Capital Automotive Declares Quarterly Preferred Share Dividends

MCLEAN, Va., April 12 -- Capital Automotive REIT , the nation's leading specialty finance company for automotive retail real estate, today announced that its Board of Trustees has declared a dividend for the period commencing February 1, 2005 and ending April 30, 2005 of $0.46875 per Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Share of beneficial interest of the Company, payable on May 16, 2005 to shareholders of record as of May 2, 2005. On an annualized basis, this payment represents a 7.4% yield based on Friday's closing stock price.

The Board of Trustees has also declared a dividend for the period commencing February 1, 2005 and ending April 30, 2005 of $0.50 per Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Share of beneficial interest of the Company, payable on May 16, 2005 to shareholders of record as of May 2, 2005. On an annualized basis, this payment represents a 7.6% yield based on Friday's closing stock price.

About Capital Automotive

Capital Automotive, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a self- administered, self-managed real estate investment trust that acquires real property and improvements used by operators of multi-site, multi-franchised automotive dealerships and related businesses. Additional information on Capital Automotive is available on the Company's Website at http://www.capitalautomotive.com/.

Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, the Company's future operations will depend on a number of factors that may differ, some materially, from the Company's assumptions. These factors, which could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, include risks that the Company's tenants will not pay rent; risks related to the Company's reliance on a small number of dealer groups for a significant portion of its revenue; risks of financing, such as increases in interest rates, the Company's ability to meet existing financial covenants and to consummate planned and additional financings on terms that are acceptable to the Company; risks that its growth will be limited if the Company cannot obtain additional capital or refinance its maturing debt; risks that planned and additional real estate investments may not be consummated; risks that competition for future real estate investments could result in less favorable terms for the Company; risks relating to the automotive industry, such as the ability of the Company's tenants to compete effectively in the automotive retail industry or operate profitably and the ability of its tenants to perform their lease obligations as a result of changes in any manufacturer's production, supply, vehicle financing, incentives, warranty programs, marketing or other practices or changes in the economy generally; risks generally incident to the ownership of real property, including adverse changes in economic conditions, changes in the investment climate for real estate, changes in real estate taxes and other operating expenses, adverse changes in governmental rules and fiscal policies and the relative illiquidity of real estate; risks related to the Company's financing of new construction and improvements; environmental and other risks associated with the acquisition and leasing of automotive properties; risks related to the Company's status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, such as the existence of complex regulations relating to its status as a REIT, the effect of future changes in REIT requirements as a result of new legislation and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT; and those risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Form 8- K/A filed on March 11, 2005, its annual report on Form 10-K and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The Company makes no promise to update any of the forward-looking statements.

  Contact Information
    David S. Kay
    Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
    Capital Automotive REIT
    703.394.1302