Tishman Speyer-Led Partnership Deleverages Boston Office Property and Announces Headquarters Lease

Boston, MA - Tishman Speyer announced today that the One Federal Street office property in downtown Boston has been deleveraged by the building’s ownership, with a portion of its secondary debt being retired at a discount. With the investment of new equity there will be sufficient capital to fund new leases and otherwise execute the owners’ asset management strategy.

Today’s announcement follows several other noteworthy debt transactions completed in 2010 by Tishman Speyer (http://www.tishmanspeyer.com/capabilities/ad/index.aspx), including large portfolio debt restructurings in Chicago and Washington, DC, and the restructuring of debt on prominent properties in downtown Seattle and Dublin, Calif. In Southern California, the firm recently regained control of prime commercial development land in Playa Vista, and recapitalized two prime office buildings in El Segundo.

Tishman Speyer also announced today that Merchant Warehouse is relocating its corporate headquarters office to One Federal Street. Under the terms of the five-year lease agreement (http://www.tishmanspeyer.com/capabilities/lm/index.aspx), the firm will take over the entire second floor of the building, which totals 42,787 square feet of space.

Established in 1998 and now servicing over 80,000 customers, Merchant Warehouse is a leading provider of merchant accounts and credit card processing to retailers. It has been one of the region’s fastest-growing private companies for the past three years, according to the Boston Business Journal. Among other recent honors, the company was named the nation’s “Independent Sales Organization of the Year” in 2009 by the Electronic Transaction Association.

David Richardson and Garrett Larivee of McCall & Almy represented Merchant Warehouse in the lease transaction. Property ownership was represented by Brian Chaisson of Tishman Speyer.

One Federal Street (http://www.tishmanspeyer.com/properties/Property.aspx?id=110) is a 38-story office tower totaling approximately 1.1 million square feet, located in the heart of Boston’s financial district. The property enjoys convenient access to the area’s major highways and public transportation. It features excellent on-site amenities, and is within close proximity to Rose Kennedy Greenway, Faneuil Hall Marketplace and many other retail and tourist attractions.

About Tishman Speyer (www.tishmanspeyer.com)

Tishman Speyer is one of the leading owners, developers, operators, and fund managers of first-class real estate in the world. Since 1978, Tishman Speyer has acquired, developed and operated over 325 projects totaling over 116 million square feet and a property portfolio of over US$54.2 billion in total value across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia, including signature properties such as New York's Rockefeller Center and Chrysler Center, Berlin's Sony Center and Torre Norte in São Paolo, Brazil.