Independence Realty Trust, Inc.

Hello everyone and a warm welcome to the Independence Realty Trust's first quarter 2022 earnings release. My name is Emily and I'll be coordinating your call today. At the end of today's presentation, you will have the opportunity to ask a question by pressing star and then one on your telephone keypads when prompted. I now have the pleasure of turning the call over to our host, Lauren Torres. Please go ahead.

Thank you and good morning everyone. Thank you for joining us to review Independence Realty Trust first quarter 2022 financial results. On the call today are Scott Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer, Ellen Nalen, Chief Operating Officer, Farrell Ender, President of IRT, and Jim Sebra, Chief Financial Officer. Today's call is being webcast on our website at www.irtliving.com. There will be a replay of the call available via webcast on our investor relations website and telephonically beginning at approximately 12 p.m. Eastern time today. Before I turn the call over to Scott, I'd like to remind everyone that there may be forward-looking statements made on this call. These forward-looking statements reflect IRT's current views with respect to future events, financial performance, and the merger with Steadfast Apartment REIT which will be referenced herein as star. Actual results could differ substantially and materially from what IRT has projected. Such statements are made in good faith pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please refer to IRT's press release, supplemental information, and filings with the SEC for factors that could affect the accuracy of our expectations or cause our future results to differ materially from those expectations. Participants may discuss non-GAAP financial measures during this call. A copy of IRT's earnings press release and supplemental information containing financial information, other statistical information, and a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most direct comparable GAAP financial measure is attached to IRT's current report on Form 8-K available at IRT's website under Investor Relations. IRT's other SEC filings are also available through this link. IRT does not undertake to update forward-looking statements in this call or with respect to matters described herein, except as may be required by law. With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Scott Schaefer.

Thank you, Lauren, and thank you all for joining us today. After an exceptional 2021, when we more than doubled the size of our portfolio and accelerated our deleveraging efforts, we are pleased to report that our momentum continues as we delivered 16.2% combined same-store NOI growth and almost 40% core FFO per share growth in the first quarter of 2022. Our December 2021 merger with Star resulted in the combination of two high-quality portfolios and non-gateway markets with outsized growth fundamentals. And now, more than two years since the onset of the pandemic, we continue to deliver strong results that reflect the resiliency of our markets and the success of our strategic initiatives. We have increased our exposure to non-gateway markets in the Sunbelt region, which currently represents approximately 71% of our NOI. Our markets continue to see high residential demand as population growth exceeds new supply. These trends are expected to continue with the Sunbelt area benefiting from outsized job creation and increasing wages as people seek a lower cost of living, better tax policy, and growing economic opportunity. We believe IRT has a long runway for growth, whether that be through investing in our existing communities or expanding our presence in current IRT markets. We have a sizable renovation pipeline and will continue to invest in our redevelopment efforts through our longstanding Value Add program. This program has historically generated unlevered ROI of approximately 20% and should provide over $800 million of incremental growth in shareholder value. In addition, we will explore new investment opportunities and look to advance our joint venture relationships. We have been exploring single-family home rental development opportunities and recently closed on a joint venture that acquired development in Huntsville, Alabama. This JV marks our entrance into the single-family home rental space and is of notable scale in a market we know well. This is a natural expansion of our strategy and will be focused on the same non-gateway markets in the Sunbelt region. Our joint venture already owns and operates 178 homes in a single community and is in the process of completing the second phase of the community with another 222 homes. In addition, we're excited to announce that in April we acquired the first multifamily property in Nashville that was completed through our joint venture development program. Farrell will go into greater detail on these transactions, but they are both exciting opportunities, which reflect the creative capital allocation that attracts cap rates and value creation at IRT in two markets that we have targeted for additional investment. Looking ahead, we are confident in our ability to implement our strategic initiatives, capture incremental growth, and strengthen our total company platform with increased economies of scale. This is reflected in our increased guidance for the full year 2022, as we are now targeting 12.5% combined same-store NOI growth and 25% core FFO per share growth, each at the midpoint of our guided ranges. While we continue to be mindful of economic headwinds, we have strong visibility on delivering these results as we head into peak leasing season. We will remain patient and disciplined in our efforts to create long-term value for our stakeholders. I'd like now to turn the call over to Ellen Allen for an operational update.