By Phillip Britt

Pursuit of Liberty

The recent downturn was the first Liberty faced as a REIT. The company went public in 1994, after 28 years operating as the privately held Rouse & Associates under the leadership of Willard "Bill" Rouse III.

The company opted to go public at a time when the market was coming out of a downturn and capital was available to fund public REIT ventures, according to Hankowsky, adding that Liberty follows the same philosophies as a public company that Rouse & Associates did as a private firm.

Company founders felt they could successfully form a strong partnership through a REIT, and current company executives are committed to Liberty as a public company, according to Hankowsky.

Rouse & Associates started in 1972 with the development of warehouse buildings in Mid-Atlantic Park in southern New Jersey, followed by the opening of the Jacksonville office and commencement of development of over 2 million square feet in the Jacksonville area.

Two years later Rouse purchased 650 acres in Chester County, a growing suburb of Philadelphia, and began construction of Great Valley Corporate Center, which grew over the years to include 2 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and education facilities.

Today, Liberty has nearly 15 million square feet of space in suburban Philadelphia. The space is concentrated in Philadelphia's most active suburban markets: the western high-tech corridor and the south-suburban financial center, as well as the Gloucester County distribution market in southern New Jersey.

Liberty's complete portfolio includes 53 million square feet of office and industrial properties serving 1,900 tenants.

"We have had a basic operating model and a basic culture that has allowed us to expand over time," Hankowsky says.

In addition to Liberty, Rouse & Associates also spawned numerous other businesses that continue to thrive in construction, architecture, housing development and other related services.