WRI Weingarten Realty Investors

Weingarten Realty (NYSE:WRI) announced today that construction is well underway at the new 312,000 square foot Ridgeway Trace Shopping Center. Located on the former site of a 450-unit apartment project known as Ridgeway Trace Apartments, the new center is designed to serve the city�s densely populated retail corridor at the SEC of Poplar Avenue & Interstate 240. Target will be the first to open of the four anchors in the center. Target will be joined by three additional major retailers to be announced at a later date. A portion of the center was sold to Target, and construction of their new store will be completed in the first quarter of 2009. The remaining stores will start opening in spring 2010. Brooke J. Harvey, Senior Leasing Director for Weingarten Realty, said, �Weingarten is pleased that construction is well underway at Ridgeway Trace Shopping Center, and we are looking forward to Target�s opening early next year. Realizing the development potential of the site, Weingarten Realty acquired the Ridgeway Trace apartments with the idea of redeveloping the site into a retail shopping center anchored by Target. Weingarten purchased the property in 2006 from Fogelman Management Group, a large Memphis-based property owner, and has been working on different layouts while negotiating with a number of tenants. The final layout was approved by the City of Memphis in August 2008, and we are delighted to report that Target�s exterior of their building is nearly complete and most of the dirt work for the remaining part of the site is nearly complete.� Ridgeway Trace may be a new project for Weingarten, but the company is far from new to the Memphis market. Since the 1950s, Weingarten has owned several shopping centers and grocery stores within the Memphis metropolitan market. At present, the company owns and manages several shopping centers which includes: Mendenhall Commons (located at S. Mendenhall Road and Sanderlin Avenue), Summer Center (Summer Avenue and Waring Road), Bartlett Towne Center (Bartlett Blvd and Stage Road), and The Commons at Dexter Lake (North Germantown Parkway and Dexter Road). About Weingarten Realty Investors: As one of the largest real estate investment trusts listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) is celebrating�its 60th anniversary�as a commercial real estate owner, manager and developer, incorporated�in 1948. Focused on delivering solid returns to shareholders, Weingarten is actively developing, acquiring, and intensively managing properties in 23 states that span the United States from coast-to-coast. The Company's portfolio of 415 properties includes 335 neighborhood and community shopping centers and 80 industrial properties. Including tenant-owned square footage, the Company's portfolio currently totals more than 72 million square feet under management. Weingarten has one of the most diversified tenant bases of any major REIT in its sector, with the largest of its 5,700 tenants comprising less than 3% of its rental revenues. To learn more about the Company's operations and growth strategies, please visit http://www.weingarten.com.