Florida East Coast Industries Sells Two South Florida Industrial Facilities; The St. Joe Company Managed the Sale

Business Wire, April 1, 1999

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 1999--

-- St. Joe and Florida East Coast Industries Move to Fuel

Future Growth; Enhance Value of Commercial Real Estate Portfolio --

The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) today announced that Gran Central Corporation, the real estate subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) (NYSE:FLA) has sold approximately 1.2 million square feet of south Florida industrial facilities. St. Joe, which has a 54 percent equity interest in FECI, acts as asset manager for Gran Central's inventory of commercial and industrial property. The St. Joe Commercial Group, the commercial real estate arm of St. Joe, managed the sale.

The two properties - the McCahill Industrial Park in Miami and the Lewis Terminals in Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County - were sold for $49.3 million to a pension fund advised by TA Associates of Boston. The McCahill Industrial Park, a five-building, 878,839-square-foot industrial facility, currently is 94 percent leased; the Lewis Terminals, another five-building industrial space, with 311,412 square feet of space currently is 92 percent leased. Included in the transaction is an additional 42 acres of land at Lewis Terminals. As part of the transaction, Gran Central retained approximately four acres of land at Lewis Terminals.

"This transaction delivers significant value for Gran Central and FECI," said David D. Fitch, president of The St. Joe Commercial Group. "Gran Central's management strategies are to fuel future growth and enhance the value of its commercial real estate portfolio. In the past year, our team has been able to improve the value of these two facilities for Gran Central and bring them to a level attractive to institutional buyers." The Codina Group, which leased and managed the properties, represented Gran Central in the transaction.

In 1998 St. Joe executed an asset management agreement with FECI's Gran Central Corporation to manage its existing portfolio of more than six million square feet of commercial and industrial facilities and to prepare plans for future development of Gran Central's real estate, subject to Gran Central approval.

"This is a perfect example of our new commitment to deliver value to our shareholders - and a demonstration of the new energy we're bringing to our real estate business," said Robert W. Anestis, Chairman and CEO of Florida East Coast Industries. "We have invested more than $400 million to improve our real estate assets, increasing their value and attracting tenants that have fueled our sharply growing rent roll. With the help of St. Joe, we intend to aggressively manage our real estate portfolio to maximize shareholder value, in part, by a careful evaluation of the portfolio and, when appropriate, by sales of mature properties such as the McCahill and Lewis Terminals facilities."

In 1998 St. Joe executed a formal asset management agreement with Florida East Coast Industries' (FECI) Gran Central Corporation to manage Gran Central's existing portfolio of more than six million square feet of commercial and industrial facilities and all new Gran Central development. Under the provisions of this agreement, St. Joe has the responsibility, subject to Gran Central approval, to develop, lease, manage and dispose of Gran Central assets.

St. Joe, a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is one of Florida's largest diversified real estate development and services companies. St. Joe is engaged in community, commercial, industrial, resort and leisure development, along with residential and commercial real estate services. The company also has significant interests in the timber and transportation businesses.

More information about St. Joe can be found at our web site at http://www.joe.com.

"St. Joe" and the "taking flight" logo are service marks of The St. Joe Company.