Despite a difficult environment for accessing debt for commercial real estate projects, about $25 million in construction financing has been secured for MetraMarket, a retail development in Chicago’s West Loop. U.S. Equities Realty, the project’s Chicago-based developer, says that the 100,000-square-foot MetraMarket (pictured) will get under way sometime next month. Located within the Ogilvie [...]

Five X Securities Inc. has just come on the real estate securities scene with industry hotshot Daniel Young at the helm. Young, former president & CEO of NFP Securities of Austin, Texas, will operate the new start-up from Oakton, Va., home base to its first client, multi-family real estate investment and operating company Mission Residential [...]

At a technical briefing this week, Shyam Sundar, lead investigator for the federal building and fire investigation of the World Trade Center disaster conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, revealed in detail how fire brought down the 7 World Trade Center building. The reports conclusions were first announced last week. The [...]

Chicago-based Equity Residential Inc. has closed on $550 million in financing, putting up 15 of its multi-family properties as collateral. Originated by Wells Fargo for repurchase by Fannie Mae, the secured interest only loan has an all-in effective interest rate of about 6 percent and matures in 11.5 years, the first 10.5 of which will [...]

Los Angeles-based Wilshire Finance Partners has introduced Wilshire Income Fund II, its second real estate mortgage pool fund. The fund will raise $100 million to make commercial property loans. This time around, however, the company will be able to welcome investors and borrowers from beyond the borders of the State of California. Wilshire Income Fund [...]

American Realty Capital L.L.C. has closed on a $53 million deal to acquire 39 bank branches from Wachovia Corp. Under an agreement to purchase Wachovia’s surplus bank branches, American Realty plans to buy more than 70 branch Wachovia locations over the next year.Of the 39 branches, 15 have sold primarily to financial institutions. Four more [...]

Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc. has closed the disposition of Main Plaza, selling the 607,000-square-foot trophy office complex in Irvine, Calif., to Shorenstein Properties L.L.C for $211 million including the assumption of $161 million of project level financing. The transaction reached completion two months after the parties entered into the agreement, and leaves Maguire with [...]

Four wellness centers operated by Life Time Fitness Inc. have come under the ownership of Senior Housing Properties Trust, courtesy of a $100 million deal. Life Time Fitness will continue to occupy the properties under a triple-net lease agreement through its subsidiary, LTF Real Estate Co. The deal calls for the company to pay SNH [...]

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., in an effort to both staunch its massive losses and tap into a burgeoning market for commercial real estate debt, is reportedly exploring a strategy that would have it set up a company to acquire some of its mortgage assets. The company would be capitalized by other investors. The plan, [...]

Developer Horizon Properties has received a $74 million forward permanent loan for the just-completed two-building, 384,000-square-foot corporate headquarters for CONSOL Energy Inc. in Canonsburg, Pa., a Pittsburgh suburb.The 10-year, fixed-rate financing was arranged by the Pittsburgh office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. through Nationwide Life Insurance Co. Mark Popovich, managing director of HFF’s Pittsburgh office, [...]