Conor C. Flynn
Analyst · MLV
Thanks, Glenn. Today I will update our progress on acquisitions and disposition, and then cover the progress on our redevelopments. Finally, I will recap the leasing and operations activity for the quarter. As outlined in our press release, we had a very active second quarter, acquiring a large portfolio in Boston and buying out our partners from the Kimco Income Fund. After the quarter end, we also bought our partner SEB's interest in 10 properties. Since the beginning of the second quarter, we have acquired 46 properties with a gross value in excess of $950 million, primarily in our key territories. The quality and demographics of these assets are excellent, and the blended cap rate is 6.2%. While we are active in the open market, we are proceeding with caution due to historic low cap rates and continue to search for acquisitions with redevelopment opportunities that will allow our skilled associates the opportunity to unlock value for our shareholders. Recent transactions on high-quality assets reflect aggressive pricing, making our redevelopment pipeline an even more attractive use of our capital right now. Turning to dispositions. During the second quarter, Kimco's sold ownership interest in 15 U.S. properties, 7 wholly-owned and 8 held in joint ventures, totaling 1.7 million square feet for a gross sales price of $185.6 million, including $23.3 million of mortgage debt. The implied cap rate for these assets is a blended 7.4%, and the company's share of the proceeds from these sales is $121.5 million. Cap rates continue to compress across all quality levels as the thirst for yield has investors stepping out on the risk spectrum in search of places to put capital to work. I'm pleased with the pace of our dispositions so far this year, as we have sold 37 properties at a blended 7.8% cap rate and are taking advantage of the ideal market conditions to exit our noncore assets. In the first half of the year, we have been a net acquirer in the U.S. But we expect to be a net seller in the second half by completing the sale of multiple portfolios and individual assets that are currently under contract. We currently have 44 properties in the U.S. that are under contract, totaling approximately $325.8 million at an implied cap rate of 8.5%. We have prioritized the dispositions of our low-growth assets and our at-risk assets. An example of this during the quarter includes flat long-term triple net leases, 2 with Winn-Dixie in Louisiana, and 1 with Costco at a center in Ogden, Utah, marking our exit from the state of Utah. Another example is a center we recently sold in West Palm Beach, Florida, that has a Kmart at above market rents in a location where the retail note has shifted dramatically. Bidders on these properties include public and private REITs, pension funds, high net worth individuals, international and 1031 buyers. We are cautiously optimistic that our transformation to a Tier 1 portfolio will be substantially executed over the next year. Redevelopment projects enable us to optimize the operating performance of our core real estate holdings and continue to generate accretive returns on our invested capital. The strength of our real estate holdings provide us with an incredible opportunity to unlock value by understanding the highest and best use and delivering a superior product to fit the needs of the local community. Our redevelopment projects include multiple improvements that will create an environment that engages and focuses on the customer experience, which is critical in today's world. All of our redevelopment projects include a significant change to the footprint of the asset. Alongside adding density, redevelopments also include site upgrades that will reduce capital expenditures for many years to come. With a focus on sustainability and asset repositioning, we have improved site lighting with LED upgrades and gateway controls that have produced energy savings of 18%. We are now integrating mobile irrigation controls, mobile lighting controls, and Wi-Fi enabling our assets to provide our shoppers a greener, safer, and omnichannel-connected environment. Specialty grocers continued to expand and perform above the expectations, giving us the ability to add a grocery anchor to sites that have never before had all the benefits of a grocery component. This blurring of lines across traditional grocery-anchored centers and power centers bodes well for our portfolio. The percent of our portfolio with a grocery component, based on ABR, is now 63.7%, up from 58.6% at the end of 2013. Recent deals with Whole Foods, Sprouts, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and Lucky's provide a luxury that we previously did not have in our power centers. A specialty grocery will help drive sales to our surrounding retailers, and improve Kimco's net asset value as more and more of our shopping centers become grocery anchored. The retailer demand is significant for these opportunities, and a great example is where we have 2 redevelopments in Florida, Tri-City Plaza in Largo, and Renaissance Center in Altamonte Springs, where the centers are close to 100% pre-leased with Whole Foods, LA Fitness, Sports Authority, Ross and PETCO all before breaking ground. We are continuing to expand our redevelopment pipeline, and this quarter added over $100 million of new projects to the pipeline. Currently, our pipeline totals $919 million, up from $792 million last quarter. We now have $314 million of active redevelopment projects, $344 million of projects under design and entitlement review, and $261 million in the evaluation phase. I am encouraged by the progress we have made to date and believe there is more to come as we comb the existing portfolio for opportunities to recapture boxes that call for a higher and better use, and focus our acquisitions to require a redevelopment component. Before diving into leasing metrics for the quarter, I would just like to say that the U.S. same-site NOI growth of 2.5% did receive a nice pop of 40 basis points from redevelopments that we delivered this quarter. Thanks to our prolific dealmakers, the leasing volume continues to show no signs of slowing down, as we signed 183 new leases for a total of 916,000 gross square feet. U.S. occupancy rose 30 basis points to 95%, driven by a 29 basis point gain via positive net absorption and only 1 basis point gain due to dispositions. This is a great data point showcasing the hard work done by our team to fill up our remaining vacancies. Drilling down. Anchor occupancy increased 20 basis points pro-rata to 97.8% compared to the prior quarter, and a few notable new leases this quarter include TJ Maxx, Ross, Bed Bath & Beyond, CVS, LA Fitness, Fila, Peretas and Sports Authority. Small shop occupancy increased 70 basis points pro-rata to 86.3% compared to the prior quarter and is up 200 basis points pro-rata compared to the same quarter last year. The small shop leasing recovery continues to be led by a mix of service-based tenants and restaurants. Multiple deals this quarter were executed with national small shop operators, such as Chipotle and AT&T, in addition to regional players, including MOD Pizza and multiple deals with franchisees such as Subway and Jersey Mike's. Of note, we also completed 91 deals with pure mom-and-pop retailers out of a total of 161 small shop leases, a good indicator that local business is bouncing back, predominantly hair and nail salons and 10 new medical deals. Our average base rent for small shops on the entire portfolio now sits at $23.75 a foot, up $0.46 from the beginning of the year. I would also like to welcome a new tenant to our portfolio this quarter, Expedia.com. An Expedia franchisee rented a small shop from us in North Carolina, where they plan to staff the space to help customers with their travel needs. We take this as a sign that if it helps their business, online vendors will continue to open brick-and-mortar locations. Our new leasing spreads of 13.3% pro-rata was driven by across-the-board double-digit positive spreads on junior anchors, mid-sized shops and small shops. The average base rents on new deals was $15.93 pro-rata, which is 20% above our current average base rent. Renewals and options leasing spreads posted a 8.2% pro-rata increase, and overall leasing spreads in the U.S. increased 9.7%. In closing, the asset base at Kimco has never been stronger, and our operations team is aligned and focused on showcasing what we do best. If you get a chance to visit a Kimco Center, I hope you notice the difference. We have received 10 city beautification awards this year and our pride of ownership is evident. We intend to give our everyday shoppers the ultimate shopping experience to keep them coming back time and time again. And with that, I will turn it over to Milton.