NEW YORK CITY-A $45 million fixed-rate first mortgage loan has been arranged for the 265,000-sf 180 Madison Ave.

NEWARK, NJ-In one of the largest real estate transaction in Newark's history, Fleet has completed a $72.1 million financing and syndication loan for the refinancing of 774 Broad St., also known as the National Newark Building.

NEW YORK CITY-REIT SL Green Realty Corp. purchases leasehold interest in 461 Fifth Ave. for $62.3 million from a Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. affiliate.

NEW YORK CITY-World Trade Center site designer Daniel Libeskind is relocating his studio's headquarters from Berlin to Lower Manhattan. The architect's firm will occupy 17,400 sf at 2 Rector St., in view of Ground Zero.

NEW YORK CITY-A hearing was held on Silverstein Properties' appeal from a ruling that a jury would have to decide whether the crashes of two planes into the Twin Towers complex constitutes one or two occurrences.

NEW YORK CITY- Proclaiming that Lower Manhattan is "where it's at," Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with Gov. George Pataki and HUD secretary Mel Martinez, announced an initiative to bring more affordable housing to the Downtown area.

NEW YORK CITY-A $60.5 million loan for 17 Battery Place, a 440,000-sf office building across from Battery Park, has been arranged by the Singer Bassuk Organization. Richard Bassuk says this is a very good sign of the Downtown renaissance.

NEW YORK CITY-In one of the last transactions to be announced by CB Richard Ellis and Insignia/ESG as two separate companies, the firms respectively represented both the landlord and tenant in Estee Lauder's 310,000 sf lease renewal in the GM Building.