First Potomac Realty Trust Sells Richmond, Virginia Portfolio

BETHESDA, Md., March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- First Potomac Realty Trust FPO, a leading owner and operator of office and business park properties in the greater Washington, D.C. region, today announced the closing of the sale of its Richmond, Virginia portfolio for $60.3 million. 

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The Richmond portfolio includes six business park properties comprised of 19 single-story office, office/flex and industrial buildings totaling 827,925 square feet.  

The sale of the Richmond portfolio is a continuation of First Potomac's capital recycling plan, which is focused on disposing of non-core properties and reinvesting in high quality, multi-story office buildings in the Washington, D.C. region. Since announcing the strategic and capital plan in January 2013, First Potomac has successfully disposed of 33 properties for aggregate gross proceeds of $433 million. The Company has successfully redeployed $218 million of those proceeds to acquire well-located, core properties, with the remainder of the proceeds used to pay down debt.

"With the sale of the Richmond portfolio we are continuing to execute on our strategic plan of disposing of non-core assets and redeploying capital," said Douglas J. Donatelli, Chief Executive Officer of First Potomac Realty Trust. "Our focus continues to be on growing the existing portfolio with well-located multi-story office buildings in the Washington, D.C. region."

James Cassidy with DTZ represented First Potomac Realty Trust in the sale of the portfolio.

The Richmond, Virginia portfolio includes Chesterfield Business Center, Airpark Business Center and Pine Glen in Chesterfield County, Virginia and Park Central, Virginia Technology Center and Hanover Business Center in Henrico/Hanover Counties, Virginia.  

About First Potomac Realty Trust

First Potomac Realty Trust is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on owning, operating, developing and redeveloping office and business park properties in the greater Washington, D.C. region. As of December 31, 2014, our consolidated portfolio totaled 8.8 million square feet. Based on annualized cash basis rent, our portfolio consists of 60% office properties and 40% business park and industrial properties. A key element of First Potomac's overarching strategy is its dedication to sustainability. Over one million square feet of First Potomac property is LEED Certified, with the potential for another 700,000 square feet in future development projects. Approximately half of the portfolio's multi-story office square footage is LEED or Energy Star Certified. FPO common shares FPO and preferred shares FPO are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Forward Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including statements regarding the benefits of the sale of the Richmond portfolio, are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that our expectations will be achieved. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include changes in general or regional economic conditions; our ability to timely lease or re-lease space at current or anticipated rents; changes in interest rates; changes in operating costs; our ability to complete acquisitions and, if applicable, dispositions, on acceptable terms; our ability to manage our current debt levels and repay or refinance its indebtedness upon maturity or other required payment dates; our ability to maintain financial covenant compliance under our debt agreements; our ability to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; any impact of the informal inquiry initiated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"); our ability to obtain debt and/or financing on attractive terms, or at all; changes in the assumptions underlying our earnings and Core FFO guidance; and other risks detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. For forward-looking statements herein, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

Media Contact:
Vikki Kayne
301.986.9200
vkayne@first-potomac.com

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SOURCE First Potomac Realty Trust