Landmark Infrastructure to be acquired by sponsor; Mass. office trades for $825M

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of real estate news stories published throughout the week.

Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC bolstered its portfolio during the second quarter, doubling its stake in industrial real estate investment trust First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. and increasing its holdings in healthcare REIT Ventas Inc. by almost double, according to an investor filing.

First Industrial Realty Trust is now the activist investment firm's second-largest position by market value.

It cut its stakes in self-storage REIT Public Storage, theme park operator Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and casino REIT VICI Properties Inc.

M&A front

* Landmark Infrastructure Partners LP agreed to be acquired by its sponsor, Landmark Dividend LLC, for $16.50 per common unit, reflecting a premium of 38% to the unaffected unit price May 14, the last business day prior to the announcement of Landmark Dividend's proposed acquisition at an initial price of $13.00 per common unit.

Big ticket property deals

* Oxford Properties Group Inc. and a fund advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives sold the 17-story One Memorial Drive office building in Cambridge, Mass., to Metlife Investment Management LLC and Norges Bank Investment Management for $825.1 million. The property spans 409,422 square feet and is fully leased long term to InterSystems Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

* Landmark Properties Inc. and Blackstone Inc.'s Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. formed a $784 million student housing joint venture. The platform will recapitalize and acquire eight class A student-housing properties totaling 5,416 beds across the U.S.

* City Office REIT Inc. signed two deals to sell its life-sciences holdings in the Sorrento Mesa submarket of San Diego for $576 million.

* Industrial real estate investment trust Granite REIT made a roughly C$330.7 million purchase comprising one development property in Canada and five assets in the U.S. The U.S. assets span roughly 4.2 million square feet.

* Shorenstein Properties LLC bought two six-story office buildings in North San Jose, Calif., for $235 million from USAA Real Estate Co., The Real Deal reported. The properties have a combined area of 430,852 square feet.

Land & Buildings doubles down on First Industrial in Q2