PRESS RELEASES

Hines and CalPERS Acquire 1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza in Seattle

5/2/2005

(SEATTLE, WA) – Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that it has acquired 1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza in Seattle, WA, on behalf of National Office Partners Limited Partnership (NOP), its investment partnership with the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).  The office property was purchased from Seafo, Inc., and terms of the sale were not disclosed.  The 50-story, 717,130-square-foot, Class A office building is located in Seattle’s Central Business District on a full-city block at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Madison Street.

Secured Capital Corp represented the seller, and Hines represented itself in the transaction.  Hines will assume property management and leasing responsibilities at the building.

1001 Fourth Avenue was developed in 1969 by the Howard S. Wright Construction Company.  Designed by Naramore, Bain, Bray, and Johanson, the building is clad in bronze-colored aluminum and glass.    Distinctive building features include: a two-story lobby; a Henry Moore sculpture titled Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae 1968 located on the plaza and owned by the Seattle Art Museum; and a five-level, 576-car subterranean garage.  Amenities include 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail comprised of a fitness center, a full-service bank, restaurants, a medical/dental center, a U.S. Post Office and a florist.

"We are pleased to have acquired this landmark building,” said Hines Vice President Rob Hollister.  “1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza is Seattle’s original modern skyscraper, and we look forward to restoring the building to its place as one of the city’s premier addresses.”

Hines plans to invest more than $30 million in an extensive renovation program for the building.

This transaction represents NOP’s 14th major acquisition since its inception in July 1998.    In addition, NOP has acquired four major development sites since July 1998, on which three projects have been completed and one is currently under construction at 1180 Peachtree in Atlanta.  The CalPERS/Hines partnership sold 15 properties during 2004 with an aggregate value of approximately $2.5 billion.  The acquisition of 1001 Fourth Avenue will bring the total number of office properties in the NOP portfolio to six, with a total value of nearly $900 million.

 “1001 Fourth Avenue Plaza is an exceptional addition to NOP’s portfolio,” said Daniel MacEachron, Hines’ senior vice president who heads the NOP partnership.  “We will continue to seek new development, value-add and existing-building investment opportunities. We have capital commitments for 2005 that provide us with a new investment capacity of over $1.0 billion, and we are working actively on additional prospective acquisitions.”

National Office Partners was formed in 1998.  The investment partnership currently owns a portfolio of Class A office assets valued at approximately $650 million.  Remaining NOP assets are located in Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco.  For further information on NOP, refer to www.noplp.com.

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets totaling more than $182 billion, of which $11.4 billion is invested in real estate.  The System provides retirement and health benefits to more than one million state and public employees and their families.  For further information on CalPERS, please visit the System’s Web site at www.calpers.ca.gov.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in developing, acquiring, leasing and managing real estate, as well as providing extensive international investment management and advisory services. The Hines portfolio of projects completed, underway, acquired and managed for third parties includes more than 700 properties representing over 244 million square feet of office, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical, sports facilities and residential properties, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments.  With offices in 69 U.S. cities and 12 foreign countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $11 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Access www.hines.com for more information.