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The Blackstone Group has raised $7 billion for its fourth European real estate fund, making it one of the largest dedicated European real estate funds.

Three years after the global financial crisis, fund managers started marketing new vehicles with billion-dollar plus targets. A number of billion-dollar final closes were announced from 2012 to the start of 2014.

After a strong February in 2013 that saw year-over-year growth in property transactions of 158 percent and $32.1 billion in total transactions, February 2014 came back to earth, recording $19.8 billion in transactions for a year-over-year drop of 38 percent, according to data from Real Capital Analytics.

The $464 million Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Firefighters & Police Officers Pension Fund has committed $9 million each to Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. and Molpus Woodlands Group, according to minutes from a February board meeting.

After years of unsuccessful legislation aimed at creating a national infrastructure bank, two bills have come to the floor with bipartisan support and a real chance at making history.

The Squire Sanders March 2014 P3 Summit in San Francisco provided an opportunity to ask, "Why not California?" in regard to investing in infrastructure through public-private partnerships in the state.

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Corp. has purchased the historic Edificio Espana building in Madrid for €260 million ($358.6 million). Here's an in-depth look at the deal.

Walton Street Capital has held a final close for its seventh fund on Feb. 28. The firm raised $1.4 billion for its Walton Street Real Estate Fund VII.

At its first meeting under the leadership of Janet Yellen, the Federal Open Market Committee decided to continue its tapering of quantitative easing by $10 billion and to update its forward guidance policy to no longer recognize the 6.5 percent lower threshold for unemployment, known as the Evans Rule, that would determine how long the Federal Reserve would continue to suppress interest rates. Both of these results were expected.

New research from Henderson Global Investors tracks projected growth of retail warehouse space over the next five years in various European countries and compares that with the expected growth in retail spending over that same period.

Worthe Real Estate Group has paid $109 million for Tower Burbank, a 486,972-square-foot office building at 3900 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank, Calif. Here's an in-depth look at the deal.

Utah State Retirement System has purchased a stake in an office building at 90 K St. NE in Washington, D.C. Here's an in-depth look at the deal.

The $15.66 billion Kansas Public Employees Retirement System approved a $40 million commitment to CBRE Strategic Partners U.S. Value Fund 7, managed by CBRE Global Investors, at its March 14 meeting.

The $173.2 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund has made a follow-on commitment to a value-added real estate fund, according to its January 2014 monthly transaction report.

The $76.5 billion New Jersey Division of Investment has made a first-time commitment to the Och-Ziff real estate fund series.

At a March 19 meeting , the real estate and timberland committee of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board voted unanimously to make a recommendation to the PRIM Board to approve the issuance of an RFP for general and project real estate consulting.

The largest completed transactions included an apartment complex and an office property.

A joint venture between Banyan Street Capital and Oaktree Capital Management bought a five-building project in Florida from Pearlmark Real Estate Partners. Here's an in-depth look at the deal.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has purchased Edgewater Apartments in downtown Philadelphia. Here's an in-depth look at the deal.

With GDP growth in 2014 expected to exceed 3 percent for the first time since 2005, the U.S. office market will likely build on a strong 2013 and see office vacancies hit a six-year low, according to the 2014 National Office Report from Marcus & Millichap.