The Boston investment manager is putting its portfolio of 102 industrial properties with about 3.6 million square feet into a REIT that will focus on assets in that sector that are fully occupied by single tenants. Stag Industrial Inc. has registered to raise $300 million of equity through an initial public offering of its common shares.

J.I. Kislak Inc., a Miami-area owner and operator of apartment properties, is looking to increase its presence in Arizona, Florida and Texas by acquiring more than $200 million of properties in the coming years. The company is driven by what it says is a steady increase in rents in certain areas in which it operates.

The strength of downtown Pittsburgh's office market, in terms of vacancy and rents, has resulted in increased investment-sales activity. Four large office buildings or complexes, containing close to 13 percent of the market's nearly 23 million square feet, are currently for sale.

Two years after raising $420 million of equity commitments, two investment funds managed by Phoenix Realty Group have invested only about $105 million of the amount. But the multifamily investor's ability to find and close deals has recently improved.

The Los Angeles REIT has lined up fresh mortgage financing, allowing it to retire $250.7 million of debt, some of which is paid off at a discount to par. It had faced the maturity of $852.3 million of debt this year, the majority coming due this month and next. But in recent weeks, it's managed to whittle that down to zero.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched marketing for a $224.9 million portfolio of distressed multifamily and healthcare loans. The portfolio of 19 loans, 18 of which are backed by apartment properties, is being marketed through KDX Ventures, which will take offers on Sept. 9.

The Denver industrial REIT is on a selling spree in which it hopes to make $700 million to $800 million in United States property dispositions through the end of the year. Meanwhile, it plans to intensify its focus on development activity.

CMBS special servicers last month liquidated $762.9 million of loans, topping the previous monthly record of $740.5 million set only in April. If you exclude loans that were liquidated at little or no loss, the average loss severity was 57.6 percent. One loan was liquidated at a complete loss, resulting in substantial shortfalls to the CMBS deal that owned it.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act that was signed into law by President Obama yesterday repeals a section of the Securities Act of 1933 that shielded rating agencies from certain liabilities. But the SEC late today said it would issue a "no action" letter, giving issuers six months to figure out how to deal with the new rule.

Centro Properties Group, the troubled Australian trust that has a sizable presence in the United States, is said to be tapping the fledgling U.S. CMBS market for about $500 million of mortgage debt. The buzz is that it would be working through JPMorgan Chase to structure a transaction.