WRI Weingarten Realty Investors

NEW YORK and HOUSTON, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, one of the largest institutional real estate investors in the nation, with an approximate $20 billion global portfolio of direct and indirect real estate investments and Weingarten Realty Investors, (NYSE:WRI), one of the largest real estate investment trusts listed on the New York Stock Exchange, announced today a new joint venture to acquire seven neighborhood/community anchored retail centers. The centers total 1,259,000 square feet and were purchased in a transaction announced by Weingarten last month. All seven properties are located in highly desirable locations within Florida's three largest metropolitan markets of South Florida, Orlando, and Tampa/St. Petersburg. The centers are leased to a diverse mix of strong national retailers including Publix, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, CVS, among others. The joint venture will be 80% owned by TIAA-CREF and 20% by WRI. WRI will oversee the ongoing management and leasing of the properties. "We are very proud to have TIAA-CREF as a strategic partner. In this joint venture we are teaming up with one of the country's premier institutional real estate investors while diversifying Weingarten's available capital resources," stated Drew Alexander, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We're pleased to establish this venture with Weingarten Realty Investors, and add to the retail allocation of our portfolio," said TIAA-CREF Managing Director for U.S. Acquisitions, Trevor Michael. "TIAA-CREF's commitment to these properties underscores our belief that this is a strong collaboration, with a strong strategic partner, in very good locations backed by powerful demographics." As one of the largest real estate investment trusts listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE:WRI) strives to deliver solid returns to shareholders by actively developing, acquiring, and intensively managing properties in 21 states that span the southern portion of the United States from coast to coast. The Company's portfolio of 373 properties includes 309 neighborhood and community shopping centers and 64 industrial properties, aggregating over 47.5 million square feet. Weingarten has one of the most diversified tenant bases of any major REIT in its sector, with the largest of its 5,400 tenants comprising approximately 3% of its rental revenues. To learn more about the Company's operations and growth strategies, please visit http://www.weingarten.com/ . About TIAA-CREF TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with more than $390 billion in combined assets under management and the leading provider of retirement services to individuals and institutions in the academic, research, medical, philanthropic and cultural fields. With an approximate $68 billion global portfolio of direct and indirect investments, TIAA-CREF is one of the largest institutional real estate investors in the nation. TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, through the accounts they manage directly, owns over $20 billion in real estate assets made up of primarily high quality properties in the office, retail, industrial, and multi-family sectors. Investments are both domestic - covering more than 40 states and the District of Columbia - and foreign - in Canada and Western Europe. DATASOURCE: Weingarten Realty Investors CONTACT: Richard Summers of Weingarten Realty Investors, +1-713-866-6050 Web site: http://www.weingarten.com/

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