Shidler Group
takes over Royale

The Hawaii-based real estate
investment company is hoping to make
Royale Investments into a
$1 billion concern

By RIck Daysog
Star-Bulletin

The Shidler Group, a locally based real estate investment company, has taken over the management of Minneapolis-based Royale Investments Inc. after merging $170 million of its real estate holdings with the mainland company.

The Shidler Group became Royale's largest shareholder last week after exchanging 1.5 million square feet of its East Coast office properties for a big stake in Royale's publicly traded stock.

As a result of the complex deal, Jay Shidler, the Hawaii company's founder and managing partner, was named Royale's chairman.

Clay Hamlin, former managing director of the Shidler Group's mid-Atlantic region, became Royale's new president and chief executive officer.

Shidler and Hamlin each own about 13 percent of Royale's outstanding common shares.

The merger gives Royale, which is moving its headquarters to Philadelphia, ownership of 10 office buildings in the mid Atlantic region.

The company's holdings include Unisys Corp.'s 800,000-square-foot headquarters in Blue Bell, Pa.

Previously, Royale's holdings consisted of supermarket properties in the Midwest.

According to Shidler, investors' interest in mainland office properties has risen recently after Chicago financier Sam Zell announced plans to purchase Beacon Properties Corp. for $3.8 billion.

He said he hopes to expand the $200 million Royale into a $1 billion company over the next several years.

Besides his role in Royale, Shidler is the co-founder and director of TriNet Corporate Realty Trust Inc., a $1.3 billion real estate investment trust.

He also is co-founder and chairman of the $2 billion First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., which is one of the nation's largest owners of industrial properties.