Combined Properties Expansion Continues With Acquisition of Prominent Virginia Shopping Center

Combined Properties, Incorporated of Washington, DC announced today the acquisition of Courthouse Plaza in Fairfax, VA in a joint venture with an institution client of BlackRock Realty.

Courthouse Plaza is an 83,000 SF neighborhood shopping center that is prominently located in the historic Old Town section of Fairfax City. Safeway and CVS/pharmacy anchor the center. It was constructed in 1978 and renovated in 2002. The dominant grocer and pharmacy anchors, outstanding retail demographics, low trade area vacancy, and successful adjacent redevelopment projects made this an attractive acquisition.

“Courthouse Plaza is our 7th acquisition since May and continues Combined’s aggressive growth initiative. We are extremely pleased to increase our presence in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The property gives us greater depth in Fairfax County, marking our twelfth shopping center in this desirable county.” stated Katherine Roberson, President of Combined Properties. “We remain committed to our core markets – Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA – and continue to seek acquisition and development opportunities.”

BlackRock Realty is the wholly owned real estate advisory subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK), one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with approximately $453 billion of assets under management at December 31, 2005 including over $9 billion in real estate equity assets. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investment products. In addition, BlackRock provides risk management, investment system outsourcing and financial advisory services to a growing number of institutional investors. Headquartered in New York City the firm serves clients from offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. BlackRock is majority owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and by BlackRock employees. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com.

Combined Properties, Incorporated is a private company based in Washington, DC and Beverly Hills, CA. The company currently operates a portfolio of retail shopping centers totaling 5 million SF in the Washington, DC and Southern California markets and has eleven (11) new projects in the pipeline from traditional suburban retail centers to urban mixed-use projects.