Brent Smith
Analyst · JPMorgan. Please go ahead, sir. Your line is open
Thank you, Bobby. Good morning, everyone, and thank you again for joining today's discussion. On our second quarter earnings call, I reported that Piedmont was experiencing solid momentum across all aspects of our business. And more specifically, that the strong leasing, operations and capital markets activity the Company was generating would carry throughout the remainder of 2019, positioning Piedmont for meaningful earnings growth in 2020.I'm pleased to share that the Piedmont team had an extremely productive third quarter on all fronts, but even more exciting than our quarterly performance, with the progress we made on numerous strategic objectives. I really couldn't be more proud of the hard-working men and women that support me each and every day. This morning, I'm going to review the Company's progress on key initiatives. First, an update on capital markets activity, highlighting the transactions that are increasing the concentration of our portfolio in specific submarkets as we recycle out of fully valued mature assets and redeploy those proceeds into accretive, value-add acquisitions.Next, I'll touch on the operational success across the portfolio, including the New York State lease at 60 broad Street. And finally, I'll share an update on Piedmont's sustainability initiatives. First and foremost, the Piedmont team did a terrific job continuing to concentrate our portfolio in many rich submarkets, which offer unique mixed-use environments and close proximity to major education centers and transportation nodes. I would also note that we're experiencing incremental operational success in submarkets we can capture greater than 20% Class A market share. And although previously announced in late August, Piedmont aggregated another such stronghold position during the third quarter.Similarly to our ownership concentration elsewhere in our portfolio such as Downtown, Orlando, the Burlington sub-market of Boston and Las Colinas sub-market of Dallas. We now own the entire Galleria office complex giving us the dominant Class A position in the Northwest sub-market of Atlanta.Let me outline why we think this burgeoning hubbub such a terrific opportunity for Piedmont. The Galleria Atlanta is a master-planned mixed use development hosting almost 7,000 workers every day with prominent visibility at the pin code location of I-75 and I-285 approximately 10 miles outside of Downtown, Atlanta.The buildings themselves are best in the sub-market posting three-story lobbies, floor ceiling window lines and great slab heights resulting a phenomenal light and air as well as 360 degree views including Buckhead at Downtown, Atlanta.All located adjacent to the Atlanta Braves' new ballpark. The Cobb County communities in the immediate vicinity of the project had the fastest growing millennial population in Atlanta with excellent schools, low property taxes and numerous corporate expansion. In addition the location is just a 10-minute drive from Buckhead, a 15-minute drive from Midtown.We believe these fundamentals in conjunction with the vast onsite and neighboring walkable amenities position the project for continued success. Our position in the Galleria Atlanta all begin four years ago. When the Piedmont team acquired Galleria 300 and a year following Galleria 200 with the bold vision to achieve something that had never been done single ownership of the entire 2.1 million square feet office complex. In the spring of 2017, the Braves began their inaugural season at SunTrust Park and completed the adjacent $1 billion mixed use entertainment, food, and beverage centric development named The Battery.This 1.5 million square foot projects vast amenity set includes two new hotels. The 4000 feet Coca-Cola Roxy Theater and over 200,000 square feet of retail along with a dozen restaurants from some of the Atlanta's most acclaimed chefs. All just a 10-minute walk from our office buildings in the Galleria.Since those first acquisitions Piedmont has achieved strong operational success of the complex increasing annualized leased revenue by almost 20% with even more upside capture in the next few years as leases expire. Continuing with our acquisition strategy. In May of this year, we purchased the third building in the complex in conjunction with the 1.5 acre development parcel.And I couldn't be more proud to share that the Piedmont team completed the puzzle during the third quarter with the acquisition of Galleria 400 and 600. The two buildings total approximately 860,000 square feet are a combined 84% occupied and were purchased for $212.4 million at an accrual cap rate of 6.8%, but will stabilize above 8% after lease up is completed over the next few years.Piedmont also acquired an adjacent 10-acre land parcel for $18.8 million, which is already entitled to accommodate over 1 million square feet of commercial development. We believe the site is among the best in Atlanta and we are well positioned to attract some of the large corporate tenants looking to relocate to the Atlanta market.Our total investment in the Galleria Atlanta is just under $500 million or approximately $215 dollars per square foot, which represents over 50% discount to estimated replacement cost.Furthermore, the size of the project gives Piedmont, the opportunity to significantly enhance through redevelopment, while maintaining a competitive low basis.We think it's a great example of how Piedmont positions itself to drive incremental value and cash flow growth for investors through redevelopment.With approximately 12% of the 2.1 million square feet available for lease and another 37% of leases rolling in the next 4 years at rental rates approximately 20% below today's market rate, it's another instance of how Piedmont is utilizing its scale in select submarkets to drive operational synergies and grow rental rates through the creation of unique placemaking environments that today tenants demand.I would encourage those who have not reviewed our presentation materials regarding Galleria Atlanta to visit the Investor Relations section of our website and download the featured report dated August 2019. Integral to our growth strategy is the disposition of a select group of non-core assets, in addition to those properties, which we believe the value potential under our ownership has been reached. Over the past 4 years, we have sold $1.9 billion of assets and redeployed those disposition proceeds at an average acquisition yield, 170 basis points greater than our disposition yield.Continuing with that theme, I'm pleased to report 2 strategic dispositions during the third quarter. First, we sold The Dupree, a relatively small non-core asset in Atlanta for $12.7 million, incurring a small impairment charge. In addition, subsequent to quarter end, on October 28, we closed on the disposition of 500 West Monroe in Chicago for $412 million or approximately $425 per square foot. The 2 dispositions transacted at an average for 12-month accrual cap rate of 6.1%, with proceeds used to pay down our $500 million revolving line of credit, which as of this call, stands near a $0 balance.The disposition of 500 West Monroe will result in Chicago, no longer being identified as a core market for capital deployment. However, Piedmont will continue to manage 500 West Monroe on behalf of the buyer for an initial term of 3 years. We now third-party manage approximately 2 million square feet in downtown Chicago across 500 West Monroe and a previously sold 35 West Wacker, earning management income at both buildings. 500 West Monroe was a phenomenal investment for Piedmont. The 960,000 square-foot building was acquired in 2011 for approximately $235 per square foot, with an occupancy position to drop below 20%.Over the next several years, the Piedmont team completed a redevelopment of the asset and enacted an aggressive leasing program to capture large suburban tenancy moving into downtown Chicago. The team did an outstanding job leasing nearly 1 million square feet during our ownership to corporate tenants such as Motorola Solutions, General Electric and Lockheed Insurance, while pushing the building to occupancy to 100%. This is a great example of Piedmont's strategy to drive incremental value and cash flow growth for shareholders while acquiring high-quality Class A properties in need of repositioning. In this instance, the outcome resulted in a realized gain of approximately $160 million, which will be included in our fourth quarter results.I want to commend the entire Piedmont team for a Herculean effort, 9 digit capital gains are a tremendous outcome. Finally, I would note that the second and third quarter acquisitions of the Galleria Atlanta totaling $326 million had an average for 12-month accrual cap rate of 7.1% and were acquired to reverse 1031 exchange with 500 West Monroe. And as a result, no special dividend related to this transaction will be required.Finally, on our last call, I noted that we would focus on completing our noncore dispositions over the next 12 to 18 months, using the proceeds to fund future growth through acquisitions, development and redevelopment. The non-core properties comprised our three long-term leased single tenant assets located in Philadelphia and Houston as well as one multi-tenant asset in Chicago. We've been encouraged by the recent private market pricing achieved by properties, similar to those, fueled by the decline in long-term interest rates in conjunction with a reduction in foreign exchange costs for international buyers over the past nine months.For example, in Philadelphia, a high-quality multi-tenant Class A asset located on Market Street, with over 10 years of weighted average lease term recently traded for mid-6s cash cap rate. And similarly, there was a Houston trade for a long-term lease, single tenant asset that priced through a 6% cash cap rate. We believe the disposition of our non-core assets will fund additional recycle accretive to cash flow.We will focus the redeployment of disposition proceeds into markets with the most favorable risk-adjusted return, which we currently believe to be Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando and Minneapolis. We will also continue to take a balanced approach across CBD, urban infill and suburban submarkets within those cities, generally maintaining 1/3 of our portfolio in each category.Turning to our leasing activities during the quarter, we completed approximately 564,000 square feet of leasing, with approximately 195,000 square feet related to new tenant leasing. Activity was well dispersed throughout our markets and resulted in an almost 10% roll up in beginning cash rents and a 23.5% increase in GAAP rents, in line with the year-to-date trends on both metrics. The larger leases executed during the quarter include; in Dallas, commercial metals company renewed approximately 106,000 square feet through 2028 at 6565 North MacArthur Boulevard, and Gartner, expanded their footprint with a new lease for approximately 55,000 square feet through June 2034 at 6031 Connection Drive. This brings their total square footage in the complex now to nearly 210,000 square feet.In Atlanta, we signed a new lease through 2035 for approximately 72,000 square feet at 1155 Perimeter Center West with WeWork. This lease, combined with our previously reported VMware expansion now has backfilled 60% of this quarter's RV's expiration. In Minneapolis, Siemens Corporation renewed approximately 69,000 square feet at Crescent Ridge II through 2030. In Boston, Qualcomm renewed approximately 49,000 square feet through 2025 at 90 Central Street.In New York City, Morris Adjmi Architects renewed and expanded approximately 20,000 square feet at 60 Broad Street through 2029. Additionally, subsequent to quarter end, we received a $550 million lease renewal and expansion for approximately 20 years executed by the state of New York, office of General Services, providing for the tenancy of 7 agencies with terms and conditions better than initially anticipated at the beginning of the year.Rather than a 10% downsize the New York State's current 480,000 square foot lease, the total E square footage will increase to approximately 520,000 square feet with beginning cash rents down slightly and a substantial roll up in an accrual basis rents. The new lease begins on November 1 this year, with no free rent and no downtime. The lease will include a phased construction period during which several agencies will be departing and arriving to the building. Despite the protracted negotiations, this was a phenomenal outcome for investors. We estimate that tenant improvement capital to be roughly $100 per square foot, which inclusive of leasing commissions should equate to approximately $7 per square foot per year of lease term and capital commitments.Our only sizable expiration over the next 18 months is also a 60 Broad Street, where we remain engaged in active negotiations with the city of New York for the renewal of substantially all of their existing 313,000 square foot lease scheduled to expire in April of 2020. We're in advanced discussions, incorporating detailed design and space planning with the various sitting agencies. The city of New York's lease is anticipated to include 20 years of term, and we estimate a significant roll up in accrual rents once a long-term lease is executed, in addition to a large roll up in cash rents.I would note that like the New York State, the city of New York's premises incorporates numerous agencies, which complicates the transaction and could delay the execution of a new deal beyond the current lease expiry. Potential delays in the city of New York's lease could temporarily impact Piedmont's 2020 accrual rental income stream and company earnings until a new lease is consummated.One final strategic update, I would like to take a moment and draw your attention to our website where we released our inaugural sustainability report this week, providing portfolio-wide benchmark data as well as outlining our sustainability policy, annual performance, track record and progress towards long-term goals for electrical, water and other utility consumption. One of my top initiatives for Piedmont to be a leader in environmental, social and governance disclosure, and we look forward to expanding upon this initial report as the Company's sustainability efforts continue to broaden. In short, Piedmont is committed to materially reducing waste and carbon emissions at our buildings, with the goal to eliminate 20% of our energy and water consumption over the next 8 years.At this point, I will turn the call over to Bobby to walk you through the financial highlights of the quarter. Bobby?