Corporate Office Properties Trust Announces Patriot Ridge Development in Springfield, Virginia

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COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) (NYSE: OFC) announced today that it has entered a new submarket with control of approximately 15 acres and the development potential of between 800,000 and 980,000 square feet. This project, known as Patriot Ridge, is located in the Northern Virginia submarket of Springfield. Construction of the first building, consisting of approximately 240,000 square feet, is targeted to start in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Patriot Ridge is located adjacent to the new National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) headquarters currently under construction. NGA is a Department of Defense combat support agency and is the third largest agency of the 17 agencies making up the U.S. Intelligence Community. The NGA will occupy a 2.4 million square foot facility which will be located at Fort Belvoir. NGA develops imagery and map-based intelligence solutions for U.S. national defense, homeland security and safety of navigation.

Fort Belvoir is the beneficiary of the largest BRAC gain of any military installation in the country. The implementation of BRAC at Fort Belvoir includes 20 separate projects comprising nearly 6.2 million square feet of building space to support approximately 19,300 personnel relocating to Fort Belvoir.

"Our expansion into Springfield fits within our Super Core strategy of locating adjacent to government demand drivers," stated Randall M. Griffin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corporate Office Properties Trust. "Our site will provide superior speed to market, visibility, access and proximity to serve critical missions relocating to Fort Belvoir as a result of BRAC," he added.

Company Information

Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) (NYSE: OFC) is a specialty office real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on strategic customer relationships and specialized tenant requirements in the U.S. Government, Defense Information Technology and Data sectors. The Company acquires, develops, manages and leases properties which are typically concentrated in large office parks primarily located adjacent to government demand drivers and/or in growth corridors. As of March 31, 2010, the Company owned 268 office and data properties totaling 20 million rentable square feet, which includes 20 properties totaling 1.1 million square feet held through joint ventures. The Company's portfolio primarily consists 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", "expect", "estimate" 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: 

    --  the Company's ability to borrow on favorable terms;
    --  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;
    --  risk of real estate acquisition and development, 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;
    --  our ability to satisfy and operate effectively under federal income tax
        rules relating to real estate investment trusts and partnerships;
    --  governmental actions and initiatives; 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, 2009. 


    Source: Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT)

Released May 19, 2010