First Potomac Realty Trust Sells Cedar Hill I And III For $27.3 Million

BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE: FPO), a leading owner and operator of office and business park properties in the greater Washington D.C. region, today announced the sale of Cedar Hill I and III located in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, for gross proceeds of $27.3 million.  The two, three-story office buildings total 102,632 square feet and were 100% leased and occupied as of September 30, 2015.

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The proceeds from the sale of Cedar Hill I and III, combined with the proceeds from the recent sale of Newington Business Park Center, will be utilized to fund the previously announced redemption of 2.2 million Series A preferred shares. The redemption of a portion of the Company's preferred shares represents a continued focus on the previously announced plan to de-risk the portfolio, strengthen its balance sheet and reduce corporate overhead through the accelerated sale of at least $200 million of assets. The Series A preferred shares redemption was announced on December 18, 2015 and is scheduled to occur on January 19, 2016.

"As we continue to execute on phase one of our strategic plan to improve our portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet, the sale of Cedar Hill I and III, and the redemption of a portion of our preferred shares, reinforces our effort to create substantial value for our shareholders," said Robert Milkovich, CEO of First Potomac Realty Trust.

Jones Lang LaSalle represented First Potomac in the sale of Cedar Hill I & III. 

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.  FPO common shares FPO and preferred shares FPO are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.  As of September 30, 2015, our consolidated portfolio totaled 7.8 million square feet. Based on annualized cash basis rent, our portfolio consists of 64% office properties and 36% 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 and approximately half of the portfolio's multi-story office square footage is LEED or Energy Star Certified.   

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including statements regarding our plans and expectations with respect to the redemption of the Series A Preferred Shares, 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 dispositions on attractive terms, or at all; our ability to manage our current debt levels and repay or refinance our 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 Securities and Exchange Commission; 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 the Company's 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.

Company Contact:
Jaime Marcus
Director, Investor Relations
(240) 223-2735
jmarcus@first-potomac.com

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SOURCE First Potomac Realty Trust