Winthrop Realty Trust Acquires Matured Mortgage Loan Secured by Office Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Winthrop Realty Trust Acquires Matured Mortgage Loan Secured by Office
Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BOSTON, Dec. 12, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Winthrop Realty Trust (NYSE:FUR)
announced today that it has acquired a non-performing first mortgage loan
secured by a 20-story, 514,000 square foot office building located at 1515
Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The loan, which is currently in
maturity default, has an outstanding balance, exclusive of interest, default
interest and late charges, of approximately $70 million and was acquired for
approximately $56.85 million.

About Winthrop Realty Trust

Winthrop Realty Trust is a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust (REIT)
headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Additional information on Winthrop
Realty Trust is available on its Web site at www.winthropreit.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. With the exception of the historical information contained in this news
release, the matters described herein contain "forward-looking" statements
that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or collectively
impact the matters herein described. These are detailed from time to time in
the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's SEC reports. Further information
relating to the Company's financial position, results of operations, and
investor information is contained in the Company's annual and quarterly
reports filed with the SEC and available for download at its website
www.winthropreit.com or at the SEC website www.sec.gov.

CONTACT: Winthrop Realty Trust
         Beverly Bergman
         Investor or Media Inquiries
         Phone: (617) 570-4614
         e-mail: bbergman@firstwinthrop.com