Developers Diversified Realty Announces Acquisition of Shopping Center Assets by Macquarie DDR Trust
CLEVELAND, OH, Dec. 15, 2004 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Developers Diversified Realty Corporation (NYSE: DDR) announced that the Company's joint venture with Macquarie DDR Trust (ASX: MDT) ("MDT"), an Australian Listed Property Trust sponsored by Macquarie Bank Limited (ASX: MBL), an international investment bank and leading advisor and manager of specialized real estate funds in Australia, has acquired two community shopping centers located in Columbia, SC and Lewisville, TX with an aggregate value of $79.2 million. Developers Diversified anticipates that MDT will acquire another property in Birmingham, AL, which is valued at approximately $17.6 million from Developers Diversified, prior to the end of the year, subject to approval by the Board of Macquarie DDR Management Limited, the manager of the MDT joint venture. The Company also anticipates that MDT will close on several additional retail properties during the first quarter of 2005.
Developers Diversified will remain responsible for all day-to-day operations of the properties and will receive its share of ongoing fees for property management, leasing and construction management, plus nominal one-time fees for financing and due diligence. The Company will also receive base asset management fees and incentive fees based on the overall performance of MDT relative to the S&P/ASX 200.
Harbison Court, which is located in Columbia, SC, is a 312,178 square foot community center anchored by Barnes & Noble, Ross Dress for Less, Marshall's, OfficeMax and Babies "R" Us. Lakepointe Crossing is a 567,067 square foot community center located in suburban Dallas and anchored by PETsMART, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, Academy Sports, 99 Cents Only, The Roomstore and Conn's Appliance. Riverchase Promenade, which is located in Birmingham, AL is a 228,344 square foot community center asset anchored by Marshall's, Goody's and Toys "R" Us.
Including the three assets described above, the MDT joint venture will own 25 community center assets across the U.S. totaling over 12 million square feet. The MDT joint venture portfolio represents nearly $1.5 billion in aggregate value, which includes a $70 million increase in valuation based on recent appraisals.
Developers Diversified owns and manages approximately 460 retail operating and development properties totaling approximately 102 million square feet of real estate in 44 states. Developers Diversified is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) operating as a fully integrated real estate company which develops, leases and manages shopping centers. You can learn more about Developers Diversified on the Internet at www.ddr.com.
Developers Diversified Realty Corporation considers portions of this information to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21 E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, both as amended, with respect to the Company's expectation for future periods. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not historical fact may be deemed to be forward looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of the Company to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including, among other factors, local conditions such as oversupply of space or a reduction in demand for real estate in the area, competition from other available space, dependence on rental income from real property, the loss of a major tenant or inability to enter into definitive agreements with regard to our financing arrangements or our failure to satisfy conditions to the completion of these arrangements.
For more details on the risk factors, please refer to the Company's Form on 10-K as of December 31, 2003.