Federal Realty Investment Trust Closes $372 Million Unsecured Term Loan

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) today closed a new $372 million unsecured term loan facility. Proceeds from the financing were utilized to retire the Trust's previous $200 million term loan which was due November 6, 2009 and provide sufficient capital to retire the Trust's 8.75% Notes due December 1, 2009. As a result, the Trust will have no additional debt maturities until 2011. The new term loan facility, which bears interest at an annual rate of LIBOR (subject to a 1.50% floor) plus 300 basis points, will mature in July 2011. The financing was originally marketed as a $200 million loan, but significant demand from high-quality financial institutions for the Trust's credit at market leading terms allowed Federal Realty to upsize the loan to its final size of $372 million.

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Wachovia Securities, a Wells Fargo Company and PNC Bank, National Association acted as lead arrangers for the loan. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank N.A., Regions Bank and SunTrust Bank acted as co-documentation agents. Bank of America N.A., Royal Bank of Canada, Chevy Chase Bank, F.S.B., Citicorp North America Inc., Comerica Bank and Raymond James Bank, FSB are all lenders for the transaction.

"Even in this difficult credit environment, we were able to upsize the term loan from $200 million to $372 million because of the strong support we received from our lenders, with seven of our existing lenders increasing their collective term loan exposure from $133 million to $315 million," said Andrew Blocher, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Federal Realty. "As a result of this transaction, and our other capital market activities, we're anticipating adequate capital to retire all of our debt maturing in 2009, with no additional maturities until 2011, and create significant capacity on our $300 million unsecured credit facility."

In April, Federal Realty closed a $24.1 million, ten-year loan secured by Rollingwood Apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland at an effective annual interest rate of 5.72%. The Trust has also obtained a commitment of approximately $139 million for a five-year loan secured by four retail assets located in Northern Virginia that is expected to bear interest at an effective annual rate of 7.72%. This secured financing is expected to close during the second quarter of 2009.

About Federal Realty

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management and redevelopment of high quality retail assets. Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contains approximately 18.1 million square feet located primarily in strategically selected metropolitan markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and California. In addition, the Trust has an ownership interest in approximately 1.0 million square feet of retail space through a joint venture in which the Trust has a 30% interest. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 95.0% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of December 31, 2008, with no single tenant accounting for more than approximately 2.6% 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 41 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P MidCap 400 company and its shares 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 February 26, 2009 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 close any pending financing
        activities, 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 February 26, 2009.

    Investor and Media Inquiries
    Gina Birdsall                               Janelle Stevenson
    Investor Relations                          Corporate Communications
    301/998-8265                                301/998-8185
    gbirdsall@federalrealty.com                 jmstevenson@federalrealty.com

SOURCE  Federal Realty Investment Trust

    -0-                           05/04/2009
    /CONTACT:  Gina Birdsall, Investor Relations, +1-301-998-8265,
gbirdsall@federalrealty.com, or Janelle Stevenson, Corporate Communications,
+1-301-998-8185, jmstevenson@federalrealty.com, both of Federal Realty
Investment Trust/
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    /Web Site:  http://www.federalrealty.com /
    (FRT)

CO:  Federal Realty Investment Trust

ST:  Maryland
IN:  RLT RRL CRL FIN
SU:  FNC

PR
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4149 05/04/2009 17:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com