GBE Grubb & Ellis Company Common Stock

SANTA ANA, Calif., May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, LLC has acquired 5200 Upper Metro Place, a three-story Class A office building in the Columbus-suburb of Dublin, Ohio, on behalf of tenant-in-common investors. Built in 1999 on nearly eight acres, 5200 Upper Metro Place is comprised of more than 96,000 rentable square feet and is 90 percent leased to multiple tenants, including Smith's Medical and CoreSource Inc. "This asset is a high quality office building located in a strong market where we believe we can maintain a high occupancy rate and ensure reliable cash flow for our tenant-in-common investors," said Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors President and Chief Investment Officer Jeff Hanson. "Additionally, the quality of this asset and the nature of the market indicate that we should be able to increase rental rates annually." The property offers direct access to Route 33/161 and Interstate 270, the beltway that circles Greater Columbus, providing tenants with convenient access to Port Columbus International Airport and the entire metropolitan region. An on-site surface parking lot provides space for 433 vehicles for a healthy ratio of 4.4 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of rentable space. As of the fourth quarter of 2007, the Dublin submarket consisted of more than 6.9 million square feet of office product with an estimated vacancy rate of 10.3 percent, the second lowest in the Columbus area. Columbus' central location in the Midwest provides convenient access to most of the major markets within the United States, making it an attractive corporate location. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors purchased 5200 Upper Metro Place from Upper Metro, LLC, which was represented by George Stecz of CB Richard Ellis. Financing was arranged by Jeff Morris with Morris, Smith & Feyh. About Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, LLC is the real estate investment and asset management subsidiary of Grubb & Ellis Company (NYSE:GBE), a leading real estate services and investment firm. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors and affiliates manage a growing portfolio of assets valued in excess of $5.7 billion located throughout 30 states. One of the nation's most active buyers and sellers of commercial real estate, Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors has completed acquisition and disposition volume totaling approximately $10 billion on behalf of program investors since its founding in 1998; more than 70 percent of this volume has been transacted since Jan.1, 2005. Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors and affiliates are currently buying and selling properties throughout the United States, offering a full range of commercial real estate investment programs, including tenant-in-common (TIC) programs for investors structuring tax-deferred (like-kind) exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, non-traded public real estate investment trusts (REITs), multi-member limited liability companies (LLCs) and institutional investments. Through the Grubb & Ellis Wealth Management program, Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors also offers high net worth investors a comprehensive program to build or expand their commercial real estate portfolio, whether their investment objectives are 1031 exchange driven or not. DATASOURCE: Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, LLC CONTACT: Julia McCartney of Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, LLC, +1-714-667-8252, ext. 230, Web site: http://www.grubb-ellis.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/136726.html

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