Corporate Office Properties Trust

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Corporate Office Properties Trust Inc. (COPT) (NYSE: OFC) is a publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) corporation that specializes in office development, and describes itself as "a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust that focuses on the acquisition, development, ownership, management and leasing of suburban office properties primarily in select Mid-Atlantic submarkets." Company headquarters is in Columbia, Maryland [1].

1 History
2 COPT focus on Washington-Baltimore area
3 Recent expansion outside Washington-Baltimore
4 Officers and Trustees
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Founded in 1988, the company was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On Sept. 29, 1998, COPT merged with Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) a fortune 200 company and former subsidiary of Baltimore Gas and Electric. Following the merger, COPT focused aggressively on property in Howard County, Maryland. ^[1]

[edit] COPT focus on Washington-Baltimore area

In 2005, the Washington Post named this company one of the "Top 125 Companies" in the Washington DC area ^[2].

COPT buys land in suburban areas and then develop and manage office properties. Many tenants are defense contractors. According to the Washington Post, the company said it has leased much of the almost 2 million square feet (180,000 m²) of space at its huge complex, the National Business Park in Anne Arundel County, to government contractors such as General Dynamics Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation. and Lockheed Martin Corporation

[edit] Recent expansion outside Washington-Baltimore

COPT owns property primarily in submarkets within the Greater Washington, DC region, but as of 2005 ^[3] has begun to invest in developments outside Baltimore-Washington to include Chesterfield County, Virginia, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and parts of New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In December 2006 COPT acquired a real estate portfolio from Towson-based Nottingham Properties for $362.5 million^[4].

[edit] Officers and Trustees

According to the company's SEC filing^[5], There are 8 members of the board of trustees. The officers, who are not members of the board, are as follows:

Randall M. Griffin -- Since September 1998, The company president& CEO
Roger A. Waesche, Jr., -- Senior Vice President since September 1998 and Chief Financial Officer since March 1999.
John H. Gurley -- Secretary, Senior Vice President and General Counsel since September 1998.
Michael D. Kaiser -- President of Corporate Realty Management, LLC ("CRM") since April 1996 and President of Corporate Management Services, LLC, an indirect subsidiary since January 2000.

Dwight S. Taylor -- President of Corporate Development Services, LLC ("CDS") since September 1999, previously serving as Senior Vice President since joining CDS in September 1998.