HTG Heritage Property Investment

Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc. Announces Appointment of New Chief Operating Officer and Other Management Changes BOSTON, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc. ("Heritage" or the "Company"), announced today that Robert G. Prendergast, currently Vice President, Property Management and Construction, has been appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer effective immediately. In his new role, Mr. Prendergast will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Company. The position of Chief Operating Officer has been vacant since June 2003. Thomas C. Prendergast, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company said, "Bob has been integral to our growth and success as a public company and we believe this is a natural transition given his extensive real estate operating experience, leadership skills and in-depth knowledge of our portfolio. Looking ahead, his talents and experience will be instrumental in helping lead the Company in its drive for continued profitable growth and the development of initiatives to increase shareholder value." Robert Prendergast, age 44, joined the Company in 1999. Since that time, he has been responsible for all property management and development activities for a portfolio that has grown from 60 properties in 1999 to 166 properties today. Bob has over 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, managing shopping center and other retail and office properties. His career began in Boston in 1984 as a property manager for Winn Management & Development, before moving on to Fineberg Companies, also in Boston, where he was a property manager until 1990. From 1990 until July 1999, he was employed by Urban Retail Properties/Overseas Management, Inc., a publicly traded retail REIT, where he managed Urban's mixed-use development and fee-managed properties. Mr. Prendergast holds a bachelor's of science degree from Seton Hall University and is a Certified Property Manager from the Institute of Real Estate Management. In addition, Heritage announced that David C. Sweetser, Vice President, Business Development, would assume direct responsibility for the Company's property management and construction departments. Mr. Sweetser, who joined Heritage in February 2004, has over 20 years in the real estate business. Prior to joining the Company, from August 2002 until November 2003, Mr. Sweetser was Director of Leasing at Eastern Development, Inc., where his responsibilities included retail leasing. Mr. Sweetser has also been Vice President, Real Estate at National Amusements, Inc., where he was responsible for all real estate operations of a portfolio of 110 properties throughout the U.S. Prior to that time, Mr. Sweetser was President, Trademark Development Company, a full-service real estate development company with a portfolio of 30 properties, for eight years. His prior experience also included serving as Vice President, Leasing at Equity Properties and Development Company, a national developer of retail properties. Thomas Prendergast further added, "I am extremely pleased to also announce that Dave Sweetser will assume greater responsibility within our company. Although Dave has been here a short time, he has already made a tremendous positive contribution. His extensive experience in the real estate and the retail industry have proven invaluable. I am confident that with the deep and talented property management team built by Bob and with Dave's leadership, this transition will be seamless and our properties will continue to be managed in the first class manner in which our tenants and investors have grown accustomed." ABOUT HERITAGE PROPERTY INVESTMENT TRUST, INC. Heritage is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed REIT traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HTG". Heritage is one of the largest owners and operators of neighborhood and community shopping centers in the United States. Heritage focuses on grocer-anchored shopping centers with multiple anchors. As of March 31, 2004, Heritage had a shopping center portfolio of 162 centers, located in 29 states and totaling approximately 32.7 million square feet of total gross leasable area, of which 27.5 million square feet is company-owned gross leasable area. Heritage's shopping center portfolio was approximately 91.2% leased as of March 31, 2004. Heritage is headquartered in Boston Massachusetts and has an additional 16 regional offices located in the Eastern, Midwestern and Southwestern United States. Some of the statements contained in this press release constitute forward- looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. The forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause the Company's actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. You should not rely on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could materially affect actual results. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include financial performance and operations of the Company's shopping centers, including the Company's tenants, real estate conditions, current and future bankruptcies of the Company's tenants, execution of shopping center redevelopment programs, the Company's ability to finance the Company's operations, successful completion of renovations, completion of pending acquisitions, the availability of additional acquisitions, execution of joint venture opportunities, changes in economic, business, competitive market, leasing and regulatory conditions, acts of terrorism or war and other risks detailed from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the Company's judgment as of the date of this release, and the Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. DATASOURCE: Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc. CONTACT: Patrick O'Sullivan, Vice President, Finance and Accounting, Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc., +1-617-247-2200, ; or Analyst Info - Claire Koeneman, +1-312-640-6745, or General Info - Joe Calabrese, +1-212-445-8434, both of Financial Relations Board for Heritage Property Investment Trust, Inc.

Copyright