COPT Sells Assets in White Marsh & San Antonio for $34.7 Million

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) (NYSE: OFC), an office real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses primarily on serving the specialized requirements of U.S. Government and Defense Information Technology tenants, announced today that it sold five buildings in the White Marsh submarket of Greater Baltimore, MD, for $19.2 million ($18.5 million, net). The White Marsh buildings, which are located in the Greater Baltimore submarket, totaled approximately 163,000 square feet and, at December 31, 2011, were 83.2% leased (55 leases). Four of the five buildings were constructed in the mid-to-late 1980s.

The White Marsh buildings were part of the Strategic Reallocation Plan (SRP) announced by COPT management in April 2011. Of the $512 million of operating properties in the SRP, COPT has sold $95.9 million of buildings and adjacent land containing approximately 1.15 million square feet, and realized net proceeds of $88.5 million.

COPT also sold a building which was shell-complete in 2010 in San Antonio, TX, for $15.5 million ($15.1 million, net). The San Antonio disposition represented an opportunistic sale to an end user. The 95,000 square foot San Antonio building was built by COPT as part of Sentry Gateway, an office campus that supports a government demand driver in the San Antonio Northwest submarket. At the time of sale, the building was vacant.

“The White Marsh asset sales represent meaningful progress toward executing our Strategic Reallocation Plan and the sale of our San Antonio development property validates the desirability and appeal of our Sentry Gateway campus,” stated Randall M. Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of COPT.

Conference Call to Discuss 2011 Year-End Results

Management will host a conference call to discuss its 2011 results. Details for that call are as follows:

Please use the following link to pre-register and view important information about this conference call. Pre-registering is not mandatory but is recommended as it will provide you immediate entry into the call and will facilitate the timely start of the conference. Pre-registration only takes a few moments and you may pre-register at anytime, including up to and after the call start time. To pre-register, please click on the below link:
https://www.theconferencingservice.com/prereg/key.process?key=PVEJ63YG9

You may also pre-register in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.copt.com. Alternatively, you may be placed into the call by an operator by calling the number provided above at least 5 to 10 minutes before the start of the call. A replay of this call will be available beginning Thursday, February 9 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time through Thursday, February 23 at midnight Eastern Time. To access the replay within the United States, please call 888-286-8010 and use passcode 81352459. To access the replay outside the United States, please call 617-801-6888 and use passcode 81352459.

The conference calls will also be available via live webcast in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.copt.com. A replay of the conference calls will be immediately available via webcast in the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website.

Company Information

COPT is an office REIT that focuses primarily on strategic customer relationships and specialized tenant requirements in the U.S. Government and Defense Information Technology sectors and Data Centers serving such sectors. The Company acquires, develops, manages and leases office and data center properties that are typically concentrated in large office parks primarily located adjacent to government demand drivers and/or in strong markets that we believe possess growth opportunities. As of September 30, 2011, the Company owned 266 office properties totaling 21.3 million rentable square feet, which includes 20 properties totaling 1.1 million square feet held through joint ventures. The Company’s portfolio consists primarily of technically sophisticated buildings in visually appealing settings that are environmentally sensitive, sustainable and meet unique customer requirements. COPT is an S&P MidCap 400 company and more information can be found at www.copt.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release may contain “forward-looking” statements, as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the Company. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “plan” or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate. Accordingly, the Company can give no assurance that these expectations, estimates and projections will be achieved. Future events and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors that may affect these expectations, estimates, and projections include, but are not limited to:

• general economic and business conditions, which will, among other things, affect office property demand and rents, tenant creditworthiness, interest rates and financing availability;
• adverse changes in the real estate markets including, among other things, increased competition with other companies;
• the Company’s ability to borrow on favorable terms;
• risks of real estate acquisition and development activities, including, among other things, risks that development projects may not be completed on schedule, that tenants may not take occupancy or pay rent or that development or operating costs may be greater than anticipated;
• risks of investing through joint venture structures, including risks that the Company’s joint venture partners may not fulfill their financial obligations as investors or may take actions that are inconsistent with the Company’s objectives;
• changes in our plans or views of market economic conditions or failure to obtain development rights, either of which could result in recognition of impairment losses;
• our ability to satisfy and operate effectively under Federal income tax rules relating to real estate investment trusts and partnerships;
• governmental actions and initiatives, including risks associated with the impact of a government shutdown such as a reduction in rental revenues or non-renewal of leases;
• the dilutive effect of issuing additional common shares; and
• environmental requirements.

The Company undertakes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements. For further information, please refer to the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Corporate Office Properties Trust
IR Contacts:
Stephanie Krewson
VP, Investor Relations
443-285-5453
stephanie.krewson@copt.com
or
Michelle Layne
Investor Relations Specialist
443-285-5452
michelle.layne@copt.com

Source: Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT)

Released February 2, 2012