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H&R Real Estate Investment Trust has announced the completion of the sale of eleven retail properties. The firm netted approximately $72 million from the transaction. The company expects approximately a $9 million return on sale. The buildings are in the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. They total 1.1 million square feet of leasable retail space. The individual buildings range in size from 5,000 square feet to the 284,000 square feet. H&R expects to use the revenue generated from the sale of the buildings to help fund the $330 million investment that the company has committed to three…

Colonial Properties Trust, a multi-family-focused REIT, is continuing its plan to dispose of older assets by selling five apartment communities in two transactions for a total of $81.8 million. The buyer or buyers were not identified.The wholly-owned properties, which have a total of 1,250 units, are Cottonwood Crossing, Colonial Village at Bedford and Colonial Village at Bear Creek, all in Fort Worth, Texas; Colonial Village at Pear Ridge in Dallas and Colonial Grand at Shelby Farms I and II in Memphis, Tenn. The average age of the Texas properties was 23 years and the average age of the Shelby Farms…

After spending the last few months attaining all the requisite approvals from various gaming commissions and boards, Penn National Gaming has put the kibosh on its proposed $8.9 billion merger with PNG Acquisition Company Inc., an entity involving funds managed by Fortress Investment Group L.L.C. and Centerbridge Partners L.P. affiliates. News of the deal’s demise comes just one month after Wyomissing, Pa.-based Penn National announced the extension of the merger agreement’s end date from June 15 to October 15 of this year. As per terms of the agreement, PNG would have shelled out $67 per Penn National share for a…

Wells Real Estate Investment Trust II has acquired Lindbergh Center, a groundbreaking, transit-oriented development in Atlanta’s Buckhead area, in a sale-leaseback from AT&T. Terms of the acquisition were not announced. The deal is Wells REIT II’s second acquisition from AT&T in Buckhead in as many months. This spring the REIT acquired five buildings at nearby Lenox Park from the telecommunications giant. Lindbergh Center (pictured) includes twin 14-story, Class-A office buildings connected by a four-story atrium, totaling 955,000 square feet. It is located at Piedmont Rd. and Lindbergh Dr., adjacent to the Lindbergh station, a transfer point and the second-busiest station…

Fox Interactive Media has completed a lease agreement with Lincoln Property Co. and ASB Real Estate Investments to lease 421,000 square feet of office space at the Horizon at Playa Vista project near Los Angeles.The signed lease is for a period of 12 years and has been priced in the range of $350 million, according to sources with Lincoln Property. “Fox Interactive is not just another tenant,” said Playa Vista chairman Steve Soboroff. “They are an economic driver for the entire region. We might even have to change our name from Playa Vista to Silicon Valley South.” News Corporation’s interactive…

As part of its transformation strategy, Starbucks Corp. has revealed plans to close 600 stores in the United States. Starbucks, which previously announced plans to close 100 U.S. stores, announced the closings after an internal review identified potential stores for closure. The stores were chosen based on poor location that impacted a store’s profitability and poor revenue projections. All impacted stores are scheduled to close by the first half of fiscal 2009. With the closings of the stores, the company will be eliminating part-time and full-time jobs at the retail level. The timeline for the closings of the individual stores…

Kushner Cos. has sold a controlling interest in the 90,000 square feet of retail space at 666 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan to The Carlyle Group and Crown Acquisitions for $525 million, the companies announced today. The sale will reportedly help Kushner pay off short-term debt incurred by the then-record $1.8 billion purchase in January 2007 of the trophy building. Citing a Bloomberg report, an April 25 CPN story said the deal with Carlyle and Kushner was in the works. The deal calls for Carlyle and Crown Acquisitions to own a 49 percent stake in the ground-floor retail at the prestigious…

Lightstone Value Plus REIT will soon have a stake in 20 factory outlet centers, now that it has signed on purchase from 22.54 to 25 percent interests in the properties from affiliates of Arbor Mortgage REIT. The transaction, which involves assets with an aggregate 7.3 million square feet of space, is valued at $456 million. Lightstone REIT will acquire 25 percent of Arbor’s Prime Outlets Acquisition Co., which owns 18 factory outlet centers in 15 states including: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The transaction also includes the REIT’s…

Prince Charles is planning to launch a £1 billion property fund that will invest in sustainable building projects, according to a report in London’s SundayTelegraph.A heavyweight team of property executives has been lined up to run the fund, called Tellesma, and Credit Suisse will raise money for the fund from Middle Eastern investors. Ian Henderson, former CEO of Land Securities, has been appointed as chairman. Mark Collins, who was Land Securities’ COO, will serve as chief executive of the new fund. A third of the fund will be owned by The Prince’s Charities, which will benefit from the fund’s profits….

Two large Austrian developers, Immofinanz AG and Immoeast AG, announced today that they have agreed to buy Constantia Privatbank AG real estate unit for $695 million. The two developers are creating a jointly held new company, I&I Real Estate Asset Management AG, with Constantia Privatbanks’ real estate division to be incorporated into this new company. Constantia’s business units include an asset management platform; an open-ended real estate fund with investments in Germany and Austria; a property and facility management arm; and a brokerage company. When the transaction is completed, Immoeast will acquire 60 percent of the shares in the new…