Acquisitions May Be Goal of REITs Fund Raising

First Potomac, for its part, priced a public offering of 2.5 million common shares at $16 per share--reaping proceeds of $38.2 million--at least part of which were used to fund a recent acquisition, according to a prepared statement by the company's CIO Nicholas Smith. Recently, First Potomac Realty Trust acquired a 306,656-sf flex/office in Columbia, MD for $42.3 million and a four-building, 73,456-sf flex/office property in Baltimore, for $4.5 million. After a hiatus from the acquisitions market, First Potomac is gearing up to make some more purchases, Smith says--and will be using its proceeds to fund some of these deals. "Our recent capital raise puts us in position to take advantage of similar opportunities going forward," he says.

COPT, as well, appears to be gearing up for some acquisitions. Besides its $145.8 million capital pool, it just brought on a new executive to oversee its acquisition and disposition activities--John Norjen, who is the REIT's new managing director of Investments. Randall Griffin, president and CEO of COPT alluded to potential buying opportunities in a prepared statement regarding Norjen's arrival. "John's extensive commercial real estate experience and knowledge will prove most valuable as new opportunities evolve for COPT as a result of the turbulent economic environment," he says.