Starwood Property Trust has boosted its commercial real estate portfolio with another $139.8 million in investments.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based real estate investment trust (REIT) is focused primarily on originating, investing in, and financing commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. These latest transactions bring the total amount of capital the firm has deployed since its formation last August to $284 million.

Its most recent ventures include three newly originated first mortgage loans for $107.8 million and the acquisition of $32 million in single-borrower commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS).

The three loans are expected to provide an unleveraged return of 11.3 percent, inclusive of fees Starwood received. Their average loan-to-value ratio is 61.5 percent.

The largest of the financings is a $73.8 million loan on a portfolio of 17 extended stay hotels located in Florida, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia.

The firm also made an $18 million loan on a beachfront hotel in Laguna Beach, California, and a $16 million loan on a retail center in Orland Park, Illinois.

The $32 million in CMBS were acquired at a blended purchase price of approximately 79 percent of the face value, and are expected to return an unleveraged yield of 12 percent.

REITs have fared as one of the best investment vehicles through the economic downturn, outperforming both the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 in 2009. According to the news site Reit.com, the FTSE/NAREIT All REITs Index gained 6.43 percent in December, bringing 2009 total returns to 27.45 percent.

Starwood raised some $950 million from its initial public offering last summer. Of the $284 million it has already invested, the company said it expects to see a return of 12.6 percent. Within its investment portfolio of loans and CMBS, 99 percent of the loans are first mortgages.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. is externally managed and advised by SPT Management, LLC, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group.