Essex Property Trust Noted for Trend Setting Apartment Communities in Washington and California, with Kudos from National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)

    PALO ALTO, CA, July 03, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The National Association of Home Builders [NAHB] has noted two projects by Essex Property Trust among top trendsetters in the nation's multifamily housing industry. Eastlake in Seattle, Washington and The Grand in Oakland, California are the Essex honorees, recognized from among hundreds of entries nationwide in NAHB's annual Pillars of the Industry Awards program, which promotes excellence in apartment design, development, management, and marketing.

"Creativity in design and the entrants' clear understanding of their local markets characterized this year's entries," said Charles R. Brindell, Jr., President and CEO of Trammel Crow Residential, and chair of NAHB's Multifamily Leadership Board. "The results are outstanding apartments and condos that their residents will take pride in for years to come."

Eastlake was reviewed in the Garden Apartment Community category. Judges noted its deft handling of urban density; the interest and diversity of its apartment designs; and its connectivity to the Eastlake Neighborhood Plan. The Grand earned finalist recognition in the High-Rise Apartment category. In an urban locale that continues to struggle for positive identity, The Grand makes a significant statement of upscale quality and identity, with entitlement for condo conversion. The Grand is also notable for above-grade parking and comprehensive value-engineering that promises to reduce long term operating costs.

"We are deeply honored to receive this recognition from NAHB," said John Eudy, Essex Executive Vice President, Development. "It's a great testament to the efforts we make to deliver quality living environments to our markets--and financial performance to our shareholders. On behalf of everyone at Essex, I thank the judges."

The Pillars recognition follows multiple additional honors Essex earned earlier this month in the 2010 Gold Nugget Awards, the nation's oldest and largest design/planning competition. Essex captured five Gold Nugget Awards of Merit, for multi-family communities in California and Washington. The California winners are Belmont Station in Los Angeles; Main Street in Walnut Creek; and Tasman Station in Sunnyvale. Joule in Seattle was the Washington winner for Essex.

"Multi-family housing has arrived as a preferred lifestyle for a growing number of Americans, as the diverse locales and designs of our honored projects demonstrate," said Eudy. "We anticipate continued expansion in this area of real estate development and of continued growth for Essex Property Trust."

This year's finalists will be showcased virtually on the Internet, NAHB Multifamily's new venue for the Pillars Awards. Coming soon to www.nahb.org/pillarsawards, the interactive presentation will show Eastlake, The Grand and other innovative multifamily communities to viewers all over the country. An innovative virtual ceremony for builder honorees is slated for December 7 at 2 p.m. EST.

Essex Property Trust, Inc. is a fully-integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily apartment communities located in supply-constrained markets. The company portfolio includes 133 apartment communities, comprised of 27,143 units, with 585 units in active development. The portfolio is currently concentrated along the West Coast, Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area and the Seattle metropolitan area.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 175,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for 2010.

# # #