Federal Realty Investment Trust Announces Successful Opening Weekend At Santana Row

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2002--Despite a major storm impacting Northern California, Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) announced high traffic and strong retail sales during the four-day opening weekend at Santana Row, the Trust's mixed-use urban development in San Jose, California.

In addition, considerable interest in the residential component of Santana Row resulted in the signing of 10 new apartment leases, significantly exceeding expectations, and bringing the total number of executed leases to 42.

"We've been overwhelmed by the activity and residential interest that our leasing office has seen since the opening," said Camille Accarino, residential manager for The Interland Group, the management firm for Santana Row. "We know that the product Federal is offering is very special, but we didn't anticipate how strong initial interest would be."

The story was similar on the retail side. While there will be many more merchants opening for business over the next several weeks and months, more than 7,000 daily visitors came to shop at the 35 stores and restaurants that opened on Thursday, November 7.

"This was one of the best openings in our history," stated Tim Hopkins, chief executive officer of Sur La Table, a kitchen and cooking accessories store. " We had a fantastic weekend and are extremely excited about Santana Row. We believe this will be one of our top stores."

"Our sales have been brilliant," stated Chris Browne, director of stores for Ted Baker, PLC, a British men's and women's clothing store who opened their first U.S. store at Santana Row. "We doubled our sales projection for the opening period."

Joe Zeiden, owner of Z Gallerie, a home furnishings store, said, "Notwithstanding poor weather and that we are located across from the building closed due to the fire, we had one of our best openings ever. We expect the Santana Row store to be among our most productive."

"The traffic sales were above our projection and stronger than our Beverly Hills store," stated Taryn Rose, owner of Taryn Rose Shoes. "Heavy foot traffic and strong sales speaks to the need for the kind of retail that Santana Row delivers to San Jose."

Fenton Allen, owner, Optical Illusions said, "The foot traffic has been phenomenal and our sales were much better than we had hoped. Santana Row will carry the banner for Northern California."

A spokesperson from Gucci stated, "Traffic and sales over opening weekend far exceeded our expectations, we are very pleased with the store's performance."

Crate and Barrel, which opened alone last June, has had great acceptance from the marketplace each month since their opening and continues to exceed their sales goals.

"It's extremely gratifying to see the initial acceptance that we've long anticipated at Santana Row," said Steven J. Guttman, Federal Realty's chairman and chief executive officer. "I firmly believe that Santana Row will only get better in the weeks, months and years to come as it matures and becomes an important part of the fabric of South Bay living."

Santana Row is a mixed-use urban district in San Jose, California that blends luxury and lifestyle shopping along with an array of international restaurants and sophisticated urban residences. Phase one of the development, which opened on November 7, 2002, will feature 445,000 square feet of retail, 255 rental residential units and a 213-room boutique hotel. Additional information on Santana Row can be found on the Internet at www.santanarow.com.

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, development and re-development of shopping centers and street retail properties. Federal Realty's portfolio contains 15 million square feet located in major metropolitan markets across the United States. The operating portfolio is currently approximately 96% occupied by over 2,100 national, regional and local retailers with no single tenant accounting for more than 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 35 consecutive years, the longest consecutive record in the REIT industry. Shares of Federal Realty are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FRT. Additional information about Federal Realty can be found on the Internet at www.federalrealty.com.

Safe Harbor Language

Certain matters discussed within this press release may be deemed to be forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Federal Realty Investment Trust believes the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Federal's expectations are detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports and filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K. Federal Realty assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

CONTACT:
Federal Realty Investment Trust
Investor Inquiries
Andrew Blocher, 301/998-8166
ablocher@federalrealty.com
or
Media Inquiries
Kristine Warner, 301/ 998-8212
kwarner@federalrealty.com