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INDIANAPOLIS — Shopping center industry pioneer and Chairman Emeritus of Simon Property Group Melvin Simon has passed away at the age of 82. A native of the Bronx, New York City, Simon first to came to Indiana in 1954 while serving with the U.S. Army. After his discharge, Simon worked as a leasing representative with Indianapolis shopping center developer Albert Frankel Co. In 1960, Simon created Melvin Simon & Associate with his brothers, Herbert and Fred. Later renamed Simon Property Group, the company would go on to great success, including a 1993 initial public offering considered the largest in the history of the REIT industry. In 2003, Simon was named a lifetime trustee of the Urban Land Institute; he was also a former trustee the International Council of Shopping Centers, and held numerous other awards and honors in the real estate industry. In his personal life, Simon worked with organizations serving underprivileged youth, the arts, social services and education. In 1983, Simon also purchased the Indiana Pacers basketball team with his brother, Herbert. Simon is survived by Bren, his wife of 40 years; his children, Deborah, Cynthia, David and Tammy; his 10 grandchildren; and his brothers, Fred and Herbert. He …

DALLAS — Dallas-based Westmount Realty Capital has disposed of an assemblage of five commercial buildings located in downtown Dallas. The properties include: • 1417-1419 Commerce Street, an 11,450-square-foot former restaurant built 1932; • 1503 Commerce Street, an 8,400-square-foot former restaurant; • 1505 Commerce Street, an office building built in 1900; • 1511 Commerce Street, a 15,000-square-foot former retail and office building that was built in 1928 and carries historic designation; and • 1604 Main Street, an eight-story, 47,724-square-foot former retail and office building built in 1914. All of the buildings were originally purchased by Westmount between 1995 and 2005. The buyer in the transaction was 1600 Main Street Holdings LP, an affiliate of the Joule Hotel, which is located at 1530 Main St. The Joule purchased its current hotel building, as well as the building located at 1524 Main St., from Westmount in 2003 and 2006. The 1524 Main Street building now houses the Charlie Palmer Restaurant. “In our view, we had assembled these buildings and the ones we had previously sold [on Commerce Street] because of the important location of this block in the context of downtown Dallas,” says Cliff Booth, president of Westmount Realty Capital. The four Commerce …

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The German investment firm Deka Immobilien GmbH has acquired a 250,000-square-foot D.C. office building from Vornado Realty Trust for $208 million in an off-market transaction. Construction of the Class A property, located at 1999 K. St. NW, was completed in August to LEED-CS Gold standards. The law firm Mayer Brown has signed a 15-year lease to occupy the building, and TD Ameritrade is housed on the ground floor. Vornado will continue to manage the property for the purchaser. Interest in the American real estate market from overseas investors has increased as prices have dropped due to the recession. Deka Immobilien had recently purchased an office building in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was continuing to look for properties in key markets. The new, single-tenant development at 1999 K. St. fit their specifications because it will offer a steady return, according to an industry source. Robert Stamm and Joel Coren of CB Richard Ellis’s Global Property Advisors Group served as investment advisors to Deka. Bill Prutting of the firm’s Washington office also assisted in the transaction. The deal is one of the largest in the Washington office market this year, and the investment serves as a vote of confidence …

DULUTH, GA. — NCR has signed a lease with Franklin Street Properties Corp. for 120,000 square feet of office space in Duluth. The Class A property is located at 700 Satellite Place. John Ferguson and John Shlesinger of CB Richard Ellis’ Atlanta office represented NCR in the lease; Sara Smith and John Bell of Crescent Resources represented the landlord. Terms of the lease have not been disclosed. The 132,870-square-foot office building is the perfect location for NCR, according to Peter Tulupman of NCR’s New York office. “It’s very close to where our current location is, and it’s going to enable the current and new locations in Duluth to function as one campus to accommodate the needs of NCR’s new global headquarters in Duluth,” he says. “Upon their announcement in June, they were actively seeking a new home that had a headquarters feel, something that looked like they would be proud to be in,” says Lauren Salas of the Gwinnett Chamber. “That’s definitely what they’ve found in the location they’ve chosen.” NCR’s lease is a significant deal in the current Duluth office market, and Salas thinks the move will help jumpstart office activity. “We’re really fortunate to have them occupy this …

Brownstown, Mich. — With most of the recent news surrounding General Motors Corp. (GM) consisting of plant closings and downsizing, a signal that the company may be on the rebound can be seen in its recent leasing of a 166,144-square-foot industrial facility in the Detroit suburb of Brownstown. The company plans to use the facility, which is located at 20001 Brownstown Center within Brownstown Business Center, as a battery pack assembly plant that will manufacture lithium-ion batteries primarily for the company’s first extended-range electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt. GM plans to invest $43 million to lease, renovate and retool the facility. Once it is operational in the fourth quarter of 2010, it will be the first lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in the country operated by a major auto manufacturer. The opening will coincide with the launch of the Chevrolet Volt, which will begin production in 2010 as a 2011 model. The plant will be part of a wholly owned subsidiary of GM known as GM Subsystem Manufacturing LLC. Equipment installation is currently under way at the new facility. The Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant will operate closely with GM’s Global Battery Systems Lab in Warren, Mich., which opened in June. The …

ATLANTA — Parsippany, N.J.-based Skanska USA Building has begun working to return the Westin Peachtree Plaza in downtown Atlanta to its original form, replacing the building’s 6,350 windows more than a year after a tornado shattered the 73-story hotel’s façade. Guests will continue to stay at the 1,068-room property during the project, which is expected to take approximately 15 months. Though most of the building’s windows were unharmed in the tornado, Skansa will replace every piece of glass on the outside of the hotel, which was originally built in 1976. “Over a 30-year period of time, the sun has begun to fade the finish,” says John Reyhan of Skanska. “A new piece of glass that’s been installed adjacent to an existing piece of glass is going to have a different shade, a different texture.” Each pane of glass, which together will amount to 600 tons, will be recycled. The local architect Arnold & Associates and the Atlanta-based manufacturer Harmon Glass round out the project team. During installation, 60 to 70 workers will focus on a bank of five floors at a time. Starting at the restaurant on the top of the building and working down, workers will replace windows on …

LOUISVILLE, KY. — An affiliate of Centro Properties Group has sold the 422,000-square-foot Springhurst Towne Center to D. Talmage Hocker, Brad Anderson and a group of Louisville investors for $42.4 million. The property, located at the intersection of Westport Road and Interstate 265, is anchored by Target and Meijer. Springhurst also houses Kohl’s, T.J. Maxx, Dick’s Sporting Goods and dressbarn. Due to the current economy, searching for a buyer was a painstaking process. Oak Brook, Ill.-based May Center Advisors brought the deal on the market for Centro right as stocks were plummeting and Bernie Madoff was being carted off to court. “In this market, you’re not just looking for somebody to make an offer, you’re looking for the group that has the strongest probability of getting to the finish line,” says John May of MCA. “[The buyers] came to the table and seemed to make the most sense for the property and also had put together the best financial engineering structure to actually get this closed in a difficult market.” U.S. Bank provided financing for the transaction, which proved to be a huge selling point for Centro Properties. “There’s a very strong relationship between the buyer and that lender,” May …

CHARLOTTE AND WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — CGRE Holdings has purchased a portfolio of 22 medical office buildings from Winston-Salem-based Novant Health for $122 million in a sale-leaseback transaction. Under the agreement, Novant Health will continue to occupy the buildings under a 15-year lease at market rents. The properties are located in Winston-Salem and Charlotte. Novant’s largest holdings in the area include the 961-bed Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem and the 531-bed Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. The company approached Colliers Turley Martin Tucker in May 2008 for advice in the best way to structure its holdings. “They were looking to raise cash for future growth of their operations,” says Thomas Powers of Colliers Turley’s Cincinnati office. Powers, along with John Huguenard of the firm’s Indianapolis office, represented Novant in the sale. “There was a determination that their resources were better used in other means than owning real estate that was illiquid.” CGRE was not represented in the transaction. The deal took more than a year to complete because of the current state of the real estate market. According to Thomas, the buyer had to get creative and had to obtain financing through non-traditional means. The biggest roadblock to the deal, however, was …

WINSTON SALEM, N.C. — Winston Salem-based BB&T Corp. has purchased the banking operations of Montgomery, Ala.-based Colonial Bank and will convert the institution’s 354 branches in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and two other states to the BB&T brand. At the time of purchase, Colonial Bank carried $25 billion in assets and $20 billion in deposits. The bank also had plans to sell 44 branches in Texas and Nevada; BB&T has not made a decision on retaining those properties. The acquisition was put into motion when the Alabama State Banking Department closed Colonial Bank and appointed the FDIC the institution’s receiver. BB&T will assume the deposits and $22 billion of the assets, with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. planning to dispose of the remainder at a later date. A loss-sharing agreement between BB&T and the FDIC will cover all loans and securities acquired in the transaction. BB&T also worked with the FDIC in the December purchase of Duluth, Ga.-based Haven Trust Bank. The purchase of Colonial’s holdings is the largest transaction in BB&T’s history and will make the bank the fourth biggest in Alabama and the fifth biggest in Florida. “We’re gaining solid market shares in great markets,” BB&T CEO Kelly King …

WASHINGTON D.C. — The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday that they had approved an extension to the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), including the newest provisions for commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS). While the Treasury noted that conditions in the financial markets have improved in recent months, facilities for CMBS and other consumer and business loans are still impaired. As such, TALF will be extended on newly issues asset backed securities (ABS) and legacy CMBS loans through March 31, 2010. Because CMBS deals can take a longer time to arrange, the Fed and Treasury approved TALF lending against newly issued CMBS through June 30, 2010. The Fed and Treasury also announced on Monday that, at present, it will not be expanding the TALF program to other types of collateral. — Randy Shearin