Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc.

Good day, and welcome to the Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing star, then zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touchdown clown. To withdraw yourself from the question queue, press star, then two. 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, Catherine 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 8-K, 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.

Thank you, Brian, and welcome everyone. Today, we look forward to providing you a recap on our business for 2021 and our views on the ever-changing landscape of this still very young industry. We have an ambitious agenda, but we'll, of course, save time at the end to answer your questions. As we all know, The end of 2020 and the start of 2021 witnessed a tremendous amount of optimism in the wake of the new election cycle and tremendous 50% plus growth in 2020, sustained by the regulated cannabis industry over what was a very challenged period for nearly every other industry. The capital markets optimism waned a bit as we moved further into 2021 as the prospect for near-term adjustments to the federal regulatory position on the industry dimmed. However, the industry continued to see strong growth throughout 2021, driven in part by the continued march of new states adopting and rolling out both medical use and adult use programs, including unprecedented legislative action with New York, Virginia, Connecticut, and New Mexico legislating for adult use programs and Alabama legislating for medical use. That momentum continues in 2022, with the latest southern state, Mississippi, legalizing cannabis for medical use earlier this month, becoming the 37th state to do so. 2021 also continued the trend of ever-increasing consolidation in the industry, with over 210 mergers and acquisition transactions totaling over $10 billion in value in the United States alone. We also witnessed consolidation within our tenant base during 2021 and into 2022, and Ben will provide more detail regarding those developments. Of course, with the growth of the industry and the rollout of new programs, demand for real estate capital continued to be robust throughout 2021. 2021 was the highest year of investment activity in our company's history, eclipsing over 700 million during the year. Ben will also provide an update on our acquisitions and investments in 2021 and near today. As of today, we own 105 properties in 19 states, totaling approximately 8 million square feet, which are leased on a long-term basis to high-quality, licensed cannabis operators with a weighted average lease term of over 16 years. We are by far the largest real estate company focused on the regulated cannabis industry. Reflecting the performance of our property portfolio and continued execution on our acquisition and investment pipeline, 2021 revenues grew 75% and adjusted funds from operations grew 78% from the prior year. With the financial performance as a background, we continue to grow our quarterly common stock dividend at a healthy clip. With our most recent Q4 dividend of $1.50 per share representing a 21 percent increase from the prior year's fourth quarter dividend. Please remember that our Board's policy of reviewing any dividend increases is on a biannual basis, with the next review coming shortly in the first quarter. Catherine will also provide more detail regarding our financial results and capital activity. Regarding federal regulatory developments, Paul will provide additional insight on the federal regulatory landscape and the cannabis market dynamics. Before I turn the call over to Paul, I want to again reiterate our entire team's appreciation for you, our long-term owners, for your support throughout these years of growth and transformation of IIP and the industry we serve. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Paul, who will provide additional detail on the recent legislative and market developments of the regulated cannabis industry. Paul?