NEW YORK, NY – December 26, 2001 – W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), a leading real estate investment banking firm and lessor of net lease corporate properties, announced today that it has purchased and leased-back a Class A office building from Nortel Networks Inc. for approximately $47 million. Eastdil Realty Company and Fischer Company represented Nortel in this transaction.
Under the terms of the sale-leaseback transaction, the 282,000 square foot building will be leased to Nortel under a 15-year bond-type, net lease. The facility is in the "telecom corridor" of Richardson, Texas. This complex is home to an estimated 600 high-tech and telecommunications companies, making it one of the largest concentrations of technology firms in the world.
The facility was purchased on behalf of Corporate Property Associates 14 Incorporated (CPA®:14), a member of the $3.5 billion W. P. Carey Group of non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs).
CPA®:14 invests in single-tenant commercial properties. These properties are typically purchased under a long-term, triple-net lease, in which the tenant is responsible for maintaining the premises, insuring the buildings and paying real estate taxes. As of September 30, 2001, CPA®:14's diversified portfolio consisted of 87 properties net-leased to 50 tenants throughout the United States and Europe.
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. specializes in corporate real estate financing through the corporate net lease, or sale-leaseback structure. The firm and its affiliates continue to be the leading lessors of net leased corporate real estate in the United States. As the largest publicly traded limited liability company in the world, the company owns and/or manages more than 400 commercial and industrial properties throughout the United States and Europe comprising of more than 50 million-square-feet of space. The firm is headquartered in Manhattan and has offices in London and Paris.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause the company's actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those anticipated. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate; the supply of and demand for office and industrial properties; interest rate levels; the availability of financing; and other risks associated with the acquisition and ownership of properties, including risks that the tenants will not pay rent, or that costs may be greater than anticipated. For further information on factors that could impact the company, reference is made to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
