Government Properties Income Trust is acquiring First Potomac Realty Trust in a $1.4 billion deal that includes Government Properties' assumption of First Potomac's debt. Government Properties is paying $11.15 per share in cash, which represents a 9.3% premium over First Potomac's 30-day average share price on April 24.

Blackstone Group has agreed to acquire the Singapore-listed Croesus Retail Trust for $650 million. Croesus Retail Trust's portfolio is based in Japan.

Market data indicate that investors began selling off government bonds and buying the euro after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi suggested that the bank might start winding down its bond-buying program. ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio hinted that investors might have overreacted, noting that there wasn't anything "different from, say, the previous two main [speeches] about monetary policy done by the president."

Blue Apron, a meal delivery service, is expected to launch a $480 million initial public offering in the largest of 10 US listings expected to price this week.

The yield curve between five- and 30-year bonds hit its flattest point since 2007 after weak inflation data pushed 30-year notes to 2.68%, narrowing the spread to 93 basis points. "Until oil moves meaningfully higher and people start to get convinced that inflation is going to come back, this curve flattening is going to continue," says Thomas Simons, a senior money market economist at Jefferies in New York.

Brandywine Realty Trust has announced that it is putting an additional $5.6 million toward a mixed-use project in Philadelphia as part of its Neighborhood Engagement Initiative. The total value of the project, called Schuylkill Yards, is $3.5 billion.

The US retail vacancy rate increased to 10% in the second quarter from 9.9% in the previous quarter, research firm Reis reported. Net absorption, which gauges available retail space sold, fell to its lowest level since 2011.

The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota, Fla., which opened three years ago, reportedly is the most recent major new shopping center in the US. The property, which is operated by Taubman Centers, is doing well, but limited demand for large, enclosed malls means that the property might not be emulated for some time, observers say.

Nelson Mills, president and CEO of Columbia Property Trust, has high expectations for the office market in 2017 and 2018. It remains stable and has "traded off a bit relative to other sectors," Mills says.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton and Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta told lawmakers that they will cooperate on drafting a fiduciary rule for investment advice. Clayton said he wants to regulate investment advice in "a way that is coordinated so that our Main Street investors have access to investment advice and access to investment products."

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