center core building features a two-story podium with a landscaped “green” roof on the third floor, and floor-to-floor heights of 14 feet. Turner Construction Company was recently selected as the construction manager for the project. The incremental cost to complete the project, excluding capitalized interest, is expected to be approximately $400 million. Including that investment and capitalized interest, the total project cost upon completion is expected to be approximately $1.05 billion. As a result of resuming of …

NEW YORK CITY — In a transaction expected to transform the Lower Manhattan office market, Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman Tara Stacom and Executive Director Alan Stein have arranged a 1,046,262-square-foot, 25-year lease for media giant Condé Nast at One World Trade Center, the 3 million-square-foot, $3.1 billion tower under construction in downtown Manhattan. The project is a partnership between The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and The Durst Organization, whom Cushman & Wakefield represented in the lease negotiations. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Vice Chairmen Mary Ann Tighe and Gregory Tosko led a team that represented Condé Nast. The Condé Nast deal stands as Lower Manhattan's largest, private-sector leasing transaction in 20 years. In addition, it’s the largest relocation ever from Midtown to Downtown, Stacom says. “This is a very visible deal, and it’s not going to go unnoticed,” she adds. “Condé will bring further validity to the building and the site, and this One World Trade will help the entire downtown marketplace attract tenants.” In fact, Stacom says, it already has. She notes that wedding website The Knot signed a 64,000-square-foot lease at 195 Broadway last week, at least partially influenced by the Condé Nast deal, …