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

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 2004--

Acquisitions Increase Federal Realty's Presence in the Boston Metropolitan Area

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) today announced the acquisition of two supermarket-anchored shopping centers in the Boston metropolitan area for $38 million. The two properties, Campus Plaza in Bridgewater, Mass., and Pleasant Shops in Weymouth, Mass., were acquired for the Trust's recently announced joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund from a private owner. The venture anticipates placing non-recourse, property-secured financing on the assets within the next 60 days.

Jeff Berkes, Federal Realty's Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer commented, "The assets were acquired in an off market transaction and represent significant progress toward fully-funding our recently announced joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund."

Pleasant Shops is 100% leased and anchored by Foodmaster, Marshall's and CVS. The approximately 128,000 square foot community center was constructed in 1974 and renovated in 2001, and is located approximately 10 miles southeast of downtown Boston on Route 18. Campus Plaza, an approximately 115,000 square foot community shopping center on Route 18 in downtown Bridgewater, was constructed in 1970 and renovated in 1999. Roche Brothers supermarket and Burlington Coat Factory anchor the property, which is currently 99% leased.

"The acquisition of these two stabilized, infill assets complements the Trust's existing portfolio in the Boston area and will allow us to increase our operating efficiencies and leasing synergies in this market," stated Donald C. Wood, Federal Realty's President and Chief Executive Officer.

The acquisitions add to Federal Realty's existing 565,000 square foot Boston-area portfolio, which includes Dedham Plaza in Dedham, Queen Anne Plaza in Norwell, and Saugus Plaza in Saugus.

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 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 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 350,000 square feet of retail space through its joint venture with Clarion Lion Properties Fund. The operating portfolio was 94.2% leased to approximately 2,200 national, regional, and local retailers as of June 30, 2004, 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 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. The factors that may impact these expectations include:

• risks that our tenants will not pay rent or that we may be unable to renew leases or relet space at favorable rents as leases expire;
• risks that we may not be able to complete or obtain the contemplated financing for these acquisitions;
• risks normally associated with the real estate industry, including risks that these new acquisitions may fail to perform as expected, that we may have environmental risks at the new properties, and, because real estate is illiquid, that we may not be able to sell the properties; and
• those 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.

Except as required by law, Federal Realty makes no promise to update or supplement any of the forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

CONTACT:
Federal Realty Investment Trust
Andrew Blocher, 301-998-8166
ablocher@federalrealty.com
or
Vikki Quinn, 301-998-8178
vquinn@federalrealty.com

SOURCE: Federal Realty Investment Trust