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spk10: Hello, and welcome to the Kimco's third quarter 2021 earnings conference. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should 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. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note, today's event is being recorded. I now would like to turn the conference over to David Pujanicki, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy. Please go ahead, sir.
spk03: Good morning, and thank you for joining Kimco's third quarter earnings call. The Kimco management team participating on the call today include Connor Flynn, Kimco's CEO, Ross Cooper, President and Chief Investment Officer, Glenn Cohen, our CFO, David Jameson, Kimco's Chief Operating Officer, as well as other members of our executive team that are also available to answer questions during the call. As a reminder, statements made during the course of this call may be deemed forward-looking and it is important to note that the company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors. Please refer to the company's SEC filings that address such factors. During this presentation, Management may make reference to certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe help investors better understand Kimco's operating results. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures can be found in the investor relations area of our website. Also, in the event our call was to incur technical difficulties, we'll try to resolve as quickly as possible, and if the need arises, we'll post additional information to our IR website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Conor.
spk04: Good morning, and thanks for joining us. Today I will share the highlights of the quarter, provide a recap of our now closed strategic merger with Weingarten, and give an update on the strong leasing environment. Ross will give an update on the transaction market, and Glenn will cover our operating metrics in detail, discuss our improved balance sheet, Albertson's valuation, and the proactive use of our ATM, and how we can take advantage of opportunities in the market. He'll close with an updated outlook for the balance of the year. While we have only owned Weingarten for a partial quarter, our expanded portfolio of grocery-anchored and mixed-use properties is already validating our investment thesis. To date, we are exceeding our initial underwriting on all major metrics, including FFO, occupancy, spreads, and renewal rates. As for synergies, as outlined in our earnings release, we have achieved the upper end of both ranges and anticipate achieving the full benefit of synergies by the end of 2022. Our dedicated team has done a remarkable job closing on the merger ahead of schedule and implementing an integration plan that included onboarding and training over 100 new employees, significant systems integration, and property management, all while staying focused on executing our strategy. To all of my teammates, I just want to say thank you. On the operational front, leasing demand continues to be robust across the portfolio, with the bright spot being the rebound in demand for small shots. This was illustrated by the portfolio delivering another quarter of improved results, including a sequential increase in occupancy and positive leasing spreads. Our pro rata U.S. occupancy is up 20 basis points to 94.1%, while anchor occupancy remained flat at 96.9%. Small shop occupancy rose 180 basis points over prior quarter to 87.3%, an increase of 60 basis points year over year. New lease spreads were a positive 5%, with 141 new leases signed, totaling 605,000 square feet. Spreads for renewals and options finished at positive 4.9%. We closed the quarter with 270 renewals and options, totaling 1.4 million square feet, exceeding the five-year average number of renewals and options reported during the third quarter by 40%, and exceeded average GLA renewed by 38%. Combined spreads for third quarter 2021 were positive 4.9%. with total 3Q21 deal volume reaching 411 deals, totaling 2,050,321 square feet. 411 leases executed represents the most transactions reported during a quarter since the first quarter of 2018. Our same site NOI growth was positive 12.1%, including a 30 basis point contribution from redevelopments. The same site population does not include the Weingarten sites since we only had them for a partial quarter. With the continued strength in leasing, we have maintained our 300 basis point spread of leased versus economic occupancy, similar to last quarter. As of September 30th, 2021, we had over 400 signed leases representing $44.8 million of pro rata annualized base rents awaiting rent commencement. While the operating environment remains favorable, we cannot let down our guard. Inflation, supply chain issues, and the labor market together or alone can impact our business. And that is why we continue to look for the most resilient assets, improve operational efficiencies, and seek out ways to help our tenants succeed. We continue to grow our portfolio in the high growth Sunbelt markets and are committed to being the last mile solution for tenants. There is no question that our mission critical last mile brick and mortar locations are proving to be durable solutions for consumers, retailers, and many other businesses that want scale and reach to serve the end customer. In closing, we are pleased with the progress we have made and believe that we have positioned Kimco for sustainable growth over the long term with a combination of internal and external growth levers. Our talented and deep team is focused on execution as we're in a unique position to take advantage of a wide range of opportunities. We continue to believe we're building something special and the best is yet to come. Ross?
spk02: Thanks, Connor, and good morning. It's been quite an exciting quarter at Kimco and the excitement has continued into the fourth quarter, as I will discuss shortly. There is no question that open-air shopping centers provide one of the best risk-adjusted returns of all asset classes. We continue to see additional capital sources, new and old, gaining conviction in quality open-air retail, leading to the compression of cap rates. We are fortunate to be in a position with multiple investment strategies that enable us to be active when opportunities arise, but also patient when things become too frothy. With the finalization of the Weingarten merger, we've been able to execute on several accretive investments and new initiatives, and with the addition of new joint venture partners inherited through Weingarten, we are excited about potential growth opportunities. Subsequent to quarter end, we acquired the remaining 70% interest in a portfolio of six publics anchored Sunbelt Region Shopping Centers from our existing joint venture partner, Jamestown, for a gross purchase price of $425.8 million. The public's anchored assets represent over 1.2 million square feet of gross leaseable area in infill markets throughout the Southeast, with five located in the top-performing South Florida market and one in the high-growth Atlanta market. Subsequently, Kimco entered into a joint venture partnership with Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, under which we will both own 50% and Kimco will continue to manage the portfolio. It is rare to have the ability to buy a portfolio like this with short-term mark-to-market opportunities and exceptional tenant sales. We are thrilled to be partnering with Blackstone again on our new strategic venture. Also post-quarter end and in line with our value creation strategy, we were successful in buying out our partner's 85% interest in two grocery anchored centers in California. Anaheim Plaza is one of the jewels of our Southern California portfolio with extraordinary highway visibility and frontage and two grocery anchors at the same property, both performing exceptionally well. The second asset is Brookvale Shopping Center, located in Fremont, California, anchored by a Lucky's supermarket and CVS. The gross purchase price of the two assets was $134 million. Turning to our redevelopment program, it continues to move ahead, beginning with property-level entitlements and then selectively and creatively activating a few at a time. While the structure and exit strategy are determined on a case-by-case basis, we see the upside knowing these infill locations are being built at a significant relative spread to the stabilized cap rates. Comps and multifamily, industrial, and other asset classes are regularly transacting with cap rates starting in the twos and threes. Additionally, we're continuing our structured investment program with a disciplined approach and an emphasis placed on location, demographics, quality of tenancy, and operational strength of the sponsors. We view the base case of these investments as a true win-win. either generating an attractive return with a repayment down the road or exercising a right of first refusal and owning the properties outright. On that front, we completed a $21.5 million mezzanine financing on a strong performing center in San Antonio called Alamo Ranch. In just a few short months, San Antonio has gone from a market that was on our target list at Kimco to a major contributor in our portfolio with the Weingarten merger and now our second structured investment there. We continue to pursue additional opportunities in San Antonio, one of the fastest growing MSAs in the country. We also sold three small low growth assets this quarter. Two single tenant boxes and an undeveloped parcel for a total of 23.5 million at a flat 5% cap. While dispositions will remain a relatively small component of our investment strategy, we will be prudent in disposing of low-growth assets and undeveloped parcels from which we can redeploy the capital. To repeat Conor's statement, we are confident that the best is yet to come. Off to Glenn for the financials.
spk18: Thanks, Ross, and good morning. We are pleased to report very strong third quarter results. Overall, the portfolio continues to produce improving results, including record quarterly revenue, increased occupancy, positive leasing spreads, strong same-site NOI growth, increased collections and lower credit loss. Our balance sheet metrics are also at the strongest levels ever. As you might expect, the completion of the $5.9 billion Weingarten merger, which closed in early August, was a key contributor. While we did not have a full quarter of contribution from the addition of the Weingarten portfolio, the benefits are clearly apparent. Our team has put in enormous effort to accomplish the successful integration of Weingarten in a very short period of time. Many thanks to our highly motivated and skilled team. We couldn't be prouder. Now for some details on our third quarter results. Nareed FFO was $173.7 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, and includes $47 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, of merger-related expenses. This compares to the third quarter 2020 NAREID FFO of $106.7 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, which includes aggregate charges of $16.1 million, or $0.04 per diluted share related to severance for a voluntary early retirement program and early redemption of $485 million of unsecured bonds. The increase in FFO was primarily driven by higher NOI of 98.7 million, of which the Weingarten merger contributed 62.6 million. In addition, NOI benefited from lower credit loss of 30.7 million and higher straight line rent of 14.5 million, including 2 million from the Weingarten portfolio. Improvements in collections and new leases commencing during the quarter were the major contributors. Specifically, during the third quarter, we collected approximately 98% of base rents. We also collected 80% of rents due from cash basis tenants, up from 77% last quarter. Furthermore, collections of prior period amounts from cash basis tenants totaled $8 million during the third quarter of 2021. Our cash basis tenants comprise 9.1% of pro rata annualized base rents. If we excluded the addition of the Weingarten cash basis tenants, this amount would have been 7.3%, which compares favorably to the 8.8% level reported last quarter. In connection with the preliminary purchase price allocation for the Weingarten transaction, the debt we assumed was recorded at a fair value, which was 107 million higher than the face amount. This resulted in 6.2 million, of fair market value amortization for the third quarter, which reduces interest expense and is also part of the FFO improvement. We expect to finalize our purchase price allocation by year end. During the third quarter, FFO also included approximately $6 million or one cent for diluted share related to one-time contributions from several joint ventures and higher lease termination fees. Turning to the balance sheet, We had an active quarter in the capital markets. We issued a new $500 million unsecured bond at a coupon of 2.25%, the lowest coupon for 10-year unsecured financing in the company's history. Proceeds from this issuance were primarily used to fund the cash component of the merger consideration and the merger cost. We also opportunistically used our ATM equity program to issue 3.5 million shares of common stock, raising almost 77 million in net proceeds to fund some of the investment activity Ross just mentioned. This is in addition to the 179.9 million shares of common stock issued in connection with the Weingarten merger, valued at 3.7 billion. We also assume 1.8 billion of debt, including the fair value adjustment, as part of the Weingarten merger. Total common shares outstanding at quarter end was $616.4 million, and we expect this should be a good guide for the fourth quarter. As anticipated, the Weingarten merger was a deleveraging event. As of September 30th, net debt to EBITDA on a look-through basis, including pro rata share of joint venture debt and preferred stock outstanding, was seven times. This metric only includes two months of EBITDA from the Weingarten merger, but all of the debt assumed. On a pro forma basis, including a full quarter of EBITDA from Weingarten, look through net debt to EBITDA would be 6.3 times, representing the lowest level since we began tracking this metric. Our liquidity position also remains very strong. We ended the third quarter with over 450 million of cash and full availability on our $2 billion revolving credit facility. In addition, during the third quarter, The value of our Albertsons marketable security investment climbed to more than 1.2 billion after increasing by 457 million, which is included in net income, but not FFO for the quarter. We continue to evaluate our opportunities to begin the Albertsons monetization process. As we look ahead during 2022, we will have a variety of potential uses for the capital from the redemption of our preferred stock issuances that become callable Bonds that mature in October and November of 2022, and accretive investment opportunities. As our overall business continues to recover from the effects of the pandemic, and as we begin to benefit from the successful merger and integration of the Weingarten portfolio, we are raising our full-year 2021 Mayreit FFO per share guidance range to $1.36 to $1.37, which includes $0.10 per diluted share of merger-related costs and the inclusion of the Weingarten portfolio for five months. This compares to previous NERIT FFO per share guidance of $1.29 to $1.33, which did not include any impact from the Weingarten merger except one cent related to merger costs. As I touched upon, our third quarter FFO includes a total of three cents per share related to items that were more one-time in nature and which were not budgeted for as recurring items. This includes two cents per diluted share from improvements in credit loss and another penny from contributions from joint ventures and lease termination fees. We will provide initial 2022 guidance on our next earnings call. And with that, we're happy to now take your questions.
spk03: In terms of the Q&A, we want to make this an efficient process. So you may ask one question with an additional follow-up. If you have additional questions, you're more than welcome to rejoin the queue. You may take the first caller.
spk10: Yes, thank you. As mentioned, we will begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then 1 on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To try your question, please press star then 2. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble the roster. And the first question comes from Rich Hill with Morgan Stanley.
spk16: Hey, good morning, guys. First of all, congrats on a nice quarter. I want to start off with leasing spreads. Maybe I get some insights from you guys if this is what a normalized market feels like. I typically look at leasing spreads as a leading indicator for same-store revenue and same-store NOI. So I'm curious, does this feel like a normal environment to you post-COVID?
spk20: Yeah, thanks, Rich. Good question. Leasing spreads, I mentioned each quarter, it's really dependent on the population that is rolling and gets executed quarter over quarter. So you do see volatility in that number. Some quarters you could have significantly below market leases that roll and you execute, and obviously you'll get a real net benefit out of that. This quarter we had an outsized amount of small shop volume that came through, which is typically closer to market. So that's where you see that sub-five range for this quarter, but it's not indicative necessarily what could happen next quarter if you have some outsized anchor activity that has a significant below market value that you then can recapture. So when you look at what we've been doing, you know, over the last, you know, trailing say eight quarters and maintaining that positive spread, there is some volatility in that number and it's really just indicative of what's rolling.
spk04: We are seeing some pretty significant pricing power on escalating rents in the Sunbelt. I think that's where you're going to see, you know, the spreads continue to be quite strong as we're seeing really the market rent growth there outpaced the rest of the country.
spk16: Yeah, that's helpful. And the reason I'm just focusing on it is I go back to your 2025 guide and, you know, if you can put up these leasing spreads, that might mean that's a conservative guide, but well taken. Connor, maybe this is for you. I noted that Albertsons is worth $1.2 billion at the end of the quarter. Have you given any thought to monetization, how you would use that in capital allocations? Any thoughts there?
spk04: Yeah, as we noted in the remarks, we have a lot of optionality. I think that's the beauty of where we sit today. Rich, if you look at the business and where we sit, we've got obviously a lot of leasing momentum. clearly we're going to allocate a lot of capital to that. That's our first priority is that really fuels the earnings growth. Then we have redevelopment opportunity as well. You've seen the entitlement work we've done throughout the portfolio. And the nice part is we're seeing a lot of external growth opportunities as well as Ross outlined. We do have some debt reduction opportunities as Glenn outlined in his script. you know, we're going to look at the menu and see what's really the most accretive towards our FFO growth, because that's really where we're focused, and we have a lot of different levers to pull. So it's a nice, obviously, bucket of capital to redeploy. It's not earning a tremendous amount right now, so we're going to be prudent with it and recognize that we have a great menu to select from.
spk16: Great. Thanks, guys. Congrats on a good quarter again. I'll jump back in the queue.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Alexander Goldfarb with Piper Sandler.
spk05: Hey, good morning out there. So two questions. First, just going to the, I don't know if you guys are going to return to the Kimstone name, but the sub five cap rate that you guys bought at, one, just a little bit more beyond what is underlying that sub five, and then two, just bigger picture, not surprised to see cap rates compressing, but how do you guys, you know, how is your underwriting of acquisitions whether portfolio or individual assets changed. Because obviously the price that you paid for Wine Garden can't be replicated today. So just sort of curious how you're underwriting deals today, given where pricing is going.
spk02: Yeah, sure. Happy to address that, Alex. So as it relates to the venture with Blackstone, I mean, these are clearly six assets that we felt very strongly about, between the location, Publix being one of the best grocery anchors that you could possibly have, with exceptional sales. As I mentioned in the script, having near-term mark-to-market opportunities in Publix anchored centers is somewhat rare. So when you look at the vintage of those assets, it gives us an opportunity to create some additional growth, probably sooner than some other opportunities that we have in the portfolio with Publix. So we're really excited about that. We're really excited about re-engaging our venture with Blackstone after a very successful one several years ago. You know, underwriting is still a very specific exercise. We look at every single asset, every single space, taking into consideration the growth in the market, the demographics, you know, where the population growth is coming from, and just making sure that we have very strong conviction in our ability to push rents. You know, we're not looking to invest in assets that don't have outsized growth. So the ones that you do see us pulling the trigger on, you can, you know, rest assured that we believe very strongly that we're going to be able to push that outside growth beyond the average of our portfolio. So I don't think that there's anything specifically changing in terms of our underwriting strategy, whether it's a single asset or a portfolio. It's really just making sure that we look at every single asset, every single space, and feel pretty good that there's below-market leases that we can push over time.
spk05: So as far as the Blackstone, the subplot, what would you say that that cap rate will get to in a few years out when you have an ability to roll rents?
spk02: Yeah, I mean, it's hard to predict. You know, we have opportunities to discuss things, you know, sooner than later, hopefully, with the grocery anchor. So, you know, the timing is going to depend on where those negotiations go. But like I said, we're very confident that the growth there is going to outpace the average of our portfolio, hopefully by a wide margin.
spk05: Okay. And then the second is, as far as retailer demand for space, are you sensing not that retailers ever want to pay more in rent? But are you sensing that that rent conversation is easier today? So when you're saying, hey, look, we have multiple tenants for a certain space, you guys have to pay more. Now the tenants are more willing to engage in those conversations, whereas maybe a few years ago, they were more willing to push back. Do you sense a change there in the leasing dynamic and the rent discussion?
spk20: Yeah, great question. The dynamic is always evolving. And I think where we are today is there's so much pent-up demand on the open-to-buy side for retailers. So you have some retailers that have really expanded the breadth of their offering. They have multiple brands that they're looking to expand, TJX being a great example. And they actually increased their open-to-buy target. So that just makes them more competitive for space. They want space. They need to grow. I think COVID... The silver lining through COVID is that brick and mortar is essential for any omni-channel strategy. Retailers have really come to appreciate that. Customers have appreciated that. It's a great form of distribution. The margins are better there. And then thirdly, obviously, there's no new development supply coming online. It's really COVID inventory that's getting absorbed. So to that third point, I think generally speaking, as more of that gets absorbed, you're able to push rents further north. That said, to Connor's point earlier, we are seeing rent progressions in the Sunbelt and coastal markets. Southern California, for example, is becoming extremely competitive where we are seeing some nice traction pushing that rent forward even beyond where we were pre-pandemic levels. But I'd say generally speaking, you're in a very healthy environment from a landlord perspective. as a result of all those variables.
spk05: Thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Greg McGinnis with Scotiabank.
spk09: Hey, good morning. So thinking about the synergies, which I guess I was pleasantly surprised to see you guys' expectation of the top end of those synergies. But given the fairly quick achievement of those goals, is there any potential for additional cost savings through 2022, perhaps?
spk20: There are, yeah. So we're really proud of the team and how we were able to integrate both companies so quickly. The majority of those initial synergies were really related to staffing and G&A, which is something that you could anticipate and plan for pre-merger. What we're really seeing now is an opportunity, once we've merged these companies and really looked at professional services, information technology and the longer-term contracts that Weingarten had had where we can now merge them and or dissolve them in time will create some additional synergies that will help us push that number further northward. So, you know, from the outset, we felt very good. We invested a tremendous amount of time up front with the integration management office, you know, kicking off 60 days prior to the merger. We really did a deep dive on how the combined company will look and operate
spk04: um which enabled us obviously to achieve the numbers we did today and feel very good about what's going to happen in 22. yeah the only thing i would add is chemco is laser focused on efficiency we always have been built in as has ingrained that in our dna so yes we're we're happy with the integration and where it is today but we're a combined entity going forward and so we'll make sure that same focus continues going forward okay thanks and going back to the shop uh
spk09: leasing real quick. Is there anything you can tell us in terms of the trends you're seeing in that space? How much of that demand may have been pent-up demand? Which tenant categories are generating kind of the most inquiries and demand for space? Any color there would be appreciated. Sure.
spk20: Yeah, I mean, there's demand across Almost all categories right now. Grocery is the obvious one. They're the clear beneficiary of the pandemic. They now have the surplus of cash that they're looking to reinvest in their four walls, expand their open to buy, grab market share, and really invest towards the future. So how do they create better connectivity with the customer? So that's going to be really important for them as well as all sectors. Off-price, as I mentioned earlier with TJ, but Ross, Burlington, and others, Old Navy, they're all actively expanding their footprint Again, they see, I think, all retailers see this opportunity where it's a short window to upgrade the quality of their portfolio, maybe penetrate a market or expand their market share in certain areas that, you know, pre-pandemic, there was no inventory available. And so you do have this COVID inventory that's creating this unique opportunity for them. But what I found was actually interesting, this last quarter, when we go back to our small shop activity, is that 35% of our New Deal activity was related to restaurants and the fast casual side on the small shop side. So it's nice to see that the fast casual, the QSRs are coming back, the crumble cookies of the world, et cetera. So you're starting to see that expand out. And I think as COVID anxiety starts to subside, people want to go back and re-engage. They want to socialize for social creatures. That's creating that opportunity on the food service side. fitness, the value-oriented fitness, Planet Fitness. I mentioned early on, several quarters ago, that Planet and Crunch have been very proactive in wanting to expand their footprint and recapture. You're also seeing that now extend out into boutique fitness categories. So that's, again, attracting the small shops. So you're really seeing it from a variety of areas. And then people are playing with formats. We have Bob's Discount, who's experimenting with the with a smaller format right now so it's giving them optionality appreciating that you know they may be able to provide different service offerings to to different customers in different areas and so it's important that they have a college to play from thanks and this this all seems like sustainable demand in your view like if you look at the forward pipeline still just as strong as it has been i do i mean i think it goes back to the validation of open air in the validation that brick and mortar is an essential part of any retailer's strategy. And we've obviously gone through a very volatile evolution over the last six years about people's views and opinions and how the markets responded to different ideas related to e-commerce and whether or not what's essential. But let's go all the way back to the core basics. People like to engage. They like to touch and feel product. Retailers need to multiple forms of distribution to reach that customer. And so brick and mortar, we see very much as being essential to that.
spk04: Yeah, we're more convinced than ever that last mile retail is where we want to be and where we want to continue to focus the strategy. If you look back five years ago, that's exactly where we were focused. And so we feel like we're in a really good spot to benefit from that increased demand.
spk09: Great. Thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Michael Woodsmith with UBS.
spk11: Good morning. Thanks a lot for taking my question. My question is on the lease occupancy to economic occupancy spread. Given that there is a myriad of supply chain and labor issues and maybe a slowdown from lease signing to rent commencement, how should this metric progress from here? Given that the time to go from lease signing to rent commencement is expanding, and at the same time, leasing has been so strong. How did those dynamics impact the progression from here?
spk20: Sure. Yeah. In short, the question is whether or not lease economic will expand or contract as we look out into the future. And I think what we could see is 300 basis points is more or less at our high watermark, you know, on a historic basis. And, you know, you could see some additional expansion as we approach, you know, the first part of 22. But as these tenants start to come online and open, you are going to start to see that compression, you know, set in through the back half of 22 and into 23. And then I believe our normalizers are at 170 basis points on spread. I don't think you see that for a period of time, but You are right to your points about supply and opening to something that we watch very, very closely. We work hand-in-hand with our tenants. We have a very substantial tenant coordination program, which really is designed to shepherd tenants through the permitting and build-out process, those that don't have the resources available to them to address all of these issues that are coming out to the market. So that's been really helpful. In addition to that, we're trying to get well ahead on pre-ordering of supplies and materials when we can, when it makes sense. We all live through the backlog. It doesn't matter who you are and no one's immune to it. So we're just eyes wide open about that process and we'll manage it as best we can and apply the resources that we need to do to get it done.
spk04: Yeah, I would just add that the one big benefit that Kimco has is our scale and our efficiencies of scale. So we're not buying small amounts of HVAC units or roofing materials or anything that's needed for a fit-out for a specific tenant. We usually buy in bulk and we usually get premier pricing as well as relationship pricing. So we feel like we have the ability to, as Dave mentioned, to utilize our network and to utilize our efficiencies as best we can to try and mitigate supply chain issues.
spk11: And scale is a good segue to my next question. Now that you've had wine garden tucked into the business for about three months. How has your scale changed your conversations with national tenants? Is there a willingness to partner and these tenants to kind of go further with you because of your scale and you're able to offer more opportunities for leasing than maybe smaller landlords? I'm trying to understand the revenue synergy. I'm trying to understand if there are revenue synergies associated with the transaction. Thanks.
spk20: Sure. Well, on the retailer side, prior to the transaction, we were typically the largest landlord for a lot of these retail partners. So that's just compounded as a result of the merger. that conversation obviously always has its benefits, right? It can pull both ways, you know, dependent on what's being discussed. But in general, it does afford us the opportunity to be out in front of those retail partners. They have a very aggressive open to buy strategy. We now have over 560 sites that we can show them to help accommodate and fill that void. So obviously, if you can do that at scale, that's a good thing for both parties, but also helps us progress to the conversation beyond that retailers are trying to figure out and innovate and change to become and stay more relevant to the customer. We want to work with them to be part of that solution and understand from a landlord perspective, what do we need to do? So it creates a very, very constructive dialogue to help drive, you know, our business forward. And to your point, you know, revenue and top line growth.
spk11: Thank you very much.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Handel Sanjus with Mizuho.
spk19: Hey, good morning. Morning. The recent JV, the transaction with Blackstone, I found very interesting, a case study of capitalizing on the market moving cap rates. And then you bought the two JV assets out in California, further kind of spotlighting the embedded acquisition opportunity. So I guess my question is, what's your interest level in pursuing further deals like this? And can you discuss the funding sources that would involve Albertson stock at all? Thanks.
spk02: Sure, I'm happy to address that. So for us, I mean, we really view it as a significant level of optionality. And we've said, even as we've been sort of skinning down our joint venture exposure over the last seven or eight years, on the Kimco side, we've had three very strong long-term partners that we continue to do business with and and as we've said from the start that we like having the ability to potentially grow opportunistically if there is a reason to bring in a new partner like we felt here on this particular transaction but for those um that are potentially looking for a monetization event we are willing and able to be able to have that discussion with them hopefully in a negotiated basis if not you know having that right of first refusal to be ready to take advantage of that if the partner is looking to exit. So one of the nice benefits that we see in the Weingarten merger is after getting down to really just three major partners on the Kimco side, there are now about 14 new joint venture partners from that transaction, some of which are looking to do long-term business with Kimco, and we welcome that. Others that are potentially looking to take some chips off the table or monetize their retail investments, and we're also prepared to have those discussions as well. And we are having those conversations as we speak. So for us, given all the levers that we have, Connor mentioned and Glenn both mentioned in their prepared remarks, between the significant amount of cash availability on our credit facility, ultimately Albertson's monetization opportunity, we'll just be very prudent and selective with where we want to utilize that capital, but having a lot of different ways to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.
spk19: Great, appreciate the thoughts. One follow-up on the signed but not leased ABR, I think you mentioned $44.8 million. How much of that should we expect to hit in 2022? Thanks.
spk20: Right now we're tracking around $25 to about $30 million potentially that could flow in 2022, and that would be obviously backloaded.
spk19: That in the remainder in 2023? Yeah. Got it.
spk20: Thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Craig Schmidt with Bank of America.
spk17: Great. Thank you. I guess I just, I want to talk bigger about the current operating environment, which seems to have, you know, real strength from the consumer and then just the aggressive leasing from retailers. You know, this looks like an environment that's much better than 2019 when you go back to look at people's earnings results. So, you know, beyond, you know, revenge spending and then retailers looking to take advantage of opportunities. What's beneath this impressive growth that's happening in the operating environment?
spk20: Yeah, I think, again, it's on the retailer demand. It's a lot of the points that I mentioned earlier, Craig, but it's appreciating that, you know, the value of brick and mortar is real, you know, Operators see it in their margins. Consumers see the convenience and the efficiencies, the last mile distribution. It goes into this very complex network of how to distribute goods from the retailer to the customer. And so I think COVID, the irony of COVID, it sort of validated that open air was really essential. It's closest to the customer. I think you also now have this hybrid work environment. We don't really know what that will look like long term, but I think the one thing that's clear is it's going to be a little bit different for everyone. And as a result of that, you are having people that are staying more in that first-ring suburban market that are maybe starting to appreciate the value proposition there too, which also then creates that opportunity to engage in open air out in the first ring suburbs where the majority of all of our portfolio resides. So we're seeing that benefit as well. And that could probably carry longer term into the market. So I think you're just starting to see all these pieces that were in flux and in development over multiple years sort of come to a head and now creating this environment that we're in today. So going forward, I think you continue to see you know, the open to buys be aggressive as we start to absorb that COVID inventory. And then, you know, from there, I think the consumer is in a very strong position right now to take advantage of that.
spk17: Great. Thanks. And then just on your net debt to EBITDA, I guess it's at seven or pro forma six, three. Glenn, what's your long-term target for net debt to EBITDA?
spk18: Yeah, again, we want to try and keep it in that six to six and a half times range on a total look through basis. So we're on a pro forma basis. We're right in that sweet spot right now. And again, we continue to focus on just bringing leverage down over time. I think as you continue to see EBITDA grow, again, we're being very cautious about how much debt comes on. We've been doing a lot to reduce debt levels, absolute debt levels over time. Again, So the Weingarten merger added $1.8 billion in total, $1.7 billion on face value, $1.8 billion with the fair market value adjustment. But again, on an absolute basis, you'll continue to see us reduce debt. And we continue to try and reduce as much secure debt as we can as well. So we did assume about $300 million of mortgages. But over time, we'll just continue to pay those off with unsecured debt or cash flows from the company.
spk17: Thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Katie McConnell with Citi.
spk12: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. So now that you have another quarter of leasing underway, can you update us on your expectations for a March market upside within the near-term expirations within your portfolio, especially on the anchor side? and now what you're expecting from upcoming line garden leases?
spk20: Yeah, sure, Katie. We're in the process of going through our 22 budgets now. So when you look at our 22 rollover schedule for anchors, it is below market. It's below our average anchor base rents as well. So we do see nice market-to-market opportunities as we either start to renew those leases, of which we're well underway there, and or sign new leases. So we do see a net benefit as we go into 22, but we're in the process of finalizing our budgets right now, and we'll have better perspective in the next call.
spk12: Okay, thanks. And then on the retailer side, how do you expect these supply chain disruptions and labor shortages to play out for your tenants around the holidays this year? And are you concerned about any potential rent collection fallout or impact to new leasing momentum?
spk20: on the rent collection side we don't have a material concern there i think on the supply chain every retailer has tried to address it you know differently um some have been actively and aggressively focused on and trying to figure out ways and alternatives to redirect their supply chain you know through the course of this entire year appreciating that this may be an issue um some have brought inventory levels um up in uh back or on on to uh onto the mainland so they're in preparation for the holiday season But it's clear that there are pressures there. I'd suggest we all buy early. We don't want to disappoint any of our loved ones during the holiday season. And what that means too, that means as a result that retailers can probably have fewer promotions. So there's a smaller promotional window which helps drive top line revenues, which is a net benefit to them. So it's a really interesting dynamic that's all playing out. On the labor shortage side, obviously, there are a number of job openings now. It's a very robust job market. The job report is just, I think, 500 people. Yeah. I mean, so that's very encouraging. But, yeah, there's clearly a need for more workers at the retailers and at the restaurants. And I think that will continue to play out through the first part of 2022.
spk04: Katie, the only thing I would add is our traffic levels are at 105% of 2019 levels. And we see that, you know, in this environment where there is supply chain disruption, we're watching closely as what we think may occur is people will probably buy at the store more often than buying something online and potentially having to wait where it might not arrive in time. So that's a dynamic we're watching closely that we think might play out.
spk12: Thanks for the comment.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Caitlin Burrows with Goldman Sachs.
spk15: Hi. Good morning, everyone. Given that you issued $77 million of equity in the quarter and your share price is now above the highs of 2019, can you just go through the thinking on issuing equity in the quarter and going forward, and does it suggest you could equity fund the acquisitions going forward?
spk18: I'm sure. You know, again, we issued some, we used the ATM a little bit during the quarter. Again, it was really to match up against some of the investment opportunities that we had. And again, just a continued focus on a balance of our capital structure to further improve our leverage metrics. So we, you know, we are always looking at our cost of capital and we're looking at the opportunities that we have ahead of us. So it was just a modest supplement of equity during the quarter period. to match up really some very good creative investments that we have.
spk04: We're in a very fortunate position to have a number of different pools of capital sources. So we're trying to make sure that we look at everything and, again, our cost of capital and use it effectively to continue to grow in an accretive manner.
spk18: Yeah, I mean, we are, as I mentioned, we ended the quarter with over, we have about $480 million on the balance sheet. We had some, obviously, activity that Ross mentioned subsequent to quarter end. So we're still sitting with, you know, $330 million of cash, no real near-term debt maturities, and full access to our revolver. In addition, you know, we have the Albertsons investment. So we're in very, very strong liquidity positions to deal with things that are upcoming.
spk15: Okay, great. That's all for me. Thanks.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Kevin Kim with Truist.
spk07: Thanks. Good morning. Can you hear me? Yep. So just going back to the demand question, obviously things are great. I'm just curious about where you're seeing the hottest pockets of demand and conversely, you know, where it's a little bit weaker. And I know you mentioned Sunbelt versus not, but maybe you can go a little bit deeper. Does it matter like what type of center, power center or grocery anchored? Is it just you know, location demographic space where you're seeing more customers or more population growth. I'm just trying to understand just a little more granularity on where the demand is. I don't mean today. I mean, over the next couple of years.
spk20: Yeah, I mean, I think the next couple of years could be somewhat reflective of today as well. So just thinking of geographic first, because you mentioned that the Sunbelt, out of the 141 leases that we signed this quarter, over 52% came from Sunbelt markets. And then within that, the substantial majority were actually coastal Sunbelt. So I think you will continue to see that trend progress over the next couple of years. That is where population growth is continuing to rise greater than the rest of the country. Second to that, though, on the coastal market, for that remaining, say, 48% of least assigned, it was heavily weighted towards the coastal market. So I think you still don't see that high demand there. So between that, the coastal and Sunbelt, that's where we have seen the majority of activity. Beyond that, too, like Southern California, as I mentioned earlier, is extremely aggressive, You know, it's a very, very tight market to penetrate. So this COVID inventory created opportunities, multiple demand factors have helped push rents further north. In the northeast, it's typically been a fairly mature portfolio, usually having, you know, higher occupancy levels. And so it's just there are natural constraints there to actually add any new supply as well. And people wanting to penetrate Long Island, for example, I think will continue to be difficult. So when there's that opportunity, you do see multiple bidders at the table wanting to enter the market. And then, you know, so I think that's what you continue to see play out over the next couple years.
spk07: And thinking about the Weingarten portfolio, how has that performed relative to your own portfolio? And I guess looking forward, How much more creative can Weingarten's contribution be to the overall enterprise?
spk20: Yeah, so when we actually closed, when we first went under contract on the transaction, their occupancy levels were less than ours. But by the time we actually closed, it was very, very close to where we were. So we're getting that net benefit now, those signed leases that have yet to flow. And so we always had the original thesis that it was a very complementary portfolio, the additive in nature. I think when you look at the small shop gains that we had of 180 basis points, 120 of which came from the Weingarten portfolio, 60 of which came from Kimco gains, which was one of our high watermarks as well, quarter over quarter. So you're seeing a real benefit there from Weingarten. And then obviously combined as the entity, we're both growing together now.
spk04: Yeah, the other part of it is the three mixed use projects that they have. They're now, you know, the concessions are rolling off. So the mark to market on those renewals is pretty strong on those three projects. And then when we look at the future entitlement opportunities within that portfolio, it gets us really excited because that's obviously where we've been focusing a lot of our time and effort for future value creation. And we feel like there's going to be some incremental opportunities embedded throughout their portfolio, specifically Miami, Houston, and Silicon Valley that we're digging our teeth into right now. Okay, thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Wes Galladay with Baird.
spk08: Hey, good morning, everyone. I guess when looking at the balance sheet, it looks like you're in a good spot right now, especially with the Albertsons look through. So I'm just wondering why you elected to do a joint venture on the Jamestown portfolio when there's so much upside in the assets.
spk02: Yeah, I mean, it's a good question. We thought long and hard about the best approach here. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Blackstone. We've continued conversations with them since the success of our early venture. And ultimately, we felt that it was a perfect opportunity for us to re-engage the venture that we had with them. We think that there could be some future opportunities here, and this could be the beginning. There's no guarantees one way or the other. But we thought this was a great jumping point, given all the activity that we have in the market, all the things that we see, to engage that venture and see where it takes us. So that's really what the conversation was, and we're excited about it.
spk08: Got it. And then when we look at Albertsons, how should we think about the monetization of that asset, maybe on, I guess, a max dollar per year, if you wanted to maximize your retained cash flow and not pay out special dividends?
spk18: Yeah, that's a great question. I think there's a few components that we have to look at when it comes to Albertsons because of the significant increase in its value. Keep in mind, our basis is incredibly low, right? Our basis today is still a little over 100 million. So the real governing factor for us is REIT compliance. So if you think about the REIT rules, 75% of your gross revenues have to come from real estate-related companies. items so that leaves about you know you have five percent bad income bucket and then you have the other 20 that could be interest in dividends and capital gains so the governor is going to be how much our gross revenues are and our gross revenues today on a look forward basis with the merger somewhere around 1.8 billion so you know monetization wise about somewhere around 350 to 400 million a year of gain is what we could absorb today. The larger the gross revenue number is, the more we can do. But I would say today that we're looking at somewhere around 400 million on an annual basis is what we can do.
spk08: Got it. Thanks for the time.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Tammy Feek with Wells Fargo Securities.
spk13: Thank you. Just maybe, Ross, thinking about, you said earlier, I guess, that you would think about selling some assets going forward. But given your strong capital position, I guess I'm wondering what we can expect in terms of that sales activity in 2022. And if that will be driven by geography or will it be more one-off based upon asset growth profile?
spk02: Yeah, I think we believe that our dispositions program will continue to be just a pruning program. of select assets for a variety of reasons. I did mention how there are several joint venture partners that we have that might be looking to exit. So we have conversations with them every day. Many of the assets of which we're talking to them about potentially buying out their position, depending on where that pricing is or the quality of those assets, some of them differ. We may be market sellers if we think the pricing is too aggressive or the asset just doesn't necessarily fit the growth profile. the portfolio so you may see a little bit more activity uh from the joint venture portfolio both on buyouts and some potential success dispositions otherwise you know part of what we inherited with the wine garden portfolio as well as from the the previous kimco portfolio is uh some undeveloped land parcels that we're constantly evaluating as to whether we believe they're you know proven to be developed over time or if we're better off recycling that capital selling um from non-income producing assets and then taking that capital for higher growth opportunities. So that's really where you're going to see the bulk of the disposition activity. But again, we don't think it's going to be a tremendous component of our capital set.
spk13: Okay, great. Thanks. And then maybe one for Glenn. It looks like FFO per share is 99 cents year-to-date. I guess with the guidance raise, it implies 37 to 38 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Is there anything in that fourth quarter implied FFO that is non-recurring, or is that a pretty good run rate as we think about 2022? Thank you.
spk18: Well, again, the 37, 38 cent level, again, that is a recurring rate. Again, as I mentioned, the third quarter did have some, you know, call them one-time-in-nature items. You know, you had some real benefit coming from the improvement in credit loss, and we did have about a penny coming from You know, just higher lease termination fees and some of the contributions from the joint ventures on a one-time basis. But $0.37, $0.38 is really a recurring number that we would expect in the fourth quarter.
spk13: Great. Thanks.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Samir Kamal with Evercore ISI.
spk06: Hey, good morning, guys. Just in terms of occupancy, I mean, when I look at that number, you're already over 94%. We've talked about how strong leasing is. Can you provide some color on how you think occupancy could trend maybe into the end of the year and how much pickup you could see next year? I mean, you're sort of your high watermark level, if you call it, sort of that 96.5%. So trying to figure out how much upside there is next year.
spk20: Yeah, I mean, obviously the last two quarters have been very strong with, on average, about 30 basis point gains when you blend the two together. I tend to like to look back to try to understand what's going to happen going forward. So during the Great Recession, when we were going through the recovery period, we averaged about 15 basis point gains over an extended period of time to recover back to the occupancy that we lost. Now, when you look at the pandemic and COVID, we ended up losing less, about 270 basis points versus around 400 basis points in occupancy. It was over a much shorter period of time. So you're starting to see that recovery cycle pick up a little bit sooner. And when I look out, if you're ranging that 10 to 30 basis point occupancy gains quarter over quarter, that feels about right.
spk03: Just to clarify, that 15 basis point gain in occupancy, That's a sequential average.
spk06: Right. And then in terms of shop leasing, I know we've talked a lot about it in the call today, but is this a scenario where you could even go beyond 90%, which is sort of the high watermark in prior periods?
spk20: That's the goal. That's the goal. We're pushing every day to push it as aggressively as we can and hoping with the higher quality portfolio and all the efforts and the investments that we made at site, on sites, that we have that opportunity to do so. I think we're well positioned to do it. One thing we haven't mentioned is the pandemic really shined a light on the quality of the landlord, and the landlord and its ability to make critical investments for the health and support, and in some cases, the survivability of the tenants. When we launched that TAP program back in April of 2020, It was a real lifeline to help a lot of these, you know, great operators that were just struggling through something that was completely outside of their control. And that helped us really secure and retain a number of tenants. And you start to see that now with our retention levels, you know, achieving sort of historic highs on our end as well. So I think when you mix in all these components, we have the right ingredients. Now it's incumbent upon us to execute.
spk17: Okay. Thanks, guys.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Hong Xiong with JPMorgan.
spk01: Hey, guys. I guess my first question, you saw a pretty good sequential growth in small shop occupancy this quarter. I was wondering how much of that was due to the inclusion of Weingarten in your portfolio compared to last quarter?
spk20: Sure. Yeah, we mentioned it's 180 basis point gain. 120 of those basis points were related to Weingarten, and 60 was related to Kimco.
spk01: Got it. And in terms of thinking about your development redevelopment pipeline, I guess when should we expect to see some projects in the Weingarten portfolio be added in there?
spk20: Sure. I think it's important to look at our redevelopment pipeline in two separate but complementary categories. The first is our core retail and repositioning effort. So the repositioning and re-merchandising of the anchor boxes, building a better mousetrap for the existing retailers, that's where you're going to continue to see a lot of investment. And we're just in the process of integrating those opportunities and those projects into the combined Kimco portfolio. So that should start to be reflected um in the coming quarters and then the second part of that is obviously our signature program the one project we did activate earlier on was the milton the second tower at the pentagon where we had recently completed the whitmer and that's the 250 residential unit project and when we look at those projects going forward we have a real menu of options we have over you know 4,000 entitled residential units that we can draw upon now. Our goal is to obviously expand the entitled and the built population to over 10,000, 10 to 12,000 in the next five years. So we'll look at those selectively and determine at what point in time it makes sense to activate them and at what structure. And the structure will then influence and factor in how much capital we actually have to deploy out in the market.
spk01: Thank you.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Anthony Powell with Barclays.
spk00: Hi, good morning. The question on the demand related to Last Mile, you know, given warehouses are sold out nationally, it seems like it could be a pretty powerful driver of demand. Could you quantify how much leasing demand you're seeing related to retailers needing more distribution in their local areas?
spk20: Sure. It's hard to quantify right now, but anecdotally what you're seeing is retailers looking to potentially either expand their back of house. So they're looking for some additional square footage to do some inventory. You're also seeing others like some of the grocers that are actually repurposing some of their square footage within the four walls to utilize for last mile fulfillment and micro fulfillment. And so they'll actually receive the goods from the loading dock and then split and distribute them to do different categories. One goes to the floor to sell the customers and walk into the store, while the balance goes to the micro-fulfillment facility, which is actually within their existing four walls. And I think what you're seeing right now is all the retailers that have the means experimenting with what works best for them. can't say that i'm an expert on supply chain logistics and distribution but i know it's extremely complex and so it's really about foundationally how they're set up but it but it is clear that we are having these conversations and that last mile a brick and mortar distribution is going to be a critical part for them going forward yeah just anecdotally the last i would say five to ten years we've been dealing with the narrative of shrinking box sizes downsizing downsizing downsizing and now
spk04: The question is, hey, is there additional adjacent space that we can take to enlarge the box? So it has changed, I think, the narrative on becoming more flexible in how you use the square footage and integrating that last mile distribution inside the box. So to your point, it's one that we're watching closely.
spk00: Thanks. And maybe on supply, I know it's not a huge issue now, but given the strong fundamentals, I would imagine that some people will start to try to build extra supply. What do you think will change the dynamics of low supply growth kind of in your markets? At what point does it become more of an issue?
spk04: The costs are a big issue, right? So if you think of the land values to where we're located, so if you look at our portfolio map, that's the main reason why we transformed our portfolio to where it sits today is because we wanted to be in locations that have high barriers to entry. So when the supply cycle does come back, It's very hard to make it pencil to go and buy land and develop a shopping center that would compete with one of Kimco's. You've got to look at the, obviously the FAR as well in terms of the bill versus the parking lot. And that's again, another barrier to entry of in these dense areas. You just don't have the luxury of putting 80% of your property as parking lot and not generating any revenues from that. And so we're watching it closely. We do think there's a good amount of slack still. be absorbed from the pandemic and we're experiencing that throughout our portfolio but to your point if rents get to a point where they justify new development it should start to happen we haven't seen it yet um but those barriers to entry is why we've positioned our portfolio where it is because we don't want to be sitting in a in an asset that has you know tremendous amount of you know unbuilt dirt around it where you can have a competitor come quickly reposition you and so that that's why we've done a lot of work to be in the position we are today
spk00: Got it. Thank you. Good quarter.
spk10: Thank you. And the next question comes from Chris Lucas with Capital One.
spk21: Good morning, everybody. Two questions for me. You guys closed the brief deal. There's no mortgage debt on that joint venture. Is there plans to put mortgage debt on that or given where your balance sheet sits and where their balance sheet sits, it's going to stay debt free at this point?
spk02: Yeah, Chris, there actually is a small amount of debt, about $170 million on that portfolio, which we assumed into the new joint venture.
spk21: It does mature, though, soon, doesn't it?
spk02: I thought you paid it off, but I know it matures soon. Yes, it does. We're having conversations now internally with the partnership, and we'll determine what the next steps are there.
spk18: The expectation, though, is, again, with this partnership, as you've seen in many of our joint ventures, that there'll be property-level debt on it. Okay.
spk21: And then, Glenn, while I've got you, you know, the portfolio is bigger. It's more diverse. You've deleveraged some, got a lot more liquidity and different levers to pull. Is there a goal of getting a ratings increase from the rating agencies, given that backdrop, or are you comfortable where you sit right now?
spk18: Now, as we've talked about, again, it is clearly a objective and a goal of ours to get put on positive outlook and eventually get to an A3, A minus level. We think it's a separator, a differentiator for us. And it's something that we think actually should just happen naturally as EBITDA continues to grow and we continue to just improve overall capital structure. I mean, we really check almost all the boxes for them. You know, some monetization of Albertsons, I think over time will, you know, should hopefully seal the deal for them.
spk21: Thank you. That's all I had this morning.
spk10: Thank you. And that concludes the question and answer session. I would like to return it forward to David Buznicki for any closing comments.
spk03: Just want to thank everybody that participated on the call today. We look forward to connecting with a number of you at next week's upcoming Navy conference. Until then, have a great weekend.
spk10: Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation.
spk03: May God disconnect your lines.
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