- Purchase Increases The Trust's Northern California Portfolio to 1.7 Million Square Feet of Retail Space -
ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) today announced the acquisition of Crow Canyon Commons, a 228,000 square foot grocer-anchored community shopping center located in San Ramon, Calif. The Trust acquired the leasehold interest in the shopping center for $47.5 million using a combination of cash and assumption of debt. With the acquisition of Crow Canyon Commons, Federal Realty now owns six properties containing more than 1.7 million square feet of retail space in Northern California.
Crow Canyon Commons is currently 97.8% leased to a broad range of national, regional, and local merchants including Albertsons, Loehmann's, and Rite Aid. Federal Realty anticipates increasing the value of the property over time through the re-leasing of space currently leased at below market rents.
Crow Canyon Commons is located at the intersection of Crow Canyon Road and I-680. I-680 is a major north-south interstate along the East Bay that connects San Jose to the south with Walnut Creek to the north, while Crow Canyon Road is a heavily traveled east-west thoroughfare with a traffic count of 53,300 vehicles daily. The infill trade area surrounding the property is affluent, relatively densely populated and has minimal retail competition. Within a three-mile radius around the property, there are more than 65,000 people having average household incomes of $155,000 and only 12.7 square feet per capita of competing retail space.
"Crow Canyon Commons is situated in one of the most desirable retail locations within its trade area," said Jeffrey Berkes, senior vice president and chief investment officer for Federal Realty. "The acquisition of Crow Canyon Commons is very much in line with the Trust's overall business strategy of acquiring properties with strong demand and limited competing supply with an opportunity for value creation through re-leasing and/or redevelopment."
About Federal Realty
Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, development, and redevelopment of high quality retail assets. Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contains approximately 17.5 million square feet located primarily in strategic metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California. In addition, the Trust has an ownership interest in approximately 0.5 million square feet of retail space through its joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund in which the Trust has a 30% interest. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 95.5% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of September 30, 2005, with no single tenant accounting for more than 2.2% of annualized base rent. Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 38 consecutive years, the longest consecutive record in the REIT industry. Shares of Federal Realty are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT.
Safe Harbor Language
Certain matters discussed within this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although Federal Realty believes the expectations reflected in the forward- looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. These factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors described in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 2, 2005, and include the following:
- risks that our tenants will not pay rent or that we may be unable to renew leases or re-let space at favorable rents as leases expire;
- risks that we may not be able to proceed with or obtain necessary approvals for any redevelopment or renovation project, and that any redevelopment or renovation project that we do pursue may not perform as anticipated;
- risks that the number of properties we acquire for our own account, and therefore the amount of capital we invest in acquisitions, may be impacted by our real estate partnership;
- risks normally associated with the real estate industry, including risks that occupancy levels at our properties and the amount of rent that we receive from our properties may be lower than expected, that new acquisitions may fail to perform as expected, that competition for acquisitions could result in increased prices for acquisitions, that we may have environmental risks at our properties, and, because real estate is illiquid, that we may not be able to sell properties when appropriate;
- risks that our growth will be limited if we cannot obtain additional capital;
- risks of financing, such as our ability to consummate additional financings or obtain replacement financing on terms which are acceptable to us, our ability to meet existing financial covenants and the limitations imposed on our operations by those covenants, and the possibility of increases in interest rates that would result in increased interest expense; and
- risks related to our status as a real estate investment trust, commonly referred to as a REIT, for federal income tax purposes, such as the existence of complex tax regulations relating to our status as a REIT, the effect of future changes in REIT requirements as a result of new legislation, and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT.
Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements that we make, including those in this press release. Except as required by law, we make no promise to update any of the forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. You should review the risks contained in our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and the risks contained in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 2005.
Investor and Media Inquiries
Andrew Blocher
Vice President,
Capital Markets &
Investor Relations
301/998-8166
ablocher@federalrealty.com
Vikki Quinn, SCMD
Senior Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications
301/998-8178
vquinn@federalrealty.com
SOURCE Federal Realty Investment Trust
