MEPT and Bentall Kennedy Announce the Acquisition of Two Washington, D.C. Area Shopping Centers

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) (www.mept.com) and Bentall Kennedy, real estate advisor to MEPT, announce the recent purchase of two retail centers in the Washington, D.C. market for approximately $122.6 million. MEPT acquired Woodland Park Crossing, a 137,028 square foot, grocery-anchored center in Herndon, VA and Penn Mar Shopping Center, a 387,028 square foot grocery-anchored center in Forestville, MD.

MEPT, a $5.3 billion open-end commingled real estate equity fund, acquired the properties through two separate transactions. Woodland Park Crossing is 97.5% leased to a mix of national and regional tenants that serve an affluent base of consumers in Fairfax County, VA. The four-year old retail center is part of a mixed-use complex and benefits from retail traffic from office workers and residents in the adjacent two million square foot Woodland Park Office Park and 200-unit Monroe Place apartments. Bentall Kennedy expects Woodland Park Crossing to benefit from increased traffic when Metrorail's planned Herndon-Monroe Station extension opens within walking distance of the property in 2016. JBG Rosenfeld Retail has been awarded property management and leasing at Woodland Park Crossing.

Located in a densely populated submarket of Washington, D.C., Penn Mar Shopping Center is 95% leased to a mix of discount and convenience retailers. Anchored by Shoppers Food & Pharmacy, Penn Mar Shopping Center's necessity goods retailers, including Burlington Coat Factory, Dollar Tree, Staples, Party City and Petco, attract a consistent flow of value-oriented shoppers. MEPT has retained Rosenthal Properties for leasing and property management.

"We believe consumer demand for necessity goods will continue to drive sales growth at grocery-anchored, neighborhood centers such as Woodland Park Crossing and Penn Mar Shopping Center," noted David Antonelli, Executive Vice President at Bentall Kennedy. "As a result, we believe these properties are a great fit for MEPT's portfolio, especially since they are located in submarkets in the Washington, D.C. area with solid demographics and attractive long-term growth prospects."

"On behalf of MEPT, we are actively looking to acquire well-leased, well-located assets in major markets across the U.S. and both Woodland Park Crossing and Penn Mar Shopping Center achieve that objective," stated Marty Standiford, Senior Vice President, Bentall Kennedy. "Our focus continues to be on acquiring grocery-anchored retail centers in urban infill or established suburban neighborhoods, multi-family assets in urban markets, and high-quality CBD office properties."

About MEPT

Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) is a $5.3 billion, open-end commingled real estate equity fund that invests in a diversified portfolio of institutional-quality real estate assets in 30 major metropolitan markets across the U.S. Founded in 1982, MEPT is owned by more than 360 multi-employer, public employee and corporate pension plans. Signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, MEPT is recognized as a pioneer in Responsible Property Investing (RPI) and is ranked #1 in the Americas and #5 globally for environmental performance by GRESB. Please visit www.mept.com to learn more.

MEPT is managed by three entities: NewTower Trust Company (www.newtowertrust.com), of Bethesda, Maryland serves as the trustee of the Fund. Bentall Kennedy (www.bentallkennedy.com) with U.S. headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and corporate headquarters in Toronto, Ontario serves as the exclusive real estate investment advisor to MEPT. With fourteen offices across the U.S. and Canada and more than $25 billion of assets under management, Bentall Kennedy is among the largest pension real estate advisors in North America. Landon Butler & Company, LP® (www.lbutler.com) of Washington, D.C. provides investor relations and marketing services to MEPT.

Contact:
Pamela Silberman, SVP, Landon Butler & Company, MEPT Investor Relations/Media
[email protected]
Phone: 202-737-8824

Forward looking statements are subject to change due to market conditions or investment strategy execution, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Any assumptions should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur.

SOURCE Multi-Employer Property Trust