Federated Realty Sells Greenwich Retail Property for $16.5M

Federated Realty Investment Trust reports it has sold the property, located in the heart of the downtown retail business district, to a private investor. Officials with the Rockville, Md.-based equity REIT did not disclose the identity of the buyer. Coldwell Banker Commercial in Norwalk was a broker in the transaction, according to Federated Realty officials.

The property was purchased by Federated Realty in 1997 and is home to such tenants at Gap Kids and Banana Republic. Company officials say that the trust will record a gain on the sale of the property of $7 million in the second quarter of this year.

The company reported last month a business plan that includes the sale of "slower growing assets" which could include shopping centers or street retail properties so that "capital can be redeployed more effectively." The Greenwich Ave., property, along with the sale of a 5,000-sf building at 101 Oak St., in Chicago for $6.1 million in December 2001, were part of this new business plan, company officials note. The weighted capitalization rate for the two properties was 7.3%.

"We've targeted assets with an estimated value of approximately $60 million for sale under this program," says Jeff Berkes, senior vice president, strategic transactions with Federated Realty. "With the closing of the Greenwich and Chicago properties, we are nearly half way to that target."

Federated Realty Investment Trust's portfolio consists of 15.1 million sf of retail space across the U.S. and at year's end 2001 boasted an occupancy rate of 96%.