COLUMBIA, MD-Corporate Office Properties Trust has launched a public offering of 3.9 million of its common shares.

The REIT plans to use the proceeds to redeem outstanding preferred shares, repay what it owes under its unsecured revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. Completion of the offering is subject to customary closing conditions. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as the book-running manager.

In general the REIT has been taking steps to shore up its balance sheet.

Roger A. Waesche, Jr., president & CEO of COPT, noted in the company's recent earnings call that last year it executed several initiatives designed to improve its balance sheet flexibility. Using the capital raised in the debt and equity markets, and with proceeds from asset sales, "we decreased our total debt outstanding by over $400 million and redeemed $55 million of 8%-yielding preferred stock. As a result, we lowered our debt to gross asset value ratio from 49.8% at the beginning of 2012 to 42.7% by year-end, and improved our debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio from 8.6 times in 2011 to 7.1 times for 2012."

COPT joins the REITs that have tapped the capital markets thus far this year. According to NAREIT, REITs have raised $12.8 billion in initial, debt and equity capital offerings in 2013. Of that amount, $9.5 billion was raised in common and preferred secondary equity offerings, $2.8 billion was raised in unsecured debt offerings, and $597 million was raised in initial public offerings.