Acquisition includes The Avenue at White Marsh, a 300,000 square
foot regional retail center
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) today announced the acquisition of a portfolio of retail assets in the Baltimore metropolitan area from a private owner for approximately $189 million. The portfolio is located in White Marsh, one of the primary retail nodes in the metropolitan Baltimore market, and consists of 665,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The acquisition was made using a combination of common and convertible preferred stock, downREIT units and the assumption of fixed-rate debt. The acquisition increases the GLA of Federal Realty's Baltimore/Washington portfolio by 12 percent.
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The properties acquired include The Avenue at White Marsh, White Marsh Plaza and The Shoppes at Nottingham Square. The Avenue at White Marsh is an approximately 300,000 square foot destination lifestyle center which boasts a regional draw, high daytime population and strong tenant sales. The primary trade area for The Avenue at White Marsh includes over 235,000 households in a five-mile radius with average household incomes of almost $68,000, compared to average household incomes of $50,500 in the Baltimore metropolitan market. The Avenue at White Marsh's merchandise mix includes a blend of national and specialty retailers, restaurants and a 16-screen state-of-the-art Loew's cinema.
White Marsh Plaza, is an approximately 79,000 square foot neighborhood shopping center anchored by a market share-leading Giant Food. The Shoppes at Nottingham Square is an approximately 186,000 square foot project comprised of two multi-tenant retail buildings and a number of retail pad sites with credit tenants including Lowe's Home Improvement, Sun Trust Bank, Panera Bread, and others. Also included in the acquisition are long-term ground leases generating approximately $2.9 million of rent from credit tenants.
"This acquisition demonstrates our ability to creatively structure a deal that addresses numerous issues for the owner while taking advantage of the strong value of our equity" said Jeff Berkes, executive vice president and chief investment officer for Federal Realty. "While remaining highly selective, over the last year we have acquired over 2 million square feet of high quality retail space to support the Trust's internal growth strategy."
"The acquisition of a critical mass of irreplaceable retail properties in this dominant retail node of the Baltimore market provides an excellent opportunity for Federal Realty to leverage our leasing contacts and relationships to meet the retailing needs of the White Marsh community", said Chris Weilminster Federal Realty's senior vice president of leasing.
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 19.5 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 0.7 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 96.5% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of December 31, 2006, with no single tenant accounting for more than approximately 2.5% 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 39 consecutive years, the longest 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 1, 2007 (as amended) 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 completion of anticipated or ongoing property redevelopments or renovations may cost more, take more time to complete, or fail to perform as expected;
- 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 environmental issues may develop at our properties and result in unanticipated costs, 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 may be 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 carefully review the risks and risk factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed March 1, 2007 (as amended).
Investor and Media Inquiries:
Andrew Blocher
Senior Vice President
Capital Markets & Investor Relations
301/998-8166
ablocher@federalrealty.com
Vikki Kayne, SCMD
Vice President
Marketing & Corporate Communications
301/998-8178
vkayne@federalrealty.com
SOURCE Federal Realty Investment Trust
CONTACT: Andrew Blocher, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets &
Investor Relations, +1-301-998-8166, ablocher@federalrealty.com, or Vikki
Kayne, SCMD, Vice President, Marketing & Corporate Communications,
+1-301-998-8178, vkayne@federalrealty.com, both of Federal Realty Investment
Trust
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