On the heels of a major office building acquisition yesterday in Honolulu, as reported by CPN, Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. has bought the 370,400-square-foot U.S. Bank Center complex in Phoenix. The 31-story office structure is the second-tallest building in Arizona, after the Chase Tower, and the deal also includes a separate seven-level structure with additional parking and ground-floor retail space. Besides the bank of the same name, U.S. Bank Center’s major tenants include Jacobs Engineering Group, a major architectural and engineering firm, and Valley Metro Rail, which is overseeing the city’s new light rail transit project. Consistent with its…

Plans for one of the residential centerpieces of BLVD Place, a 21-acre mixed-use project being developed by Wulfe & Co. in Houston’s Uptown area, move forward with the purchase of a nearly 1.5-acre parcel at the site by Hanover Co. and MetLife Inc. Hanover and MetLife plan to build an upscale, 236-unit apartment building (pictured) on the land just acquired from Wulfe. The architectural firm of Solomom Cordwell and Buenz designed what will be a 37-story tower that will also feature a screening room, library and fitness facility. The building will be surrounded by the mixed-use development’s vast offerings, which…

The Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors have reached a settlement on an anti-trust suit regarding the listing of internet-based real estate brokers. NAR will now be required to allow internet-based brokers to compete with traditional real estate brokers. The DOJ brought suit against NAR, the industry’s trade organization, in order to level the playing field for the internet outfits and increase consumers’ choice and competition in the real estate industry. NAR has agreed to a 10-year agreement to abide by the terms of the settlement. DOJ initially filed suit against NAR in 2005, charging that its…

Adding to its Honolulu office presence and increasing its status as Hawaii’s largest office building owner, Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc., the West Coast office building REIT, acquired the Kalakaua Business Center in Waikiki district for an undisclosed amount. The Class A office building is located at the entrance to one of the world’s leading visitor destinations. The Kalakaua Business Center has approximately 152,000 leasable square feet on nine floors and includes 29,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. Its location on the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Beach Walk is immediately adjacent to the new Waikiki Beach Walk…

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust today announced that it has commenced a greenfield development, building on previously undeveloped land, in Vaughan, Ontario. The development is a joint venture with Trinity Development Group Inc. and Strathallen Capital Corp. Vaughan is located at the southwest corner of Highway 27 and Langstaff Road at Highway 427 Extension in the greater Toronto area. Upon completion, this ‘new format retail’ center will total approximately 504,000 square feet of leasable area. Phase one of the project features approximately 262,000 square feet. A Wal-Mart Supercentre, holding a land lease, will occupy approximately 213,000 square feet and the…

Gazit Brasil, a subsidiary of Gazit-Globe, Israel’s largest publicly traded real estate investment company, said today it had acquired its second property in Brazil, a shopping center under development in Caxias do Sul.The company paid $24 million in cash for the property and said it expected to invest another $14 million to complete the development. Gazit Brasil bought the site from a group comprised of about 300 separate owners. Located within walking distance of the city center, the shopping center will have 16,300 square meters. Leasing is under way and the company said it already has a number of signed…

Dublin-based Quinlan Private, an international private equity and real estate group, has raised $615 million (€400 million) of equity capital from US investors for its Quinlan Private European Strategic Real Estate Fund. The fund is the group’s first one open to American investors, and according to Quinlan it proved quite popular among US institutional investors, endowments, foundations, life companies and high net worth individuals. “There’s a strong degree of interest among US investors in European properties, and the fund has been able to capitalize on that, and build further awareness in the investment community of opportunities in that part of…

Boston Properties Inc. has emerged the winner of the the GM building in New York City–and seller Macklowe Properties will live to fight another day, as the two cut a deal worth $3.96 billion over the Memorial Day weekend, the buyer has reported. The portfolio includes the GM trophy plus 540 Madison Ave., 125 West 55th St. and Two Grand Central Tower. The General Motors Building (pictured) is an approximately 2,000,000 rentable square foot office building located at the corner of 5th Avenue and Central Park South in New York City. 540 Madison Avenue is a 39-story building located at…