Winner: JBG and New York REIT's merger

Why: REITs reversed course in Q1, dumping assets where they had previously been net buyers—making this merger to create a new $8.4B REIT, to be called JBG Realty Trust, all the more impressive.

The new company will control around 14.1M SF of existing space, plus the assets JBG has in the pipeline—which include eight projects under construction, 12 in pre-development and 40 parcels of land for future development.

JBG managing principals Michael Glosserman (pictured) and Robert Stewart will be co-chairmen of the board at the new REIT, which has come to fruition after months of speculation. The deal is bound to make waves in the DC market, where JBG is already the dominant developer—and it has earned the title of Bisnow's May Deal of the Month.

Honorable Mentions:

• Blackstone is considering a $12.3B industrial sale—a deal massive enough to easily secure a Deal of the Month slot if it comes to fruition. An industrial sale of that size would mirror Blackstone’s 2014 sale of IndCor, its US logistics arm, to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund for $8.1B.
  
  

• In another M&A, Ares Capital scooped up its smaller rival American Capital in a deal valued at $3.4B. Together, the two companies have investments worth over $13B.

This is the fifth in a monthly series of articles recognizing the best deals in commercial real estate. Please send your nominations for a local Deal of the Month here.