Colonial to Focus on MF Biz

Colonial Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Birmingham, Ala., has announced an acceleration of its plan to focus more of its efforts on the multifamily business.Colonial said it plans, over the next six to 12 months, to sell the majority of its wholly owned office assets and retail assets into several joint ventures that it will manage. It will also sell outright certain other office and retail assets. "Once the anticipated sales are complete, the company estimates that annualized net operating income from multifamily operations will be approximately 80% of the company's total net operating income, compared to approximately 50% today," the REIT said. Colonial can be found on the Web at http://www.colonialprop.com.