ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) today announced the acquisition of East Bay Bridge shopping center, a 438,000 square foot, grocery-anchored power center spanning two municipalities, Emeryville and Oakland, California.  The Trust paid cash consideration of $53.7 million and assumed an existing $62.9 million mortgage loan secured by the property. 

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East Bay Bridge is anchored by a 60,000 square foot Pak 'N Save by Safeway supermarket, 140,000 square foot Target, and 100,000 square foot Home Depot, with 14 additional retailers including Sports Authority, Michael's, Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath, and Office Max.  The property was constructed in 1994, and sits within a larger mixed use site of 50 acres with additional retail, a hotel, and an apartment complex.  East Bay Bridge is located at the intersections of three major highways, I-80, I-580 and I-880 and spans ten city blocks along 40^th Street with over 2,800 feet of freeway visibility and 3,300 feet of street frontage along 40^th Street. The property's dominant location, along three major highways, boasts significant daily traffic counts of 216,000 cars per day to the south on I-580 and 288,000 cars per day to the west along I-580/I-880 with those counts expected to grow once the expansion of the Caldecott Tunnel is completed in 2013.

"East Bay Bridge shopping center is well located in a very supply constrained trade area in the densely populated East Bay market with top tier, top performing national tenants that draw from a wide trade area," commented Jeff Berkes, president – west coast. "We were attracted to the investment because of the strength of its location, the strength of the tenancy, and the fact that most of the leases were negotiated nearly 20 years ago and, as a result, are substantially below today's market rents."

At closing in late 2012, Federal Realty incurred approximately $1 million ($0.02 per diluted share) of closing costs associated with the acquisition, which had not previously been included in the Trust's 2012 FFO per diluted share guidance.  This acquisition is expected to be accretive to Federal Realty's earnings beginning in 2013, and is expected to provide value creation for the Trust in both the medium and longer term. 

About Federal Realty
Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, management, and redevelopment of high quality retail real estate in the country's best markets.  As of September 30, 2012, Federal Realty's portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) contained approximately 19.1 million square feet located primarily in strategically selected metropolitan markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, and California. In addition, the Trust has an ownership interest in approximately 1.0 million square feet of retail space through a joint venture in which the Trust has a 30% interest. Our operating portfolio (excluding joint venture properties) was 95.1% leased to national, regional, and local retailers as of September 30, 2012, with no single tenant accounting for more than approximately 3.1% of annualized base rent. Federal Realty has paid quarterly dividends to its shareholders continuously since its founding in 1962, and has increased its dividend rate for 45 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P MidCap 400 company and its shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT.  For more information, please visit www.federalrealty.com.

SOURCE Federal Realty Investment Trust