Brixmor Property Group Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Bricksmore Property Group Incorporated first quarter 2024 earnings conference 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 a conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Stacey Slater, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator, and thank you all for joining Bricksmoor's first quarter conference call. With me on the call today are Brian Finnegan, Interim CEO and President, and Steve Gallagher, Interim Chief Financial Officer. Mark Horgan, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, will also be available for Q&A. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that some of our comments today may contain forward-looking statements that are based on certain assumptions. and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, as described in our SEC filings, and actual future results may differ materially. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Also, we will refer today to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Further information regarding our use of these measures and reconciliation of these measures to our GAAP results are available in the earnings release and supplemental disclosure on the investor relations portion of our website. Before turning the call to Brian, please note that out of respect for Jim's privacy, we will not be addressing any questions regarding his temporary medical leave and look forward to his return in the near future. We do ask that you join our Bricksburg family in wishing Jim good health. As always, please limit your questions to one or two and re-queue for any follow-up. At this time, it's my pleasure to introduce Brian Finnegan.

Thanks, Stacey, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to report another quarter of outstanding execution by the Bricksburg team. as we continue to capitalize not only on the positive trends in open-air retail, but on the work our team has done in transforming this portfolio. That transformation is evident in every observable metric, including same-property NOI growth during the first quarter of 5.9%, and our improved same-property NOI and NAREIT FFO outlook for 2024, as Steve will provide additional detail on shortly. And, in conjunction with the tailwinds from the record $68 million, of annual base rent and our sign but not commence pool, and our highly accretive low-risk reinvestment pipeline, we continue to position this portfolio for long-term sustainable growth. That growth starts with leasing, and we delivered another quarter of excellent results, executing 294 new and renewal leases, totaling 1.3 million square feet, including 700,000 square feet of new leases with tenants across a wide range of categories in the open airspace. We added another three grocers during the quarter and now derive 80% of our base rent from grocery anchored centers, while again adding thriving retailers to the portfolio, such as Ulta Beauty, Ross Dress for Less, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and JD Sports. We achieved several noteworthy records this quarter, including for overall anchor and small shop occupancy of 95.1%, 97.3%, and 90.5% respectively. with a sequential small shop gain for the 13th consecutive quarter. We also hit a high watermark in new small shop rents at over $30 per square foot, as the improvements we have made at our centers, along with a high demand, low supply, retail leasing environment, is allowing our team to drive rate across the portfolio. That ability to drive rate and capture the upside embedded in our below market rents was also apparent in our new and renewal spreads of 20% and our new leasing spreads of 40%. We're also encouraged by our move-out trends, which were the lowest first quarter result this portfolio has had and led to record retention in over 89% of GLA. In addition, tenant disruption has so far this year remained muted, which is a significant factor in our improved outlook for the year, as Steve will highlight further. But to be clear, the positive trends we continue to see in move-outs and retention are not simply a result of the environment we are witnessing in open-air retail, but indicative of the transformation of this portfolio and the durability of our underlying tenant base. The cumulative effect of robust leasing, record portfolio retention, low move-out activity, and a stable tenant base are also reflected in our improved same-property NOI outlook for the year of 3.5% to 4.25%, as the team remains laser-focused on accelerating rent commencements across the portfolio, including from space we recaptured last year. Moving to reinvestments, our team stabilized 11.6 million of projects at an incremental 12% return and now has an active pipeline of over 400 million of projects at an incremental 9% return, of which we expect to stabilize approximately 200 million of this year. This includes some of the company's most high-profile projects like Roosevelt Mall and Plymouth Square in the Philadelphia market and the first phase of Port Orlando across from one of the busiest convention centers in the country in Orlando, Florida. On the external growth front, as Mark can touch on in Q&A, we're beginning to see transaction activity increase and more opportunities to put our platform to work, particularly following the $69 million of attractive capital that Mark and team raised in the first quarter through dispositions. We took advantage of one of those opportunities last week in Long Island, New York, where we purchased a grocery-anchored asset adjacent to a center we already own, consistent with the clustering strategy we have deployed with great success over the last few years in places like Southwest Florida, Southern California, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Chicago. And while we expect to see more opportunities in the transaction market in the balance of the year, we will remain disciplined as a higher interest rate environment persists and our self-funded internal growth strategy allows us to be patient on the external growth front. Before handing it over to Steve for a more detailed review of our financial results, I would like to thank all of you that have reached out with your thoughts and well wishes for Jim. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming, but not surprising, given both the person that he is and the impact that he has had on this industry. As Stacey noted, out of respect for Jim and his family, we won't be answering any questions outside of what was in the release, but do look forward to his return in the near future. With that, I'll hand the call over to Steve for a more detailed review of our financial results.