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AMB Property Corp., through an affiliate, has acquired the remaining 42 percent of G. Accion S.A. de C.V. that it had not previously owned. The purpose of the transaction was, according to AMB, to create a fully integrated platform from which the company will continue to develop, lease, acquire and operate industrial real estate in Mexico. Currently, San Francisco-based AMB’s Mexican portfolio totals about 9.2 million square feet of operating and under-development facilities, and land capable of supporting roughly 6.8 million square feet of further development. Target markets for AMB include Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Queretaro, Reynosa and Tijuana. Demand…

In a project that will span 50 years and three bases in three states, Balfour Beatty Communities of Newtown Square, Pa., will develop, manage and maintain 2,435 housing units for the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. The three bases are Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Wash.; Travis Air Force Base, near Fairfield, Calif.; and Tinker Air Force Base, near Oklahoma City. The West Military Housing Privatization Project will begin with a seven-year Initial Development Period and includes the design, construction and/or renovation, management, and maintenance of the housing units. It falls under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, which…

Plans for the development of University Gateway (pictured), an upscale mixed-use student housing development across from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, move forward with the closing of financing for the 421-unit project. With the assistance of commercial real estate capital intermediary Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., developers Urban Partner L.L.C., Real Estate Capital Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Advisors attained funding totaling $167.5 million in the form of a construction loan and joint venture equity. Wells Fargo’s Merchant Banking Group provided the fully underwritten construction loan, while RCG Longview Equity Fund L.P. supplied the equity for what will…

Brookfield Properties Corp. has just pocketed approximately $420 million on the sale of its 50 percent stake in the TD Canada Trust Tower in Toronto to ownership partner OMERS Realty Corp. The 1.1 million-square-foot office high-rise is part of Brookfield Place, a 2.6 million-square-foot office and retail complex located on a 5.5-acre parcel in the city’s financial district. Developed in 1990 and designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects & Engineers, the 51-story TD Canada Trust Tower also features 17,000 square feet of retail space. Tenants at the 100 percent-leased property include Lehman Brothers, CIBC World Markets and TD Bank, which…

Hilton Hotels Corporation has celebrated a new milestone in the construction of the Hilton Orlando with a topping off ceremony. The 19-story building broke ground in May of 2007 and is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2009. The hotel, connected to the Orange County/Orlando Convention Center, will increase the convention center’s size and will add 1,400 hotel rooms for guests. Additionally, the three-winged Hilton Orlando will add 200,000 square feet to the convention center’s meeting room capacity on two separate floors. The largest new areas will be the 50,000 square foot Orlando Ballroom and the 30,000 square…

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has secured $54 million in financing on Paxton Towne Centre, the company’s 703,000-square-foot shopping center in Harrisburg, Pa., less than 15 miles from Philadelphia. The transaction marks PREIT’s third financing deal within the last month. PREIT locked in on a mortgage loan on Paxton Towne Centre at a fixed rate of 5.837 percent for the initial term of the three-year loan, which comes with the option of two one-year extensions. U.S. Bank National Association, lead arranger and administrative agent on the transaction, provided the financing along with Aareal Capital Corp., which acted as syndication agent….

In its fourth major personnel appointment in just a few months, distribution facility giant ProLogis has announced that Philip Dunne will join the company in the new position of COO/Europe and the Middle East. Dunne, the former COO/Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Jones Lang LaSalle, will assume his new role on Dec. 1. A ProLogis spokesperson told CPN that Dunne will be based in Amsterdam and will report to Gary Anderson, ProLogis president of Europe and the Middle East. At JLL, Dunne led the execution of business strategy across the EMEA region and also spent five years as…

Ground has just broken in Seattle on what will become the new home of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The multi-structure green headquarters campus (pictured) will encompass 900,000 square feet, including a visitor center, and will cost $500 million to complete. Carrying the address of 500 Fifth Avenue North, the new Gates Foundation campus will occupy a 12-acre parcel across from the renowned Space Needle. The site will sprout two six-story office structures, a convening center and a 15,000-square-foot visitor center designed by Ralph Applebaum & Associates. NBBJ is the lead architectural firm for the complex, which is being…

ING Clarion Partners L.L.C. has sold the Roosevelt Raceway Center in Westbury, N.Y. The New York office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. announced the finalization of the $103 million sale and arranged financing, representing the buyers, the Mattone Group and Gartenstein Properties, who put up $32.3 million in cash. The property consists of 427,000 square feet of retail stores and condominiums. The deal also included a $70.7 million fixed-rate loan from New York Community Bank. The Roosevelt Raceway Center , located on Corporate Drive in the suburb of Westbury in Nassau County, Long Island, was completed in 1995. It was…

AFIAA, a Zurich-based foundation investing in international real estate, has made its first purchase in Texas, acquiring the landmark Wells Fargo Tower in Downtown Austin from Aspen Properties Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The 280,000-square-foot, 17-story building at 400 W. 15th St. was built in 1981 and is 96 percent occupied by corporate clients including Wells Fargo, IBM Corp. and Deloitte and Touch L.L.P. as well as many law firms. The Class A office building is located at the north end of the CBD close to the University of Texas at Austin campus and about four or five blocks from…