GERMANTOWN, TN-The locally based hotel REIT contracts to purchase five Marriott-branded hotels in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The seller is McKibbon Hotel Group Inc. a hotel development and management company.

SAN ANTONIO, TX-On behalf of institutional investors, Developers Diversified Realty and DRA Advisors LLC sell a 320,000-sf shopping center here to a private investor for $58 million.

MORGAN HILL, CA-Palo Alto-based CM Winprop and CM St. Corp. acquire the 138-unit garden-style property here for $151,304 per unit. The asset was 95% leased at the time of sale.

PORTLAND-The overall industrial vacancy rate in the metro region drops more than half a point to 11.6% on net absorption of 1.4 million sf, an amount not seen since the early part of 2000, according to the latest report from Grubb & Ellis.

SEATTLE-The region's retail vacancy rate falls to 3.91% during the second half of 2003, down from 4.30% in the first half of the year, according to CB Richard Ellis. The largest decline was in the Southend market, where the vacancy rate fell from 4.58% to 3.12%, the lowest vacancy rate in the region.

SAN FRANCISCO-Dan Harvey and Jim McPhee, most recently senior vice presidents and regional directors for Jones Lang LaSalle, join Cushman & Wakefield as senior directors of its San Jose office.

SAN ANTONIO, TX-United Services Automobile Association retains CB Richard Ellis to execute a sale/leaseback transaction for USAA's four regional offices in California, Colorado, Virginia and Florida.

PORTLAND, OR-Charlie Kleier, with the Portland-based real estate services firm since 1989, will continue to operate out of the firm's Vancouver, WA office and will remain an active broker, but now has an ownership stake and a new title, executive vice president.