First Potomac Realty Trust Enters Into A Binding Contract To Sell Storey Park For $54.5 Million

BETHESDA, Md., May 31, 2016 /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 that it has entered into a binding contract to sell Storey Park, a development site located in the NoMa submarket of Washington, D.C., to 1005 First, LLC, a partnership between Perseus Realty, LLC and W-G Capital, LLC, an affiliate of Four Points, LLC and Greencourt Capital, for gross proceeds of $54.5 million. Storey Park is a development site that can accommodate over 700,000 square feet of mixed-use development on the site of the former Greyhound Bus Terminal at 1005 First Street, NE in Washington, D.C. First Potomac and Perseus Realty, LLC acquired the site in August 2011 through a joint venture in which First Potomac has a 97% economic interest. 

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The sale of Storey Park is expected to close by the end of July 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.

Upon completion of the sale, which represents the continued execution of the Company's previously announced plan to dispose of $350 million of assets, the Company will have sold over $200 million of non-core assets identified as part of the Strategic Plan.  First Potomac intends to use its portion of the proceeds from the sale of Storey Park to fund the redemption of the Company's remaining $15 million of 7.75% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares and/or to retire outstanding debt.

"After running a formal marketing process for Storey Park, we selected Perseus Realty, our existing joint venture partner, as the ultimate buyer, both because of their broad knowledge of the asset and our ability to maximize proceeds for the Company.  The sale of this development site is an important milestone for First Potomac, as we continue to execute on the action items we outlined in our Strategic Plan in February.  This represents a significant step towards our goals to de-risk our portfolio, de-lever our balance sheet, and maximize asset values," said Robert Milkovich, CEO of First Potomac Realty Trust. 

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 March 31, 2016, our consolidated portfolio totaled 6.5 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.   

About Perseus Realty, LLC

Perseus Realty began as a Washington, D.C. focused investment firm in 2004 and over time has created a significant development portfolio within the metropolitan area. Specializing in office, hotel and residential uses that incorporate urban oriented retail, Perseus Realty has spearheaded dynamic projects within the 14th Street corridor. Through a disciplined yet contrarian approach, Perseus Realty targets value-add opportunities within emerging submarkets and asset classes that capitalize on trending investment and development cycles.

About W-G Capital, LLC

W-G Capital, an affiliate of Four Points, LLC and Greencourt Capital, is a Washington, D.C. based private equity company focused on real estate investments in the United States with a particular focus on the Northeast Corridor and the Nation's Capital. The principals of W-G Capital have developed, built, owned, managed, and operated more than 20 million square feet of real estate in all asset classes and all development types in 24 States and managed a portfolio in excess of $1 billion in value in Washington, D.C.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release, including statements regarding the pending sale of Storey Park and the use of proceeds from such sale, 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 N. Marcus
Director, Investor Relations
(240) 223-2735
jmarcus@first-potomac.com

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SOURCE First Potomac Realty Trust