Conor Flynn
Analyst · Evercore. Please go ahead
Thanks, Dave, and good morning everyone. Today I'll provide an overview of our strong second quarter performance and an update on a great progress we have made on the execution of our strategy. Ross will then report on our quarterly transaction activity and describe the overall transactional environment. Finally, Glenn will provide details on key metrics and our updated 2018 guidance. Execution continues to be our number one priority as we reposition our portfolio for the long-term growth and value creation. Our team continues to work tirelessly as we seek to improve in all aspects of our business. And our results for the quarter continue to demonstrate that our portfolio quality and value creation initiatives are working. Now, for some details; we are now over halfway through the year and the taste and strong pricing of our dispositions give us confidence that we will meet our full-year disposition range of 7 to 900 million. The vibrant private market evaluations coupled with widely-available debt financing and strong pricing for our Midwest assets continue to demonstrate the disconnect between public and private pricing. Ross will go into detail on the encouraging pricing, execution, and capital formations we have experienced recently. More importantly, as we achieve our targeted dispositions for the current year, it positions us to restart our growth as we enter 2019 with a superior portfolio, concentrated in coastal markets where we see the best opportunity for growth and redevelopment potential. And as I mentioned, our reposition portfolio is producing solid results. Leasing volume continues to be near all-time highs for the company, as our team is working diligently to create vibrant campus life settings where our shoppers want to stay for extended periods of time. Our same-site NOI outperformed this quarter due to a strong leasing volume, a slowing of new vacancies and the additional rent collected from our Toys "R" U boxes. The Toys liquidation process had been drawing out, which has given us a running start on our re-leasing efforts. These efforts have produced significant interest for major retailers and off-priced furniture, fitness, specialty grocery, and arts and crafts. To recap, we had a total of 22 Toys "R" Us leases that fall into two categories; OpCo leases and PropCo leases. Fifteen of our leases are in the OpCo entity of Toys "R" Us, and we have already resolved seven of those location with retailers taking the entire Toys "R" Us box. Our remaining eight locations at OpCo have significant tenant interests, and we are working to convert this demand into leases as quickly as possible. The second category of our Toys boxes are leases in the PropCo entity. We have seven leases in PropCo which have not yet been rejected, and the date of the auction has not yet been set. Rent continues to slow on those assets. We anticipate Q3 resolution of the PropCo entity, and have been proactive in marketing these locations. Looking ahead to the third quarter, we anticipate that the Toys liquidation will have a maximum impact of 70 to 80 basis points on our occupancy and same-site NOI, as we anticipate recapturing the majority of the boxes that have not yet gone to auction. Notwithstanding the impact, given a strong re-leasing to-date and the demand for the remaining Toys boxes we feel confident in raising our same-site NOI guidance for the year to 2% to 2.5%. Overall, we have seen demand match or exceed supply for high quality locations with retailers focusing on store growth in the top 20 markets, where populations are growing, wages are rising, and employment is increasing. Our overall strategy is focused on repositioning our portfolio to be tightly concentrated in these top 20 markets, where we believe demand will continue to be strong over the long run and provide unique opportunities for our mixed use platform. Keep in mind we are also at a 40-year low for new supply, which we don't see reversing anytime soon as land costs continue to escalate along with increases in labor and construction costs. We see the economy continuing to grow, demand from our retailers continuing to increase and the millenial generation coming into its peak spending years. These factors have generated outside demand for many of our assets, driving our occupancy level on our small shops to the highest level in the company's history at over 90%. Demand for small shops is being driven by multiple retailers expanding in the restaurant, service, health and wellness, medical and fitness categories. While our focus continues to be on execution and portfolio improvement, it is worth mentioning the two major events that occurred this year that have boosted the retail outlook for the year, and as retailers focusing on investment, both in existing store remodels and the rollout of new stores. First, tax reform has dramatically lowered the effect of tax rate for our retailers, which were paying some of the highest corporate tax rates in the country. In numerous meetings with our retail partners, they have consistently totted tax reform as a major factor in the real estate expansion plans. Second, the Supreme Court ruling in the [indiscernible] positions of sales tax on e-commerce will likely level the playing field for all retailers, regardless of channel. This ruling has effectively closed the loophole that allows pure e-commerce players to skirt state sales tax and offer the cheapest price possible on a wide assortment of goods. We believe the ruling can potentially accelerate the trend of omnichannel retailing. Turning to our signature series developments and redevelopments, they continue to mature and move closer to producing meaningful growth for the company as we approach 2019. As I mentioned, the lack of new supply, whenever a high quality project is brought to market by respected and low-capitalized developer, retailers are ready to jump at the opportunity. Our sites are substantially pre-leased creating positive leasing momentum for these rare high-quality opportunities, which are poised to deliver on time. Our Lincoln Square mixed use project in Center City Philadelphia is starting to pre-lease apartments with demand exceeding our budget. The first Sprouts Farmers Market in Philadelphia is set to open at Lincoln Square this August. And Target will soon follow. Our Pentagon Center mixed use tower called the Witmer is now topped off and will begin pre-leasing apartments in 2019. Dania Phase I is now 93% pre-leased, and it's set to open later this summer and stabilize in 2019. Our Mill Station development is now 79% pre-leased with Costco set to open in September. These signature series projects are large in scale and will deliver meaningful growth in 2019 and beyond as we unlock the embedded value of our real estate. In closing, we are pleased with the pace of our dispositions and pricing. We have taken advantage of this public, private disconnect by buying back our shares at a discount on a leveraged neutral basis. We are witnessing solid demand for our available spaces, and have made meaningful progress on a signature series development and redevelopments that will start to deliver later this year. We continue to focus on what we can control, execute on our strategy to position the portfolio to generate consistent growth supported by a strong balance sheet that will create long-term shareholder value. Ross?