OAK BROOK, Ill., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banyan Strategic Realty
Trust (Nasdaq: BSRTS) today announced that it has completed the sale of its
Huntsville, Alabama property, known as University Square Business Center, for
a gross purchase price of $8.45 million. The purchaser is USBC, LLC, an
Alabama limited liability company, whose principals include Alan C. Jenkins
and Joel L. Teglia. Mr. Jenkins is a principal in InterSouth Properties,
Inc., Banyan's contract manager of the property, and Mr. Teglia is the
Executive Vice-President and CFO of Banyan.
University Square is a six-building office complex containing 184,738
rentable square feet on 19 acres located in western Huntsville, Alabama. It
is currently 90% leased with a total of 48 tenants.
Upon closing, Banyan discharged its outstanding first mortgage
indebtedness to Wells Fargo Bank ($4.68 million) and credited the purchaser
with $0.27 million, representing unfinished tenant improvement work and
related leasing commissions and construction management costs. Banyan also
paid $0.19 million in real estate commissions, closing costs, prorations and
transaction expenses. The purchaser paid the prepayment penalty of
$0.725 million associated with the payoff of the Wells Fargo debt. Banyan
realized $3.3 million in net proceeds from the sale, or $0.21 per share.
Banyan also announced that it has given irrevocable notice of its intent
to retire the outstanding bond indebtedness on its Louisville, Kentucky,
Riverport Property, paving the way for a May 1, 2002 closing of that sale.
The company previously announced on February 21, 2002, that it had entered
into a contract for the sale of the Riverport Property. In the event the
closing does not occur, Banyan will be required to use other funds to retire
the outstanding bond indebtedness of $3.4 million.
Banyan is marketing for sale its remaining property, The Northlake Tower
Festival Mall in Atlanta, Georgia. The company recently acquired the interest
of its joint venture partner in this property and now owns and controls the
property outright.
L.G. Schafran, Interim President and CEO of Banyan, commenting upon the
University Square transaction said: "We are pleased to announce the
completion of the University Square sale, which furthers our Plan of
Termination and Liquidation adopted in January of 2001. We currently
anticipate making the next liquidating distribution following the closing of
the sale of the Riverport asset, which is scheduled to occur on May 1, 2002.
If that closing occurs as scheduled, we anticipate a distribution of
approximately $0.30 per share. Combining these two transactions will reduce
the administrative expenses associated with making this distribution."
Nasdaq Delisting
Banyan previously announced that on February 14, 2002, it was notified by
Nasdaq that because the minimum bid price for Banyan's shares of beneficial
interest closed below $1.00 per share for the preceding thirty consecutive
trading days, Banyan's shares faced delisting. Nasdaq has advised that the
bid price must close at $1.00 or more per share for ten or more consecutive
trading days, between the notification date and May 15, 2002, for delisting to
be avoided. If this criterion is not met, the shares would be delisted,
subject to Banyan's right of appeal. Since February 14, 2002, the closing
price of Banyan's shares has averaged $0.68 per share and it is not
anticipated that the share price will exceed $1.00 before May 15, 2002.
Banyan is currently looking into alternatives in order to provide a market for
the exchange of its shares.
Banyan Strategic Realty Trust is an equity Real Estate Investment Trust
(REIT) that, on January 5, 2001, adopted a Plan of Termination and
Liquidation. On May 17, 2001, the Trust sold approximately 85% of its
portfolio in a single transaction and now owns interests in two real estate
properties located in Atlanta, Georgia and Louisville, Kentucky. As of this
date, the Trust has 15,496,806 shares of beneficial interest outstanding.
Except for the historical information contained herein, certain matters
discussed in this release are forward-looking statements, the achievement of
which involve risks and uncertainties such as the sale of the Trust's
remaining properties, the amount of the remaining liquidating distributions,
the outcome of pending litigation and other risks and uncertainties that are
detailed from time to time in the Trust's reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2001, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on March 25, 2002. Without limitation, the foregoing words such as
"anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements.
See Banyan's Website at http://www.banyanreit.com .
SOURCE Banyan Strategic Realty Trust
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.banyanreit.com
CONTACT:
Robert G. Higgins, First Vice President,
General Counsel, +1-630-218-7255, bhiggins@banyanreit.com , or
Investor Relations, L.G. Schafran, Chairman and Interim
CEO-President, +1-630-218-7250, ir@banyanreit.com , both of
Banyan Strategic Realty Trust
|
