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CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Chattanooga retail developer and owner CBL & Associates has secured $298.8 million in financing for five of its shopping centers. The non-recouse loans have a weighted average interest rate of 6.58 percent. One of the loans was for new financing, and the other four were for refinancing existing debt that was due to mature this year. CBL closed a new $14.8 million loan for The Terrace in Chattanooga. The financing carries a 10-year term and a 7.25 percent fixed interest rate. A $115 million loan was procured for CoolSprings Galleria in Nashville, Tenn. The financing carries an 8-year term and a 6.98 percent fixed interest rate. It replaced a maturing $126.9 million loan. CBL closed two 10-year CMBS loans for Burnsville Center in Minneapolis and Parkway Place in Huntsville, Ala. The loan for Burnsville Center totals $83 million and carries a 6 percent interest rate. The loan for Parkway Place, which totals $21 million, represents CBL's 50 percent share in the property. The financing carries a 6.5 percent term. Finally, CBL closed on a $65 million CMBS loan for Valley View Mall in Roanoke, Va. The expected interest rate will be 6.5 percent. CBL expects to realize …

COLUMBUS, OHIO — The construction management team of Turner Construction Co. and Smoot Construction has been selected by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority to oversee the construction of a new hotel adjacent to the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus. The $92 million project will consist of a 10-story, 532-room hotel that will feature four-star finishes, a ballroom, meeting and banquet rooms, a full-service restaurant and lounge, and a fitness center. The project will also include the construction of a pedestrian bridge connecting the hotel to the convention center. The project is being designed to LEED-Silver specifications. During the construction phase, a construction waste recycling program will be implemented, and regional and recycled construction materials will be used. Efforts will also be made to use low-emitting interior materials. Building features will include low-flow fixtures, individual occupant lighting and thermal controls, and bicycle storage and changing areas. The project will also be applying for Green Seal certification from Lodging Properties. The groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for late July, but the date could change. The project is expected to be complete in 2012. The project architect is HOK. — Coleman Wood

DORAVILLE, GA. — New Broad Street and General Motors (GM) have reinstated their contract for New Broad Street's purchase of the former GM plant located in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville. The contract extends the closing date from June 30 to August 31. The additional time will be used to finalize development agreements between the City of Doraville, Dekalb County officials and New Broad Street as well as finalize the issuance of $36 million in Recovery Zone Economic Development bonds issued by the local development authority. In addition, New Broad Street President David Pace has announced plans for his firm to launch a website to keep the public informed of the progress on the project. The site will go live by June 15. New Broad Street originally announced its plant to purchase the GM plant in February. It plans to redevelop the 168-acre site into a mixed-use, transit-oriented project. To read the original story, click here. — Coleman Wood

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco-based Digital Realty Trust has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire a five-property data center portfolio for a total of $725 million. The REIT acquired the data centers from joint ventures that are majority-owned by affiliates of Rockwood Capital and managed by 365 Main Inc. The properties total 919,000 square feet of space and were developed in 2000 or later. They include: 212 South Price Road in Chandler, Ariz.; 365 Main Street in San Francisco; 2260 East El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, Calif.; 720 2nd Street in Oakland, Calif.; and 4030-4050 Lafayette Center Drive in Chantilly, Va. In addition to the five data centers, the transaction includes approximately 250,000 square feet of potential data center development space at the Arizona property as well as $13 million in uninstalled data center infrastructure improvements. The transaction is expected to close on July 2. Credit Suisse Securities and Citi provided financial advising services to Digital Realty Trust in the deal. In a statement, Digital Realty Trust CEO Michael Foust said, “Upon closing, the addition of these high-quality, mission critical data center facilities to our operating portfolio will further extend our leadership position as the largest wholesale …

DURHAM, N.C. — Research Tri-Center, a 10-building business park located in Durham, has been sold in a $76.95 million transaction. The buyer was an affiliate of Northwood Investors, and the seller was an institutional fund managed by Grosvenor Investment Management. Research Tri-Center is situated near the intersection of Alston Avenue and Cornwallis Road, adjacent to Research Triangle Park. The park contains a total of 1.53 million square feet of space, with the majority being devoted to industrial uses. Occupancy was 88 percent at the time of closing. The tenant roster includes GlaxoSmithKline, UPS, FedEx Ground, Verizon and Parata Systems. Rob Cochran, David Finger and Tom Powers of Cassidy Turley's Investment Services Group represented the seller in the transaction. Assistance was provided by Cassidy Turley's Chris Norvell and Jim Allaire, both of whom will remain responsible for leasing the property. “Research Tri-Center is an important transaction,” says Finger, who is a senior vice president and maanging principal at Cassy Turley. “The offer generated strong national interest from the investment community. We had a significant number of tours and offers. The sale illustrates the pent-up demand for high-quality, core assets, and also that Raleigh-Durham is a desirable market held in very high …

AURORA, ILL. — IDI has sold a big-box, build-to-suit industrial property for approximately $25 million. The Class A facility was developed last year for Freudenberg Household Products as the company's American headquarters. The building comprises 525,000 square feet of industrial space and is located at 2188 Diehl Road. The facility is used for the production, storage and distribution of household products. The buyer was Freudenberg Real Estate LP. As part of the agreement, IDI will expand the facility by 101,000 square feet. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of the year. George Cibula, Rick Daley and Joe Bronson, all of Darwin Realty, represented the seller in the transaction. Kirk Armour and David Prell of CB Richard Ellis represented IDI.

LOS ANGELES — The Hilton Checkers Hotel, a boutique hotel located at 535 S. Grand Ave. in downtown Los Angeles, has sold for $46 million. Built in the 1920s, the 12-story property is the only four-diamond hotel in downtown Los Angeles. It contains 188 rooms, five indoor meeting areas, one outdoor meeting area, an award-winning restaurant, a spa and a lounge. It under went significant renovations in 2008. The buyer was Chesapeake Lodging Trust, a recently launched, Maryland-based real estate investment trust. The sellers were an affiliate of Tarsadia Hotels and 535 Grand Avenue LLC. Jordan Richman of Grubb & Ellis' Hotels, Golf & Leisure practice group represented both parties in the sale, with assistance provided by Felix Cacciato of Hotel Equity Advisors. Richman also brokered the previous sale of the hotel to Tarsadia in 1999. “This transaction is a good indication that the region's hotel market is beginning to turn after the economic downturn, which is a welcome reprieve,” said Richman in a statement.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After spending some time marketing 1 Bank of America Center for lease, owner Bank of America (BOA) has decided to occupy almost all of the space in the Charlotte office tower. The bank will occupy 720,000 of the tower's 750,000 square feet, with the remaining 30,000 square feet already committed to other office tenants. “We're constantly looking at ways to enhance our portfolio in Charlotte,” says BOA spokesperson Kelli Cishek. “This property had come online, and we were anticipating needing space for new growth for our existing employees in the Charlotte area, so we're going to utilize our own property.” The announcement is good news for the Charlotte office market. Some have been uneasy about he bank's future in Charlotte since former CEO Ken Lewis was replaced by Brian Moynihan, who resides in Boston. However, Moynihan and others at BOA assert the company is committed to the city, and this is further demonstrated by the lease. 1 Bank of America Center opened this week and will hold a ceremony next week to mark the completion of construction. The 30-story office tower is also applying for the Gold level of LEED – New Construction certification. It features Sky …

ST. LOUIS — Three St. Louis commercial real estate executives have formed a new investment company with the intent to acquire distressed properties. John Ross, Mark Billeaud and Scott Reese recently launched Summit Realty Ventures. The new company plans to invest $60 million to acquire industrial and retail properties primarily in Texas, Florida and Colorado. In a release, Billeaud points out that many in the industry believe that more distressed assets will come to market throughout the rest of the year, which will create acquisition opportunities for the company. Summit will be looking for high-quality, income-producing properties that are undervalued but contain the potential for short-term value growth. In February, Summit closed on its first pool of investment capital, in the process forming ArrowRock Income Growth Fund I. The fund recently closed on its first property, a warehouse/office flex property located at 8080 TriStar Drive in Dallas. The multi-tenant facility totals 81,000 square feet and was 37 percent occupied at the time of closing. Ross said the Class A property was purchased at 36 percent of replacement cost, helping the company see a definite return on its investment. In addition to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Summit Realty Markets is looking …