Ramco-Gershenson Forms Joint Venture with Heitman Through the Sale of Two Core Shopping Centers 
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI (REIT Media) July 9, 2007 - Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) announced today that it has sold two of its shopping centers to a newly formed joint venture between itself and Heitman LLC. The shopping centers, which include Kissimmee West in Kissimmee, Florida and Shoppes of Lakeland in Lakeland, Florida, have an aggregate value of $52.9 million. Both of the core shopping centers are shadow anchored by Target and are presently 100% leased. Ramco-Gershenson will hold a 7% interest in the joint venture and will continue to manage the properties earning market fees for the services it performs. The shopping centers are not expected to be leveraged. Future growth of the joint venture will be on an asset by asset basis.
"The formation of this joint venture is a win-win for both our Company and Heitman," said Dennis Gershenson, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We have achieved a very satisfactory value for our contributed assets and Heitman has invested in two well-located core shopping centers in superior markets with very stable cash flows."
About Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust
Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is a fully integrated, self-administered, publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT), which owns, develops, acquires, manages and leases community shopping centers, regional malls and single tenant retail properties, nationally. The Trust owns interests in 84 shopping centers totaling approximately 18.8 million square feet of gross leasable area in Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Maryland. For further information on Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust visit the Trust's website at www.rgpt.com.
About Heitman LLC
Heitman LLC, founded in 1966 and headquartered in Chicago, manages approximately $20 billion in assets invested directly and indirectly in real estate in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The firm's clients include US and international institutions, pension plans, endowments and foundations, and individual investors.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be reviewed in conjunction with the Trust's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other publicly available information regarding the Trust. Management of the Trust believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on reasonable assumptions. Certain factors could occur that might cause actual results to vary, including general economic conditions, the strength of key industries in the cities in which the Trust's properties are located, the performance of Trust's tenants and other factors discussed in the Trust's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Source: Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust
Share It: 
Bookmark It: 
Jul.09.2007. 08:30
This article hasn't been commented yet.
* = required field