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First Potomac Realty Trust Leases over Three Million Square Feet in 2008

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^{Published in Business and Finance on Wednesday, January 21st 2009 at 13:08 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-21 13:09:18 by Market Wire}  

BETHESDA, Md.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--First Potomac Realty Trust (First Potomac) (NYSE: FPO), a regional leader in the ownership, development and management of business parks and industrial properties, today announced that it signed 636,000 square feet of new and renewal leases during the fourth quarter of 2008, capping off the best leasing year in the company's history. In addition, First Potomac announced that it signed over 3,000,000 square feet of leases during all of 2008, 1.2 million square feet of which were new leases and 1.8 million square feet of which were renewals.

Commenting on the announcement, First Potomac CEO, Douglas Donatelli, said, "The strength of our regional portfolio and the proactive actions of our leasing team led to considerable leasing success in 2008. We made tenant retention our key priority in 2008, and I am very pleased with the results. We were able to retain over 80% of our tenants and signed 50% more renewal leases than we did in 2007. We also signed 1.2 million square feet of new leases, roughly 10% of our portfolio, and are currently building out space for many of these new tenants."

The most noteworthy new leases First Potomac signed during the fourth quarter were with GSA (51,000 s.f.), Sutron Corporation (27,800 s.f.), IES Commercial (23,800 s.f.), Allied Technologies (25,500 s.f.) and Victory Packaging (57,500 s.f.).

First Potomac signed 426,000 square feet of renewals during the fourth quarter, including Healthnet Federal Services (46,600 s.f.), Moulding and Millwork (46,000 s.f.), Tidewater Packaging (32,500 s.f.), ITT Corporation (23,400 s.f.), Roberts Home Medical (16,000 s.f.), Centurion (12,500 s.f.), Lockheed Martin Corporation (29,000s.f.) and BP Solar (58,300).

About First Potomac Realty Trust

First Potomac Realty Trust is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on owning, developing, redeveloping and operating industrial properties and business parks in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and other major markets in Virginia and Maryland. The Company's portfolio totals approximately 12 million square feet. The Company's largest tenant is the U.S. Government, which accounts for more than 6% of annualized rent. For more information, please visit us at [ www.first-potomac.com ].