MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EDR) today announced that it has entered into a multi-year agreement with TMAC Towers, L.P. of Santa Barbara, Calif., to manage University Towers, a residential and retail complex with an adjacent parking garage in the West Campus district of Austin, Texas.
The 11-story building includes 184 apartment units in seven distinct floor plans from private studio apartments to four-person residential suites and a total of 641 beds. The dining commons is 10,000 square feet and seats 250 persons. Amenities include an outdoor swimming pool and spa, a fitness center, a computer center and high-speed wireless Internet, among others. Student apartments are 100 percent leased for the fall semester of 2005.
The contract gives EDR's property management company subsidiary, Allen & O'Hara Education Services, Inc., management responsibility for the 237,238 square foot building built in 1970, the on-site food and beverage operation, the associated commercial and retail space and the adjacent parking garage.
The building includes 35,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, which is also fully leased. Across the street from the main building is a separate parking garage where 550 parking spaces are rented to residents of University Towers and other students in the neighborhood who attend the University of Texas.
TMAC Towers, L.P. acquired University Towers from Wisconsin-led AHW University Housing on September 28, 2005. The agreement with EDR commenced with the acquisition and runs for three years.
"We are enthused to be part of the new team at University Towers in Austin from day one," said Thomas J. Hickey, EDR's senior vice president of operations. "We are focused on improving service and enhancing value for all stakeholders."
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 28,910 beds at 43 properties serving 35 universities in 21 states and developing communities with 3,633 beds. Totals do not include the pending purchase of 13 properties with 5,894 beds from Place Properties. 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. Such risks and uncertainties include the risk that the above-referenced transaction with Place Properties may not close on a timely basis, or at all, if certain conditions set forth in the purchase agreement are not satisfied. For a discussion of additional 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.