Repair costs total $31.5 million, including replacing 2,700 windows, a job expected to start in April. The REIT lost another $4.3 million in rent. However, the company's deductible is $50 million per occurrence, said chief financial officer Marsha C. Williams during the company's earnings conference call Thursday morning. "We may take some steps to make sure we don't have another event like this again," she says, indicating the company is looking at coverage on properties in coastal areas.
Costs of cleaning up the property were higher than first expected, said president and chief executive officer Richard D. Kincaid, largely because prices of goods and service in the hurricane-battered region have soared. "It was off the charts once you got in there," he said. "It's been chaotic down there."
Williams said the window replacement project should complete Equity Office Properties' clean-up at its property. "That's our sincere wish--that we are done."
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