iStar Financial Announces Commitment to Provide $146 Million to Landmark Apartment Trust of America

iStar Financial Inc. SFI announced today that it has agreed to provide up to $146 million of preferred equity to Landmark Apartment Trust of America ("LATA"), a non-traded, public multifamily real estate investment trust. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130708/NY43293LOGO ) LATA owns 39 apartment communities comprised of over 10,000 units located throughout the Southeast and Texas. LATA expects to use the proceeds to acquire additional apartment communities and repay existing preferred equity. "We were very pleased to provide LATA with this capital to help fuel its growth," said Karl Frey, executive vice president of iStar Financial. "LATA is a strong multifamily operator and we believe in the vision that the management team has laid out for the company." iStar funded $66 million at an initial closing. Additional fundings are expected to occur over the next few months in connection with acquisitions of multifamily properties currently under contract. "This transaction is a great example of iStar's ability to work with its customers and provide custom financing solutions to meet their needs," said Jay Sugarman, iStar's chairman and chief executive officer. "We expeditiously underwrote a large number of assets and provided a highly tailored financing that accommodated both LATA's capital structure and business plan." iStar Financial Inc. SFI is a fully-integrated finance and investment company focused on the commercial real estate industry. The Company provides custom-tailored investment capital to high-end private and corporate owners of real estate and invests directly across a range of real estate sectors. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), has invested more than $35 billion over the past two decades. Additional information on iStar Financial is available on the Company's website at www.istarfinancial.com.