MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EDR) today announced completion of a $50 million bond issue that will finance construction of student housing at the Auraria Higher Education Center, a shared campus for the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State College and Community College of Denver serving about 34,000 students.
Education Realty Trust, America's most experienced collegiate student housing provider, also announced the start of construction of the 685-bed Campus Village Apartments which are expected to open in August 2006.
The apartments will be located at the corner of 4th and Walnut, immediately adjacent to the Auraria Campus.
Memphis-based Education Realty Trust has partnered on the initiative with Urban Ventures LLC, a real estate company specializing in loft housing, mixed-use and historic renovation in Denver. Allen & O'Hara Education Services, Inc., a subsidiary of EDR, will manage Campus Village when it is complete.
RBC Dain Rauscher Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY), led the financial team on the bond issue, which closed May 26. The Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority is the issuer. Campus Village Apartments, LLC, whose sole member is the University of Colorado Real Estate Foundation, is the borrower.
About Education Realty Trust
Education Realty Trust is one of America's largest owners and operators of collegiate student housing, owning and/or managing approximately 28,000 beds at 41 properties near campuses across America and developing another 4,851 beds. EDR is one of the largest real estate investment trusts (REITs) focused solely on collegiate student housing, and is the nation's most experienced provider of collegiate student housing, as the successor to the first national company to own, build, and operate collegiate student residences. For more information about EDR, please visit the Company's web site at www.educationrealty.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Education Realty Trust's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause EDR's future results, performance, or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the "Business-Risk Factors" section of EDR's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and EDR undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.