ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles E. Smith Residential
Realty, Inc. (NYSE: SRW) announced today that it has acquired two luxury
high-rise apartment properties, totaling 1,452 units in Crystal City,
Virginia.  These properties -- Crystal Plaza and Crystal Towers -- were
acquired in exchange for equity in the form of Smith REIT Operating
Partnership Units (OP Units), together with the assumption of debt.  Total
value of the transactions was approximately $113 million, including issuance
of 1,149,623 Operating Partnership Units valued at $28.4125 per unit,
assumption of $79 million in loans, and other costs.  The addition of these
properties brings the total number of apartment units in the Smith REIT
portfolio to 16,652, an increase of more than 40% since the company's initial
public offering in mid-1994.
    Ernest Gerardi, Jr., president of the Smith REIT, said, "We are pleased to
announce these acquisitions, which are consistent with the strategy outlined
in our recent follow-on stock offering to use the proceeds along with the
continuing issuance of Operating Partnership Units to grow our portfolio.
These acquisitions are expected to be accretive to earnings in 1997."
    The OP Unit exchange approach used by the Smith REIT to acquire these
properties is increasingly popular because it allows longer-term property
owners with low or negative tax basis, for whom a cash sale would cause a
taxable gain, to defer income taxes on the transaction.  The Smith REIT's
Operating Partnership Units pay the same dividends as the Smith REIT's common
stock and are redeemable for stock on a one-to-one basis, subject to certain
conditions.  The property owner obtains other advantages including regular
dividends, liquidity, investment diversification, and participation in any
appreciation of Smith REIT stock.  Lastly, many property owners use the Unit
exchange approach to enhance estate planning.
    Crystal Plaza is a 540-unit, 12-story twin-tower luxury high-rise built in
1967.  It averaged 98.7% occupancy in 1996, with average revenue per unit of
$1,167, up 5.6% over 1995.  Crystal Towers is a 912-unit, 12-story twin-tower
luxury high-rise also built in 1967.  In 1996, it averaged 97.6% occupancy
with an average monthly revenue of $1,047 per unit, an increase of 4.5% over
the previous year.  With the addition of these two properties, the Smith REIT
now owns all of the apartment properties in Crystal City originally developed
and built by the Charles E. Smith organization, a total of 3,360 units.
    Crystal City is one of the strongest apartment submarkets in the
Washington area.  Strategically located adjacent to National Airport and the
Pentagon, and minutes from downtown Washington and Capitol Hill, it had an
average occupancy rate of over 97% in 1996, and no new apartment construction
underway or planned.  With its large concentration in this submarket -- 3,708
of a total of 4,669 apartment units -- the Smith REIT benefits from both
marketing and operational efficiencies.
    Charles E. Smith Residential Realty, Inc. is a self-managed real estate
investment trust and the largest publicly traded multifamily real estate
company with operations focused on the greater Washington D.C. area.  The
Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates own, acquire, develop and manage
multifamily residential properties, as well as providing real estate services
to other property owners.  Press releases and other information about Charles
E. Smith Residential Realty are available on the company's Web site at:
http://www.smithreit.com.
    Charles E. Smith press releases available through Company News On-Call by
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 101271, or at http://www.prnewswire.com

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