Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. first quarter 2021 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. The question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. For anyone to require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Laura Campbell, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Marketing. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Hudson Pacific Properties' first quarter 2021 earnings call. Yesterday, our press release and supplemental were filed on an 8K with the SEC. Both are available on the Investors section of our website, HudsonPacificProperties.com. An audio webcast of this call will also be available for replay by phone over the next week on the Investors section of our website. During this call, we'll discuss non-GAAP financial measures which are reconciled to our GAAP financial results in our press release and supplemental. We'll also be making forward-looking statements based on our current expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties discussed in our FEC filings, including those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual events could cause our results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements, which we undertake no duty to update. Moreover, this quarter, we've once again included certain disclosures in response to the SEC's direction on special disclosure of COVID-19-prompted business changes. We'll not maintain this level of disclosure as business operations normalize. With that, I'd like to welcome Victor Coleman, our Chairman and CEO, Mark Lamas, our President, Art Suazo, our EVP of Leasing, and Haruti Ramirian, our CFO. Victor?

Thank you, Laura. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first quarter 2021 call. I'm pleased to start my remarks today by noting that lower case studies and increased vaccination availability are leading to positive momentum in the reopening of our U.S. markets. And as of late April, between 30 to 40% of eligible California and Washington residents are fully vaccinated, with millions more having received their first dose. Vaccinations are moving a bit more slowly in British Columbia, but over a third of the population has had at least one shot, and we're hopeful a recent rise in cases there will resolve swiftly. Many of our large tech and media tenants are leading the way in terms of getting their employees back to the office. Google, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Facebook, and Uber all plan to bring employees back before or by at least the end of the summer. These companies are led the work-from-home movement at the outset of the pandemic, and their return will serve as the impetus for other companies to call employees back. And we certainly anticipate our physical occupancy will increase meaningfully over the next two quarters. Bottom line, our focus on tech and media epicenters positions us extraordinarily well for the next phase and beyond. Our markets remain at the center of gravity for these industries, which have flourished through the pandemic. Venture capital investing surged for the first quarter to nearly $70 billion, shattering previous records. IPO activity remains very strong, and recruiters anticipate significant tech hiring. We're seeing similar trends in media. Netflix alone plans to spend $17 billion on content in 2021 versus $12 billion last year. And collectively, streaming companies Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Apple, among others, are projected to spend approximately $112 billion on content. In short, there's plenty of capital for these companies to grow. We've also spent the last decade building and repurposing assets to create premier work environments that are perfectly suited to a post-COVID world. We're at the forefront of the movement that prioritizes health and wellness, sustainability, technology, and in particular, experience. From award-winning innovative developments in Hollywood, like Epic, to our reimagined creative office campus in San Jose, like Gateway, our portfolio already delivers precisely what tenants want and need as they contemplate a return to office. We remain focused on growth, as we have been throughout the pandemic. We're evaluating multiple, mostly off-market opportunities, and several on the studio side, but also some of our office portfolios as well. Of course, our existing Sunset platform, our experience in operating and redeveloping production facilities, not to mention our recent hire of a senior executive to head our global studios, uniquely prepares us to create real estate value around demand and content. And we're committed and aligned as even as ever with our partner, Blackstone, in this endeavor. Finally, I'm going to mention that on Earth Day, we released our 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report. marking the second such report we've published under our Better Blueprint platform. We've clearly established ourselves as an ESG leader in our industry with bold and impactful initiatives, which in 2020 included becoming 100% carbon neutral, pledging $20 million to address homelessness, and launching a comprehensive company-wide DEI training program. We also received numerous accolades this year, such as Gresby's Green Star and Five Star Designations, Energy Star Partner of the Year, and being named a U.S. Department of Energy Green Lease Leader and a Globe Street Best of Place Award. Our 2021 priorities include reducing our embodied carbon, moving toward net zero waste, and strengthening our DEI commitment on multiple fronts. I'll look forward to sharing more of this important work as it unfolds. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mark. For more comments.