Cedar Reaches Agreement on Sale of Substantially All of Its Ohio Properties

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. (NYSE: CDR) today announced that it has executed agreements for  the sale of 17 properties, all located in Ohio, of which  14 are anchored by Discount Drug Mart.   The aggregate sales price for the 17 properties is approximately $45 million subject to approximately $30 million of existing financing.  As a result of these transactions, Cedar will have substantially withdrawn from Ohio.  Its remaining investment is limited to three single tenant net-leased national drug stores with self-amortizing debt.  

As previously disclosed, the Company included 14 of the 17 properties as "held for sale" at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, taking an impairment of approximately $30 million for those properties.  The transaction announced today, involving three additional properties, will result in an additional impairment in the first quarter of 2011 of approximately $3 million.

The sale of two properties closed on March 30, 2011.  Closing of the sale of the balance of the properties is subject to normal closing conditions, including lender consents, and is expected within the third quarter.  The purchaser is Nickleplate Realty Trust, LLC of Canton, Ohio.

Leo S. Ullman Cedar's Chairman and CEO, stated "The disposition of these properties represents an integral part of the Company's long-term business plan. This strategy includes disposing of smaller properties in secondary markets as the Company upgrades its portfolio, further de-levering its balance sheet, emphasizing ownership of larger properties in higher demographic areas with strong creditworthy tenancies, and thus incorporating additional opportunities for growth."  

About Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc.

Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc. is a fully-integrated real estate investment trust which focuses primarily on ownership, operation, development and redevelopment of "bread & butter"® supermarket-anchored shopping centers in coastal mid-Atlantic and New England states. The Company presently owns (both exclusively or in joint venture) and manages approximately 16.1 million square feet of GLA at 131 shopping center properties, of which more than 75% are anchored by supermarkets and/or drugstores with average remaining lease terms of approximately 11 years.

For additional financial and descriptive information on the Company, its operations and its portfolio, please refer to the Company's website at www.cedarshoppingcenters.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made or incorporated by reference in this press release include certain "forward-looking statements".  Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements containing the words "anticipates", "believes", "expects", "intends", "future", and words of similar import which express the Company's beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding future performance or future events or trends. While forward-looking statements reflect good faith beliefs, expectations, or intentions, they are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of factors outside of the Company's control. Certain factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the following: real estate investment considerations, such as the effect of economic and other conditions in general and in the Company's market areas in particular; the financial viability of the Company's tenants (including an inability to pay rent, filing for bankruptcy protection, closing stores and/or vacating the premises); the continuing availability of acquisition, development and redevelopment opportunities, on favorable terms; the availability of equity and debt capital (including the availability of construction financing) in the public and private markets; the availability of suitable joint venture partners and potential purchasers of the Company's properties if offered for sale; the ability of the Company's joint venture partners to fund their respective shares of  property acquisitions, tenant improvements and capital expenditures; changes in interest rates; the fact that returns from acquisition, development and redevelopment activities may not be at expected levels or at expected times; risks inherent in ongoing development and redevelopment projects including, but not limited to, cost overruns resulting from weather delays, changes in the nature and scope of development and redevelopment efforts, changes in governmental regulations relating thereto, and market factors involved in the pricing of material and labor; the need to renew leases or re-let space upon the expiration or termination of current leases and incur applicable required replacement costs; and the financial flexibility of the Company and its joint venture partners to repay or refinance debt obligations when due and to fund tenant improvements and capital expenditures.

SOURCE Cedar Shopping Centers, Inc.