Partners REIT Unitholders Elect New Board of Trustees

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - June 6, 2013) - Partners Real Estate Investment Trust (the "REIT" or "Partners REIT") (TSX:PAR.UN) announces that unitholders elected four new trustees to the Board of Trustees at the REIT's annual meeting held in Toronto today.

The number of trustees on the board has been set at four. The new trustees are James Bullock, Graham Senst, Wilbur Smith III and Patrick Miniutti, all of whom were nominated by IGW REIT, the largest unitholder of Partners REIT.

The new trustees received votes in person, by proxy or voting instruction form, representing 65% of the 15 million votes cast at the meeting. Unitholder support for the new board was strong enough that it would have been elected even if IGW had not voted its 14.7% interest.

As a result of the unitholder vote, the new Board of Trustees of Partners REIT consists of:

James R. Bullock

Mr. Bullock is a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Cadillac Fairview Corporation and of Laidlaw Inc.. During his career at Cadillac Fairview, he directed the development of more than 30 million square feet of retail properties throughout Canada and the United States. From 1987 to 1988 he served as Chairman of the International Council of Shopping Centers. He has actively managed and directed his family-owned investment company, Glengate Holdings Inc., a company with significant holdings in commercial real estate throughout Ontario, since 2000. He is also a member of the Real Estate Advisory Committee of OP Trust. Mr. Bullock has been a Board Member of several other Canadian public companies including Imasco Inc., Dylex Limited, Telemedia Inc, and Revenue Properties Corp. He was a Governor of Ryerson University, and served for two years as Chairman of its Board of Governors. He was also a Governor of McMaster University and served as a Director of McMaster Innovation Park. Mr. Bullock was a founding member of the Board of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority and was a Director of the Woodbine Entertainment Group. He has also served on the Board of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, the Shaw Festival, and the Board of Ontario Hydro.

Graham Senst

Mr. Senst served as Vice President of Real Estate for OMERS Administration Corp. (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System), one of Canada's largest pension funds. He is currently a Member of Advisory Board at KingSett Capital Income Fund and a Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee of Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust. Mr Senst served as President of the Institute of Canadian Real Estate Investment Managers until its sale in August 2012. He previously served as Managing Director of Kingsett Capital Real Estate Income Fund and as an Executive Vice President of Bentall Capital and Penreal Capital Management. Earlier, Mr. Senst was Vice President of Real Estate at a subsidiary of Mackenzie Financial Corporation, where he developed debt and equity investment products for various Mackenzie equity funds, and Vice President of Corporate Real Estate at Canada Trust. He also served as Trustee of Residential Equities Real Estate Investment Trust (ResREIT), as a Director of Oxford Properties Group, Inc., and on the Advisory Boards of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund IV and Soros Real Estate Investors, C.V.

Wilbur H. Smith III

Mr. Smith is the Principal/CEO and founder of Greenlaw Partners, LLC and Greenlaw Management, Inc. Founded in 2003, Greenlaw is a full service real estate investment management and operating company, which has completed more than $2 billion in acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate properties. Currently, Greenlaw manages a portfolio in California of four million square feet comprising office, industrial, retail, resort and commercial land assets. Prior to founding Greenlaw, Mr. Smith was the Director of Asset Management for Makar Properties, a privately held real estate company. Mr. Smith is a licensed California real estate broker and a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Patrick Miniutti

Mr. Miniutti is currently Chief Executive Officer of Partners REIT and has served as a Trustee since 2010. Prior to that, Mr. Miniutti was Managing Director with Sunset Realty Services, a financial and management advisory services firm, which assisted in the acquisition and asset management of community and outlet centres and the development and management of low income and multi-family housing. Earlier, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, and as a Director of Konover Property Trust, a public company which owned, developed and managed grocery-anchored centres and outlet centres. Mr. Miniutti previously served in various executive roles with several companies including Crown American Realty Trust, a public company and an operator of regional malls, New Market Companies, one of the first developers of power centres. Mr. Miniutti is a Certified Public Accountant and began his career in accounting with KPMG before specializing in commercial and residential real estate accounting at Kenneth Leventhal & Company.

"The unitholders were presented with a distinct choice and have spoken clearly," said Adam Gant, President and Trustee of IGW REIT, which also owns the external manager of Partners. "It is clear with today's vote that the unitholders have put the recent disagreement about the direction of Partners behind us. The new board has the experience and commitment to renew growth in value for all unitholders. Partners REIT has outstanding potential and we are confident the new leadership can achieve it."

In other business at the annual meeting, unitholders also voted to appoint KPMG as the auditors of Partners REIT.

About Partners REIT

Partners REIT is a growth-oriented real estate investment trust which currently owns (directly or indirectly) thirty-eight retail properties well-located in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, aggregating approximately 2.7 million square feet of leasable space. Partners REIT focuses on expanding and managing a portfolio of retail and mixed-use community and neighbourhood shopping centres located in both primary and secondary markets across Canada.