BEACON CAPITAL PARTNERS INC
8-K, EX-99.1, 2001-01-19
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS
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                                                                 Exhibit 99.1

                          BEACON CAPITAL PARTNERS, INC.
                               One Federal Street
                           Boston, Massachusetts 02110
                                 (617) 457-0400




Contact:    Randy J. Parker                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
            Chief Financial Officer


                M.I.T. TO ACQUIRE TECHNOLOGY SQUARE IN CAMBRIDGE
                          FROM BEACON CAPITAL PARTNERS

BOSTON, January 12, 2001 -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has signed
a contract to purchase Technology Square in Cambridge, MA, from Beacon Capital
Partners, Inc., Beacon and MIT announced jointly today. The closing is expected
to take place in early February. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The purchase will include Technology Square's three existing buildings totaling
approximately 541,000 square feet and four new buildings totaling approximately
617,000 square feet. All four new buildings are currently under construction,
with the first (175,000 square feet) expected to be ready for occupancy in
Spring 2001.

Beacon Capital Partners, Inc. is a real estate investment company formed in
January 1998 by Alan M. Leventhal, Chairman and CEO, and Lionel P. Fortin,
President and COO. The company is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and has a
regional office in Los Angeles.

Beacon has owned Technology Square since May 1998 when it was purchased from The
Prudential Insurance Company of America. Under Beacon's ownership, two of the
original buildings have been fully renovated to accommodate the technology
community. Tenants of the complex include Akamai Technologies, Inc., Forrester
Research, Inc. and the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, among others.
Beacon's portfolio also included the adjacent 475,000 square feet Draper
Building that was sold in April, 2000, to the tenant, The Charles Stark Draper
Laboratory, Inc.

Technology Square will be completed under Beacon's plans which the City approved
a year ago. The plans include redesigned common areas and the new office
buildings.


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                     M.I.T. TO ACQUIRE TECHNOLOGY SQUARE (2)

Allan Bufferd, MIT Treasurer, stated: "This is an investment in the city of
Cambridge. MIT intends to hold Technology Square in its commercial tax-paying
portfolio for the foreseeable future. The Institute has allocated a significant
portion of its private endowment and other funds towards investments in
non-campus commercial properties in Cambridge for more than 20 years."

MIT's other commercial tax-paying investments include 640 Memorial Drive, One
Broadway, and the current rehabilitation of 28 Osborn Street. MIT also owns the
land on which Forest City Enterprises has developed University Park at MIT, a
mixed-use development featuring affordable and market-rate house, a hotel,
parkland and research, office and retail space. Collectively, these projects
have increased the value of the City's commercial property base by approximately
$700 million.

John Curry, MIT Executive Vice President, commented, "MIT recognizes its special
role in Cambridge. We are committed to continuing our work with the City
government and Cambridge residents as a responsible member of the community."

Following the request of Cambridge Mayor Edward Crane, MIT and Cabot, Cabot &
Forbes in the 1960s took on the urban redevelopment task of converting a former
soap factory site into Technology Square, one of Cambridge's first large-scale
commercial real estate developments. MIT remained involved in Technology Square
until selling its interest in 1973.

MIT's impact on the Cambridge economy was documented in a 1997 economic study,
MIT: The Impact of Innovation. MIT students and faculty have founded 150
companies in Cambridge, generating 14,000 jobs, $700 million in sales, as well
as millions of dollars in real estate taxes on commercial and residential
property and in sales taxes.

Certain matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Federal securities law. Although Beacon
Capital Partners, Inc. and MIT believe that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, neither the
Company nor MIT can give assurance that their expectations will be achieved.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current
expectations include general economic conditions, local real estate conditions,
timely release of occupied square footage upon expiration, interest rates,
availability of equity and debt financing and other risks detailed from time to
time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or in
other publicly available information.


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