Essex Property Trust Prices $300 Million of 3.25% Senior Unsecured Notes Due 2023

PALO ALTO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 04/08/13 -- Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESS) today announced that its operating partnership, Essex Portfolio, L.P., priced $300 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes (the "Notes") at an interest rate per annum of 3.25%. The Notes were offered to investors at a price of 99.152% of par value with a yield to maturity of 3.35%. Interest is payable semiannually on May 1st and November 1st with the first interest payment due November 1, 2013. The Notes mature on May 1, 2023. The Notes will be the senior unsecured obligations of the operating partnership and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Essex Property Trust, Inc. The Notes offering is expected to close on April 15, 2013, subject to certain closing conditions.

The operating partnership expects to use net proceeds to repay indebtedness under its unsecured line of credit facility, its unsecured working capital line of credit facility and for other general corporate and working capital purposes.

Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc. and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. served as joint book-running managers. Barclays Capital Inc. and BNP Paribas Securities Corp. served as senior co-managers and BMO Capital Markets Corp., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., PNC Capital Markets LLC and Sandler O'Neill & Partners, L.P. served as co-managers for the offering.

The issuer has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents the issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and this offering. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, calling toll free at (800) 831-9146 or emailing batprospectusdept@citi.com, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, Attention: Investment Grade Syndicate Desk - 3rd floor, Telephone: (212) 834-4533, or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, 1525West W.T. Harris Blvd., NC0675, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262, Attention: Capital Markets Client Support, calling toll-free: 1-800-326-5897 or emailing: cmclientsupport@wellsfargo.com. Alternatively, you may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Essex Property Trust, Inc.

Essex Property Trust, Inc., an S&P 400 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages apartment communities located in highly desirable, supply-constrained markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 165 multifamily properties with an additional 9 properties in various stages of development. Additional information about Essex can be found on the Company's web site at www.essexpropertytrust.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements related to the private placement and the expected use of the net proceeds therefrom, which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: general risks affecting the real estate industry; adverse economic or real estate developments in the target markets of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (the "Company"); risks associated with the availability and terms of financing, the use of debt to fund acquisitions and developments, and the ability to refinance indebtedness as it comes due; failure to maintain credit ratings with the rating agencies; risks and uncertainties affecting property acquisitions and developments, increases in interest rates, and volatility in the securities markets; and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). All forward-looking statements are made as of today, and the Company assumes no obligation to update this information. For more details relating to risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements, and risks to our business in general, please refer to our SEC filings, including the Company's most recent Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.