CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Equity Commonwealth (NYSE:EQC) today announced that it has completed the sale of two portfolios comprising 51 properties and 8.3 million square feet, for a combined sales price of $793 million.
The company sold a 45-property portfolio of small office and industrial assets totaling 5.3 million square feet across 19 markets in 13 states, for a gross sales price of $376 million. As of March 31, 2015, the small office and industrial portfolio was 77.5% leased.
The company also sold a six-property portfolio totaling 3.0 million square feet, for a gross sales price of $417 million. These office assets are located in Birmingham, AL; New Orleans, LA; Columbia, SC; and Greensboro, NC. Proceeds from the six-property portfolio sale, net of mortgage debt repayments and credits for contractual lease costs, were $320 million. As of March 31, 2015, the portfolio was 89.6% leased.
Year-to-date, the company has sold $817 million of assets, encompassing 56 properties and 9 million square feet. The company currently has three office properties under contract for approximately $35 million encompassing 270,000 square feet. In addition, there are 32 properties comprising 10 million square feet in various stages of marketing.
Additional detail regarding the portfolio of properties sold is in the presentation dated June 8, 2015, available on the Investor Relations section of the company’s website, www.eqcre.com.
About Equity Commonwealth
Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC) is an internally managed and self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT). EQC has a national portfolio of 100 properties comprising 34 million square feet with executive offices in Chicago, IL.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements regarding marketing the company’s properties for sale, de-levering the balance sheet, consummating asset sales, and identifying future investment opportunities. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are intended to be made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” or “potential” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect the company’s current views about future events and are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause the company’s actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all).
While forward-looking statements reflect the company’s good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, of new information, data or methods, future events or other changes. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could cause the company’s future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters.
