Donald C. Wood
Analyst · Wells Fargo
Thanks, Kristina, and good morning, everybody. The 2014 second quarter and the few weeks that followed to today have been among the most consequential in our long history. In addition to producing FFO per share of $1.23, nearly 8% better than last year's quarter and the best quarter we've ever reported in 50-plus years, the progress that we've made in negotiating all sorts of deals that position us for years of net asset value accretion company wide was substantial. In a few minutes, Jim's going to talk about our reported results for the quarter. I'd like to talk to you today about deals and issues this quarter that in my view, set us up really well for creating incremental value in the future and got us started with a dividend increase. It's the combination of continued and consistent financial performance from the core that results in pretty significant taxable income growth, coupled with our bullish expectations for the future, given our development pipeline. That gives us the confidence to increase our quarterly dividend by $0.09 a share, more than we originally estimated and more than before. The result was a 12% increase in the annualized dividend rate from $3.12 a share to $3.48 per share, the 47th year in a row of dividend increases. Nobody in REIT land can touch that record. And we wouldn't do that without some very positive initial signals about the success of the first phases of our major development projects. Let me address that for a minute. There's little doubt that the initial phase of new retail or mixed-use destinations carry risks that's higher than subsequent phases because for varying degrees, they require proof-of-concepts. Whether it's a new location, a new merchandising mix or the pure number of new leases to be executed. Of course, not every new development is equally risky. And as we've talked about on previous calls and in other investor venues, we go to long lengths to mitigate initial phase risks by building on proven retail locations, by project phasing, by preleasing as much as possible and by executing GMP contracts. But there's still initial phases and their successful execution is the key to decades-long continuation of additional value creation. So if the first phases are successful, future phases are far less risky. They're more predictable, sometimes, they carry higher yields. There's no better example than at Santana Row where as of today, the $75 million Misora residential project is 97%, 98% leased with average rents of $3 a foot. It will generate nearly $6 million of operating income in the first 12 stabilized months of operation, and it's likely worth twice what it costs to build. Now I don't think it's a stretch to think that without the success of the initial phases of Santana Row, neither the income generated from Misora, nor with the cap rate used to value it would be nearly as robust as they are. And while it's still too early to say definitively that the first phases of Assembly Row and Pike & Rose are unmitigated successes, the early signs are good, with the following status update for each project. Let me start at Assembly. We opened the first 13 tenants in Phase 1 on Memorial Day weekend, including Anchor's LEGOLAND Discovery Center, AMC theaters, Saks Off Fifth and Nike Outlets. We've opened 11 more since and we expect to open 14 more by the end of this quarter, for a total of 38 tenants on our way to 90% retail occupancy by year-end. We're nearly fully leased. LEGOLAND Discovery Center exceeded their own projections by over 30% in the first month of operations and they're drawing patrons from well in excess of 100 miles away. AMC theaters have increased sales each month they've been open, and now exceed all but one of their 19 theaters in the Boston MSA. Saks has significantly increased their stabilized sales plan due to their strong opening. And Nike is consistently trending ahead of plan so far. Perhaps most encouraging, our adjacent power center, called Assembly Square Marketplace, has experienced double-digit increases in sales since the first tenants began opening in the mixed use center. And the office building whose construction trails the balance of Phase 1 by a couple of months, would come to terms with their first tenant who will take 25,000 of that 100,000 square foot building, expect more as the T-stop opens and the property begins to fill up. The T-stop, by the way, is on track, pardon the pun, to open this fall. On the other end of the site, Partners HealthCare is on schedule to begin construction later this month, that's right, in August. And it's planned to bring 4,700-plus workers to the site in as much as 900,000 square feet of space beginning in 2016. We envision the service retail contemplated as part of the Partners construction to be part of a broader Assembly Row second phase that we're crunching numbers on now. Retail demand and interest for our second phase appears very strong. So as it relates to Assembly and all mixed use developments for that matter, we know that it's a building and a maturation process that takes time to become a real and necessary part of the greater Boston community, but our initial ability to drive lots of people to the site with a limited tenant offering, with no operating T-stop and no Partners complex yet, in this very densely populated market, it's really encouraging. Sure seems like there's lots of value to add here. Now at Pike & Rose. Beginning this quarter, we've received our certificate of occupancy for, per se, the first of 2 residential buildings of the project and we currently have 60 families living there. That 174 unit building is already more than 50% leased on the residential side and nearly 100% leased in terms of the ground floor retail. Retail occupancy is on schedule and all of Phase 1 to begin this fall. The second residential building called Pallas is a 319-unit, 19-story highrise, which will be delivered next spring. That building, like the rest of Phase 1, remains on time and on budget. We also announced last month that we signed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to 40,000 square feet of office at our pro forma rents in this first phase, securing half of the available office product. Merrill will occupy in 2015 and demand for the balance of the space is strong. Like Assembly, our Phase 1 experience is encouraging in all facets: retail, residential and office. And accordingly, we're moving closer to a go on Phase 2 at Pike & Rose and hope to provide you cost, return and timing expectations on our next quarterly call. Our work to date on Phase 2, imagine the continuation of the spine of the project. Our main retail street called Grand Park Avenue, along with up to 3 ancillary buildings, which together, would add nearly 200,000 feet of retail. Approximately 250 rental apartments, 100 for sale condominiums, which sit above 150-room lifestyle-oriented hotel is also part of that phase. And then let's go to the West Coast. With the effective completion of Misora, we're anxious to move forward the next piece of Santana Row development during the continuing strong office environment, Silicon Valley in general, Santana Row specifically. While we call the building 11 site, it will be recognized by those of you who know Santana Row as the surface parking lot at the corner of Winchester Boulevard and Olson at the southern end of the property adjacent to the CinéArts Movie Theater. It's a great site. It's easily accessible at Interstates 280 and 880 with Santana Row amenities that are very highly sought after. Space needs are growing rapidly in the valley and the nature of tech makes the timeframe required to prelease before building problematic. Accordingly, we expect to be under construction this fall with a 225,000 square foot 6-story Class A office building, along with nearly 670 parking spaces and a garage below the building that will complement existing retail parking nights and weekends. Total cost is estimated $115 million with a range of expected rents that'll put the stabilized yield in the 7.5% to 8.5% range. In Southern California, construction of the $80 million Point Lifestyle Center in El Segundo moves along without drama and as anticipated, on time and on budget. Also, given the large developments that we have underway, it's sometimes easy to forget that we have an additional $100 million of taxable redevelopment underway at centers like Tower Shops and Davie, Florida, Mercer Mall in New Jersey, and Westgate Center in San Jose, California. On average, this $100 million is being deployed at incremental returns in excess of 10% and an integral part of the strategic plan that we laid out for you at Investor Day last fall. And while we don't have acquisitions to report on for this call, it is very likely that we will by year-end, as 2 separate projects are under our control as we speak with due diligence and administrative documentation underway. I think I'll stop there in terms of my prepared remarks and just want to end by expressing my enthusiasm for both our continued strong core results quarter-after-quarter, as well as with the delivery of some of the finest retail mix-used product available anywhere. Now let me turn it over to Jim for his remarks on the quarter before we open the line to your questions.