MEPT and Bentall Kennedy Announce the Acquisition of Newport Tower In Jersey City, New Jersey

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) (www.mept.com) and Bentall Kennedy, real estate advisor to MEPT, announce the purchase of Newport Tower, a 1.1 million square foot, high-rise office tower in Jersey City, New Jersey, for $377.5 million from Brookfield Office Properties. CBRE represented Brookfield Office Properties.

MEPT, a $5.3 billion open-end commingled real estate equity fund, acquired the Class A office building through a limited partnership subsidiary. Built in 1990, Newport Tower is 89% leased to a variety of high credit financial service firms and related service companies with limited rollover risk over the next several years. Located in the Hudson Waterfront submarket, the building is directly across the river from lower Manhattan and offers quick and direct access to Midtown and Downtown via the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) commuter train. The 36-story office tower is U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Gold certified.

"Newport Tower is a significant acquisition for MEPT since it provides the Fund with an investment in a high-quality, stabilized asset in the New York-New Jersey market which is one of the strongest office markets in the U.S." stated David Antonelli, Executive Vice President and MEPT Portfolio Manager at Bentall Kennedy. "Additionally, the property's sustainable features and energy-efficient operations are a complement to MEPT's existing office portfolio and consistent with the Fund's global leadership in environmental performance."

"On behalf of MEPT, we have focused on acquiring high quality assets in major markets across the U.S. With the acquisition of Newport Tower, we have completed over $1 billion in acquisitions in 2011 for MEPT," stated Martin Standiford, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions, Bentall Kennedy. "We continue to seek attractive investment opportunities for the Fund. Specifically, high-quality CBD office properties, grocery-anchored retail centers in urban infill or established suburban neighborhoods, and multi-family assets in urban markets serving the Echo-Boom generation are the type of assets that we seek to acquire for MEPT."

Bentall Kennedy, on behalf of MEPT, retained CBRE for property management and leasing.

About MEPT

Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) is a $5.3 billion, open-end commingled real estate equity fund that invests in a diversified portfolio of institutional-quality real estate assets in 30 major metropolitan markets across the U.S. Founded in 1982, MEPT is owned by more than 360 multi-employer, public employee and corporate pension plans. Signatory to the UN Principals for Responsible Investment (UN PRI), MEPT is recognized as a pioneer in Responsible Property Investing (RPI) and is ranked #1 in the Americas and #5 globally for environmental performance by GRESB. Please visit www.mept.com to learn more.

MEPT is managed by three entities: NewTower Trust Company (www.newtowertrust.com), of Bethesda, Maryland serves as the trustee of the Fund. Bentall Kennedy (www.bentallkennedy.com) with US headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and corporate headquarters in Toronto, Ontario serves as the real estate investment advisor to MEPT. With fourteen offices across the U.S. and Canada and more than $25 billion of assets under management, Bentall Kennedy is among the largest pension real estate advisors in North America. Landon Butler & Company, LP^® (www.lbutler.com) of Washington, DC, provides investor relations and marketing services to MEPT.

Contact:
Pamela Silberman, SVP, Landon Butler & Company, MEPT Investor Relations/Media
[email protected]
Phone: 202-737-8824

Forward looking statements are subject to change due to market conditions or investment strategy execution, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Any assumptions should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur.

SOURCE Multi-Employer Property Trust