PRESS RELEASES

Hines and CalPERS Acquire Office Complex in Silver Spring, MD

11/21/2005

(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Washington, DC office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that it has acquired the Station Square office complex on behalf of National Office Partners Limited Partnership (NOP), its investment partnership with the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), from Moore & Associates, Inc.  The terms of the sale were not disclosed.  The three-building, 490,000-square-foot, Class A office complex is located in the metropolitan Washington submarket of Silver Spring, Maryland.

CB Richard Ellis’ Institutional Group represented the seller, and Hines represented NOP in the transaction.  Hines will assume property management and leasing responsibilities.

Station Square was designed by Ward/Hall Associates AIA PLC.  The 10, 12 and 14-story buildings are located in the heart of downtown Silver Spring, one block from the Silver Spring Metrorail station, Maryland Commuter Rail (MARC) station, Metrobus and the local Ride-on bus transfer station.  Directly across the street is the new 600,000-square-foot headquarters for Discovery Communication and a new 500,000-square-foot town center which features restaurants, a host of national retail tenants, cultural attractions and a Marriott hotel.

Station Square is 99% leased to a strong mix of regional and national tenants including: Howard University; the GSA; TV One; and Pike & Fischer.

"Hines is pleased to make this investment in one of the area’s fastest growing commercial centers,” said Hines Vice President John Harned.  “The critical mass of office tenants, retail and cultural amenities, and housing supported by a major regional transit center make Station Square and Silver Spring an excellent long-term investment for Hines and CalPERS.”

This transaction represents NOP’s 18th major acquisition since its inception in July 1998. In addition, NOP has acquired four major development sites since July 1998, on which four projects have been completed.  The CalPERS/Hines partnership sold 15 properties during 2004 with an aggregate value of approximately $2.5 billion.  The acquisition of Station Square will bring the total number of office properties in the NOP portfolio to eight, with a total value of approximately $1 billion.

“Station Square 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 in the D.C. area and across the country. We have capital commitments through 2006 that provide us with new investment capacity of over $1.0 billion, and we are working actively on additional prospective acquisitions.”

National Office Partners was formed in 1998, and currently owns properties located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.  For further information on NOP, refer to www.noplp.com.

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets totaling more than $196 billion, of which $9.4 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.