Federal Realty Investment Trust Appoints Two New Board Members; Expanded Board Offers Broader Range of Expertise

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jul 25, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) announced today that Amy Lane, former retail investment banking chief at Merrill Lynch and Joseph Vassalluzzo, current vice chairman of Staples, Inc. were nominated and appointed to serve on the company's Board of Trustees.

The newly appointed members will stand for election by the Trust's shareholders at the 2003 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

"It is a testament to the strength of Federal Realty and the business plan announced earlier this year that we were able to attract two such experienced and talented individuals," stated Donald C. Wood, president and chief operating officer of Federal Realty. "Both Amy and Joe strengthen the Board by providing additional public company and retail real estate knowledge and experience while broadening the skills of our Board to best represent the interests of our shareholders."

Ms. Lane, 49, has spent twenty-five years in investment banking focusing principally on the retail industry, having retired as managing director of Merrill Lynch & Co. in February 2002.

During her tenure at Merrill Lynch, Ms. Lane led their Global Retailing Investment Banking Group and served as a member of Merrill Lynch's Investment Banking Management Committee and Investment Banking Promotions Committee. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Ms. Lane spent eight years at Salomon Brothers and twelve years with Morgan Stanley.

Currently, Ms. Lane serves on the Board of Directors of Borders Group, Inc. where she is a member of both the audit and nominating committees. As a member of the Board of Trustees at Federal Realty, Ms. Lane will serve on its compensation committee.

Mr. Vassalluzzo, 54, is vice chairman of Staples, Incorporated, an $11 billion retailer headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. In this capacity, Mr. Vassalluzzo oversees domestic and foreign real estate growth of Staples' retail and commercial operations, merger and acquisition activities worldwide and oversight of the company's legal functions including compliance.

Previously, Mr. Vassalluzzo served as president of Staples' Realty and Development division where he was responsible for the company's rapid expansion from 30 stores to over 1,250 retail stores in North America and over 180 retail units in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. As a member of the Board of Trustees at Federal Realty, Mr. Vassalluzzo will serve on its audit committee.

Mr. Wood continued by saying, "Amy adds a high level of financial expertise and her appreciation and understanding of the demands and expectations of public shareholders will provide insight on appropriate responses to the various SEC, NYSE and other pending corporate governance and reporting reforms being considered. Joe's tremendous expertise in retail real estate and extensive knowledge of Federal Realty's markets and assets will be an invaluable resource to the Trust's management team."

The Trust also announced that Kenneth Brody has resigned from the Board of Trustees effective immediately. Mr. Brody served on the Board since 1997, however, due to the increased demands on his time at Winslow Partners LLC, he felt it was in the best interest of Federal Realty to resign from the Board at this time.

"On behalf of the Trustees and senior management at Federal Realty, I would like to thank Ken Brody for his commitment and dedication to the Trust and his significant contributions over the last five years," stated Steven J. Guttman, chairman and chief executive officer of Federal Realty. "In addition, I would like to welcome Amy Lane and Joe Vassalluzzo to the Board. I believe that the addition of two highly regarded professionals adds futher credibility to the new direction of the Trust."

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, development and re-development of shopping center and street retail properties. Federal Realty's portfolio contains approximately 15 million square feet located in major metropolitan markets across the United States.

The operating portfolio is currently 95.5% leased to over 2,100 national, regional and local retailers with no single tenant accounting for more than 2.4% 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 34 consecutive years, the longest consecutive record in the REIT industry.

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 Realty's expectations are detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports and filings, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001, filed with the SEC on March 22, 2002. Federal Realty assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

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

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