CHICAGO—As reported in GlobeSt.com, Retail Properties ofAmerica, Inc. has had a solid year, with some important acquisitions, strongfinancial results and significant occupancy gains. And now the OakBrook, IL-based REIT, formerly known as Inland WesternRetail Real Estate Trust, a name it shed in 2012, was justassigned a BBB- corporate credit rating from Standard andPoor's Ratings Services with a stable outlook. S&Psaid in their announcement that the rating reflects RPAI'sinvestment and operating strategy, and strengthening portfoliofundamentals.

“We are pleased with today's announcement of our secondinvestment grade credit rating, which is a strong acknowledgementof the transformation of the company's balance sheet over the lastthree years, as we have substantially deleveraged the portfolio,improved coverage metrics and grown our now sizeable unencumberedasset base,” says Angela Aman, executive vicepresident, chief financial officer and treasurer. “Access to thepublic unsecured bond market increases the company's flexibility aswe continue to enhance our credit profile and work to reduce ouroverall cost of capital.”

S&P has assigned a BBB- corporate credit rating to RPAI andto its senior unsecured shelf registration, under which the companymay issue senior unsecured public debt in the future. The companyalso has an investment grade credit rating from Moody'sInvestors Service of (P)Baa3 with a stable outlook on itssenior unsecured shelf registration.