Colonial Closes 2 Retail Transactions

Colonial Properties Trust, a Birmingham, Ala.- based diversified real estate investment trust, has closed on two shopping center transactions and used the proceeds to pay down its revolving line of credit.With these transactions, Colonial said it has generated over $135 million through total asset dispositions for 2002. In one transaction, Colonial sold half of its 50% interest in Colonial Promenade Madison, a 111,000-square-foot retail property in Huntsville, Ala., to a joint venture with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. Winchester Commons, Colonial's partner, also sold half of its 50% stake in the same property to Nationwide. In the second transaction, Colonial contributed Colonial Promenade Hoover, a 155,000-square-foot retail property in Birmingham, to Highway 150 LLC, a joint venture between the REIT and a private investment group. Colonial retained a 10% interest in the property and will continue to manage the two properties, the REIT said. It can be found online at http://www.colonialprop.com.