Easterly Government Properties, Inc.

Greetings. Welcome to Easterly Government Properties' fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Lindsay Winterhalter, Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning. Before the call begins, please note the use of forward-looking statements by the company on this conference call. Statements made on this call may include statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking. The company intends these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Act reform of 1995 and is making this statement for the purpose of complying with those safe harbor provisions. Although the company believes that its plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these plans, intentions, expectations, or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond the company's control. including, without limitation, those contained in Item 1A, Risk Factors, of its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, to be filed with the SEC on February 28, 2022, and in its other SEC filings, and risks and uncertainties related to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. regional and global economies and the potential adverse impact of the financial condition and results of operation of the company. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, on this conference call, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as funds from operations, funds from operations as adjusted, and cash available for distribution. You can find a tabular reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable current gap numbers in the company's earnings release and separate supplemental information package on the investor relations page of the company's website at ir.easterlyrete.com. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Darrell Crate, Chairman of Easterly Government Properties.

Thank you, Lindsay. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this fourth quarter conference call. Today, in addition to Lindsay, I'm also joined by Bill Trimble, the company's CEO, and Megan Bevere, the company's CFO and COO. 2021 was another strong year for the company in the portfolio. The year was defined by a record level of acquisition volume, increased FFO per share guidance, an increased dividend, strong capital markets execution, both debt and equity, the formation of a joint venture with a leading global investor, and successful releasing efforts with our primary tenant, the United States federal government. We continue to rigorously maintain our investment discipline of purchasing mission-critical facilities that are early in their life cycle. We have been building this portfolio of 89 buildings for the last 12 years, and today, the average life of our buildings is just 13 years. While maintaining our focus on long-term quality, we were able to grow FFO per share in 2021 by a strong 4%. As you know, this cash flows back by the full facing credit of the U.S. government. While we spend a significant amount of time talking about growth through acquisition, I would like to highlight the outstanding effort that produces strong, consistent results by our releasing and asset management group. This team has developed a definable edge in how they work with our tenant, the U.S. government, to meet their unique set of needs. As we've seen over the last 20 years, there have been groups that have built GSA portfolios and chosen to service the government with folks who are trained in operating commercial office. This is not a match. The government, by definition, must have a different set of tastes and preferences to achieve their goals as compared to a commercial tenant. Our team is steeped in understanding these unique needs with the goal of being the private landlord of choice to the United States government. We are certain this platform creates enduring long-term value for our shareholders. Further, we're pleased that we can consistently deliver a strong dividend to our shareholders. Our cash available for distribution continues to grow and reduce our payout ratio as we emerge from a period of releasing in 2020 and 2021. We are pleased that this favorable reporting trend will continue through 2022. We'd like to take a moment to thank our board. We have an exceptional group of directors who have achieved significant success in their business endeavors and we're grateful for their enduring engagement and guidance. And lastly, I'd like to thank our investors for their support and interest in easterly government properties. We'll continue to work to deliver high quality dividends and growth from a portfolio with the highest credit worthy tenant, the United States federal government. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bill to further describe the activities of the quarter.