BOSTON, Oct. 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winthrop Realty Trust (NYSE:FUR) announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with respect to its pending lawsuit relating to its Churchill, Pennsylvania property which provides for the dismissal of the lawsuit, a payment to Winthrop of $6.5 million, the conveyance to Winthrop of approximately 98 acres of land with approximately 1.0 million square feet of improvements currently owned by Winthrop, an additional adjacent 50 acres of land, and the waiver of all ground lease payments by Winthrop for 2011.
Winthrop has simultaneously entered into a new net lease with Westinghouse for approximately 57,000 square feet of space at the Churchill property. The lease has a term of 12 years and requires annual rent of $750,000 per year, increasing annually by 3%. Westinghouse is responsible for all costs associated with the leased space and can terminate the lease at any time after the fifth anniversary by making a termination payment of $4.4 million which decreases each year thereafter.
Winthrop intends to market for sale within the next two years both the portion of the property leased to Westinghouse and the remaining portion of the property on which there are buildings containing approximately 950,000 square feet of space. As such, the operations of the Churchill property will be included in discontinued operations in the Company's financial statements commencing with the third quarter 2011.
Michael L. Ashner, Winthrop's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "we are pleased with the resolution of this matter and look forward to the positive impact that this settlement together with the Westinghouse lease will have on the Company's future continuing operations."
About Winthrop Realty Trust
Winthrop Realty Trust is a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional information on Winthrop Realty Trust is available on its Web site at www.winthropreit.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. With the exception of the historical information contained in this news release, the matters described herein contain "forward-looking" statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or collectively impact the matters herein described. These are detailed from time to time in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's SEC reports. Further information relating to the Company's financial position, results of operations, and investor information is contained in the Company's annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC and available for download at its website www.winthropreit.com or at the SEC website www.sec.gov.