With the participation of Vornado and others, Miami Beach-headquartered LNR, a diversified real estate company and special servicer of commercial mortgage loans and CMBS, has achieved a comprehensive recapitalization of its balance sheet.

The project will be constructed in phases, with the first stage carrying a development price tag of $650 million. Phase I will consist of a 500-room hotel to be designed by architectural firm Gensler, with approximately 40,000 square feet of meeting space.

The restaurant chain says it plans to increase its location count by at least 15 to 20 percent annually over the next several years.

According to Fitch, the 133-basis-point climb from the first quarter is consistent with the firm’s expectation of an 11 percent cumulative default rate by the end of the year.

According to foreclosure specialist RealtyTrac, 154 of the 206 U.S. metro areas with populations of at least 200,000 saw more foreclosure activity during the first half of 2010 as they did in 2009. Slightly more optimistically, however, foreclosure activity decreased in nine of the 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rates.

In Michigan, Southfield’s loss will be Detroit’s gain now that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has committed to relocating to the 5.5 million-square-foot mixed-use GM Renaissance Center.

The transaction boosts KBS-purchased commercial real estate to more than 3.5 million square feet thus far in 2010. That square footage includes properties in Dallas, St. Louis, San Diego, Portland and Herndon, Va.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services has taken 40,257 square feet, while MarkLogic Corp. has nearly doubled its occupancy by expanding into an additional 18,630 square feet, making for a total of 40,268 square feet.

Rosemont, Ill.-based ACG Equities has made a 100 percent equity purchase of Atlanta’s Vinings Main mixed-use commercial and residential condominium development, which fell into foreclosure last December.

The expansion will address a demand that has been on the rise since 2007, when the hospital opened its new location at the 227-acre Anschutz Medical Campus, a recently developed education, research and patient care complex.