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Equity One and New York Common Retirement Fund enter into a Joint Venture to Acquire Grocery-Anchored Neighborhood Centers

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  Published in Business and Finance on Monday, May 16th 2011 at 7:06 GMT by Market Wire
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NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Equity One, Inc. (NYSE:EQY) announced today that it has formed a joint venture with New York Common Retirement Fund (CRF) to acquire high quality, grocery-anchored centers throughout the United States. The joint venture will be 70% owned by CRF and 30% owned by EQY. Equity One will manage and lease properties acquired by the joint venture. CRF will be advised by LaSalle Investment Management.

The joint venture has acquired two Publix anchored shopping centers a" Country Walk Plaza in Miami, FL and Veranda Shoppes in Plantation, FL from Equity One a" for a purchase price of $39.4 million. Collectively the centers were 96.7% occupied at March 31, 2011.

aThis venture provides us with a highly regarded capital partner who shares our long term perspective on the ownership of institutional quality shopping centers. This new alliance will enable us to continue our strategy of upgrading and diversifying our portfolio into the most densely populated, supply constrained markets of the country,a said Jeff Olson, Chief Executive Officer of Equity One.

ABOUT EQUITY ONE, INC.

As of March 31, 2011, our consolidated property portfolio comprised 201 properties consisting of approximately 20.8 million square feet of gross leasable area, or GLA, including 177 shopping centers, 10 development or redevelopment properties, 9 non-retail properties and 5 land parcels. As of March 31, 2011 our core portfolio was 90.3% leased and included national, regional and local tenants.

ABOUT THE COMMON RETIREMENT FUND

With more than $140 billion of assets, the New York State Common Retirement Fund is the third largest public pension plan in the United States. The Fund exists to help finance benefits for more than one million members, retirees and beneficiaries from state and local governments. The Fund has a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate and alternative instruments.