Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Acquires Sterling Medical Office Building for $6.5 Million
ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT) (NYSE:WRE) has acquired Sterling Medical Office Building, a two-story, 36,000 square foot medical office building located in Sterling, Virginia for $6.5 million. The acquisition presents a great opportunity for WRIT to expand its medical office portfolio in Loudoun County Virginia, one of the nation's fastest growing and most affluent counties.
Demand for medical office space in the area is driven by its proximity to Inova Loudoun Hospital and Reston Hospital Center. WRIT will capitalize on the operating and leasing synergies created by managing Sterling Medical Office Building, along with other recent medical office acquisitions in the Loudoun/Fairfax market, including Ashburn Farm Professional Center, CentreMed I & II, and Lansdowne Medical Office Building, currently under construction.
WRIT expects to achieve a first-year, unleveraged yield of 7.6% on a cash basis and 7.9% on a GAAP basis. The acquisition was funded with cash from operations.
WRIT is a self-administered, self-managed, equity real estate investment trust investing in income-producing properties in the greater Washington metro region. WRIT's dividends have increased every year for 38 consecutive years. WRIT's FFO per share has increased every year for 35 consecutive years. WRIT owns a diversified portfolio of 92 properties consisting of 14 retail centers, 26 office properties, 17 medical office properties, 24 industrial/flex properties, 11 multi-family properties and land for development. WRIT shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:WRE).
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in interest rates, availability of raw materials and labor costs, levels of competition, the effect of government regulation, the availability of capital, weather conditions, the timing and pricing of lease transactions, and changes in general and local economic and real estate market conditions.
Source: Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (WRIT)
Released May 23, 2008