Essex Announces Its 15th Consecutive Annual Dividend Increase
Establishes Record Date for the Annual Shareholders' Meeting
| Source: Essex Property Trust
PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - February 25, 2009) - 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 $0.04 per share annualized increase to its regular cash
dividend. Accordingly, the first quarter dividend distribution, payable on
April 15, 2009 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2009, will be
$1.03 per share. On an annualized basis, the dividend represents a
distribution of $4.12 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, 2009 to shareholders of record as
of May 15, 2009. Distributions for the 4.875% Series G Cumulative
Convertible Preferred shares are payable on April 30, 2009 to shareholders
of record as of April 1, 2009.
In addition, Essex's Board of Directors has declared that its Annual
Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.,
at The Grand apartments, located at 100 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612.
Shareholders of record as of February 27, 2009 will be entitled to vote at
the meeting.
Essex Property Trust, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California and traded 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 132 multifamily properties
(26,862 units), and has 1,256 units in various stages of development.
Additional information about Essex can be found on the Company's web site
at www.essexpropertytrust.com.
The statements which are not historical facts contained in this release
such as the Company's beliefs regarding its focused and disciplined
approach and its dividend being one of the safest in the industry are
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual results to be different than such
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, downturns in the
markets in which the Company owns property, unexpected delays and costs in
connection with development and renovation projects, the impact of
competition and competitive pricing, and other risks detailed in the
Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.