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spk22: Greetings and welcome to the Kimco Realty First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star then zero on your telephone keypad. If you would like to ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation channel will indicate your line is in the question queue. You can press star then two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your hands up before pressing the keys. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. David Bujnicki, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Strategy. Thank you, Mr. Bujnicki. You may begin.
spk10: Good morning, and thank you for joining Kimco's quarterly 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, Dave Jamison, 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 our quarterly supplemental financial information on the Kimco Investor Relations 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. With that, I'll turn the call over to Connor.
spk13: Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. I will begin with an overview of the leasing environment and share how we are strategically well-positioned for long-term growth. Ross will then cover the transaction market, and Glenn will close with our key performance metrics and updated guidance. We are off to a great start to the year with solid first quarter results, including over 4.5 million square feet of leasing as we benefited from our combination of high quality grocery anchored assets, emphasizing off price retail and everyday essentials in first ring suburbs. That makes us uniquely positioned to benefit from what we believe to be longer term trends relating to consumers and retail strategies. We accomplished this leasing in the face of high interest rates, bank failures, signs of a weakening economy, and troubled retailers. Our dedicated team and resilient portfolio not only withstood these pressures, but outperformed. First, the consumer. While inflation remains stubborn, the Kimco shopper remains sturdy as we continue to see healthy traffic reported across our portfolio. According to our large national retailers, the demand for essential goods, services, and groceries continues to be strong. In addition, The flexible hybrid work environment is creating more opportunity for shoppers to frequent our centers. Finally, omnichannel shopping continues to outperform pure online shopping, as optionality is a winning formula by providing consumers the convenience of shopping online and picking up or returning at the local store. Requests to expand our nationally recognized curbside pickup program continue to grow from our entire stable of national, regional, and small shop tenants. In addition to the resilient consumer, leasing demand and the ability to push rents continues at a robust pace due to the lack of new supply and high barriers to entry at our highly desirable locations. The demand for new space is well diversified, with a mix of new deals this quarter spread among off-price, grocery, sporting goods, fitness, health and wellness, medical, and fast casual dining. As part of our focus on attaining the highest and best use of our properties, We also secured two new entrants to the Kimco portfolio this quarter, a Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas, and a market by Macy's in San Diego. Strong leasing, supported by this robust, well-rounded demand, is reflected in our new leasing spreads of 44%, a five-year high. Occupancy busts the seasonality trend of dipping after the holidays and gained 10 basis points, thanks to our team's stellar efforts and our small shop leasing initiatives. During the first quarter, we anticipated some space coming back from underperforming retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, who just filed for bankruptcy this past week. This has been widely expected, and we've been well prepared for this outcome as we have actively marketed all of our bed bath spaces for some time. To highlight our successful efforts, we started the year with 30 bed bath leases. During the first quarter, we sold one location and released three boxes, including two we recaptured with a mark-to-market spread of 24%. Regarding the remaining 26 Bed Bath leases, we are either in lease or LOI negotiations on 22 locations, with a mark-to-market spread similar to what we have executed to date, which exemplifies the strong activity from a diverse pool of retailers looking to expand. The remaining four locations are either being marketed for lease or are potential redevelopment candidates. The lack of supply and inability to meet new store targets is a constant refrain from our retailers during our portfolio reviews and remains key catalysts for the lease up of these locations. It is also why our retention rates for the portfolio continue to remain well above historical levels at 90% this quarter. With this pace of retention and the strong leasing demand, we believe that over the long term, we should see an improved underlying growth rate for our business. Further enhancing the value of our first string suburb locations is the increased demand for industrial and residential assets. This competition for land or conversions makes the cost of new retail development even more prohibitive, which will further reduce supply for potential new retail. And when you combine the rising rents in the residential sectors with the competitive redevelopment advantages at our existing locations in the first ring suburbs, the opportunity to add more mixed use density provides us the long-term opportunity to drive further growth and value creation. In the end, strategically, we are well positioned for what could be a choppy second half of the year and beyond. With our open-air, high-quality, growth-striankered portfolio producing record results, our leverage metrics at all-time lows, along with our significant cash position, we are positioned for growth and will look to be opportunistic when others cannot in our quest to outperform on a sustained basis. Ross?
spk14: Thank you, Connor, and good morning. I'll begin with the market for transactions, which remains restrained given the volatility in the capital markets and elevated borrowing costs. Transaction volume was down across the board in the first quarter. However, what has remained constant is the significant demand from both institutional and private investors for high-quality open-air retail. A healthy level of equity capital remains patiently waiting on the sidelines for opportunities to acquire our product type as the property fundamentals continue to improve within this retail sector. Notwithstanding the improving operating fundamentals, investors are seeking higher cap rates to offset higher costs of capital. At the same time, however, supply remains limited, with sellers holding out for higher pricing unless they face refinancing or other pressure to sell. How long this stalemate lasts is the ultimate question. Despite these broader market conditions, we have found ways to selectively and accretively put capital to work. On the last earnings call, we mentioned the two Southern California grocery assets we acquired from one of our JV partners. Subsequent to the call, we were successful in buying out a third grocery anchored site in Southern California from the same partner. This property is a dual grocery anchored site with a smart and final traditional grocer in addition to a Trader Joe's. We are excited to add these three strong performing grocery assets to our wholly owned portfolio despite the market conditions I described. We also added a new structured investment into our program in the first quarter, an $11.2 million subordinated loan on a Sprouts-anchored shopping center outside of Orlando, Florida. As with all of our structured investments, we retain the right to acquire the asset in the future in the event the sponsor looks to sell. This property is another great addition to the structured portfolio with a very attractive return at a very appealing basis on our investments. As it relates to dispositions, we previously mentioned the two Savannah, Georgia power centers we sold back in January. Prior to quarter end, we sold a third power center in Gresham, Oregon. To my point earlier that it is taking longer to transact, we have been working on this since the fourth quarter of last year and successfully closed at the end of March. While we don't anticipate a significant number of dispositions in 2023, the sale of these three centers reflects our efforts to ultimately own a portfolio consisting of primarily grocery-anchored retail centers and mixed-use destinations in our top major metro markets. All in all, we are in a great position to continue to be opportunistic should current owners start to feel more pressure to transact. Our strong liquidity allows us to move quickly and aggressively on the right acquisitions or joint venture buyouts and to be financially helpful to owners that need an infusion of capital for debt pay downs or asset repositioning utilizing our structured investment program. I will now pass it off to Glenn for an update on our financials and outlook.
spk02: Thanks, Russ, and good morning. Our solid first quarter results demonstrate the strength of our high-quality operating portfolio. as evidenced by increased occupancy, robust leasing spreads, and positive same-site NOI growth. Furthermore, we bolstered our sector-leading liquidity position and improved our leverage metrics with additional proceeds received from our Albertsons investment. Now for some details on our first quarter results. FFO was 238.1 million, or 39 cents, per diluted share, as compared to last year's first quarter results of 240.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share. Notably, last year's figures include a charge of $7.2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share for early repayment of debt. Our first quarter results were driven by strong NOI growth, largely due to higher consolidated minimum rent of $14.5 million. This increase was offset by a higher bad debt expense of $7.1 million, as the current period had a more normalized credit loss level as compared to last year, which benefited from credit loss income due to reversals of reserves. In addition, pro rata NOI from our joint ventures was lowered by $3 million, mostly attributable to asset sales and higher bad debt expense. Other factors related to the change in first quarter results were higher G&A expense of $4.8 million and pro rata interest expense of $6.6 million. Although interest expense was higher in the current period, last year included a $7.2 million charge for early repayment of debt. The uptick in G&A expenses was largely driven by higher staffing levels following the Weingarten merger, as well as greater expenses related to the value of restricted stock and performance units awarded. The increase in interest expense stemmed from lower fair market value amortization linked to the previously repaid above-market Weingarten bonds, as well as higher interest rates associated with floating rate debt in our joint ventures. Turning to the operating portfolio, which continues to produce positive metrics fueled by the increase in occupancy and strong leasing spreads mentioned earlier. Same-site NOI growth was positive 1.4 percent for the first quarter. However, it's worth noting that this figure would have been even stronger at 4.2 percent if we excluded the impact of 4.6 million of credit loss income from the previous year compared to 4.3 million of credit loss expense for the current period. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the composition of the same-site NOI growth, which reflects a 430 basis point increase from minimum rents and reduced abatements, as well as a 100 basis points boost from higher percentage rent and other rental property income, offset by lower recoveries of operating expenses of 110 basis points. Overall, these results demonstrate our continued focus on driving strong revenue growth across our portfolio. As it relates to our Albertsons investment, during the first quarter, we received a special dividend of $194.1 million, which is included in net income but not FFO. The Albertson special dividend is considered ordinary income for tax purposes. Thus, we are evaluating the need to make a special dividend to our stockholders at some point this year to maintain our compliance with REIT distribution requirements. In addition, we sold 7.1 million shares of Albertson stock, generating net proceeds of $137.4 million. It is our intention to pay the tax on the capital gained from the sale and have recorded a $30 million tax provision, which is also excluded from FFO. This strategic move will allow us to retain approximately $107 million for debt reduction and or accretive investments. Subsequent to quarter end, we sold an additional 7 million shares of Albertson stock and received net proceeds of $144.9 million. In the second quarter, we will record a tax provision of approximately $32.7 million for the capital gain component. While it is great that we have significantly monetized this investment, it's worth noting that we also benefited by approximately one cent per share of FFO per quarter from the ACI common dividends paid. Going forward, we will no longer benefit from the same amount each quarter, given the significant monetization to date. Currently, we hold 14.2 million shares of Albertsons, which has a value of approximately $300 million. We ended the first quarter with over $2.3 billion of immediate liquidity, comprised of over $300 million in cash and full availability of our recently renewed $2 billion revolving credit facility. Our leverage metrics continue to improve with consolidated net debt to EBITDA of 5.8 times and 6.2 times on a look-through basis. including our prorated share of joint venture debt and perpetual preferred stock outstanding. The look-through metric of 6.2 times represents the best level since we began reporting this metric in 2009. As I just touched on, during the first quarter, we renewed our $2 billion revolving credit facility with 20 banks. The facility now has an initial maturity date in March 2027, with two six-month extension options bringing the final maturity date to 2028. This is a green facility initially priced at adjusted SOFR plus 77.5 basis points. The borrowing spread can increase or decrease up to four basis points based upon our success in reducing scope one and scope two greenhouse gas emissions. Based on our current progress, the borrowing spread has already been reduced by two basis points to 75.5 basis points. Turning to our outlook, based on our first quarter results, the monetization of Albertson shares, and expectations for the balance of the year, we are tightening our FFO per share range to $1.54 to $1.57 from the previous range of $1.53 to $1.57. We are lowering our lease termination income assumption by $10 million to a range of $4 million to $6 million, with more than half already received in the first quarter. Initially, we believed a transaction in the first quarter would result in lease termination income. However, when we reviewed it in more detail, given the complex accounting treatment, we arrived at a different conclusion. Our previous assumptions remain intact regarding same-site NOI growth of 1% to 2%, which includes credit loss of 75 to 125 basis points. And now we are ready to take your questions.
spk22: Yes, thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star and then 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw it, please press star then 2. We ask that you limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. If you have additional questions, please re-queue and we will take as many questions as time allows. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble the roster. And our first question comes from Michael Goldsmith with UBS.
spk15: Good morning. Thanks a lot for taking my question. My first question is on Bed Bath & Beyond and just kind of the shape of how these closures and then potentially coming back online, how that's going to affect the financials. So does this mean that we should expect kind of 60 basis points of, rent coming off and 100 basis points of occupancy coming off, and then over time we get that back kind of next year and the $8.5 million of rent kind of comes back in like a $10.5 million state. And then what would be the timing of when that would kind of come back online?
spk08: Yeah, good question. So I would say what you just articulated would be sort of the worst case scenario in the sense that everything went out. Nothing was purchased at auction for a sign, which is an event that is yet to occur. And we anticipate happening in June and or July. So there could be some impact to that to the positive. Considering the competitive landscape, that is a very real possibility. In terms of the activity, as Connor articulated, less than three boxes that we've already leased, 26 that remain, seven of those were rejected in the day one motion. We're at least with over half and have LOIs on the balance, all of which are single-tenant backfills, which helps reduce the conversion and the downtime to get a tenant reopened, so that's positive. On the balance of the boxes, the majority of those are all also single-tenant backfill opportunities, and we're either at lease or at LOI stage. The handful that Connor mentioned in his script, we are assessing real redevelopment opportunities for those as a potential, or we'd look to do a single-tenant backfill. So we are in a great position from where we see, obviously, the lack of muted supply,
spk13: uh retail development on the horizon for the years to come retailers are really seeing this as the opportunity to grab that market share and expand their portfolios in these key markets yeah Michael we're a bit ahead of where we thought we'd be um as you saw we raised the lower end of our guidance um even with uh you know without the determination income that we anticipated and a lot of that is attributed to the environment that we're in today for high quality locations like Bed Bath and Beyond have so As you see, the diversity of demand is quite strong. We're in a good spot to really, you know, by June, we'll really have a better understanding of which ones are coming back to us. But we're not waiting for that. We're being proactive in lining up replacements with very strong leasing spreads.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question, Councilman Craig Mailman with Citi.
spk21: Hey, good morning, everyone. Connor or Glenn, maybe I want to follow up on that last point. You guys you know, effectively raise guidance to half penny at the midpoint despite having to drag from lease term fees. So it looks like effectively a two cent raise. Could you just walk through exactly what's driving that? Because the operating assumptions didn't look like they changed all that much.
spk02: Yeah, sure. Again, it's really driven by the rent commencement. So we are a little bit ahead of plan, which is what's driving it. Also, the timing of investment activity and then the impact of what we looked at in terms of the bankruptcy situation. So we are a little bit ahead of schedule from what we had budgeted, so we're comfortable with raising that lower end of the range.
spk13: Yeah, I think one of the big drivers, too, for us to get comfortable with raising the bottom end is the retention rate, as I mentioned earlier. That's really driving a significant amount of cash flow growth for us. And when you look at where we thought we'd be versus where we are today, we are ahead of schedule there.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Forrest Van Dyke with CompassPointe.
spk09: Great, guys. I've got a question, I guess, in two parts. Number one, I'd like maybe if you can walk us through the lower NOI margin and expense recovery for the quarter and what was behind that and how does that impact your views towards maybe Fixed Cam or having just on a inflation-adjusted basis, your recovery struck. And then the second part is in terms of Philadelphia. I noticed there was your Philadelphia portfolio is lagging quite a bit, I think some like 480 basis points in terms of occupancy relative to the rest of the portfolio. If you can give us maybe some more details behind that and if that's specific to maybe potential redevelopments or some other opportunities, or is that just market as has been less good than some of the other ones.
spk08: I'll take the second one first, and then I'll kick it over to the rest of the team to address the margin. As it relates to Philadelphia, it's just related to the Kohl's transaction, where we took back two of the Kohl's leases as part of that transaction Q1, which we knew were already vacant. So that was the add there.
spk13: The rest of the Philadelphia portfolio is quite strong and actually trending well. at or above when you look at it from the whole portfolio.
spk00: Just on your NOI margin question and your expense recovery question, if you look at the NOI margins and you actually take a look at the credit loss that's in there and you pull that out from both periods, your margins are more in line. So that's really the driver on that decrease that you're seeing on the page. And then when it comes to the recoveries, there were some expenses that we front-loaded for the quarter. But when you look at where we're going to land for the year, we're still comfortable with that same site NOI of 1% to 2%. So it will level out on the recovery side as the year goes on.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Juan Sabrera with BMO Capital Markets.
spk20: Hi, good morning. Just hoping you could talk a little bit about the investment market what asset values or cap rates you're seeing for what's being transacted. You had a couple of deals both on the buy and the sell side in the first quarter and how that compares to the MES lending opportunity that seems to be a growing opportunity set for you.
spk14: Sure. As I mentioned in the remarks, I mean, it is a little bit of a stalemate right now. So the transaction volumes are way down. You are seeing certain deals get done. In the first quarter, we did see some transactions occur in the fives, similar to pricing from last year, but they are fewer and farther between. When you look at sort of the bid-ask spread, it's very deal specific. So as I mentioned, there are buyers that are still looking for higher cap rates and sellers that are holding firm because there's really not any sort of forced situation with lenders or cash flow situation or challenges. From that perspective, we were successful in acquiring three shopping centers from a joint venture partner that was looking for some liquidity. So it's really just about staying opportunistic and ready with the capital, which we have. As it relates to the MES financing and our structured investment program, that is also something that we're obviously very focused on, completing one transaction in the first quarter. But again, because there really hasn't been any forced sales or you know, distressed situation as it relates to the lending community, they are a little bit more challenging in terms of sourcing right now. But having lots of conversations, hanging around the hoop, and we're ready to move as soon as those opportunities present themselves.
spk13: So the only thing I would add is that we are seeing pretty significant capital formations for our product. I think for a period of time, certain folks were on the sidelines looking at open air, specifically grocery-anchored shopping centers. And we're having a lot of, you know, inbound customers requests for dialogue to potentially have new capital at our call for investment purposes. Obviously, we're sitting with a tremendous amount of cash today, so we're looking at the opportunity set internally, but it is nice to see a significant amount of capital formation for our product.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Alexander Goldfarb with Piper Sandler.
spk07: Hey, good morning. So question on the depth of demand across your portfolio. Would you say it's pretty evenly spread among anchor, junior anchor, small shop, et cetera, and out parcel? Or is one area much deeper and actually more focused on which areas are sort of the lightest in backfill demand and how you sort of gin up if those are spots that you would expand or subdivide? I'm just trying to think about where the areas of the least amount of demand are in space across the portfolio.
spk08: Sure. Good question, Alex. So I'd say we're seeing pretty consistent demand across the square footage at this time. Historically, sort of that tweener, 6,000 to 8,000, 6,000 to 9,000 square feet has historically been a little bit lighter than the smaller shops, which is, you know, We're from 1,000 to 5,000, and then the anchor box is 10,000 and over. But even in that category, we've seen great demand, a lot of people coming out of the malls, whether it be Sephora. And others that are looking to backfill that particular box category has really been a benefit. So we'll continue to push that. As relates to the anchor activity, you know, less out the COLS impact for anchor boxes this quarter. We would have been up another 20 basis points from last quarter. So we would have been at, instead of 98, we would have been at 98.2. So we continue to see that. And it goes back to I earlier point that there's just no new development supply that's coming online here in the coming years. And so these rare opportunities where you get availability and good locations, people are going to jump on those and stretch a little bit to make sure they secure it because they don't see anything else on the horizon. And they have to have that growth profile in their book.
spk13: The only thing I would add is that the retailers are getting less rigid on their square footage requirements. So when you look at, you know, the typical prototype, whether it's a small shop, a midsize box or an anchor box, you know, typically it's now opportunistic where they're looking at the space available versus their prototype and making it work, which obviously lends itself to our business. Because if you can backfill the entire space with one tenant, the capex load goes down dramatically. And that's what we're experiencing on the bed bath boxes.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Samir Khanna with Evercore.
spk23: Hey, good morning, everyone. Connor, can you talk about the shop leasing environment and how you think that'll fare in this sort of this cycle? You know, we've seen the bank failures here and, you know, that impacts the smaller tenants. So how do you think about credit environment for the shops as we go into a potential slowdown here? Thanks.
spk13: Yeah, the shop space, as you've seen with our occupancy growth, continue to be the bright spot. I mean, it's really interesting. If you think about the diversity of demand and what's driving that, it's pretty remarkable. I think we're at a point in the retail evolution where the last mile or the closest retail destination to where you live and where you work has really adopted, I would say, a hybrid retail environment where it's medical, it's services, it's essential goods and services. It's grocery, it's health and wellness, it's physical. It really is interesting to see the diversity of demand driving that small shop growth opportunity for us. And I think when you look at the ingredients of where we see the demand drivers, I think it gives us a lot of confidence to say that with this portfolio, we can drive a higher small shop occupancy rate than we've ever experienced before. And again, it's because of that diversity of demand. Now, it's going to be, you know, interesting if the economy really does get worse and there's a pullback. You know, some of the small shops that didn't make it through COVID, I would say we're still in a position where we're backfilling those locations with higher credit, you know, better operators. And so I think we're starting from a higher quality, higher credit portfolio of small shops today.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Anderson Joost with Mizuho.
spk06: Hey, good morning. So Connor, I guess we understand the timing of bad debt is one of the factors that can play a key role, a swing factor in how core growth plays out here the next year or two. But I was hoping you guys could talk a little bit about the cadence for same-sore NY growth this year. And then as we look ahead, given the snow-related occupancy visibility and the demand that you're seeing, what type of ballpark same-sore NY growth does that could that get you to for next year? I think most of us see this as a long-term 2%, 2.5% same for NOI business. Curious if you think you can top the long-term average next year. Thanks.
spk13: Sure. Thanks for the question, Hendo. I think when you look at, again, the fundamentals of our business, now there's going to be some lumpiness, obviously quarter to quarter with the Bed Bath and maybe some of the other retailers that we're watching and how the auction process plays out because that will really determine the lumpiness of how much NOI comes offline. But I do believe, as I said earlier, that the fundamentals of our business are quite strong. And with virtually no new supply and very high retention rates, we should see, I think, a longer-term growth rate that's above the historical average. And we're also pushing for higher annual increases. When you look at the bumps we're getting on our small shops, they're higher today than they were the trailing four quarters. The same goes with our anchors. They're higher today than they were the trailing four quarters. And if you look back multiple years, they've been trending higher. That bodes well for obviously a fundamental re-rating of our growth rate going forward, but there's a lot of things that may or may not occur for that to happen. So it's hard to extrapolate what the future is going to hold, but where we stand today, we're very confident about the strategy we put in place and executing on that strategy is showing up in the internal growth rate and the pricing power that we have today. In terms of the cadence of the same site, I'll turn it over to Glenn.
spk02: Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at bad debt component to it. Again, we're comping against bad debt income from last year for the current year. So when you look forward, we really have a more normalized, or we expect to be a more normalized bad debt level. So I think that that part, at least, should keep us in good shape to be able to grow the same size NOI growth really organically from the rent bumps, that kind of stuff.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Anthony Powell with Barclays.
spk01: Hi, good morning. I guess a question on percentage rent. I saw that ticked up to close to $6 million in the quarter. Is that a good run rate, and what's really driving the growth in that segment?
spk02: It's a great question. Look, some of it is timing. We have been very proactive on getting sales reports out to tenants, and the collections in the first quarter were higher than what we had originally budgeted. But some of those collections that came in were from tenants that we had budgeted to be in the second quarter. So you'll see it start to dip down as we go through the year. So the first quarter is a little bit ahead of where the budget was.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Caitlin Burrows with Goldman Sachs.
spk16: hi good morning everyone maybe just to follow up on the small shop side i know there's a concern that small shop tenants may be more negatively impacted by tighter lending standards so what are you hearing from them has there been any change in their ability to run their business and then at the same time do you have a breakdown of what portion of the small shop tenants are actually small businesses versus larger national businesses that happen to operate in small spaces
spk08: Yeah, it's a great question, and it's something that we're very closely monitoring because we would anticipate that they would be the ones that would be most impacted by the pullback of local and regional banks and their ability to lend. Right now, we haven't seen a material impact on, obviously, on the deal velocity, hence our Q1 numbers, and those businesses' ability to operate. But it's something that we're closely watching and monitoring through the course of this year to anticipate, you know, see if there's any cracks in the system. But right now, things are holding up pretty well.
spk13: And we do have a breakout in our investor presentation of the small shops that are really more local versus really the national and regional players. And we are heavily weighted towards the national and regional players. The only thing I would add is have better communication than we've ever had with all of our retailers primarily because of what the pandemic um really forced a lot of us to do which was again have constant dialogue with our with our retailer partners and you know handling the ppp program as we did gaining access to our small shops in the way we have giving them the opportunity to to access capital in times of need I think we have, you know, very close ties now with our partners and our retailers that we believe will hopefully be able to weather this next storm.
spk22: Thank you. And once again, as a reminder, please press star then 1 if you would like to ask a question or ask a follow-up question. And our next question comes from Kibin Kim with Truist.
spk05: Thanks. Good morning. Two questions. I noticed that you guys started the development on culture place. It looks like it's a preferred equity investment with the bazoodle group. I was just curious if you can provide some more color on the structure of pricing and if the income from that preferred equity investment is based on the dollars they put to work or is it kind of all up front? And second question, going back to Bed Bath & Beyond, I guess what is part of the thinking in your budget? Are you assuming that they all eventually shut down and you get it back or I was just curious about how that configures your budget.
spk08: Sure. I'll take the first one on Coulter. So yes, the Coulter project is our first multifamily activation in our preferred equity structure. As for the SEP, you'll see that the gross cost yield for that investment will be approximately 5% to 6%, which is consistent with what you'd see historically as multifamily projects developing towards As a result of our preferred equity structure, though, we're able to contribute the land as well as our pursuit costs in a preferred yield and then blend it together with some additional contribution to common equity. We're able to achieve a yield that exceeds our current cost of capital, which makes it accreted to us and hit that low double-digit return that we're looking for. So right now we're excited. Pazuta is a wonderful partner, very, very qualified and established player in the business. And it's a great property, so it's a good first effort on this structure.
spk13: On the bed-bath question, we are anticipating getting them all back. I think that's the better way to budget is to just, you know, not anticipate anything being sold in the auction process and having the associated downtime and leasing costs with each box. So I think that, again, is incorporated in our budget and our guidance.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Greg McInnis with Scotiabank.
spk04: Good morning. Two-parter here as well. First, Ross, apologies if I missed this, but could you discuss the cap rates achieved on the acquisitions and dispositions this quarter? And then for the follow-up, on cost of capital, are you willing to use the low-cost Albertson cash to offer lower cap rates to sellers and potentially get them off the sidelines? Or how are you thinking about your cost of capital and targeted investment yields?
spk14: Sure. I didn't mention that, but I'm happy to address it. The acquisition cap rate on the grocery income centers that we acquired in Southern California were lended right to around a six. And when you look at the spread on the dispositions, it was about 150 basis point spread. So that's really a year one cap rate. What we're most focused on is what the growth profile of those assets are. You can find them up, compare it to each other. So we see outsized growth from the grocery anchored centers that we acquired, whereas the power centers that we sold would either be flat or even potentially moving negative. So that's really the focus when thinking about recycling into high-quality grocery anchored centers versus the power centers that we sold. In terms of the low cost of capital from the Albertsons, I mean, it's a great position to be in. Obviously, the hurdles are a little bit lower from the Albertsons capital that was achieving around a 2% dividend yield. Now, that being said, it really is a balance for us between trying to move aggressively and put the capital to work and being patient for opportunities that we expect will present themselves here in the back half of the year. So we're not looking to necessarily overpay or set the market just to get people off the sidelines, but we can move very aggressively and quickly if opportunities present themselves that we really like. So it gives us a lot of flexibility with the liquidity position that we have.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Ronald Camden with Morgan Stanley.
spk18: Hey, just one quick question and a follow-up. So the first is just on capital allocation priorities. Can you just remind me how you guys are thinking about stack ranking it? Is it sort of acquisitions in the fixed range? Is it some of the structured investments given tightening lending conditions? What sort of makes the most sense right now? If you could sort of flip your wand, what would you ramp up on? And then the follow-up question is sort of a related Bed Bath & Beyond question. But, you know, it seems like you guys are sort of ahead of that, you know, 15% and 20% mark to market. Really interesting. But as we think about sort of what's coming down the line, what's coming next, you know, Party City and things like that, can you just compare and contrast? How you guys are thinking about that box size, mark to market, demand, anything would be sort of helpful so we can get a sense what that potentially could look like.
spk13: Sure. So on capital allocation priorities, one, two, and three, we always say are leasing, leasing, leasing. So you start there and obviously the fundamentals of our business continue to shine. Followed by that, the highest return for us are these smaller redevelopments where we can activate parking lots and create a pad parcel or expand an existing shopping center. Those typically yield in the double digit range. And so we like to activate those as many as possible. We typically run the range of 80 to 90 million a year or so of those projects. And we're looking through the portfolio to try and generate more of those unique opportunities. After that, typically it's a blend of the structured investment program as well as core opportunities, as well as the preferred equity and the mixed use redevelopment potential. You look at the suite of opportunities there and you try and make sure you blend to a cost of capital that obviously reflects where we are today. We are in a unique position where we have a lot of Albertson's capital to deploy. But as Ross mentioned, we're continuing to be patient there and look for those that fat pitch that unique opportunity to really take advantage of dislocation and we've done it before and we'll do it again and we continue to think we're well positioned to be opportunistic there thank you sorry um repeat the question about that it was related to the other
spk11: Tenants coming down Party City in their box size. Sure.
spk08: Yeah, sorry. Party City is, in terms of box size, 12 to 14,000 square feet. Right now, we don't anticipate. None of them have been rejected. So we're in pretty good shape there. And then with Tuesday morning and David's Bridal, Tuesday morning is similar in size. David's Bridal is smaller in nature, more in that under 10,000 square feet.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Lynn Tsai with Jefferies.
spk17: Yes, hi. Sorry if I missed it earlier. How much of your full-year credit loss expectation of 75 to 125 basis points was realized in 1Q?
spk02: So the credit loss for the first quarter was around 95 basis points. So, again, you know, in line with where guidance is, and it accounts for, and some of the David's Bridal.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Craig Schmidt with Bank of America.
spk03: Thank you. You know, looking at the operating goals for mixed use, I guess I was surprised that it wasn't going to grow a little bit more from the 13% to 15% given the added multifamily res units you're projecting. And then, you know, as you get past the 2025 goal, may you accelerate the mixed-use redevelopment? I mean, you have a pretty extensive list of things you have that you're pursuing, entitlements and future projects.
spk13: Yeah, it's a good question, Craig. Obviously, we've ramped that program up. from virtually zero to where it is today in the last three or four years. So we have seen, you know, continued growth in the mixed-use platform, and we like the fundamentals of really how they drive value to each other. Retail really drives value to the residential and the apartments because of the amenity base that it provides. And the apartments drive a lot of value to the retail because you have a built-in shopper base and the traffic patterns continue to uptick there. So it is one that we'll continue to monitor. We did activate a project this quarter, as you saw. You know, we like the opportunity to activate using a CapEx light structure. So, again, it doesn't weigh down our growth opportunities. You know, we have a select few that are still active right now on a ground lease. are going to be stabilizing later this year um the same goes for the milton at pentagon is is about to open here um and we're excited about suburban square having a mixed use component with the residential there we think we can really um hopefully drive a lot of value there going forward you know we'll continue to obviously hopefully crest that goal of 15 percent um from mixed use and then reevaluate the next you know really the master plan for each asset and how much we can ramp that again using a capex light structure where we can showcase the growth of the underlying portfolio and still create value for our shareholders longer term thank you and the next question comes from alex fagan with baird hello thank you for taking my question uh it's a quick question on the plan to use the pretty big cash position that's been built up should we expect
spk19: that large cash position balance will be there throughout the year, or at least until the potential special dividend? What's the plan there?
spk14: So the plan is really to be opportunistic. And again, we're going to be patient. If the opportunity doesn't present itself, then we're very comfortable maintaining the cash position until it does. But in the interim, we're having lots of conversations with all of our JV partners, talking to a lot of brokers and owners that may need capital as the year progresses. So to the extent that we can utilize that capital accretively, we're very comfortable doing so. Otherwise, we'll just wait for the right opportunity.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question comes from Mike Mueller with J.P. Morgan.
spk12: Yeah, hi. Two quick ones here. First, how diversified is the pool of tenants that you're talking to for the bed-bath releases? And then is it safe to say that you're largely finished with the Albertsons monetizations this year?
spk02: I'll do the Albertsons first. With both transactions that we did, one in March, one in April, we are done for the year. Those proceeds and the gains from them are about as much as we can do, including the special dividend that we received relative to our gross income test. So we will hold on to the shares for the remainder of the year. and then look for a further monetization in 2024.
spk08: Yeah, in terms of the diversity, it is a healthy and diverse pool. You have your usual suspects, obviously, in the off-price category, brochure interest, furniture, fitness, entertainment uses. And then within each of those categories, you're getting a variety of names as well. So it's nice to see that type of diversity for these boxes.
spk13: Mike, one thing to keep in mind, too, is there are some, you know, with the off-price wars that are going on right now, and they have a lot of demand for new space, you could see some of them being very aggressive in the auction process because of the unique attributes of the bed-bath leases, which would allow them to get into centers that they may previously not be allowed to because of use provisions. So it'll be interesting to watch what happens there.
spk22: Thank you. And the next question is a follow-up from Linda Tsai with Jefferies.
spk17: Hi. Just a follow-up on the off-price wars. Are you seeing rental rate increases result from the off-pricers competing with each other?
spk08: Yeah. I mean, when you have more than one bidder at the table, it creates a competitive environment. So, obviously, you know, as a result of that, you can see some price increases on rent for boxes.
spk22: Thank you. And that is all the time we have for today's question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to management for closing comments.
spk11: Thank you very much for joining the call today. Enjoy the rest of your day.
spk22: Thank you, and thank you for attending today's presentation.
spk11: You may now disconnect your lines.
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