New National Apartment Investment Initiative Announced
by AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust

In June, the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust (BIT), a $1.5 billion pooled real estate fund serving pension plans with union beneficiaries, announced a new investment program that is expected to generate up to $1 billion in investment in apartment development by 2005. The National Apartment Initiative (NAI) will finance 25-30 projects, and create up to 4,000 multi-family housing units and millions of hours of union construction work. The NAI will seek to focus capital investment on apartment development and redevelopment projects in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and other major urban communities nationwide.

“As investors in the Trust, we’re pleased to see our International Pension Fund investments being used to provide housing for working families and create jobs for our members, while at the same time producing a solid return on our investments,” says BAC President John J. Flynn.

The first investment under this new initiative is a joint venture with the New York City-based Dermot Company on the New Development at Kew Gardens Hills, a $109 million mixed-income multi-family project in Queens. BIT has made a commitment to provide $34.9 million in funding for the 14-story, 388-unit project. Seventy-eight units will be set-aside for low-income families.

“Over the long-term, apartments have demonstrated high returns and low risk characteristics compared with other asset classes. Furthermore, on-going demographic shifts appear to bode well for apartment demand in the coming years,” said Kevin McCarthy, Senior Vice President, Mercantile-Safe Deposit and Trust Company. “We think that an aggressive national strategy to invest in apartments will be a plus for the BIT as we move into the future.”

For more information on BIT’s National Apartment Initiative go to the BIT website at www.aflcio-bit.com/nai