OAK BROOK, Ill., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banyan Strategic Realty
Trust (Nasdaq: BSRTS) today announced that it has completed the sale of its
Louisville, Kentucky property, known as 6901 Riverport Drive, for a gross
purchase price of $5.65 million. The purchaser is Riverport LLC and Riverport
Group LLC, each of which is a Florida limited liability company, whose
principals include Daniel Smith of Charlotte, North Carolina. Mr. Smith
previously managed properties owned by the Trust in Florida and jointly owned
with the Trust the Woodcrest property in Tallahassee, Florida.
The Riverport property is a 322,000 square foot bulk warehouse facility
located in the Riverport Industrial area of suburban Louisville. It is
currently 55% leased by The Apparel Group, Ltd., whose lease expires in July
of 2004. The remaining 146,000 square feet are unoccupied.
The gross purchase price of $5.65 million represents an effective
reduction of $400,000 from the original contract price of $6.05 million. The
reduction resulted from a $100,000 credit for deferred maintenance items
discovered by the purchaser during its inspection period, and the conversion
(at no additional cost to the Trust) of a $300,000 fee due to the purchaser at
closing, pursuant to the original contract, into a purchase price reduction.
Upon closing, Banyan discharged its outstanding municipal bond
indebtedness ($3.40 million). Banyan also paid $140,000 in real estate
commissions, closing costs, prorations and transaction expenses. Banyan
realized approximately $2.11 million in net proceeds from the sale, or
approximately $0.135 per share.
Banyan also announced that consistent with its Plan of Termination and
Liquidation adopted on January 5, 2001, and by reason of the receipt of
proceeds from the sale of University Square Business Center on April 1, 2002
and the sale of the Riverport property today, the Trust will make an interim
liquidating distribution of $0.30 per share on May 31, 2002 to shareholders of
record as of May 16, 2002. Giving effect to the distribution announced today,
the Trust will have made total distributions of $5.25 per share since adopting
the Plan of Termination and Liquidation.
Banyan is marketing for sale its interest in its one 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
Riverport transaction said, "We are pleased to announce the completion of the
Riverport sale, which furthers our Plan of Termination and Liquidation adopted
in January of 2001. We are similarly pleased to announce the $0.30
liquidating distribution associated with this transaction and the sale of
University Square in April. By combining the proceeds from these two
transactions, we reduced 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 $0.70 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 continued
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. Other properties were sold on April 1,
2002 and May 1, 2002. Banyan now owns a leasehold interest in one (1) real
estate property located in Atlanta, Georgia, representing approximately 9% of
its original portfolio. 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 property, 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 21, 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
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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
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