Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. Q1 2020 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. If you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Brian Wolf. Please go ahead.

Thank you for joining the call. Presenting today are Alan Gold, Executive Chairman, Paul Smithers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Katherine Hastings, Chief Financial Officer, and Ben Regan, Vice President of Investments. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made during today's conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors. For a detailed discussion of some of the ongoing risks and uncertainties of the company's business, I refer you to the news release issued yesterday and filed with the SEC on Form 8K, as well as the company's reports filed periodically with the SEC. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. I'll now hand the call over to Alan.

Alan? Thank you, Brian, and welcome everyone to our 2020 First Quarter Earnings Call. First and foremost, we want to express our sincerest gratitude to all of our medical professionals, caregivers, and researchers who are on the front lines fighting the coronavirus pandemic we are experiencing across the globe. It has been a trying time as we've battled this health crisis, and it is resulting in extreme economic disruption. Although we had our last call just in March, we have chosen to host a call today to share our financial results for the first quarter and provide our updated perspective on the business and the industry in light of the rapidly changing environment we are living through. To recap briefly on our business and financial results, During the first four months of 2020, we acquired nine properties totaling over 1 million square feet in seven states and amended leases with our existing tenants for additional property improvements, collectively representing over $225 million of investments, which include both follow-on transactions with our existing tenant partners to facilitate the continued expansion and new tenant relationships. Now, Ben Regan, our Vice President of Investments, will discuss our recent acquisitions in more detail in our overall portfolio. As of today, we own 55 properties in 15 states, totaling 4.1 million square feet, which are over 99% leased on a long-term basis to high-quality licensed cannabis operators. In addition, we paid a quarterly stock dividend of $1 per share to to stockholders on April 15th, representing a 122% increase over our first quarter 2019 dividend, driven by the property portfolio's operating performance and continued execution on our pipeline of acquisitions. This dividend was also supported by our tremendous 200% plus growth year over year in rental revenue, net income, and AFFO, which to note, does not take into account at all the two acquisitions we completed after quarter end, constituting $65 million of additional investments. Catherine will also provide more detail regarding our financial results. The medical use cannabis industry continues to experience tremendous growth and change, and Paul will provide some detail on industry and regulatory trends in our call today. focusing on the impact of this current pandemic and how authorities and operators are adapting. We are resolutely focused on continuing to be long-term stewards of your investment in our company and navigating through the immense challenges posed by this health crisis and economic disruption. Despite these challenges, we have continued to be strong believers in the resilience and potential of this emerging industry. and a key real estate capital provider to enable its continued strong growth for many years to come. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Paul.