London's South Bank Sector is set to undergo a $1.6 billion redevelopment.

Quatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group Plc, whose London past dates back to the 1500s, are partnering on a $1.6 billion (one billion British pounds) regeneration of London's South Bank district, which will keep the iconic Shell Center Tower as its centerpiece. The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

The development will include 800,000 square feet of office space, 80,000 square feet of retail space, and 790 residential units. In July 2011, the developers signed a contract with Royal Dutch Shell to redevelop the Shell Center site. They each paid 150 million pounds for a 999-year lease on the 5.25-acre property. buying property in qatar for expats

 The site is still owned by Shell. One British pound is worth $1.61 in the United States.

Macquarie is putting money on Mexico. With a $1.15 billion investment,

One of the world's largest commercial real estate investment organizations, Macquarie Group of Sydney, Australia, has opened a $1.15 billion real estate investment trust on the Mexican stock exchange. The stock was valued at 25 pesos ($1.96) per share. The offering earned MXN14.72 billion, according to Macquarie Mexico Real Estate Management. One peso is worth 7.8 cents. The United States of America

If over-allotments are exercised, the REIT, known in Mexico as a Fibra, expects net proceeds of MXN13.57 billion, according to Macquarie. The funds will be used to purchase the trust's initial portfolio of 244 industrial assets in 21 cities across 15 Mexican states. At the end of September, the properties had an average occupancy rate of 91 percent.

The properties are being purchased from GE Capital Real Estate Mexico and Corporate Properties of the Americas, two real estate companies.

Apartments in California Make an offer of $148 million.

Willow Lake Apartments, a 23-year-old, 508-unit community in San Jose, CA, was sold for $148 million, or approximately $291,000 per unit. The seller was the Sobrato Organization of San Jose, and the buyer was the Essex Property Trust of Palo Alto, California.

"San Jose's market fundamentals are strong and growing stronger," says Stan Jones, executive vice president of investments at Institutional Property Advisors. "With 12.5 percent rent growth over the last 12 months and an average occupancy of 96.4%, San Jose's market fundamentals are strong and getting stronger" (IPA).

"Rental demand has reached one of its highest levels since 2001, resulting in a 60-basis-point drop in vacancy year over year." The selling was facilitated by IPA. The IPA twins, Philip and Sal Saglimbeni, helped with the transaction.

Canarsie Plaza in Brooklyn is asking for $124 million.

Canarsie Plaza, a one-year-old, 96 percent-leased retail property in Brooklyn's Canarsie neighborhood, was sold for $124 million by HFF's New York City office. The seller was Acadia Realty Trust of White Plains, NY, and the buyer was Cole Real Estate Investments of Phoenix, AZ.

HFF also helped the buyer secure a $75 million, 10-year fixed-rate loan from PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, PA.

In Chicago, there is a historic million-square-foot tower. 231 sold for $97 million South LaSalle, a 23-story, 1.03-million-square-foot office and retail building in Chicago's financial district that spans a full city block, has sold for $97 million. Gramercy Capital Corp. and Garrison Investment Group, both headquartered in New York City, sold the 96.6-percent-leased property to Berkeley Properties of Lebanon, NJ.

The ground-floor retail space in the building is 24,839 square feet. The Illinois Merchants Bank first opened its doors in 1924.

Prudential Fund Sells Office Building in Virginia for $85.6 Million

The three-building, 337,228-square-foot, 100 percent leased Class A Orbital Sciences Campus office complex in Sterling, VA was sold for $85.6 million to a fund advised by Prudential Real Estate Investors of Newark, NJ. The 11-year-old property was purchased by Select Income REIT of Newton, MA. The entire campus is occupied by Orbital Sciences Corp.

The sale price of Arizona Apartments is $30.85 million.

Mountain Park, a 240-unit, 18-year-old, 230,560-square-foot multifamily neighborhood in Phoenix's suburbs, was sold for $30.85 million, or $134 per square foot. The deal was brokered by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc., which did not reveal the buyer or seller's names.

Walgreens in Miami Beach Sets a New Record with a $30 Million Tag

A 22,857-square-foot Walgreens drugstore on Miami Beach's famed Collins Avenue was sold for $30 million, or $1,312 per square foot. According to Sean Shahar Ziv, an associate in Marcus & Millichap's San Diego, CA office, the total price is the second highest paid for a drugstore property in the United States this year and the highest paid for a net-leased asset in Miami Beach in 2012. Trans World Entertainment Corp. of Albany, NY, was portrayed by Ziv. The property was purchased in cash by an unnamed foreign investor.