Regency Centers Corporation

Welcome to Regency Center's Corporation Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star and zero on a telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference has been recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Christy McElroy. Thank you, and over to you.

Good morning, and welcome to Regency Center's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Lisa Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Moss, Chief Financial Officer, Alan Roth, East Region President and Chief Operating Officer, and Nick Wibbenmeyer, West Region President and Chief Investment Officer. As a reminder, today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements about the company's views of future business and financial performance, including forward earnings guidance and future market conditions. These are based on management's current beliefs and expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. It's possible that actual results may differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements we may make. Factors and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements may be included in our presentation today, and are described in more detail in our filings at the SEC, specifically in our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filing. In our discussion today, we will also reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. The comparable GAAP financial measures are included in this quarter's earnings materials, which are posted on our Investor Relations website. Please note that we have also posted a presentation on our website with additional information, including disclosures related to forward earnings guidance. Our caution on forward-looking statements also applies to these presentation materials. Finally, as a reminder, given the number of participants we have on the call today, we kindly and respectfully ask that you limit your questions to one and then rejoin the queue if you have any additional follow-up questions. This will allow everyone who'd like to ask a question an opportunity to do so. Lisa?

Thank you, Christy. Good morning, everyone. We are proud to report another really great quarter of results driven by the hard work of our team and continued robust operating fundamentals, including sustained strength and tenant demand. This is evident in our strong rent growth, our sizable leasing pipeline, our same property leased occupancy rate, which we've now pushed above 96%, another record high for shop occupancy and accelerating same property NOI growth. As a result, We're raising current year guidance and now expect same property NOI growth of 3.5% and core operating earnings per share growth of nearly 5%. We've also continued to be very active on the investment side, especially through our development platform. Nick will go into more detail, but we've had another strong year of development and redevelopment starts, and we've already achieved our annual target of $200 to $250 million of project starts for the second consecutive year. This success in sourcing new opportunities is a product of the team's expertise, relationships, and the strong tenant demand we are experiencing across our portfolio, and it is supported by our cost of capital and strength of our balance sheet. As our grocery partners and other tenants look to further expand their footprints, high-quality space in top trade areas is hard to come by, creating an opportunity for us to leverage our platform. And as we further grow our ground up development pipeline, it will increasingly be a significant and unequaled differentiator for Regency across the peer group, amplifying total NOI growth beyond the impacts of our same property portfolio. In addition to our development pipeline, in 2024, we've deployed nearly $300 million of capital into accretive transactions, including shopping center acquisitions and the repurchase of our own shares. Overall, we had an exceptional quarter driving both strong organic growth within our current portfolio and creating meaningful value through our investments for the future. Yes, the operating fundamentals are robust in our sector today, but more importantly, our results reflect the talent of our team and quality of our portfolio, positioning Regency to thrive in the current environment as well as through economic cycles. Our assets are intentionally located in strong suburban trade areas benefiting from limited new supply. Our grocery-anchored neighborhood and community centers represent what we believe is the optimal retail format to serve consumers looking for necessity, service, convenience, and value. And we believe the high quality of our centers with careful attention to merchandising mix, placemaking, and connecting with our communities provides our centers with superior competitive positioning in the marketplace. In summary, I am so grateful for and proud of the efforts of our team in driving our strong performance and delivering exceptional results quarter after quarter. I really look forward to what we can achieve heading into 2025. Alan?