Taken as a whole, 2011 was something of a tumultuous year, but an interesting time for commercial real estate. CPE presents our top 11 stories from 2011.

Bell Partners has purchased three communities, encompassing an aggregate 682 units and located in Florida, Texas and South Carolina, for approximately $76 million.

Five remarkable women were awarded CREW Network’s 2011 Impact Awards. CPE offers videotaped insights and written profiles of these pioneers, negotiators and mediators — specializing in development, service and finance.

Survey participants predict that 2012 will see more properties for sale but diminished buyer enthusiasm.

Cotswold Village and Terraces at SouthPark, two retail destinations accounting for an aggregate 291,200 square feet, have traded for an aggregate $85 million from the books of Bell Partners onto those of DDR Corp.

In a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII has purchased 36 shopping centers from Equity One, Inc., for $473.1 million, including $177.4 million in mortgage debt.

Lenders are slowly becoming less shy about doling out financing loans, and the Oasis at Waipahu apartment community near Honolulu and the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel in Raleigh, N.C., have garnered an aggregate $103.5 million.

After purchasing the PetSmart headquarters in Phoenix last week for $102 million, Cole Real Estate has added 11 PetSmart store properties to its portfolio for a purchase price of $74 million.

The lending community’s interest in financing development projects is evident, and HFF has just orchestrated $44 million in financing for multi-family projects in Raleigh, N.C., and the suburbs of New York City.

The week started with an earthquake and it’s ending with a hurricane, as Irene nears the East Coast in what could potentially be the strongest storm in the last two decades.