Contact Information: Nicole Culbertson (650) 849-1649
Essex Announces Its 16th Consecutive Annual Dividend Increase
Establishes Record Date for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting
| Source: Essex Property Trust, Inc.
PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - February 24, 2010) - Essex Property Trust, Inc., (NYSE : ESS ) a
real estate investment trust (REIT) with apartment communities located in
targeted West Coast markets, announced that its Board of Directors has
approved a $0.01 per share annualized increase to its regular cash
dividend. Accordingly, the first quarter dividend distribution, payable on
April 15, 2010 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2010, will be
$1.0325 per share. On an annualized basis, the dividend represents a
distribution of $4.13 per common share.
The Board of Directors declared quarterly distributions of $0.48828 and
$0.30469 per share, which represent annual distributions of $1.9531 and
$1.2188 per share, on its 7.8125% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred
shares and its 4.875% Series G Cumulative Convertible Preferred shares,
respectively. Distributions for the 7.8125% Series F Cumulative Redeemable
Preferred shares are payable on June 1, 2010 to shareholders of record as
of May 14, 2010. Distributions for the 4.875% Series G Cumulative
Convertible Preferred shares are payable on April 30, 2010 to shareholders
of record as of April 1, 2010.
The Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at
1:00 p.m., at the Stanford Park Hotel, located at 100 El Camino Real, Menlo
Park, CA 94025. Shareholders of record as of February 26, 2010 will be
entitled to vote at the meeting.
Essex Property Trust, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California and listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (ESS), is a fully integrated real estate
investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages
multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast communities.
Essex currently has ownership interests in 133 multifamily properties
(27,248 units), and has 581 units in various stages of development.
Additional information about Essex can be found on the Company's web site
at www.essexpropertytrust.com.