Federal Realty Announces Acquisition of Supermarket-Anchored Shopping Center Through Joint Venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 2004--Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) today announced the acquisition of a supermarket-anchored shopping center in the Boston metropolitan area for $16.5 million. The property, Atlantic Plaza in North Reading, Mass., was acquired for the Trust's joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund. The venture placed non-recourse, property-secured financing of $10.5 million on the asset at closing.

"Atlantic Plaza marks the third well-located supermarket-anchored shopping center acquired on behalf of our joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund," commented Jeff Berkes, Federal Realty's Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. "Through the venture, we have successfully doubled our concentration in the Boston metro area from three to six properties over the last three months, consistent with our goal to be regionally dominant in our key markets."

Atlantic Plaza is 100% leased and anchored by Shaw's and Sears Hardware. The approximately 126,000 square foot community center was constructed in 1960 and renovated in 1989, and is located approximately 15 miles north of downtown Boston on Route 28.

The acquisition adds to Federal Realty's existing 812,000 square foot Boston-area portfolio, which includes Dedham Plaza in Dedham, Queen Anne Plaza in Norwell, and Saugus Plaza in Saugus, along with Campus Plaza in Bridgewater and Pleasant Shops in Weymouth, which are both part of the joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund.

Federal Realty announced in July 2004 that it had formed a joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund, a discretionary fund created and advised by ING Clarion Partners. The joint venture expects to acquire up to $350 million of stabilized, supermarket-anchored shopping centers in the Trust's East Coast and California target markets. Additional details on the venture and the complete joint venture agreement are included in the Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Federal Realty on July 12, 2004.

About ING Clarion

Founded in 1982, ING Clarion and its affiliates manage $18.5 billion in assets in the private equity, public equity, and public debt sectors of the real estate markets. ING Clarion is headquartered in New York, with more than 600 employees located in major markets throughout the United States. The firm is the U.S. real estate management affiliate of the ING Group, one of the world's largest integrated financial services companies; ING has more than $600 billion in global assets under management, including $57 billion of real estate assets.

About Federal Realty

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, development, and redevelopment of shopping centers and Street Retail properties. Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contains approximately 16.8 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 470,000 square feet of retail space through its joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 94.2% leased to approximately 2,200 national, regional, and local retailers as of September 30, 2004, with no single tenant accounting for more than 2.3% of rental revenue. Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 37 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 11, 2004, 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 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; and
• 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.

  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 (as amended), 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 11, 2004.

  CONTACT:
  Federal Realty Investment Trust, Rockville
  Investor and Media Inquiries:
  Andrew Blocher
  Vice President, Capital Markets & Investor Relations
  301-998-8166
  ablocher@federalrealty.com
  or
  Vikki Quinn
  Senior Director of Marketing
  301-998-8178
  vquinn@federalrealty.com
  
  SOURCE: Federal Realty Investment Trust