COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on owning, operating, and developing properties, primarily office buildings and data center shells, located near key United States Government defense installations. The company's strategy targets mission-critical locations that require high-security enhancements for its tenants, which consist of the U.S. Government and its defense contractors. COPT Defense Properties actively pursues growth through both development and acquisitions. Its major areas of ownership and investment are concentrated in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor near Fort Meade, Northern Virginia, Huntsville, Alabama near Redstone Arsenal, and San Antonio, Texas near Lackland Air Force Base.
COPT Defense Properties is executing a strategy focused on growing its mission-critical defense and IT portfolio while self-funding its development pipeline through retained cash flow and capital recycling. To navigate a higher financing cost environment, the company has actively managed its maturity schedule through early debt refinancing. The company also continues to operate alongside the ongoing effects of major historical joint venture transactions executed between late 2022 and early 2023. During that period, the company formed joint ventures with Blackstone Real Estate, selling a 90% interest in eight data center shell properties. Five single-tenant data center shells were valued at $278 million, while an additional three data center shells generated approximately $190 million in proceeds. Under the terms of these deals, the company recouped its construction costs and retained a 10% equity stake in the assets.
In February 2026, the company's Board of Trustees approved a 4.9% increase in the annual dividend. This raised the annual dividend payout by $0.06 per share, marking the fourth consecutive year the company has increased its dividend.
**Acquisitions**
**Dispositions**
**Refinancings, new loans & other capital markets**
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