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CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Skanska USA Commercial Development, a Boston-based affiliate of global construction group Skanska, has acquired the development rights to a laboratory/R&D project in the heart of Cambridge. The fully permitted project will be located within the city's Kendall Square biotech corridor. The three-story building, known as 150 Second, will contain 120,000 square feet of office and laboratory space along with 94 underground parking spaces. Project architect Elkus Manfredi Architects has designed the building to achieve LEED-Gold certification, with sustainable features that include the use of sustainable construction materials and the inclusion of abundant daylighting. Skanska acquired the project from Bent Street Land Company LLC, a private investment partnership sponsored by Spaulding & Slye Investments. The project has already received approval from the Cambridge Planning Board. Skanska USA Building will serve as construction manager. Jones Lang LaSalle has been brought on to lease and manage the building. “This is an extraordinary site due to its great amenity base, proximity to transit and biotech tenant demand,” said Mike Pascavage, executive vice president and regional manager for Skanska USA Commercial Development. “We have been actively pursuing projects that align with our core values of operational efficiency and environmental sustainability, and this …

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Scottsdale-based Healthcare Trust of America (HTA) continues its busy year of acquisitions with the closing of two new medical office purchases. The REIT has closed on part of a five-building portfolio and another single-property deal in a new market. In the first transaction, HTA closed on three of the five Class A properties it is acquiring from Rendina Companies. The first building is Des Peres Medical Arts Pavilion II, which is located on the campus of Des Peres Hospital in St. Louis. Constructed in 2007, the two-story building contains 48,000 square feet of space. SLUCare, which is an affiliate of Saint Louis University, and Tenet Healthcare, which is an affiliate of the owner of Des Peres Hospital, occupy approximately 50 percent of the building. Overall, the building is fully leased. The second building is San Martin Medical Arts Pavilion, a three-story, 73,300-square-foot building located in Las Vegas. The third building is Saint Francis Medical Arts Pavilion, a 77,300-square-foot building located in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The two properties in the portfolio remaining to be closed on include Gateway Medical Plaza, a 60,160-square-foot building located in Tucson, Ariz., and Wellington Medical Arts Pavilion III, a 48,000-square-foot building located in Wellington, …

SAN DIEGO — San Diego-based Trigild has been named receiver for 3 million square feet of distressed real estate. The portfolio comprises 11 office industrial properties located across the country. All of the buildings are currently facing foreclosure. The properties include: • The FIP Realty Portfolio, a 14-building, 968,000-square-foot industrial center located at 1879 Federal Pkwy. in Columbus, Ohio; • The Bixby Properties, five office complexes totaling 11 buildings and more than 800,000 square feet that are located in Orange County, Callif.; • 1010 Commons, a 500,000-square-foot office building located at 1010 Commons St. in New Orleans; • Citizens Bank Center, a 500,000-square-foot office building located at 919 N. Market St. in Wilmington, Del.; • Empire, a 250,000-square-foot office building located at 7300 and 7310 Governor Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, Md.; • Scripps Corporate Plaza, a three-building, 244,270-square-foot complex located at 10650-10680 Treena St. in San Diego; and • El Monte, a 1,121-unit self storage facility located at 11310 Stewart St. in El Monte, Calif. With this announcement, Trigild currently represents more than $6 billion worth of defaulted loans. The company expects that number to increase, as it asserts that several hundred billion dollars worth of commercial properties will …

SAN FRANCISCO AND REDMOND, WASH. — Kilroy Realty Corp. has acquired two office buildings for a total of approximately $237.5 million. The two buildings, located in San Francisco and Redmond, contains approximately 588,000 square feet. In the first deal, the REIT acquired 100 First Plaza in San Francisco for $191.5 million. The building is situated in the city's South Financial District. The building totals 466,000 square feet of space and is LEED-Gold certified. At the time of closing it was 94 percent leased and 76 percent occupied. Kilroy already owns another property in the submarket, a 731,972-square-foot office building located at 303 Second St. In the second deal, Kilroy acquired Overlake Office Center in Redmond for $46 million. The building, which is located immediately adjacent to Mircosoft's corporate headquarters, is also fully occupied by the software company through December 2014. According to published reports, the former property was purchased from Beacon Capital Partners and the latter was acquired from Proctor International. These two office properties are not the only large acquisition made by the REIT this year. In June, Kilroy purchased a 271,600-square-foot office building located at 2211 Michelson Drive in Irvine, Calif., for $103 million. Year to date, it …

FOREST CITY, N.C. — Facebook has announced plans to construct a new $450 million data center in Rutherford County. According to local reports, the social media giant paid $3.1 million to the county for 135 acres located just off of U.S. Highway 74 in Forest City, which is located about 65 miles west of Charlotte. The site is near a county-owned corporate park that caters to data centers. The groundbreaking took place Friday for the new facility, and construction is expected to take 18 months to complete. The project will create more than 250 construction jobs as well as 35 to 45 full-time and contract jobs once the data center is operational. The project is being designed to LEED-Gold standards. Its sustainable features include cooling and power management technologies that reduce electricity usage as well as efficient software that requires less computing power. Data centers are known as one of the heaviest commercial users of electricity. North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue stated in a prepared release that the state has been working with Facebook for approximately a year to bring together the land, utilities and, most importantly, incentives to make the deal possible. The governor's office did not release details …

PRINCETON, N.J. — CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Realty Trust has acquired an approximately 1.85 million-square-foot industrial portfolio for $81.25 million. The portfolio includes six Class A bulk warehouse buildings located in major distribution markets across the country. The single- and multi-tenant properties were constructed between 1998 and 2002. The properties include: • Rickenbacker II, a 434,120-square-foot building located at 6440 Port Road in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Groveport. The building is approximately 47 percent leased to Excel Inc. • 4701 Gold Spike Drive, a 420,360-square-foot building located in Fort Worth, Texas. The building is fully leased to ConAgra Foods. • 3660 Deerpark Boulevard, a 321,500-square-foot building located in the Jacksonville, Fla., suburb of Elkton. The building is also fully leased to ConAgra. • Summit Distribution Center, a 275,080-square-foot building located at 720 Gladiola St. in Salt Lake City. The building is 90 percent leased to Cummins Filtration, Big O Development and Marko Product. • Tolleson Commerce Park II, a 217,422-square-foot building located at 5 S. 84th Ave. in Phoenix. The building is fully leased to Menlo Logistics, Docusafe of Phoenix and Weber Distribution. • 1985 International Way, a 189,400-square-foot building located in the Cincinnati suburb of Hebron, Ky. The …

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO. — Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (HFF) has secured $87.8 million from Freddie Mac for the refinancing of a four-property multifamily portfolio. The borrower is Greenwood Village-based Laramar Group. The securitized loans carry 10-year terms with fixed interest rates in the low-to-mid 4 percent range. The portfolio contains a total of 1,363 units. The properties include Waterford Lakes Apartments, a 694-unit community located in Charlotte, N.C.; The Mont Clare at Harlem Avenue, a 281-unit community located in Harwood Heights, Ill.; Bay Park Luxury Apartment Homes, a 228-unit community located in Clearwater, Fla.; and Villa Oceana Luxury Waterfront, a 160-unit community located in Boca Raton, Fla. “The transaction allowed Laramar to execute its corporate strategy of paying down a floating-rate line of credit and replacing it with secured, long-term debt at incredibly low interest rates,” said Jay Marshall, senior managing director of HFF, in a statement. Marshall partnered with HFF's Elliott Throne and Matt Schoenfeldt to arrange the transaction. — Coleman Wood

MERRILLVILLE, IND., AND RICHMOND, VA. — White Lodging Services Corp. has sold a 16-hotel portfolio to Apple Real Estate Investment Trust Cos. (Apple REIT) for an undisclosed amount. The properties include: • Courtyard by Marriott – Chandler, Ariz.; • Fairfield Inn & Suites – Chandler, Ariz.; • Courtyard by Marriott – Phoenix; • Residence Inn – Phoenix; • Embassy Suites – Brandon, Fla.; • Hilton Garden Inn – Mettawa, Ill.; • Residence Inn – Mettawa, Ill.; • Hilton Garden Inn – Schaumburg, Ill.; • Hilton Garden Inn – Warrenville, Ill.; • Residence Inn – Mishawaka, Ind.; • Springhill Suites – Fishers, Ind.; • Hilton Garden Inn – Novi, Mich.; • Courtyard by Marriott – Austin, Texas; • Fairfield Inn & Suites – Austin, Texas; • Hilton Garden Inn – Austin, Texas; and • Springhill Suites – Salt Lake City. White Lodging will continue to manage the properties under long-term agreements With this acquisition, Apple REIT's portfolio increases to more than 240 hotels located nationwide. “The transaction with Apple REIT provides White Lodging with additional capital to continue executing our strategic growth plan at a time when many of our competitors are merely trying to stay afloat,” said Deno Yiankes, president …

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND., AND CHICAGO — West Lafayette-based student housing developer Trinitas Ventures and Chicago-based private equity firm Harrison Street Real Estate Capital have formed a $100 million joint venture for the purpose of developing and managing student housing properties. The joint venture will focus on urban infill locations near large schools located across the country that have high barriers to entry. “These types of sites are usually difficult to acquire, entitle and develop — we specialize in difficult,” said Trinitas COO Loren King in a statement. Concurrent with the announcement, the joint venture closed on the acquisition of two Trinitas-developed, Class A student housing properties in Indiana for $69 million. The first property is The Village at Muller Park, a 668-bed community located in Bloomington near Indiana University. The Class A community opened in fall 2008 and features residences in flat-style and townhome configurations. Amenities include a clubhouse with a fitness center, a business center, study rooms, a recreation room and a gaming center. It also has a micro spa and a swimming pool with a sundeck. The second property is 1201 Indiana, a 667-bed community currently under construction in Indianapolis. Upon completion, which is expected next August, the …