NEW YORK, NY – August 31, 2000 – W. P. Carey & Co. LLC. (NYSE:WPC), a leader in the ownership and net leasing of corporate properties, today announced that it has closed the acquisition of a $21.6 million build-to-suit office and manufacturing facility, which will be leased to a subsidiary of Celestica Inc. (NYSE, TSE:CLS) on behalf of Corporate Property Associates 14 Incorporated (CPA®:14). CPA®:14, a public, non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) is a member of the $2.5 billion W. P. Carey Group.
M. A. Mortenson Company, a leading design-build contractor based in Minneapolis, is constructing the facility, which is anticipated to be completed by midyear 2001. The to-be-built property will be located in Rochester, Minnesota and is under a long-term lease to Celestica. The facility will consist of 200,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space.
Commenting on the transaction, W. Sean Sovak, Executive Director of W. P. Carey, stated, "This build-to-suit transaction with Celestica is an example of W. P. Carey's ability to partner with a leading developer/contractor, such as Mortenson, to offer one-stop real estate solutions for one of the leading technology firms. Celestica is the latest among several recent transactions that W. P. Carey has completed for companies serving the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market."
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. specializes in corporate real estate financing using the corporate net lease, or sale-leaseback structure. The firm and its affiliates is one of the largest lessors of net leased corporate real estate in the nation. W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE:WPC), the largest publicly traded Limited Liability Company in the world, owns and manages over 38 million square feet of property in the USA and Europe.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause the company's actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those anticipated. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate; the supply of and demand for office and industrial properties; interest rate levels; the availability of financing; and other risks associated with the acquisition and ownership of properties, including risks that the tenants will not pay rent, or that costs may be greater than anticipated. For further information on factors that could impact the company, reference is made to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.