Archstone-Smith Operating Trust to Offer
Exchangeable Senior Notes

DENVER – July 10, 2006 – Archstone-Smith (NYSE:ASN), a real estate investment trust and one of the nation's largest apartment companies, announced that its subsidiary, Archstone-Smith Operating Trust (ASOT), intends to offer today approximately $500 million principal amount of exchangeable notes registered under ASOT's existing shelf registration statement, plus a 15% overallotment option for the underwriters.

The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of ASOT, and will be exchangeable into Archstone-Smith common shares. ASOT expects to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes to repay the outstanding balance under its revolving credit facility and certain other indebtedness, to make additional investments and for general corporate purposes.

Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking and Morgan Stanley are the joint bookrunning managers and JP Morgan Securities Inc. is co-manager for the proposed offering.

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. When available, copies of the prospectus and the prospectus supplement, subject to completion, relating to these securities may be obtained from Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking and from Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated. You should direct any requests to Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th Street, 8th floor, Brooklyn, NY 11220, by phone: 718-765-6732 or by Fax: 718-765-6734, and/or to Morgan Stanley, Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014, or by email: prospectus@morganstanley.com. You may also get a copy of the prospectus and the prospectus supplement, subject to completion, and other documents Archstone-Smith Trust and ASOT have filed with the SEC for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC web site at www.sec.gov.

Archstone-Smith (NYSE: ASN), an S&P 500 company, is a recognized leader in apartment investment and operations. With a current total market capitalization of $18.3 billion, the company's portfolio is concentrated in many of the most desirable neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, the New York City metropolitan area, Boston, Southeast Florida, Chicago, and Seattle.  The company continually upgrades the quality of its portfolio through the selective sale of assets, using proceeds to fund investments in assets with even better growth prospects. Through its two brands, Archstone and Charles E. Smith, Archstone-Smith strives to provide great apartments and great service to its customers – backed by unconditional service guarantees.  As of May 31, 2006, Archstone-Smith owned or had an ownership position in 271 communities, representing 83,776 units, including units under construction.

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Archstone-Smith's archived press releases are available on its web site at www.ArchstoneSmith.com or may be obtained by calling (800) 982-9293.

In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information under the federal securities law. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which Archstone-Smith operates, management's beliefs and assumptions made by management. While Archstone-Smith management believes the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, such information is necessarily subject to uncertainties and may involve certain risks, many of which are difficult to predict and are beyond management's control. As such, these statements and information are not guarantees of future performance, and actual operating results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in this press release and supplemental information. See "Risk Factors" in Archstone-Smith's 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K for factors that could affect Archstone-Smith's future financial performance.