Reckson Morris Industrial plans substantial expansion.

Following the January 1998 closing of their $150 million investment transaction, Reckson Morris Industrial is poised for significant expansion throughout the East Coast.

The "big box" industrial development organization, with headquarters in Secaucus, N J, currently has in excess of 2 million square feet of build-to-suit projects in various stages of development. Reckson Morris Industrial is focused on acquiring land sites, existing buildings for renovation, privately-held industrial development companies and build-to-suit development.

In October of 1997, Reckson Associates Realty Corp., a NYSE REIT with a 17.3 million square-foot office portfolio of Class A space, entered into a contract to form a private real estate investment trust with The Morris Companies, one of the largest "big box" developers in the northeast with a four million square-foot industrial portfolio. The new entity, Reckson Morris Industrial is led by The Morris Companies senior management team, including Joseph Morris, chairman, Robert Morris, CEO, Mark Bava, executive vice president, Ron Schram, senior vice president of marketing, and Michael Silvershein, vice president and director of acquisitions.

Reckson Morris Industrial has the capital sources, entrepreneur management team and strong tenant relationships to foster considerable growth in the fragmented industrial real estate market. The private REIT has been initially established with the Morris Companies' industrial portfolio, which it hopes to grow by acquisition and the development of new facilities into a public company.

Commenting on the transaction, Donald Rechler, chairman of Reckson, said "After many years of admiring the success of the Morris's approach to the business, we feel very fortunate to join with them in taking their company to the next level. We have tremendous confidence that the combination of the Morris and Reckson management teams will successfully source and capitalize on many unique opportunities to create value."

Having built over 15 million square feet of industrial space. The Morris Companies has earned a respected reputation as one of the industry's premier developers. The company's prestigious client list includes national and regional tenants such as Coca Cola, Barnes & Noble, Canon and Wakefern. Now, as Reckson Morris Industrial, the company maintains its highly experienced in-house team of architectural and design, acquisition, financial, construction, leasing/marketing and management professionals.

"We are extremely excited about the future of Reckson Morris Industrial," said Ron Schram, senior vice president of marketing. "Our alignment with Reckson Associates means that we have the strong capital resources to pursue new acquisition and development opportunities that meet our growth criteria."