**EXHIBIT 31.1**

 

**ESSEX PORTFOLIO, L.P.**

**CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE**

**SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002**

 

I,Keith R. Guericke, Principal Executive Officer of Essex Property Trust, Inc.,the general partner of the registrant Essex Portfolio, L.P., certify that:

 

1.               Ihave reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Essex Portfolio, L.P.;

 

2.               Basedon my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of amaterial fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statementsmade, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.               Basedon my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial informationincluded in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, andfor, the periods presented in this report;

 

4.               Thegeneral partner’s other certifying officer and I are responsible forestablishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financialreporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13(a) – 15(f)) and for theregistrant and have:

 

## ***a)***              Designed such disclosurecontrols and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures tobe designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relatingto the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to usby others within those entities, particularly during the period in which thisreport is being prepared;

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## ***b)***             Designed such internalcontrols over financial reporting, or caused such internal controls overfinancial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonableassurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparationof financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generallyaccepted accounting principles;

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## ***c)***              Evaluated the effectivenessof the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in thisreport our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls andprocedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on suchevaluation; and

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## ***d)***             Disclosed in this report anychange in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting thatoccurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal 

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## ***quarter*** (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annualreport) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materiallyaffect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

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5.               Thegeneral partner’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on ourmost recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to thegeneral partner’s auditors and the audit committee of the general partner’sboard of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

 

a)              Allsignificant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation ofinternal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely toadversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize andreport financial data; and

 

b)             Anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees whohave a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financialreporting.

 

 

Date:          March 31, 2005

 

 
| /s/   Keith  R. Guericke         |   |   |
|-------------------------------------------------|--------|--------|
| Keith R.  Guericke                              |   |
| Chief Executive  Officer and                    |   |
| President,  Director and                        |   |
| Vice Chairman of  the Board                     |   |
| Essex Property  Trust, Inc., general partner of |   |
| Essex Portfolio,  L.P.                          |   |

 

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