Clipper Realty Inc.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Clipper Realty 3Q21 earnings call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Larry Kreider. Sir, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for the third quarter 2021 Clipper Realty Inc. earnings conference call. Participating with me in today's call are David Bistresser, Co-Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, and JJ Bistresser, Chief Operating Officer. Please be aware that statements made during the call that are not historical may be deemed forward-looking statements and actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. including those disclosed in the company's 2020 annual report on Form 10-K, which is accessible at www.sec.gov and our website. As a reminder, the forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this call, November 9, 2021, and the company undertakes no duty to update them. During the call, management may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted funds from operations or AFFO, adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or adjusted EBITDA, and net operating income, or NOI. Please see our press release, supplemental financial information, and Form 10-Q posted today for a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. With that, I will now turn the call over to our co-chairman and CEO, David Bisterster.

Thank you, Larry. Good afternoon and welcome to the third quarter 2021 earnings call for Clipper Realty. I will provide an update on our business performance, including recent highlights and milestones, as well as our company's progress as we recover from COVID-19 pandemic. I will then turn the call over to JJ, who will discuss property level activity, including leasing performance. Finally, Larry will speak about our quarterly financial performance. We will then take your questions. I begin by once again extending our thanks to the entire Clipper Realty team for the ongoing hard work and perseverance as we progress out of the pandemic. We remain grateful for the continuing efforts, and we are proud of their continued dedication to our residents, our communities, and our business. Properties remained open and operational throughout the pandemic, and we see positive trends as we look forward. Residential leasing activity continues to improve as both the city and the economy in general further strengthen for the depths of the pandemic. We expect rental demand to remain elevated and pricing to improve as New York City continues to reopen. People seek to relocate back to the city and employees increasingly return to their offices. At the end of the third quarter, our properties were 94% leased and new leases at our properties are reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels, including at the Trebek House property where our new lease rates in October were approximately $76 per square foot, which is 9% better than pre-pandemic. Our balance sheet continues to be well-positioned from a liquidity perspective. We have approximately $88 million of cash, consisting of $59 million of unrestricted cash and $29 million of restricted cash. We finance our portfolio on an asset-by-asset basis. Our debt is non-recourse, subject to limited standards of carve-outs and non-recourse credit realizations. We have no debt maturities in any of our operating properties until 2027. Recent developments. We continue to proceed with the development of our 1010 Pacific Street acquisition located in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, about one mile from the Atlantic Terminal and Barclays Center Hub. Construction is progressing on time and on budget. As previously discussed, we estimated the project to cost $85 million dollars. take two years to complete and develop at a 6.5% stabilized cap rate. 90% of our construction contracts are signed. We entered into a $52.5 million construction loan facility that will provide us with financing through completion. JJ will provide further update on the project shortly. As you can see in our results, our office portfolio has been recording the benefits this year of new leases until last year with New York City. The December 2020 lease at 141 Livingston property is adding $2.1 million to the property's annual NOI. And the November 2020 lease at 250 Livingston Street property is adding $5 million of annual NOI for a total of $7.1 million annually, representing an approximate 10% increase on our previous run rate. With regard to our third quarter results, we are reporting quarterly revenue of $30.6 million, NOI of $16.1 million, and AFFO of $4.1 million. All of these measures are in line with the second quarter, as Larry will further detail. I will now turn over the call to JJ, who will provide an update on operations.

Thank you. I begin by again extending our thanks to the company's employees for their continued inspiring efforts as we progress out of this unprecedented period to normality. We are grateful for their ongoing commitment to our tenants and communities. The increase in residential leasing activity that began towards the end of last year continues today. At the end of the third quarter, all our residential properties were leased in the mid to high 90s percentage range. As we anticipated last quarter, we are seeing improved rental demand as New York City further reopens, normal activities resume, and employers increasingly require in-office presence. New rental rates per square foot in October are reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and all exceeding present average rates. For example, new leases in October at the Tribeca House property were $76 per square foot, at Flappers Gardens $34 per square foot, and Aspen $48 per square foot. As to our Tribeca House property, as referenced in prior quarter, our pandemic strategy continues to prove itself out. Our first goal last year, was to achieve high occupancy, which we have accomplished. Year-on-year lease occupancy has increased to 96.6% from 80.1%. As occupancy increased to the 90% mark, we were then able to begin achieving higher rent per square foot levels, which have reached 76% in October, 9% higher, 76,000 per square foot in October, 9% higher than the pre-pandemic levels. The goal of reaching higher rent levels on average for the whole building, however, will take some time as the lower pandemic-level leases work through to full term. Revenue at Slappish Gardens Complex in Brooklyn held up well in the third quarter level with the second quarter. Throughout the pandemic, the property maintained high occupancy, ending the quarter 93% leased. Rent per square foot was $25,000 per square foot at the end of the quarter, a near record level. We are taking steps to increase occupancy to the historically typical level above 95% and are presently processing numerous applications according to regulatory requirements. As noted previously, last year we reorganized certain operations at the property during the pandemic to manage our expense base, which has resulted in annual cost savings in excess of $800,000. Proper grounds remain a key element of our portfolio and growth story. Rent collections remain strong despite the challenges of the pandemic. Our collection rate in the third quarter was 96% and uptick versus 95% at the year end. We have consistently worked with our tenants on a case-by-case basis to notify us that they cannot meet their rent obligations due to the pandemic. And since June, we have partnered with our tenants to file for rent relief under the New York Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or ERAP. To date, we have received $2.2 million under this program. We have also filed over $1 million of applications under the Related Landlord Rental Assistance Program, or LRAP, relating to tenants who do not file for assistance under ERAP, although we understand that New York is focusing their funding on smaller landlords at the current time. On the development side, we are moving well on construction at 1010 Pacific Street and are on target. We have finalized approximately 90% of our construction contracts, poured concrete floors on eight of the nine floors, and have secured construction financing through completion with a $52.5 million construction loan. The development is a nine-story, 119,000 rentable square foot, fully amenitized multifamily rental building with underground indoor parking. The property is expected to have 175 total units, 70% of which will be free market and 30% affordable, and is eligible for a 35-year 421A tax abatement. Looking ahead, we remain focused on optimizing occupancy, pricing, and expenses across the business. To best position ourselves as New York City's... To best position us... to best position ourselves as New York City continues its emergence from the pandemic. I will now turn the call over to Larry, who will discuss our financial results.

Thank you, JJ. For the third quarter, we achieved revenues of $30.6 million, virtually level with last quarter, and higher than the $30 million for last year's third quarter. For the same periods of time, We achieved NOI of $16.1 million and AFFO of $4.1 million this quarter, level with the second quarter this year and improved from NOI of $14.5 million and AFFO of $2.9 million in the third quarter last year. The year-over-year revenue increase was primarily attributable to higher commercial revenue from the new office lease at the 250 Livingston Street property during the third quarter of of 2020. This was partially offset by lower residential revenue at the Flatbush Gardens property from lower occupancy and at the Clover House property from lower residential rental rates offered last year to maintain occupancy. Revenue was level at the Tribeca House property as our higher leasing this year successfully recovered the lower bargain residential rates we offered. At this point, we are achieving higher rents on new residential leases than before the pandemic, although the effect will take the next few quarters to evidence itself as leases executed at lower rates during the pandemic through the first quarter of this year take full term to roll off. In October, for example, at the Tribeca House property, residential rental rates were at the $76 per foot a level with similar increases at our other properties as well. On the expense side, key year-over-year changes were as follows. Property operating expenses declined by $1.2 million in the third quarter year-on-year, primarily driven by a decrease in apartment make-ready expenses resulting from leasing efforts last year at the Tribeca House property, a decrease in the provision for bad debts, resulting primarily from the portion of the 2.2 million ERAP funds applicable to past due amounts and a decrease in property level staffing costs resulting from realignment of operating activities last year at Flatbush Gardens. Real estate taxes and insurance increased by 0.5 million in the third quarter year on year and compared to the second quarter due to increased insurance costs across the portfolio. Interest expense increased by $169,000 in the third quarter year on year, primarily due to the refinancing at the 141 Livingston Street property in February this year. With regard to the balance sheet, as David mentioned earlier, we are well positioned from a liquidity perspective. We have $88 million of cash consisting of $59 million of unrestricted cash and $29 million of restricted cash. We finance our portfolio on an asset-by-asset basis. Our debt is non-recourse, subject to limited standard carve-outs, and is not cross-collateralized. We have no debt maturities on any operating properties until 2027. Today, we are announcing a dividend of $0.095 per share for the third quarter, the same amount as last quarter. The dividend will be paid on November 24th to shareholders of record on November 16. Let me now turn the call back over to David for concluding remarks.

Thank you, Larry. We remain focused on efficiently operating our portfolio with the safety of our tenants and employees our highest priority. We continue to take the necessary steps to navigate through the current challenges buttressed by a strong balance sheet. We expect New York City's recovery from the pandemic to continue to accelerate through 2021 and beyond. We look forward to capitalizing on a myriad of growth opportunities, including the 1010 Pacific development and other possibilities that may present themselves. I would now like to open up the line for questions.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is now open for questions. If you have any questions or comments, please indicate so now by pressing star 1 on your touch-tone phone. Pressing star 2 will remove you from the queue should your question be answered. And lastly, while posing your questions, please pick up your handset up listening on speakerphone to provide optimum sound quality. Please hold while we poll for questions. And we have a question coming from Craig Crusera from B. Riley Securities. Your line is live.

Yeah, good evening, guys. David, with the city opening back up, has that enhanced your ability to start making progress again on expanding your FAR at Flatbush Gardens?

It's a little bit too early to tell. It's a new administration, as you know, coming into the city of New York. So, you know, when that gets a little bit more flushed out, we'll again, you know, investigate what the appetite of the city is to work with us on that opportunity.

Got it. I appreciate that. And understanding that you've been able to cut out, I believe, about $800,000 of operating expenses at Flatbush Gardens. Were there any other items or events that occurred? Your operating expenses quarter was down considerably year over year and year to date, and I'm just curious as to if there's anything else that's driving that.

It's basically taking a stronger look at various different expenses and driving it as lean as possible, and that's something that we continue to do on a continual basis.

Yeah, one other thing, you know, we had our reorganization, but also as we got further leased, our make-ready repairs and maintenance costs have declined somewhat. Got it. That's helpful.

One more for me. Just want to make sure I understand. You mentioned that you're seeing new leases at or above pre-pandemic levels and gave a number of different rents. are those rents on just newly executed leases a vacant space, or is that inclusive of people that renewed?

Those are the new rents on new spaces.

New space. So do you have a sense of what the increase is on renewals at this point?

Yes, we do. Renewals, though, are generally at a little lower increase, but they're always at an increase. We We keep them fairly modest to avoid vacancy.

Okay, fair enough. Thanks a lot.

You're welcome.

Once again, if there are any remaining questions or comments, please indicate so by pressing star 1 on your touchtone phone. I'd now like to turn the floor back to David Bistrister for closing remarks.

Thank you for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you again soon. Stay well. Have a good evening.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.