Essex Announces Closing of $200 Million Unsecured Term Loan

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire - Nov 15, 2011) - Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS), a fully integrated Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that invests in apartment communities located in highly desirable, supply-constrained markets, announced the closing of a $200 million unsecured term loan. The term of the loan is five years and contains an accordion feature which will allow the Company to increase the amount of the loan to $300 million. There are no prepayment fees and covenants mirror the Company's recently closed $425 million unsecured credit facility. Proceeds from the term loan will retire the $250 million Freddie Mac secured facility on December 1, 2011, and the 11 properties in the secured facility will become unencumbered.

The term loan has a variable interest rate of 142.5 basis points over LIBOR. In conjunction with this transaction the Company has entered into three interest rate swap contracts for a term of five years with a total notional amount of $150 million. The interest rate swaps effectively convert $150 million of the $200 million unsecured term loan from a variable to a fixed loan of 2.66%.

U.S. Bank, National Association was the Sole Lead Arranger, Sole Book Runner and Administrative Agent. PNC Bank, National Association and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association served as the Syndication Agents. Union Bank, N.A. was the Documentation Agent. Other lenders also include Bank of Montreal, Bank of the West, HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Keybank National Association, Capital One, N.A., Comerica Bank and Compass Bank.

Mark J. Mikl, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets and Strategic Planning for the Company, stated, "We are very pleased with the execution and support of our bank group on the origination of this attractively priced unsecured five year term loan and related swaps. This is a very important step as we continue to enhance our unsecured credit profile."

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 markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 155 apartment communities with 5 communities under construction. Additional information about Essex can be found on the Company's web site at www.essexpropertytrust.com.