Highwoods Properties announced Wednesday that it has sold three properties in Atlanta and Mississippi for $86.5 million.

The properties were all build-to-suits that Highwoods constructed for the federal government. They are 100 percent leased and were projected to generate $6.1 million in income this year for the Raleigh-based real estate investment trust.

The properties include a 353,04-square-foot industrial property in Atlanta leased to the National Archives and Record Administration; a 90,688-square-foot office building in Atlanta leased by the Department of Homeland Security; and a 109,819-square-foot office building in Mississippi leased by the General Services Administration.

Highwoods CEO Ed Fritsch described the properties as noncore assets in a release.

"NARA was by far our largest industrial asset in Atlanta; DHS is located in downtown Atlanta, a non-core submarket for us; and the GSA field office was our only asset in the State of Mississippi,” he said in a statement.

Highwoods Properties reported first-quarter earnings late Tuesday that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

The Raleigh real estate investment trust reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 70 cents per share for the quarter, compared with the 61 cents per share the company reported in the first quarter of 2011.

That beat the consensus of Wall Street analysts by two cents.

Highwoods leased 990,000 square feet of second-generation office space in the quarter, a 19 percent increase from the same period in 2011.

The company’s portfolio was 90.2 percent occupied, up from 89.4 percent in the same period a year ago.

Net income for the quarter was $16.7 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, compared to $10.1 million, or 14 cents per diluted share during the first quarter of 2011.

Highwoods, the Triangle’s largest office landlord, owns 5.1 million square feet of space in the region. Its entire portfolio includes 34.5 million square feet of office, industrial and retail.

Highwoods shares closed up 16 cents at $34.89 on Tuesday. The stock is up 18 percent this year.

Lennox Industries, a heating and air condition company based in Texas, has signed a lease for 24,000 square feet of space in the Keystone Business Park near the Research Triangle Park border.

The park's owner, Liberty Property Trust, announced the deal in a release Thursday. Lennox is expected to occupy the new space in June.

Liberty Property Trust, a Malvern, Pa.-based real estate investment trust, has owned the business park since 2007, when it paid $25.5 million for four warehouses totaling 536,000 square feet.

Keystone is currently 89 percent leased.

 Liberty Property Trust owns 664,000 square feet in the Triangle.

An Atlanta real estate company has bought the the Villas at Centerview apartments in West Raleigh for $42 million, according to Wake County property records.

Centennial Holding Company purchased the 374-unit complex from Boston Capital Real Estate Partners. Centennial also owns the Century Creek apartments in Durham and the Century Carrington Park apartments in Morrisville.

Villas at Centerview opened in 2007.

It was 94 percent leased as of Dec. 6, according to Karnes Research and the Triangle Apartment Association.

Highwoods Properties announced Monday that it has sold a vacant, 96-unit apartment building in Kansas City for $11 million.

The property is in the city's Country Club Plaza.

It is part of a site where Highwoods once hoped to build a $58 million headquarters for the law firm Poisinelli Shughart.

That project, which would have required tearing down the apartment building, was scrapped in April 2011 after it ran into unexpected opposition from city officials and residents.

Highwoods will use the proceeds from the apartment sale to pay down its unsecured revolving credit line.

The Raleigh commercial real estate firm led by Billie Redmond, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Raleigh last year, is merging with another local real estate firm.

Coldwell Banker Commercial TradeMark Properties is combining with Raleigh-based Income Properties. The company will retain the Coldwell Banker Commercial TradeMark Properties name.

Income, founded by Bill Hicks, specializes in retail properties, both managing and leasing shopping centers as well as representing clients in acquisitions and sales.

Hicks will focus on retail investment properties in his new role with Coldwell Banker, while Jason Stowe, a property manager with Income, will lead the merged companies property management division.

Redmond said the merger is part of her company's overall goal of increasing its market presence, particularly in the Triangle.

"It makes us a stronger company, gives us a better footprint and gives us deeper capabilities," she said.

Coldwell Banker has more than 60 employees. Income has four employees and two brokers who will be joining Coldwell Banker along with its client roster.

A Massachusetts apartment management company has bought the Bradford Crossing apartment complex in North Raleigh for $13.2 million, according to Wake County property records.

VTT Management bought the property from UCF Bradford LLC. UCF Bradford paid $10 million for the 365-unit complex in April 2011, meaning it earned a 32 percent return in less than a year.

Bradford Crossing was built in 1968. It's just outside the Beltline in between Six Forks and Wake Forest roads.

The complex was 75 percent leased in October, according to data from the Triangle Apartment Association and Karnes Research.

VTT Management specializes in repositioning undervalued and distressed real estate.

The deal is just the latest example of how multi-family property valuations have risen in recent years.

Brooks Bell, a local firm that helps retailers and other companies maximize online sales, has completed its move to downtown Raleigh at 711 Hillsborough St.

Sonja Foust, maketing manager at Brooks Bells, said the 20-person firm needed room to grow - more than what their former location at Parklake Avenue afforded .

Brooks Bell now occupies the Junior League building's second floor, which the company had completely renovated.

Moved in since Feb. 3, Brooks Bell, the company's CEO, said in a statement her employees were excited about moving downtown.

"We've always felt that it really reflects out personality, and we love being right in the middle of all the excitement," Bell said.

Grubb & Ellis, the real estate services giant, announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and is selling all of its assets to BGC Partners.

The deal won't impact the operations of Grubb & Ellis Thomas Linderman Graham, the firm's Triangle affiliate.

The affiliate is independently owned, said John Linderman, President and COO, in a statement.

"The bankruptcy and sale do not directly impact our business," he said. "However, we view this announcement as positive step forward. Grubb & Ellis will benefit greatly by being part of the BGC organization, which, with its recent acquisition of Newmark Knight Frank, will bring together two leading commercial real estate service firms with strong brands and best-in-class professionals.”

BGC Partners acquired Newmark, the parent company of real estate advisory firm Newmark Knight Frank, last year.

Santa Ana, Calif.-based Grubb & Ellis struggled as the global economic downturn greatly reduced the number of real estate transactions being completed.

BGC Partners’ chief executive and chairman is Howard Lutnick, who is also head of the brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald & Company.

The Durham County Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to merge the Wake and Durham mental health agencies and to sign a letter of intent for the merged agency to lease 55,000 square feet in a Triangle Transit-owned building in the Imperial Center.

The new agency is expected to move into its new headquarters July 1.

A number of private landlords who were competing for the lease had complained about the deal.

Triangle Transit purchased the 75,000-square-foot building in December for nearly $3.8 million using money from its general fund, which comes from vehicle registration taxes paid by residents in Durham, Orange and Wake counties.