A Triangle technology company is moving to new office space nearly three times the size of its previous headquarters as its business continues to expand.

Geomagic, which makes software that helps create 3-D models, expects to move into 32,200 square feet on Davis Drive in Morrisville by Monday. Some renovation work will continue through October as the company adds amenities such as employee relaxation areas.

There also will be more space to showcase the company's 3-D imaging and printing technology, as well as examples of how customers are using the products.

"It will help create a new level of energy and activity," said CEO Ping Fu.

The Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, citing the need to better serve its growing number of followers in the Triangle and around the state, plans to build a new 2,000-seat cathedral and campus on 39 acres it owns in west Raleigh near N.C. State University.

Michael Burbidge, the Bishop of Raleigh, announced the project at a press conference this morning at the diocese’s Catholic Center.

The project, estimated to cost between $75 million and $90 million, would also include a gathering hall and a 3-story parking facility.

Burbidge said the center will host musical events and lecture series as well as worship services.

“We are building a vibrant campus,” he said.

The diocese hopes to break ground on the project by the middle of 2013 after raising about a third of the overall cost of the project, Burbidge said.

Donors have already pledged $10 million toward the campus, according to the diocese.

Oculus Capital Group, a Washington real estate investment firm, has purchased the University Suites student housing complex on Tryon Road near N.C. State for $19.6 million.

It is the company's first purchase in North Carolina.

Oculus focuses on student housing at colleges and universities with enrollments above 9,000.

University Suites was built in two phases, in 2001 and 2004, and includes 143 units and 518 beds.

Oculus bought the property from the developer, University Suites of Newport News, Va.

Christopher Feeley, Oculus' president and managing principal, said the firm plans "to come in and spend some considerable dollars improving the property."

Oculus has hired Raleigh-based The Priess Company to manage the property, which is 98 percent leased.

Feeley said the firm was attracted to the property because of the size of N.C. State and the fact that University Suites is only about a mile and a half from campus.

Student housing, like the apartment sector as a whole, has performed extremely well during the downturn, as many colleges and universities have continued to grow their enrollment.

A private Texas real estate firm has purchased the Keystone Technology Park, a cluster of 11 office and lab buildings in Durham, for $88.8 million, according to Durham County property records.

The Lionstone Group of Houston said in a release that it had made the purchase along with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. It's the largest investment to-date for Linstone's $250 million equity fund.

The seller was Guggenheim Partners, a Chicago investment firm that paid $99.8 million in early 2006 for 12 buildings in the park that totaled 889,000 square feet.

Lionstone's purchase includes 11 buildings and 806,000 square feet at the southeast corner of Davis Drive at Hopson Road..

The deal is likely to be good news for other Triangle office landlords looking to sell office properties in the Triangle.

A group of Raleigh developers and a Washington real estate firm have been selected to build a 125-room hotel on Hillsborough Street across from the N.C. State University Bell Tower.

N.C. State officials announced the selection of Bell View Partners and The Bernstein Companies on Tuesday.

The university’s endowment fund has spent the last several years buying up property across from the tower in an effort to make the site more attractive to developers.

The project is the latest in a flurry of redevelopment activity along Hillsborough, which was given a $10 million makeover by the city last year.

Earlier this month The Brewery, a popular live music venue, was demolished to make way for a drugstore, a parking deck and apartments.

N.C. State began soliciting redevelopment proposals for the 1.3-acre of property it owns in the spring.

The hotel would include ground floor retail and a restaurant.

The project would occupy the stretch of Hillsborough between Enterprise Street and Maiden Lane, replacing both Sadlack’s Heroes and a retail center that is currently home to Schoolkids Records.

Piedmont Center Investments, a Raleigh company that owns seven shopping centers in central and eastern North Carolina, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The company reported assets of $27.2 million and liabilities of $15.5 million.

Piedmont's largest creditor is Capital Bank, which is owed $1.9 million. The company also owes property taxes to a number of towns and counties.

Piedmont's shopping centers are in Gibsonville, Graham, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Pittsboro, Roxboro and Mebane.

Reo Management Services, the company that manages Piedmont's properties, did not immediately return a call seeking comment this afternoon.

Highwoods Properties boosted its outlook for 2011 after reporting second quarter earnings late today that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 32.7-million-square-foot portfolio was 89.9 percent occupied at the end of June, up from 89.3 percent during the same period a year ago.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 63 cents per share, compared to the 65 cents per share the company reported in the second quarter of 2010.

That beat the consensus of Wall Street analysts by a penny.
 

Slate Pharmaceuticals, a small private drug company that markets a testosterone medication, is moving from Research Triangle Park to the CapTrust Tower at North Hills.

Slate officials said in a release that the move will double its footprint, although the company declined to disclose the exact square footage it will occupy.

The 275,000-square-foot, 17-story CapTrust Tower was developed by Kane Realty and Duke Realty.

It opened in 2009 and is now 71 percent leased.

Slate, which was founded in May 2006, markets Testopel, a long-acting testosterone medication that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The company's founder and CEO, Bob Whitehead, was previously president and chief operating officer of Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, a company that focused on urology and men’s health.

Greensboro-based Bell Partners said today that it has sold nearly all of the company's senior living properties for more than $300 million to a real estate investment trust.

The buyer is Senior Housing Properties Trust, a publicly traded REIT based in Newton, Mass.

Bell sold the bulk of the portfolio, 22 properties, to SHPT this month. Ten of those properties are located in North Carolina, including one in the Triangle: Seasons at Southpoint in Durham.

The others are in South Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Georgia.

Bell expects to sell four other senior living properties by the end of the year. The company is retaining two senior living properties in the Triangle: Alta Walk in Durham and Alta Oakridge in Raleigh.

Crescent Resources will hold a ground breaking for its new apartment project in Cameron Village on Thursday.

The $49 million project will add the first residential units to the west Raleigh shopping center.

Called Gallery at Cameron Village, the project will include 282 apartments and 16,000 square feet of retail at the corner of Clark Avenue and Oberlin Road.

Crescent expects the first residential units to be available in the spring of 2013.

The ground breaking is set for 10 a.m. on Thursday.