Brian M. Smith
Analyst · Citi
Thank you, Lisa, and good afternoon, everyone. This quarter, we saw the hard work, the experience and the creativity of our teams continue to translate into strong operating results. We think volume remains very healthy as we take advantage of the high demand for prime space. This coupled with historically low levels of moveouts, drove same property percent leased above 95%. Small shops led the way gaining 60 basis points over the prior quarter to 90.3% leased. Given retailers' appetite for expansion in the high-quality shopping centers like ours, we still have room to run to push percent lease even further. The caliber of our properties, the demand for quality space, the lack of new supply, and our high level of occupancy, these are powerful forces for driving rents, and our local teams are taking full advantage of this environment. Rent growth in the second quarter was 15%, representing the 13th consecutive quarter of positive rent growth. And midterm rent steps from leases signed in the quarter, exceed the portfolio average, both in terms of annual growth and a percent of leases from which we get these increases. We recently started ground-up development on a Publix-anchored center in the Charlotte market. Willow Oaks Crossing will be Regency's first ground-up development in Charlotte and we're excited to expand our footprint in the Carolinas as Publix enters this market. We also started redevelopment work in Westchester Commons, which is an affluent suburb of Chicago where Mariano's is taking the former Dominick's space plus an additional 30,000 square feet of adjacent space and there's no downtime involved. Additionally, we'll be redeveloping our Brighten Park center in Atlanta. As part of the process, we'll replace Loehmann's with a fresh market, which is a great outcome and will inject new vitality and generate increased daily traffic for the center. We completed our Juanita Tate development near downtown Los Angeles. By every measure, this project has outperformed, not only do we complete it at a high return of nearly 10%, but it reached 100% leased in only 14 months from groundbreaking. This project exemplifies our market base development expertise and our disciplined approach. Since 2009, we started 19 projects, representing an investment of nearly $500 million. 12 of these projects have been completed and average 98% leased with a combined incremental return that is greater than 9%. The demographics, excellent locations and merchandising make these centers outstanding additions to our portfolio. Although new development competition is heating up, particularly in areas where we compete with high-rise, multifamily developers, I continue to believe that Regency's experience, our well-connected local development teams, with our strong retailer relationships, the credibility we have in the markets and the inherently redevelopment potential within the operating portfolio will yield an ample amount of compelling future value-add opportunities. The combination of these factors, along with the progress we've made on projects in the pipeline, enabled us to increase the low end of guidance for 2014 development and redevelopment starts. Turning to acquisitions. We continue to see very limited amounts of A quality assets coming to market. And when they do, pricing is hypercompetitive with some centers trading well below 5% cap rates. We successfully acquired properties off market, as we did most recently with our Clybourn Commons acquisition. Clybourn Commons is located in Lincoln Park, which in our view is one of Chicago's most attractive submarkets. It boasts a 3-mile daytime population of nearly 1 million people and a combined purchasing power that exceeds $600,000, placing it among the top assets in our portfolio on this measure. The center is 100% leased and provides plentiful on-site surface parking that is rarely found in dense urban locations. We're really excited about the long term upside potential of this center. As Lisa noted, Clybourn Commons and the earlier acquisition of Mira Vista are being match funded with the sale of 3 properties that will be sold in an average cap rate in the upper 5% range. The slightly lower acquisition cap rates for Clybourn and Mira Vista will be more than made up by their superior NOI growth profile and upside, compared to less than 1% growth that is projected from the centers being sold. As far as dispositions go, while timing is slower than expected, demand is strong with multiple offers on many properties. As a result, we are confident we'll reach our full year guidance and achieve better pricing, which is reflected in the 50-basis-point reduction in our cap rate guidance for dispositions. Our better cap rates reflect not only a strong transaction market, but also the fact that the assets we are selling are of better quality than in previous years as a result of the substantial progress made in eliminating low-quality properties from the portfolio. Looking forward, as we move beyond 95% leased, I can assure you, there's not a trace of complacency. I'm gratified by the results, but even more excited about our prospects, and the team is intently focused on finding opportunities to add value to NOI growth, redevelopments and new developments. Hap?