MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 21, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EDR) today announced it has completed the previously announced $45 million, joint-venture purchase of University Village Towers, a 525-bed off-campus collegiate community near the University of California, Riverside.
The purchase is structured in a joint venture with Walton Street Capital, L.L.C., a private real estate investment firm based in Chicago. EDR owns a minority interest in the joint venture with Walton Street Capital. EDR manages operations of University Village Towers through its property management subsidiary, Allen & O'Hara Education Services, Inc.
The one-year-old community is located approximately one-half mile from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) campus, one of the few in the UC system with growth capacity. California leads the nation in the total number of high school graduates annually and enrollment at UCR is expected to rise from nearly 17,000 students to 21,000 by 2010 and 25,000 by 2015.
"We are pleased with the purchase of such an attractive property in a very desirable market in partnership with such a sophisticated group of hands-on real estate investors. We expect the university, our community and our joint venture will perform very well over time," said EDR Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Craig Cardwell.
The transaction closed September 15, 2006.
About Education Realty Trust
Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EDR) is a real estate investment trust that owns, manages and develops high-quality collegiate student housing. Led by a team with more than 170 years of shared industry experience, EDR is one of America's largest owners and operators of collegiate student housing. Its portfolio includes 36,960 beds at 60 properties in 21 states. For more information please visit the company's Web site at www.educationrealty.com.
About Walton Street Capital
Based in Chicago, Walton Street Capital, L.L.C. is a private real estate investment company that has received total equity commitments of $3.4 billion through its five opportunistic and value-added Funds, of which $2.1 billion has been invested/committed to date with a gross asset cost of $8.0 billion. Fund investors include government and corporate pension funds, foreign pension funds, endowments, foundations, banks, insurance companies, high net worth individuals and the Principals of Walton Street. Walton Street invests across all property types, both domestically and internationally. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.waltonst.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Statements about the company's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations. You should not rely on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's future results, performance, or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such risks are set forth under the captions "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in our annual report on Form 10-K and under the caption "Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" (or similar captions) in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and as described in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.