Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT Announces First Quarter Results

Non-traded REIT, Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT (Essential Asset REIT), announced its results for the first quarter of 2014. The company, which focuses on creating a diversified portfolio of “business essential” office and industrial properties net-leased on a long-term basis to credit worthy corporate tenants, continued to grow its asset base.

The company acquired four properties during the first quarter for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $224.5 million. Together, the institutional quality properties consist of approximately 2.1 million square feet.

As of the end of the first quarter, Essential Asset REIT’s portfolio consisted of 46 assets, totaling about 11 million square feet of space. All together, the portfolio’s total acquisition value increased by 19% since December 31, 2013 and the total capitalization of the portfolio exceeds $1.8 billion.

The REIT’s modified funds from operations (MFFO) for the quarter was approximately $12.7 million, representing year-over-year growth of approximately 274% for the same quarter in 2013. Its funds from operations (FFO) was approximately $13.3 million, up from about $2.5 million for the same quarter in 2013.

“The first quarter of 2014 represents another period of continued growth and further diversification for Griffin Capital Essential Asset REIT,” commented David Rupert, President of the Essential Asset REIT. He continued, “Our acquisition team, led by our Chief Investment Officer Michael Escalante, acquired four additional properties we believe are ‘business essential’ to their creditworthy tenants, and our portfolio’s total capitalization grew to more than $1.8 billion. We could not be more pleased with the progress of our portfolio buildout,”