ATLANTA-The Oak Brook, IL-based retail REIT paid $57.9 million for a total 372,490 sf leased at 100% in two properties and 95% in the third. The assets are the 247,521-sf Sycamore Commons near Charlotte; the 75,929-sf Wakefield Crossing in Raleigh; and the 49,040-sf Sexton Commons in Faqua Varina.

PHILADELPHIA-A conservation easement on the estate of the late Henry Francis du Pont is awarded to Chadds Ford, PA-based Brandywine Conservancy, preserving the land and adding to the conservancy's more than 37,000 protected acres in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware.

ATLANTA-The proposed multi-million-dollar expansion, more than 10 times the size of the existing Piedmont Triad Research Park in Downtown Winston-Salem, includes a research campus for Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

ATLANTA-The Miami-based division of Adler Group pays $104.17 per sf for the 12-year-old, 92%-occupied, 72,000-sf office property at 1455 Old Alabama Road. Rents are between $18 per sf and $20 per sf, according to GlobeSt.com research.

ATLANTA-The Boston-based investor acquired the 97,899-sf, Publix-anchored shopping center in affluent East Cobb County from San Francisco-based ABM Property for about $163 per sf.

ATLANTA-In a blow to locally based Jacoby Development's 140-acre Atlantic Station, the $200-million aquarium, touted as a major attraction for the redevelopment, will locate on nine acres at Coca-Cola's 21-acre Downtown property where a new World of Coca-Cola museum is planned.

PHILADELPHIA-The average vacancy rate for industrial properties in the four Pennsylvania counties surrounding Philadelphia remains stable at just under 10%, according to the second-quarter research from the local office of Trammell Crow. Southern Jersey's newer buildings pose strong competition.

PHILADELPHIA-The local insurance brokerage renews its lease and adds 6,049 sf at One Penn Square West, also known as The Graham Building. The average asking rate in Center City has dropped to $22.60 per sf.