FIRST UNION REAL ESTATE EQUITY AND MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS

AT THE COMPANY
Carolyn Tiffany
Chief Operating Officer
(617) 570-4614

             FIRST UNION REAL ESTATE EQUITY AND MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS
                        RESPONDS TO SIZELER'S ALLEGATIONS

      Boston, Massachusetts- March 16, 2005- First Union Real Estate Equity and
Mortgage Investments (NYSE:FUR) notes that Sizeler Property Investors, Inc. has
publicly announced certain claims against First Union that it has brought in
Federal District Court in Maryland. First Union denies all of the allegations in
Sizeler's lawsuit and press release.

      In particular, Sizeler's press release discusses the denial by a Maryland
state court of a request by First Union that the court issue a temporary
restraining order barring Sizeler from taking any further steps to consummate
the sale of 2,649,000 shares of stock in a transaction first announced
yesterday. Sizeler's press release fails to disclose that in denying the
temporary restraining order the court explicitly relied on the representations
of Sizeler's counsel that the stock sale and all relevant steps to effectuate
that sale had already been completed at or about 10 a.m. that day, i.e. very
shortly after the sale had been announced by Sizeler. Sizeler's press release
also fails to disclose that the court made it explicit that it was not denying
the requested temporary restraining order due to any failure to demonstrate a
likelihood of success on the merits. Rather, the court did not rule on that
issue but noted that First Union had raised "serious" questions about the
transaction.

      It should also be noted that the federal court action filed by Sizeler
also seeks a declaratory judgment that the directors of Sizeler did not breach
their fiduciary duty or otherwise act fraudulently, in bad faith, recklessly,
negligently or with corporate waste by authorizing the sale of 2,649,000 newly
issued shares on March 15 at a price of $10.75 per share. First Union intends to
vigorously contest the request for a declaratory judgment.

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      First Union Real Estate Equity and Mortgage Investments is a NYSE-listed
real estate investment trust (REIT) headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

      First Union Real Estate Equity and Mortgage Investments has filed with the
SEC a preliminary proxy statement with respect to its solicitation of proxies to
elect Michael L. Ashner, Peter Braverman and Steven Zalkind as directors at
Sizeler's 2005 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ THE
DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT
DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
You will be able to obtain the documents free of charge at the SEC's website,
www.sec.gov. First Union and Messrs. Ashner, Braverman and Zalkind may be deemed
to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of
Sizeler in connection with the annual meeting. Information about these
participants is set forth in the preliminary proxy statement filed by First
Union with the SEC. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the
interests of such participants by reading the definitive proxy statement when it
becomes available.