NEW YORK, NY – February 22, 2001 – W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE:WPC), a leader in the ownership and net leasing of corporate properties, announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of two facilities from The Bon-Ton Department Stores, Inc. ("Bon-Ton"). The facilities, which include a distribution center and a retail store located in York, Pennsylvania were purchased 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. Under the terms of the sale-leaseback, the facilities are leased to Bon-Ton under a 20 year bond-type net lease.
Combined, the two facilities total 302,000 square feet. The 170,000 square foot distribution center, situated on a 26-acre site, is ideally located to service the southern portion of Bon-Ton's retail operations. One of two distribution centers operated by Bon-Ton, the York, PA facility also incorporates Bon-Ton's data center. The 132,000 square foot department store, located on a 7-acre site, is one of the four anchors of the Galleria Mall in York, Pennsylvania. The total cost of the two facilities was approximately $12 million.
Founded by S. Grumbacher in 1898, Bon-Ton is a regional department store chain headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. From its roots as a family business, Bon-Ton is now publicly held and currently operates 73 department stores located in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Throughout its 102-year history, Bon-Ton has maintained a focused strategy and established a strong brand identity as the premier provider of fashion apparel merchandise in secondary markets. Bon-Ton's stores carry a mix of quality branded and private label merchandise with an emphasis on fashion apparel for women, men and children, as well as accessories, cosmetics and home furnishings.
Commenting on the transaction, Edward V. LaPuma, Executive Director of W. P. Carey, stated, "W. P. Carey has more than 25 years' experience in developing flexible solutions to meet companies financing needs. Despite the current softening of the retail sector, our underwriting expertise provided the necessary confidence to complete our second sale-leaseback transaction with Bon-Ton. Sale-leaseback financing continues to offer a viable source of funds by effectively "unlocking" the value of the underlying real estate to provide cash for both current operations and future growth and expansion. In this case, we were able to provide single-source financing for two separate facilities under one lease."
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 44 million square feet of property in the USA and Europe. Additional information about W. P. Carey is available on the company's Web site: www.cpa14.com
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.