Vornado Realty Trust has benefited from LNR Property Group’s recapitalization process by grabbing a 26.2 percent interest in the company through a cash infusion of $116 million and an agreement to convert a $15 million mezzanine loan into equity. With the participation of Paramus, N.J.-based 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.

Vornado represents just one piece of LNR’s recapitalization endeavor. LNR managed to raise an aggregate $417 million in equity from a list of participants, including affiliated funds and managed accounts of iStar Financial Inc., Cerberus Capital Management L.P. and Oaktree Capital Management L.P. With the new equity, along with the assistance of a little cash on hand and the elimination of an outstanding $450 million of Senior Notes issued by Riley HoldCo Corp, LNR’s parent company, LNR has whittled its debt down from $1.3 billion to about $425 million.

The $116 million that Vornado plunked down for a sizeable stake in LNR was not the only financial commitment the REIT made this week. Vornado joined forces with Geyser Holdings in an agreement to acquire four long-term ground leases and the corresponding underlying real property parcels at Atlantic City’s Boragata Hotel Casino and Spa from MGM Resorts for $73 million.

Fitch Ratings is reporting that defaults on fixed-rate conduit U.S. CMBS loans are continuing at a record pace, with cumulative defaults rising to 9.5 percent through June 2010.

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.

“Not surprisingly,” the firm wrote in a report on Friday, “recent vintages are driving the pace of defaults. … Loans are considered defaulted if they have been reported 60+ days delinquent at least once.”

Fitch managing director Mary MacNeill said in the report that large, highly leveraged loans are adding to the rising rate of defaults, with 14 loans greater than 100 million defaulted in 2010.

In conjunction with Brookfield Asset Management’s recapitalization of bankrupt mall REIT General Growth Properties, Brookfield president Steve Douglas has resigned to become executive vice president and chief financial officer at General Growth.

Brookfield has not yet replaced Douglas, the firm said.

General Growth went bankrupt last year. It is now exiting from bankruptcy due to the recapitalization.

“We thank Steve for his invaluable contributions to the success of Brookfield Properties,” Brookfield chief executive officer Ric Clark said. “We thank Steve for his invaluable contributions to the success of Brookfield properties and wish him well as he joins General Growth.”

Brookfield owns, develops and manages office properties, with a current portfolio of 93 properties totaling 70 million square feet in New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa.

Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user taberandrew

Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II, Inc. has entered into a $25 million secured revolving credit facility with Bank of America, N.A.

The credit facility, which matures on July 19, 2012, may be extended at the option of Grubb & Ellis for an additional year upon certain conditions. It bears interest at a rate equal to LIBOR plus 3.75 percent or 5 percent, whichever is greater.

“This credit facility further strengthens our ability to execute our business plan and more rapidly expand the portfolio of Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II,” Grubb & Ellis chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Hanson said when announcing the news. “Particularly for a new REIT like ours, now is an exceptional time in the market cycle to acquire assets and Bank of America is supporting this effort.”

The credit facility may be used for funding property acquisitions as well as for other general corporate purposes.

Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II seeks to raise up to approximately $3 billion in equity along with acquiring a diversified portfolio of real estate assets, focusing primarily on medical office buildings and other healthcare-related facilities.

Commercial real estate investment management firm Pembrook Capital Management has provided a $47.1 million, 24-month fixed-rate loan to recapitalize 100 11th Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

The condominiums have been completed and 26 of 54 units sold. The loan was closed within three weeks from the date the owners signed the loan application.

100 11th Street is a 23-story tower designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. It sits at the intersection of 19th Street and the West Side Highway along the Hudson River.

“We are very pleased to be able to play a pivotal role in the ongoing success of such a beautiful addition to the Manhattan skyline,” Pembrook founder and CEO Stuart Boesky said when announcing the news. He added that the transaction was originated by Los Angeles-based employee Jonathan Schurgin, who worked with Meridian Capital to make the deal happen.

Pembrook provides capital to developers and owners of real estate on a national basis through the acquisition and/or origination of real estate debt and equity. The firm also participates in the distressed debt markets.

Seventeen months after overwhelming debt and a hobbled gaming industry led to its bankruptcy filing, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., along with a group of its subsidiaries, has exited Chapter 11 reorganization, leaving behind approximately $1.3 billion in debt. The newly reorganized Atlantic City, N.J.-based casino resort owner even gets to keep the Trump name on its Atlantic City casinos.

Trump Entertainment is the owner and operator of three Atlantic City casino resorts accounting for an aggregate 3,600 guestrooms. The group of properties consists of Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, both of which are on the city’s famed Boardwalk, and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in the Marina District.

Trump Entertainment’s official emergence from bankruptcy came soon after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission green lighted the reorganization plan, which had also garnered the blessing of real estate mogul Donald J. Trump, who originally founded the company but resigned from its board just days before the Feb. 17, 2009 bankruptcy filing. Seventeen months has made all the difference. Trump Entertainment is now in good shape with $225 million of new equity, $125 million of which will be utilized to pay down pre-petition debt.

The reorganization plan has also put Mark Lasry, Chairman and CEO of global investment firm Avenue Capital Group–the firm that acted as lead bondholder while Trump Entertainment made its way through the reorganization process–in the position of Chairman of the Board of the new entity, as well as its largest shareholder. Mark Juliano is the company’s CEO, as well as a member of the new board. “Our company is now well-capitalized and possesses a long-term strategy for growth,” Juliano noted in a prepared statement. “Our new board of directors and ownership group have made it clear that they are dedicated to the success of the company over both the short and long terms.”

The gaming market has not yet recovered from the economic crisis, but some casino companies that fell victim to it and the credit crunch have managed to get back in the game. Earlier this month, Greektown Holdings L.L.C., owner of the Detroit, Michigan’s Greektown Casino, emerged from bankruptcy, minus $500 million in debt.

Continuing to spread its wings, Starwood Property Trust has announced $175 million in capital commitments. The company will invest in three separate transactions: $138 million for a renovation loan on the Hyatt Regency New Orleans; the purchase of an $85 million subordinate first mortgage loan secured by a regional mall in Ohio, bought at a discount for $68.6 million; and the $45.5 million participation in a B-note secured by four British resorts for the discounted price of $37.4 million.

The company, which will release its second-quarter earnings data on July 22, yesterday debuted the Romanos luxury resort in Greece. It focuses primarily on originating, investing in, financing and managing commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt investments.

“These investments offer attractive rates of return on high-quality assets that reflect the company’s expertise in originating and buying loans, as well as its ability to transact in scale,” Starwood head of real estate fixed income Leo Huang said when announcing the news. “We remain focused on safety and yield.”

The hotel loan matures in July 2016, while the mall loan matures in August 2017. The corporate loan matures in October 2013.

Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user Krikit

It’s almost a done deal. Toronto, Ont.-based RioCan has waived due diligence conditions and firmed up a contract to acquire eight Texas shopping centers with Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc. in an 80/20 joint venture agreement. RioCan will plunk down $123.3 million for its majority stake, leaving Inland Retail to hold on to a minority interest in the assets that it acquired within the last several years.

RioCan and Inland Western announced the formation of their institutional joint venture in May. The eight new format and grocery-anchored assets of which RioCan will now acquire 80 percent account for approximately 1.1 million square feet of retail space in the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin markets. The Houston portion of the portfolio includes the 311,300-square-foot Riverpark Shopping Center, the 87,900-square-foot Bear Creek Shopping Center, the 148,000-square-foot New Forest Crossing and the 116,400-square-foot Cypress Mill Plaza. The Dallas-Fort Worth assets encompass Suntree Square, a 96,500-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center; the 91,400-square-foot Coppell Town Center grocery-anchored property; and Great Southwest Crossing, a 92,300-square-foot new format retail center. Rounding out the portfolio is Southpark Meadows I, a 266,800-square-foot new format retail center in Austin.

The $123.3 million that RioCan will pay for its portion of the joint venture endeavor consists of a $55.1 million net equity investment and the assumption of a $68.2 million portion of existing mortgage debt. For RioCan, the transaction will allow the REIT, Canada’s largest, to continue its quest of acquiring premium quality defensive assets in major markets with growth potential.

For Inland Western’s part, the partnership with RioCan paves the way for the company to make good on one of its 2010 initiatives: execute future accretive asset acquisitions through joint ventures.

The portfolio purchase is on target to close in stages, subject to lender consents, during the third quarter of this year.

Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user cote

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc., has pinned down financing for its recently acquired Deaconess Portfolio in Evansville, Ind. The company has entered into a $21.3 million loan agreement with Goldman Sachs Commercial Mortgage Capital, L.P. with an interest rate of 4.9 percent.

The Deaconess Portfolio is comprised of five medical office buildings in strategic locations on or adjacent to a hospital or clinic campus. It covers 260,500 square feet of gross leasable area and is 100 percent master-leased to Deaconess Clinic, Inc.

“The strong fundamentals of our current assets have allowed us the ability to put quality financing in place as we continue to grow and prudently manage our balance sheet,” HTA chief financial officer Kellie Pruitt said. “Leveraging these well-positioned assets allows us to continue to deploy capital into the market to grow our portfolio and to increase stockholder value.”

Since the beginning of the year, HTA has acquired $210.9 million in medical office and healthcare-related assets. Since its formation in 2006, HTA has made 65 acquisitions valued at $1.71 billion. These include 200 buildings and two other real estate-related assets.

Courtesy Flickr Creative Commons user citta-vita

Real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle has enhanced its retail services through the acquisition of bankrupt shopping-center REIT General Growth Properties’ management and leasing responsibilities for properties in GGP’s third-party management division.

The joint venture adds more than 11 million square feet to JLL’s retail portfolio of 84 million square feet in the Americas and 265 million square feet worldwide. Additionally, more than 200 GGP employees will now become JLL employees.

“The opportunity to partner with General Growth Properties and bring these properties into our portfolio allows us to be able to provide our strategic services to new and existing clients, help these owners maximize the value of their assets, welcome more than 200 talented retail experts into our team and expand our portfolio with 18 quality regional malls and community centers across the country,” Jones Lang LaSalle Retail president Greg Maloney said when announcing the news.

Properties involved in the deal include the Alexandria Mall in Alexandria, La.; Branson Landing in Branson, Mo.; Burbank Town Center in Burbank, Calif.; Cherokee Square Shopping Center in Tullahoma, Tenn.; Festival Bay Mall in Orlando, Fla.; and The Shops at Georgetown Park in Washington, DC.