NorthStar Income Originates Six First Mortgage Loans Totaling $180 Million

NEW YORK, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (NorthStar Income) is pleased to announce the recent origination of six first mortgage loans totaling $180 million, with a weighted average current yield of 11.2%.  The proceeds from the loans, which are summarized below, were used to finance a variety of high quality real estate properties.

• June 13, 2012: $73.0 million senior loan secured by an institutional quality regional retail mall and power center in Orange County, California;
• June 8, 2012: $15.3 million senior loan secured by a multifamily property in Savannah, Georgia;
• June 1, 2012: $24.9 million senior loan secured by an office building in the central business district of St. Paul, Minnesota;
• May 23, 2012: $40.5 million senior loan secured by a 114 room Class-A full-service hotel on 4.8 acres in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts;
• May 18, 2012: $7.1 million senior loan secured by a 27,000 square foot retail property in Chicago, Illinois;
• May 3, 2012: $19.4 million senior loan secured by the recently renovated 245 room Saguaro Hotel located in Palm Springs, California.

Daniel R. Gilbert, president and chief investment officer of NorthStar Income, commented, "We are pleased with the growth of NorthStar Income's portfolio and are committed to deploying capital in quality investments.  Our recent closings further demonstrate our strong presence in the commercial real estate lending market and our ongoing ability to successfully source and originate loans that are consistent with our business plan and that we expect will be accretive to the distribution paid to our stockholders."

As of June 11, 2012, NorthStar Income's total portfolio consists of fifteen loans and one commercial real estate security with an overall weighted average current yield of approximately 11.5%. In addition, NorthStar Income has utilized $75 million of its $100 million credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

About NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.
NorthStar Income is a real estate investment trust formed to originate, invest in and manage a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt, commercial real estate debt-related securities and select commercial real estate equity investments.  For more information about NorthStar Income, please visit www.northstarreit.com.

Certain items in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which can be identified by words like "anticipate, ""believe," "plan," "hope," "goal," "expect," "future," "intend," "will," "could" and "should" and similar expressions.  These statements are based on NorthStar Income's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements; NorthStar Income can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained.  Forward-looking statements are necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions underlying any forward-looking statements will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results.  Variations of assumptions and results may be material.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from NorthStar Income's expectations include, but are not limited to, NorthStar Income's ability to grow, NorthStar Income's ability to continue to deploy funds in quality investments, whether NorthStar Income will be able to maintain its strong relationships in the commercial real estate market, whether the six loans will perform consistently with NorthStar Income's objectives, whether NorthStar Income will be able continue to successfully source and originate loans that are accretive to the distribution paid to its stockholders, whether current yields will continue in the future, the ability of the owners to maintain or increase occupancy and cash flows at the underlying the properties, future value, income-producing ability, impact of any losses on cash flows and returns, market rental rates and property level cash flows, changes in economic conditions generally and the real estate and debt markets specifically, impact of local economics, availability of investment opportunities, availability of capital, ability to achieve targeted  returns, generally accepted accounting principles and policies and rules applicable to REITs.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are specified in NorthStar Income's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.  NorthStar Income expressly disclaims any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

SOURCE NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust, Inc.