"stock"

NEW YORK — A wholly owned subsidiary of Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE:H) has acquired 100 percent of the 210-room Park Hyatt New York for $390 million. Park Hyatt New York is expected to open later this month. Located between 6th and 7th Avenues on West 57th Street in Manhattan, the hotel is within walking distance of Central Park and Carnegie Hall. “With its prominent location in one of the world’s most important markets and its elegant aesthetic, Park Hyatt New York will have a meaningful impact on the visibility and reputation of the Park Hyatt brand,” says Steve Haggerty, global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service for Hyatt Hotels Corp. “Park Hyatt New York is an excellent example of Hyatt using the strength of its balance sheet to enter markets like New York that have high barriers to entry. Acquiring whole ownership of the hotel gives us the flexibility to recycle the asset at the appropriate time,” adds Haggerty. Located within the 90-story glass tower that also houses One57, a luxury condominium residential development, the hotel was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc and developed by Extell Development Co. Yabu Pushelberg provided interior design for the …

SAN FRANCISCO­ ­— HFF (NYSE: HF) has arranged $480 million in construction financing for the development of a Class A office and luxury condominium in downtown San Francisco. HFF secured the loan for Jay Paul Co., a West Coast-based real estate development firm, through Starwood Property Trust. The LEED Platinum-certified, fully entitled property is located at 181 Fremont St. in the South Financial District. HFF brokered the sale of the asset in 2013 for an undisclosed amount. Jay Paul began construction on the tower shortly thereafter. The site is situated on approximately one-third of an acre and is connected to the new business district known as Transit Center District. Upon completion, the 55-story, mixed-use property will rise 802 feet and will be the tallest office and residential tower on the West Coast. The project features a state-of-the-art exoskeleton design with efficient column-free floor plates, panoramic city and bay views, and a direct connection via sky-bridge to the Transbay Transit Center’s 5.4-acre rooftop city park. Peter Smyslowski, Chris Gandy, Walter Chui and Brandon Roth of HFF led the debt placement team. “It was a privilege to play a small part in the development of what will be one of the most …

NEW YORK — The boards of directors of NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. (NYSE: NRF) and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc. have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which NorthStar Realty will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Griffin-American in a stock and cash transaction valued at $4 billion, including approximately $600 million of debt. “We set out to build a premium portfolio of diversified healthcare real estate in order to provide investors with an opportunity to realize a compelling return on their investment,” says Jeff Hanson, chairman and CEO of Griffin-American. “With this transaction, we have executed on our strategy, validating our investment thesis and delivering a strong result for stockholders.” Griffin-American’s portfolio is comprised of predominantly medical office buildings (43 percent) and seniors housing facilities (30 percent) in the United States and the United Kingdom, and is being acquired at an approximate 6.4 percent capitalization rate. Subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, Griffin-American stockholders will receive $11.50 per Griffin-American share, comprised of $7.75 per share in cash and $3.75 per share in NorthStar Realty common stock. The stock portion will be subject to a collar so that Griffin-American shareholders will receive 0.1859 NorthStar …

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cousins Properties Inc. (NYSE: CUZ) is under contract to buy Fifth Third Center in Charlotte for $215 million from Parmenter Realty Partners. The 30-story, 697,817-square-foot building is located at 201 N. Tryon St. in uptown Charlotte and was purchased by Parmenter Realty Fund IV in 2012. Will Yowell, Jay O’Meara and Patrick Gildea from CBRE represented Parmenter in the sale. “Fifth Third Center is a premier and iconic asset and was a solid performer in Parmenter Fund IV,” says Darryl Parmenter, chairman and chief executive officer of Parmenter Realty Partners. “We accelerated our business plan at the property and felt the time was right to sell. This will be the second asset from Parmenter Realty Fund IV that we have sold.” Parmenter made cosmetic improvements to the building and courtyard, renovated the main lobby, upgraded the elevators and mechanical systems and recommissioned the building’s energy management system. The building has been named one of the top three energy saving buildings for 2013 in Duke Energy’s Smart Energy Now program. Parmenter Realty Partners is a real estate investment, management and development firm headquartered in Miami with regional offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Washington D.C. For more information, visit …

BOSTON — MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) and Norges Bank Investment Management have purchased the One Beacon Street office tower in Boston for approximately $561 million. This is the joint venture’s second property investment in Boston and its fourth overall. “One Beacon Street in Boston adds a high-quality asset in a core market to our joint portfolio with Norges Bank Investment Management,” says Robert Merck, MetLife’s senior managing director and global head of real estate investments. MetLife and Norges Bank Investment Management acquired the 34-story office tower from a joint venture between Beacon Capital Partners and insurer Allianz. MetLife will own 52.5 percent of One Beacon Street and be the managing member, while Norges Bank Investment Management will own the remaining 47.5 percent. Located in Boston’s financial district, One Beacon Street is LEED Platinum-certified and offers more than 1 million square feet of office space. Built in 1973, One Beacon Street is currently about 85 percent leased to tenants such as the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, Standard Life Investments (USA) Limited and JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA. The joint venture between MetLife and Norges Bank Investment Management now has a real estate …

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Encore Restaurants LLC has acquired eight Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurants in Central California for an undisclosed sum. The restaurants are located in Elk Grove, Fresno, Lodi, Natomas, Roseville, Stockton, Tracy and West Sacramento. Encore plans to develop 45 more locations within the state in the next four years. It will initially focus on the Fresno area. “We have located the first 10 sites and will begin building the restaurants [in the] first quarter of 2015 in Fresno,” says William Ray Bruce, president of Encore Restaurants. “Our guests are asking for more locations in this trade area.” The existing restaurants are located from Fresno to South Lake Tahoe, and as far west as Napa County. “We plan on helping these communities with management personnel and many crew member positions,” says Bharat Sangani, chairman of Encore Enterprises. “By the end of our four-year development stretch we hope to bring upwards of 1,250 jobs to the region.” Encore Restaurants is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Encore Enterprises, a privately owned national real estate company. Encore develops, acquires, and manages hotels, multifamily communities, retail shopping centers, commercial offices and public-private mixed-use developments. Encore Restaurants develops, owns and manages specific territories …