Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Announces 200th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend

WRIT’s Board of Trustees announced today a quarterly dividend of $.43375 per share to be paid on December 30, 2011 to shareholders of record on December 15, 2011.

This is WRIT’s 200th consecutive quarterly dividend at equal or increasing rates. WRIT dividends have remained equal or increased for 49 consecutive years.

"Announcing our 200th consecutive quarterly dividend is a proud milestone for WRIT. It shows our continued dedication to our shareholders during a difficult economic time, in which we have seen countless public companies lower or even suspend their dividend payments. Going forward we hope to maintain our reputation of providing a steady source of income for our shareholders,” said John P. McDaniel, Chairman of the Board.

WRIT is a self-administered, self-managed, equity real estate investment trust investing in income-producing properties in the greater Washington metro region. WRIT owns a diversified portfolio of 75 properties totaling approximately 9 million square feet of commercial space and 2,540 residential units, and land held for development. These 73 properties consist of 26 office properties, 2 industrial/flex properties, 18 medical office properties, 16 retail centers and 11 multi-family properties. WRIT shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: WRE).

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the effect of the current credit and financial market conditions, the availability and cost of capital, fluctuations in interest rates, tenants’ financial condition, the timing and pricing of lease transactions, levels of competition, the effect of government regulation, the impact of newly adopted accounting principles, changes in general and local economic and real estate market conditions, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in our filings with the SEC, including our 2010 Form 10-K and second quarter 2011 Form 10-Q. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.