Bedford Closes Sale of Texas Properties

LAFAYETTE, CA-Bedford Property Investors Inc. has closed on the sale of five Texas properties totaling 311,000-sf for $26.6 million.

The properties were sold in two separate transactions. Included in the sale was the three-story, 83,000 sf Great Hills Trail office building in Austin; three flex buildings totaling 159,000-sf, also in Austin; and the Ferrell Drive property, located in Farmers Branch, consisting of a 69,000-sf flex property and an adjacent 1.4 acre undeveloped land parcel.

The sales–which resulted in a gain of approximately $2.05 million, or 11 cents a share–completes Bedford’s strategy to exit the Texas and Kansas City markets and redeploy the proceeds toward paying down debt, buying back stock, and funding new developments. Bedford is now re-positioned in the western markets, with an emphasis on service center high tech flex products for industrial and office users, and is actively seeking more acquisitions.

Bedford also recently completed the sale of nine properties totaling 463,000 sf in the Kansas City Area. The aggregate $31.3 million sales resulted in a gain of approximately $0.25 per share.

Bedford has set Oct. 24 as the date for its third quarter earnings conference call with investors. The company will release an outline of the third quarter numbers via its website on Oct. 23.

Last week, Bedford announced a third quarter dividend of $0.45 per share, which represents an increase of 7% over dividends from the second quarter. During the first half of 2000, Bedford’s revenues rose 13% to $49.3 million.