Essex Announces a 9.7% Dividend Increase

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - February 27, 2008) - Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS), a real estate investment trust (REIT) with apartment communities located in targeted West Coast markets, announced that its Board of Directors approved a $0.36 per share annualized increase to its quarterly cash dividend. Accordingly, the first quarter dividend distribution, payable on April 15, 2008 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2008, will be $1.02 per share. On an annualized basis, the dividend represents a distribution of $4.08 per common share.

The Board of Directors declared quarterly distributions of $0.48828 and $0.30469 per share, which represent annual distributions of $1.9531 and $1.2188 per share, on its 7.8125% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares and its 4.875% Series G Cumulative Convertible Preferred shares, respectively. Distributions for the 7.8125% Series F Cumulative Redeemable Preferred shares are payable on June 2, 2008 to shareholders of record as of May 16, 2008. Distributions for the 4.875% Series G Cumulative Convertible Preferred shares are payable on April 30, 2008 to shareholders of record as of April 1, 2008.

The Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 1:00 p.m., at The Stanford Park Hotel, located at 100 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, California 94025. Shareholders of record as of February 28, 2008 will be entitled to vote at the meeting.

Essex Property Trust, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (ESS), is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast communities. Essex currently has ownership interests in 133 multifamily properties (26,963 units), and has 1,108 units in various stages of development. Additional information about Essex can be found on the Company's web site at www.essexpropertytrust.com.

The statements which are not historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to be different than such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, downturns in the markets in which the Company owns property, unexpected delays and costs in connection with development and renovation projects, the impact of competition and competitive pricing, and other risks detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Contact Information: Contact: Nicole Christian (650) 849-1649