Behringer Harvard M-F REIT Plans $2B IPO

Behringer Harvard Multifamily REIT I Inc. announced its initial public offering today, with plans of raising $2 billion. The company, which expects to qualify for REIT status for the 2007 taxable year, is selling 200 million shares of common stock at $10 per share, and is also offering as many as 50 million shares of common stock at $9.50 per share through its distribution reinvestment plan. Multifamily REIT, organized two years ago with an initial sale of 1,249 shares of common stock to Behringer Harvard Holdings L.L.C., focuses primarily on the investment in and operation of high-quality multi-family properties. Targeting the country’s top 50 metropolitan statistical areas, Multifamily REIT’s core properties are income-producing assets that are well positioned, but the entity also pursues opportunistic endeavors such as communities in the development, redevelopment or repositioning phases. And all multi-family property types are fair game, including high-rise buildings, garden-style complexes, student housing and independent living properties in the seniors housing market. Additionally, Multifamily REIT leaves the door open to investment in commercial real estate securities. As of the close of the second quarter, Multifamily REIT had invested in nine joint venture acquisitions, and purchased 100 percent fee interest in a single property, the 149-unit Lovers Lane Townhomes in Dallas. Of the entire group of assets, one has already reached completion, the 210-unit Reserve at Johns Creek in Fulton County, Ga., while the rest are on track to deliver between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2010. Multifamily REIT is an investment program of Dallas-based Behringer Harvard, a commercial real estate concern that invests in assets in the United States and abroad. The company creates and manages real estate fund opportunities through REITs, partnerships and joint ventures.