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BOSTON ­— Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) has agreed to sell two office buildings in Boston’s Back Bay area for approximately $1.3 billion. The properties at 500 Boylston St. and 222 Berkeley St. will be acquired by a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Oxford Properties Group, according to Bloomberg Business. The properties reportedly attracted substantial interest from investors, including real estate investment trusts and sovereign-wealth funds. 500 Boylston St. is a 25-story, 706-862-square-foot building. Major tenants include Marshalls, MFS Investment Management, Newstar Financial, Talbots and Visnick & Caufield. 222 Berkley St. is a 22-story, 519,608-square building that shares a 1,000-car parking garage with 500 Boylston St. Tenants include, Bank of New York, HLM Management, Houghton Mifflin, Summit Partners and Regiment Capital. Blackstone has been selling office assets to take advantage of fierce demand for prime properties in major coastal markets. In April, Blackstone sold 26 Northern California properties totaling 8.2 million square feet, along with two development parcels, to Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. Blackstone’s sale of 500 Boylston St. and 222 Berkeley St. is expected to close in September. Blackstone’s stock closed Thursday, Aug. 13 at $38.16 per share, up from $33.54 a share a year ago.

INDIANAPOLIS — Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) continues to add to its massive retail portfolio with the opening of two new projects: Gloucester Premium Outlets in Gloucester Township, N.J., and the expansion of San Francisco Premium Outlets. With the expansion, San Francisco Premium Outlets is now the largest outlet center in California. The new 376,000-square-foot outlet mall in Gloucester Township serves shoppers in southern New Jersey and metro Philadelphia. The single-level, outdoor village-style shopping center features a racetrack design and a Market Hall that offers dining options, indoor and outdoor seating, a media center with flat screen televisions and free Wi-Fi. The mall’s tenant roster includes Armani Outlet, Banana Republic Factory Store, Calvin Klein, Cole Haan, Columbia Sportswear, Lucky Brand, Nike Factory Store, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armour and Vera Bradley. On the other side of the country, Simon has opened the 185,000-square-foot expansion of San Francisco Premium Outlets, an upscale outlet mall in San Francisco featuring retailers such as Burberry, Coach, Kate Spade New York, MaxMara, Michael Kors and Prada. The expansion adds 30 new stores to the development, including CH Carolina Herrera, Catimini, ECCO, Rag & Bone New York, Scotch & Soda, Ted Baker London, Tory Burch, UGG …

FAIRFIELD, CONN. — In a deal totaling $9 billion, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) has acquired $8.5 billion of healthcare-related loans from GE (NYSE: GE), along with the company’s Healthcare Financial Services (HFS) U.S. lending business. In a separate transaction, an unnamed buyer purchased $600 million of HFS real estate equity investments from GE. HFS provides financing to U.S. healthcare companies, sponsors, investors and developers across healthcare sectors including seniors housing, hospitals, medical offices, outpatient services, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Darren Alcus, president and CEO of HFS, will join Capital One. Capital One also will retain the HFS management team and employees. “We’re pleased to sell HFS to a company that is committed to expanding the business,” says Keith Sherin, CEO of GE. “Our customers, sponsors and HFS employees will benefit from the synergies of combining Capital One’s existing healthcare lending businesses with the expertise, relationships and experience of our highly regarded HFS team.” GE is looking to focus on its industrial businesses and is selling most GE Capital assets. GE and its board of directors have determined that market conditions are favorable to pursue disposition of those assets. “We are on track to reduce our ending net investment …

SAN DIEGO — Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC), a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Los Angeles, has closed the $258 million sale of four office campuses totaling nine buildings and 933,134 square feet in San Diego. The properties were 83 percent leased at the time of sale. The buyer was John Hancock, the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corp. (NYSE: MFC), a global life insurance company and real estate investor. The office portfolio consists of Sequence Technology Center at 6260, 6290, 6310, 6340 and 6350 Sequence Drive; Scripps Wateridge at 10770 Wateridge Circle; Sorrento Gateway at 4921 Directors Place; and Governor Pointe at 6200 and 6220 Greenwich Drive. The assets sold in separate transactions. “The sales prices in these transactions reflect strong investor demand for well-located, high-quality properties,” says John Kilroy, chairman, president and CEO of Kilroy Realty. The portfolio comprises two- and three-story office buildings located in central San Diego’s Sorrento Mesa and Governor Park office submarkets. Two of the nine buildings were vacant as of July, and the remaining seven buildings were leased to tenants in technology-based industries. Nick Psyllos, Ryan Gallagher, Michael Leggett and Nick Frasco of HFF marketed the portfolio on behalf …

MINOT, N.D. — Investors Real Estate Trust (NYSE: IRET) has closed on the sale of 34 commercial office properties for $250 million, netting the company $129 million in cash. The closing was the first of several portfolio sales the company anticipates will occur in its fiscal 2016 second quarter, which began Aug. 1. IRET previously announced it is divesting of its office and retail portfolios with the objective of focusing its portfolio strategy. Proceeds from the first sale will be reinvested in several projects including acquiring a $56 million multifamily property, commencing construction on a $31.5 million multifamily development and paying down $66 million on the company’s line of credit. “We are excited to be able to fully deploy our energy and focus on growing our multifamily segment,” says Tim Mihalick, CEO of IRET. “We see an excellent opportunity to be a best-in-class owner operator in this property segment.” Acquisitions/Developments: IRET has signed a purchase agreement for a 276-unit multifamily community in Rochester, Minn., for $56 million. The Class A townhome-style property will add to the company’s portfolio in the market. The company also will commence construction on a 202-unit Class A apartment community in a suburban market in Minneapolis. Share …