Corporate Office Properties Trust Acquires Major Development Site Adjacent to National Business Park.Business Editors COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2003 Corporate Office Properties Trust Corporate Office Properties Trust Inc. (COPT) (NYSE: OFC) is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) corporation that specializes in office development, and describes itself as "a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on the (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :OFC OFC Office OFC Officer OFC Of Course OFC Oxygen Free Copper OFC Oceania Football Confederation (soccer) OFC Optical Fiber Cable OFC Optical Fiber Communications OFC Optical Fiber Conference ), the largest owner of commercial office properties in the Baltimore/Washington Corridor The Baltimore/Washington corridor is between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD, consisting principally of Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. , announced today that it has closed on the first phase of a purchase agreement to acquire up to 108 acres of land adjacent to The National Business Park, located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of 2000, the population was 489,656. The estimated population for 2003 was 506,620. It was named for Anne Arundell, a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of . The total development site, known as Cedar cedar, common name for a number of trees, mostly coniferous evergreens. The true cedars belong to the small genus Cedrus of the family Pinaceae (pine family). Knolls, can support potentially 1.3 million square feet of office space. The $21.0 million purchase price for the initial phase, which can accommodate 900,000 square feet of development, was funded through $2.6 million of cash and an $18.4 million, five-year loan, with a fixed interest rate of 3%. Closing of the second phase is contingent upon Adj. 1. contingent upon - determined by conditions or circumstances that follow; "arms sales contingent on the approval of congress" contingent on, dependant on, dependant upon, dependent on, dependent upon, depending on, contingent subdivision approval. Today, The National Business Park consists of ten office buildings, 100% leased, totaling 1.2 million square feet, one 119,000 square foot building under construction, and one lot that can accommodate a 150,000 square foot building. Corporate Office Properties Trust developed and owns all of the buildings in the park. Randall M. Griffin, President and Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of Corporate Office Properties Trust stated, "We are very pleased to gain control of this important site. Our success at National Business Park is in large part due to the fact that we have controlled all of the available land and we have been careful not to get ahead of the demand with new development. Our strategy has been to selectively develop buildings only when we were certain that the demand was there and the investment returns were attractive. We intend to continue utilizing the same prudent strategy with this new site. Fortunately, demand from the government and defense contractors Noun 1. defense contractor - a contractor concerned with the development and manufacture of systems of defense armed forces, armed services, military, military machine, war machine - the military forces of a nation; "their military is the largest in the region"; for space at National Business Park remains very strong, which should enable us to continue generating solid returns over time, as we develop this site." Company Information Corporate Office Properties Trust is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust which focuses on the ownership, management, leasing, acquisition and development of suburban office properties located in select Mid-Atlantic submarkets. The Company currently owns 110 office properties totaling 9.0 million rentable square feet. Corporate Development Services, the Company's development company, provides a wide range of development and construction management services. In addition, Corporate Office Services provides land planning, design/build services, consulting and merchant development to third party entities. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the symbol OFC. More information on Corporate Office Properties Trust can be found on the Internet at www.copt.com. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information based upon the Company's current best judgment and expectations. Actual results could vary from those presented herein. The risks and uncertainties associated with the forward-looking information include the strength of the commercial office real estate market in which the Company operates, competitive market conditions, general economic growth, interest rates and capital market conditions. For further information, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion