Real Estate Archives - April, 2005           
April: SL Green Realty Corp... U-Store-It Trust... Comstock Homebuilding Companies ... CBL & Associates Properties ... Entertainment Properties Trust ...Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust ... Global Diversified Industries

. . . SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) continues its strategy of capitalizing on corporate divestitures of real estate with the acquisition of One Madison Avenue from Met Life. The landmark structure consisting of two contiguous buildings was originally built by Met Life to be its headquarters. SL Green plans to convert one of the two buildings into luxury residential condominiums. One Madison overlooks Madison Square Park, one of Manhattan's premier vest-pocket parks. The park has been renovated in the past few years and now resembles a genteel European city park.

. . . Self-Stor to U-Store-it - Stockholders of Liberty Self-Stor (OTC BB:LSSI.OB) voted to sell substantially all of Liberty's assets to U-Store-It Trust (NYSE: YSI). Self-Stor owns and operates 20 self-storage facilities located in Ohio and New York. The U-Store-It Trust was formed on October 21, 2004.

. . . D.C. Boom. Look at any job growth figures and the Washington D.C. area is at, or near, the top. With jobs come people and demand for more housing, which is the main reason regional builder, Comstock Homebuilding Companies (Nasdaq: CHCI) is seeing big growth in its business. For the first two months of 2005, net new orders increased 71% and net new order value increased 86% over the same period last year. In addition, backlog contract value has increased 243% during this same period.

. . . California here we come. (NYSE: CBL), the largest owner of malls and shopping centers in the Southeast, has completed its first mall development on the west coast and its first owned and managed property in the state of California." The company's joint venture partner in the project is The MGHerring Group. The Imperial Valley Mall in El Centro, CA is an enclosed regional mall encompassing more than 750,000-square-feet. The vast majority of retailers at the mall are making their first appearance in the market including popular retailers, such as Express, Victoria's Secret, Hollister, Charlotte Russe and Forever 21. The mall is expected to bring more than $326 million annually in retail sales.

. . . Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE:EPR) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.625 cents per share for its common shares, for the first quarter of 2005, an increase of 11%. It is the Company's 30th consecutive quarterly dividend and the 8th consecutive annual increase in the common share dividend since the Company's formation in 1997. Entertainment Properties Trust is the only publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the acquisition of high-quality real estate assets leased to leading location-based entertainment operators. It recently acquired the East Ridge 18 megaplex in Chattanooga, TN, which has a total of 4,118 seats in 18 auditoriums.

. . .6-month shopping spree. Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT), in partnership with the Clarion Lion Properties Fund, has purchased nine shopping centers valued over $265 million in less than six months. The latest acquisitions are Hunter's Square in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Winchester Center in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and Marketplace of Delray in Delray Beach, Florida. The Michigan properties are located in the third wealthiest county per-capita in the United States. Ramco-Gershenson has a portfolio consisting of 79 community centers and one enclosed regional mall.

. . . Closing in on 100%. Global Diversified Industries (GDVI.OB), focused on the modular building industry with an emphasis on the education market, reported revenues for the nine months ended January 31, 2005 were up 99.8% compared to revenues for the previous nine months. It also marked the company's third consecutive quarter of positive earnings. Modular construction, particularly big in the building of education properties, offers advantages of speed and consistent quality.