Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust

Good morning. My name is Chris, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the PREET third quarter 2022 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. Thank you. Heather Crowell, you may begin.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us for PREET's third quarter 2022 earnings call. During this call, we will make certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, trends, and other matters that are not historical facts and are subject to risks and uncertainties that might affect future events or results. Descriptions of these risks are set forth in the company's SEC filings. Statements that Preet makes today might be accurate only as of today, November 8, 2022, and Preet makes no undertaking to update any such statements. Also, certain non-GAAP measures will be discussed. Preet has included reconciliations of such measures to the comparable GAAP measures in its earnings release and other documents filed with the SEC. We continue to partner with Say Technologies to offer an opportunity for any shareholder to ask questions of management. During this call, management will answer questions received over the Q&A platform. We thank our investor base for their engagement in this process. Members of management on the call today are Joe Corradino, Preet's Chairman and CEO, and Mario Ventresca, CFO. Joe?

Thank you, Heather, and good morning, everyone. As we sit here today, we're in a significantly improved position as compared to last quarter. We've now executed on the sale of over $110 million in assets, paid down $148 million in debt, sent notice electing the extension of our credit facility maturity dates, and satisfied the recent remargin requirement on Fashion District Philadelphia. Add to this, we have a pipeline of over $130 million of assets that are under agreement and many in the final stages in negotiations while we are exploring opportunities to raise an additional $125 million in capital. As we look at realizing everything in process, in addition to the work we've done, pairing the portfolio, replacing department stores, diversifying our tenant mix, We sit here in a position where we have created a portfolio of high quality assets that are delivering strong sales in markets that have high barriers to entry where we have overtaken the competition. Our success in asset dispositions and qualifying for our credit facility extension are a function of our laser sharp focus on operational performance where we have outperformed our peers in many quarters. We generated strong same store NOI results tied to significant occupancy gains following last year's record leasing activity. As occupancy increases, we're seeing a shift in pricing power as evidenced by our improved renewal spreads. We've been at the forefront of selling assets that didn't meet reasonable growth profile. We have proactively replaced anchors So that we don't just sit with vacant boxes throughout our portfolio. We've added critical elements to the mix dining, every form of retail, including formats, less found in malls. We have grocery anchors in a third of our malls. 12% of our portfolio is off price and fast fashion. We have two medical facility anchors and 14% of the portfolio is dining and entertainment. So we have distinguished our portfolio from traditional malls as we continue to evolve our properties to sit at the intersection of life and commerce, taking key steps to broaden customer appeal, enhancing the value of our assets. Morristown Mall is a great example of reshaping our traditional mall assets that are in competitive retail environments. The mall offers a true community hub complete with dining, entertainment, fitness offerings, including Planet Fitness and Orange Theory Fitness, a value retail collection, including HomeSense, Sierra, Five Below and Michaels, and now under construction are Cooper University Healthcare and a 375 unit apartment complex. Keep in mind, these are replacing vacant Sears and underutilized land. At Springfield Town Center, Construction for Lego Discovery Center is underway with an opening expected next year. The first of its new prototype in the United States. This is a key step in transforming the property into a vibrant multi-use hub, creating the preeminent family entertainment destination in the DC market. In addition to the upcoming opening of Lego, the proposed apartment and hotel developments will strengthen the property's appeal to customers and prospective tenants. The strength of Cherry Hill Mall's brand continues to gain momentum, leading our portfolio in securing new tenants. In addition to the earlier openings of our first Warby Parker and Mark Kane, we've executed leases for other first-to-portfolio tenants, Levi's, Psycho Bunny, and Eddie V's. With sales over $900 per square foot, these new tenants continue to cement the property status among the most elite malls in the country. At Willow Grove Park, construction is underway for Tilted 10, bringing a family entertainment center featuring laser tag, bowling, mini golf, virtual reality, pinball, and over 200 games and attractions to the property. through three quarters of the year heading into what is predicted to be a robust holiday season. Same store NOI, FFO, occupancy, leasing spreads are strong. Sales are above pre-pandemic levels. Our tenant mix is healthier than in years past, and we have a pipeline of nearly 7 million of revenue that is signed but not yet open. With occupancy stabilizing and strong sales, we believe we can further drive rents, enhancing portfolio value. Now it's worth taking a moment to understand where we are through the lens of where we came from. We laid out a strategy to markedly improve the quality of the portfolio, to make it bulletproof, disposing of properties in secondary and tertiary markets to improve our operating results and our balance sheet, and we did that. Next, we had to confront a wave of department store consolidation. We did that arguably better than anyone else. We replaced and re-merchandised 19 department stores into 40 tenants, began to incorporate apartments, hotels, medical facilities, and grocers, while completing major redevelopments, positioning the company for significant growth. Then we were confronted with an unanticipated pandemic that required quick, decisive action to manage the impacts on all of our stakeholders, including restructuring our debt, embarking on a material asset sale program, and continuously improving our results. We did that too. Now we find ourselves facing economic upheaval, rising rates, inflation, constrained financing environment. Having said all of that, we've dramatically improved the portfolio in high barrier to entry markets that are irreplaceable. And our plan, and I repeat, and our plan is to spend the coming year exploring all possible options available to the company as our credit facility matures, including refinancing, merger, sale, joint ventures, selling high-quality assets, and more. Remember, we've successfully met every challenge, and our intention is to conclude this challenge saying, we did that. Now I'll turn it over to Mario to provide further insight into our performance and accomplishments.