Paramount Group, Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Paramount Group first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. Please note that this conference is being recorded today, May 4, 2023. I will now turn the call over to Tom Hennessy Vice President of Business Development and Investor Relations.

Thank you, Operator, and good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I would like to point everyone to our first quarter 2023 earnings release and supplemental information, which were released yesterday. Both can be found under the heading Financial Results in the Investors section of the Paramount Group website at www.pgre.com. Some of our comments will be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements, which are usually identified by the use of the words such as will, expect, should, or other similar phrases, are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we expect. Therefore, you should use caution in interpreting and relying on them. We refer you to our SEC filings for a more detailed discussion of the risk that could impact our future operating results and financial condition. During the call, we will discuss our non-GAAP measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating the company's operating performance. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for our financial results as in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is available in our first quarter 2023 earnings release and our supplemental information. Hosting the call today, we have Mr. Albert Baylor, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of the company, Wilbur Pays, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and Peter Brindley, Executive Vice President, Head of Real Estate. Management will provide some opening remarks and we will then open the call to questions. With that, I will turn the call over to Albert.

Thank you, Tom, and thank you everyone for joining us this morning. It hasn't been long since we last spoke, but we are excited to share our progress as we are off to a good start so far in 2023. We have seen strong year-to-date execution by our leasing team. Before I dive into our overall results, let me touch upon the ongoing situation with First Republic, which currently occupies approximately 460,000 square feet at one front street in San Francisco. On May 1st, the FDIC took control of First Republic and JPMorgan Chase subsequently acquired the majority of the assets. Many of the details regarding the transaction remain unknown. To date, First Republic remains current on its rent payments and its offices remain open, but we are watching this closely, as I'm sure all of you are. Wilber will review the financial impact of First Republic in greater detail. Yesterday, we reported core FFO for the first quarter of 26 cents per share, 3 cents ahead of the street consensus. In the first quarter, we leased over 195,000 square feet, which is in line with our first quarter leasing from prior years. We also reported year-over-year same-store growth of 7.1% on a gap basis, and 0.1% on a cash basis. As a result of our strong first quarter earnings, we are raising the low end of our full year 2023 core FFO guidance to be one cent higher at the midpoint, which is now 92 cents per share compared to the previous midpoint of 91 cents per share. Virgo will also review our financial results and guidance in greater detail. The larger leases, which we mentioned on our last couple of calls, were taking longer to execute, have started to come through, as illustrated in our first quarter results. We were happy to announce the 119,000 square foot lease we signed at 31 West 52nd Street and with Wilson Sonsini, an international law firm. This lease meaningfully de-risked our largest 2024 role by approximately 30% and was the largest new lease signed in Manhattan during the quarter. Our New York portfolio continues to perform well, a strong indication of the steady return to the workplace, which we highlighted on our last call. The significant lease we signed during the quarter is a testament to the strength of our Class A assets and how high-quality, well-located buildings can outperform in a challenging environment. While we are seeing a lot of touring activity and we continue to take more than our fair share of leasing, the environment remains challenging. However, there are some signs for optimism as the Metro North recently announced that they are recording peak pandemic era ridership and 74% of the pre-pandemic average. This positive trend is a good sign that the commuters are slowly returning to the city for work. While the San Francisco portfolio continues to lag New York City, the activity on the streets of San Francisco has become more vibrant now than it was three, six, or 12 months ago. And our San Francisco office utilization figures have been consistently rising. Our centrally located San Francisco portfolio continues to attract high-quality tenants. During the quarter, we signed a 77,000-square-foot lease at Market Center in San Francisco with Waymoff, a subsidiary of Alphabet. We believe this transaction demonstrates the quality of the asset and the ability of our team to meet the objectives of the most discerning clients. Similar to the previously mentioned lease with Wilson Tansini in New York, our lease with Waymo was the largest new lease signed in San Francisco during the first quarter. Clearly, both portfolios continue to benefit from a key advantage in each market, namely the flight to quality. In addition to well-located Class A assets, part of the appeal to the highest quality tenants includes our market leading efforts with ESG. We were proud to announce that we achieved the 2023 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award from the EPA and Department of Energy. For the second consecutive year, we were recognized among a network of thousands of participants as a leader in sustainability space with performance within the top 25% for energy efficiency. This achievement is on top of the one we recognized in 2022 as we achieved Energy Star labels across 100% of our office portfolio. Participation in the Energy Star program is not only integral to our mission as a responsible owner, but also to our tenants who partner with us in initiatives that reduce both our carbon footprint and operating expenses. ESG matters to us and our tenants, and it will remain a key focus for us. Turning to the transaction market, activity remains muted. Rising interest rates, availability of debt capital, and volatile equity markets continue to keep buyers at bay. and sellers evaluating when conditions will improve. There have not been many quality assets that have come to the market, and for those that have, the bid-ask spread remains wide. That said, there are significant debt maturities on the horizon, which will certainly present opportunities for well-capitalized firms like Paramount. We will be strategic and disciplined. in allocating capital, as we always have. Let me conclude by saying we approach our business with a long-term mindset. Our Class A buildings and the coastal gateway markets in which we operate are resilient. They have constantly evolved and grown over decades and over many economic cycles. With that, I will turn the call to Peter.

thanks albert and good morning during the first quarter we leased approximately 196 000 square feet our first quarter leasing activity was weighted towards new york with 119 000 square foot leased powered by the lease we signed with wilson sonsini at 31 west 52nd street as albert mentioned this lease which was the largest new deal completed in manhattan during the first quarter reduced our portfolio's most significant 2024 lease expiration by approximately 30 percent we are delighted to further expand our relationship with wilson sansini who has chosen to double the size of their footprint in new york through the signing of this lease in san francisco we completed the market's largest new lease of the quarter with the signing of waymo at 555 market street Waymo will lease approximately 77,000 square feet in the base of the building on floors four through seven. This lease reduced our portfolio's largest remaining 2023 lease expiration by more than 30%. Despite operating in a challenging market environment, we continue to make progress on our business plan, as evidenced by our first quarter results. Companies have become increasingly focused on pursuing assets the highest quality managers and stable ownership we remain laser focused on delivering exceptional services throughout our high quality portfolio and capturing more than our share of demand and while companies have exhibited caution during the current economic slowdown we remain encouraged by the ongoing return to office trend and companies increasing desire to locate in the best buildings in our two markets These trends are encouraging, and we expect them to result in increased leasing activity when the economic conditions recover. At quarter end, our same-store portfolio-wide leased occupancy rate at share was 89.8%, down 150 basis points from last quarter and down 80 basis points year over year. As we look ahead, our remaining lease expirations are manageable. of 2.3 percent or approximately 181,000 square feet at share expiring by year-end turning to our markets Midtown's first quarter leasing activity of approximately 2.5 million square feet excluding renewals was down 2 percent quarter over quarter and down 30 percent below the five-year quarterly average Availability in Midtown remains elevated at 18.5% and absorption was negative during the first quarter as large block space additions exceeded below average leasing activity. Despite the challenging supply demand environment, Midtown's highest quality real estate in the most well-located sub markets remains active. We are encouraged by the level of interest in our largest availabilities at both 1301 Avenue of the Americas and 31 West 52nd Street, and we'll aim to build on the success we had in 2022 and in the first quarter of 2023 at both properties. We look forward to updating you on our progress over the balance of the year. Our New York portfolio is currently 90.2% leased on a same store basis at share, down 190 basis points quarter over quarter, and down 60 basis points year over year. largely as a result of the known lease expiration of Credit Agricole at 1301 Avenue of the Americas. During the first quarter, we leased 119,000 square feet at a weighted average term of 16 and a half years with an initial rent of $81 per square foot. Our overall lease expiration profile in New York is manageable at 0.6% or approximately 31,000 square feet at share expiring by year end. Turning now to San Francisco, leasing activity remains muted as companies contend with macroeconomic headwinds. Despite these well-known challenges, we have seen an uptick in active requirements in the market since year end, including from leading AI companies. We have also witnessed the ongoing return to office announcements from leading companies as many continue to reestablish workplace policy, and we expect this trend will continue. The result has been increased utilization within our own portfolio, which will support increased leasing when the economy recovers. Despite San Francisco's elevated availability rate, the market for premier assets remains tight and economics, particularly for view space and trophy assets, remain strong. Similar to New York, flight to quality is a movement that continues in San Francisco, resulting in an ongoing bifurcation of the market. At quarter end, our San Francisco portfolio was 88.7% leased on a same-store basis at share, down 20 basis points quarter over quarter, and down 140 basis points year over year. During the first quarter, we leased approximately 77,000 square feet, a weighted average term of five years, with an initial rent of $85 per square foot. Looking ahead, our San Francisco portfolio has 7% or approximately 150,000 square feet at share, expiring by year end. Majority of our 2023 lease roll will occur at Market Center when Uber's lease expires in July. We look forward to building on our most recent success at Market Center and providing updates on our progress. With that summary, I will turn the call over to Wilbur, who will discuss the financial results.

Thank you, Peter, and good morning, everyone. I will start off my prepared remarks by covering the details of our first quarter results, followed by a quick discussion of our balance sheet, and end with an update on our 2023 earnings guidance. Yesterday, we reported core FFO of 26 cents per share, which was ahead of consensus estimates and our own internal estimates. Same store growth was up 7.1% on a GAAP basis and 0.1% on a cash basis. The positive same store results were driven by our San Francisco portfolio, which was up a robust 10.9% on a GAAP basis and 1.9% on a cash basis. Our New York portfolio was up 5.4% on a GAAP basis and down 0.7% on a cash basis as expected, primarily due to the scheduled expiration of Credit Agricole's 305,000 square foot lease at 1301 Avenue of the Americas. Although I should point out that the full impact of this expiration on our same store results won't be felt until the second quarter because Credit Agricole's lease expired at the end of February. And as such, we had revenue for the two months in the first quarter. During the first quarter, we completed 195,634 square feet of leasing at a weighted average starting rent of $82.21 per square foot and for a weighted average lease term of 13 years. Mark to markets on 143,882 square feet of second generation space was positive 0.9% on a gap basis and negative 1.9% on a cash basis. Now to our balance sheet. Our liquidity position remains strong and amounted to over 1.2 billion at quarter end. We have 463 million of cash and restricted cash at share, which was up 11 million from the prior quarter. And we have the full 750 million of capacity under our revolving credit facility. An underappreciated yet tremendously important fact about our balance sheet is that all of our debt is secured and is non-recourse. During the quarter, we executed short-term extensions on two mortgage loans on JV assets, 60 Wall Street and 111 Sutter Street, at terms that were substantially similar to that of the maturing debt. Outstanding debt at quarter end was $3.67 billion at a weighted average interest rate of 3.58% and a weighted average maturity of 3.8 years. 87% of our debt is fixed and has a weighted average interest rate of 3.26%. The remaining 13% is floating and has a weighted average interest rate of 5.8%. We have under 85 million of debt at share maturing in 2023 and 585 million at share maturing in 2024. Turning now to our 2023 guidance. Based on our first quarter results and our outlook for the remainder of the year, we are increasing our core FFO guidance to be between 90 and 94 cents per share or 92 cents per share at the midpoint. This is up one cent per share compared to our prior guidance. While we continue to expect same-store growth to be negative in 2023, driven by known move-outs of Credit Agricole in New York and Uber in San Francisco, we are expecting a 50 basis point improvement in our same-store results on both a gap and cash basis. Same-store gap NOI growth is now expected to be between negative 1% and negative 3%, while same-store cash NOI growth is now expected to be between negative 3% and negative 5%. Let me close out my remarks by spending a couple of minutes on the impact of First Republic on our financial results and guidance. Our 2023 guidance assumes that First Republic continues to honor its obligations under our lease agreements, and we continue to recognize rental revenue in accordance with GAAP through year-end. As a reminder, First Republic currently leases 460,726 square feet of space at One Front Street in San Francisco. It accounts for approximately 43 million or 6.4% of our annualized rent at share and represents about 520 basis points of our leased occupancy at share. First Republic remains current on its rent, and we have already received May's rent. We recognize about $3.5 million a month in gap rental revenue, which we will continue to do until facts and circumstances change, indicating that collection of rent is not probable. As of March 31st, we have a straight line rent receivable asset on our balance sheet of slightly over $19 million. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and update you accordingly. With that, Operator, please open the line for questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then 2. At this time, we will pause for a moment to assemble our roster. Our first question today will come from Steve Sacqua of Evercore ISI. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good morning. Thanks for the detail on First Republic. I realize it's a pretty fresh situation. I just don't know if you have any sense as to kind of what the legal precedent is given sort of the FDIC seizure and the ultimate sale to J.P. Morgan. I know this isn't like a typical bankruptcy. So do you have any sense for how this kind of ultimately plays out or gets resolved?

Well, Steve, good morning. This is Albert. It's still very early. From what we understand, JP Morgan now has about 60 days to decide what space, you're talking about the real estate part, I guess, and that's what I'm referring to. 60 days time to figure out what space they would like to reject or accept and We we have had first calls, but it's way too early to talk about it. And you know that one front is the premier asset that they occupy in San Francisco and we we think that most of the space will stay in place. But that's way too early to really predict anything else.

Great. Thanks. And then maybe, I guess, one for Peter. I see you've de-risked a little bit of the Uber space with the Waymo deal. And I think you had talked on the last call about having some deals in the hopper for that space. So I presume Waymo was one of them. But Just, you know, maybe what other activities are you seeing in San Francisco for this near-term expiration?

Yeah. I think, Steve, this won't come as a surprise. We're dealing with, you know, a challenging environment in San Francisco. The market is challenged. We saw light leasing velocity in the first quarter. That being said, we are seeing a notable increase Not only return to office, we are seeing a significant increase in utilization. We feel really good about that, but we've also seen an increase in tenant demand, call it over the last four to six weeks. Not where we would all like it to be, but it has increased. And as you would expect, tenants who are more discerning than ever are focused on higher quality real estate with high quality managers and with stable ownership. So, to answer your question specifically, we do have activity. We, of course, are working to further de-risk that role, which we'll get back later this year. Nothing more I can share specifically at this point. The building shows very well. It's very well located. And, of course, both brokers and tenants are well aware of the opportunity and certainly paramount. And so, we look forward to updating you on future calls, but I don't have anything more specific to say today. Other than we feel OK about the level of interest.

OK, and last one for me, just Albert, you sort of talked about maybe potential investment opportunities. I realize that, you know, leverage and net debt divot might be on the higher end of what the market's, you know, comfortable with right now. And I don't think you bought back stock in the quarter, but, you know, how are you and the board thinking about, you know, new investment opportunities in office, which remain challenged against, you know, share buybacks as a alternative to, you know, new investments?

Very good question, Steve. I mean, we have a... history of being opportunistic and very disciplined. And I said on the last calls already, it will be very, very careful with spending our own equity on any future future acquisition. So that said, I think the market currently has a lot of big ask spreads. So there will be development for opportunities. We have relationships, as you know, that go back for quite some time. And as we did in the past, when we acquired the M&M building on 1600 Broadway, the company didn't invest a lot of its equity, but there was an investor group that loved the exposure. and actually it's performing very well for them and they're very happy with that investment. When we have a situation like that, a lot of, especially foreign investors who are looking to have boots on the ground, who have an experienced, looking for an experienced team that knows leasing and property management and asset management, And those are the kinds of potential investors we would be talking to if the opportunity arises.

Great. Thanks. That's it for me.

Thank you.

Our next question will come from Camille Bonnell of Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Hi. Good morning. Just starting with capital markets, there's been a lot of debate and strong opinions around whether or not landlords should be handing back keys if one can't come to terms with their lenders. How do you think about this as one of your options and what are the positives and negatives of taking that approach in your view?

Well, you have heard from Wilbur's remarks that Our debt is basically non-recourse to the company. We are evaluating each case on a case-by-case basis. We are not currently in a position to share a lot of detail. I think it really depends. We also have good relationships with our lenders over decades. And I think it's the lenders have to face reality that they need someone who understands real estate. You're talking about giving back keys. It's not an easy thing for both parties. So we have in the history of Paramount never done this so far. But we can evaluate and will evaluate this on a case-by-case basis. But our debt, and maybe Wilbur can go into more details, is pretty spread. And we have the, we are in the good position that we have a lot of long-term debt. About 87% of our debt is staggered over a couple of years. So, we will look at each case on a case-by-case basis.

Sure. I mean, the only thing I would add, Kamil, obviously that is a tool in the toolbox. It's the reason you have non-recourse debt, right? It's the ability to be able to do that if it doesn't make economic sense for you to continue to operate that asset. And we evaluate that, as Albert said, on a case-by-case basis. You saw this quarter we extended short-term a couple of our JV loans. And it's a market where everybody is going to have some pain. There's going to be a lot of workouts across operator groups. And from our vantage point, lenders do want to work with landlords that have the knowledge and the wherewithal to be able to come out of this crisis. And so we'll have those discussions. They will be tough, but they have to be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Thank you for your responses. One Market Plaza has been one of the best performing assets within your portfolio. And I know we're still a bit far out, but Visa, who leases quite a large amount of space, recently announced that it plans to sublet at one Market Plaza before ultimately relocating to its new HQ in Mission Bay. This seems to be a similar trend to Uber's decision to vacate their offices around Market Street. Just wondering if you could share your views about the competitiveness of Market Street or Core CBD San Fran for trophy demand with these large supply headwinds and how PGRE's strategy fits in this context.

Well, I wouldn't say that there's a large supply headwind there. When we bought Market Center, we knew that Uber was moving out, and that was from the beginning very clear. They had worked on the headquarter already when the asset was purchased. With one market plaza, this is something, the lease expires in 2026, so there's a lot of time between now and 2026. This is arguably one of the best, if not the best, lease building in San Francisco. And even in this market, Peter and his team have done a fantastic job, in many cases, leasing space at over $100 a square foot. And they have been, in one case recently, there was a competition between two tenants to get the same floor. So, we'll tackle it in time. It's space that's normally in good demand. And we'll tackle it over time. I don't think that's a trend. because of Uber and Visa making that decision.

And a follow-up question for Wilbur. Do you see this recent announcement impacting your ability to refinance the mortgage loan coming due in 2024 at similar terms?

No, I mean, I, you know, one, I don't similar terms that current that camellia that 4%, you're not going to see 4% money on any building in New York City on San Francisco. So I don't know if similar terms is the right terminology here. I don't expect any issue with refinancing that asset. That asset is arguably one of the best assets, has great tenancy. We've had a history of capturing way more than our fair share of demand in the market, flocking to that asset. It has very good coverage, and it has, Terrific sponsors between Paramount and Blackstone.

Thank you for taking my questions.

Our next question today is from Blaine Heck of Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Great. Thanks. Good morning. Just to piggyback on some of the earlier questions, on some of those loans that you executed extensions on, 60 Wall and 111 Sutter, Were you or your partners required to make equity infusions in connection with those extensions?

So, no, let me take each loan by itself. 60 Wall, as you know, is a project that is currently under development. That loan was scheduled to mature in February. We extended short-term for a year on the same terms. No equity infusion yet. We continue to negotiate with the lender. Recognize for us, we are 5%. So, you know, we have a view, our partners have a view, and we're having discussions with the lender group right now. When you look at our balance sheet at share, 60 wall is about $29 million of debt on our balance sheet, which has zero EBITDA. It's a non-income producing asset. So if it turns out that, you know, we don't come to a mutually agreeable solution, that debt will come off our balance sheet and it will improve metrics.

And let me add on that, we have, we have, Blaine, we, we have a, that the joint venture has available and is willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate that asset. And I think the lending group knows that. It's not something that is not seen by them. So it's a matter, like Bilba said, we have to come to terms that make sense for both parties. Nobody would invest hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate an asset. If it's not also a good investment for the future, or you know the term, not throwing good money after bad money, that has to be evaluated.

And then on 111 Sutter, that debt came due in March. We have extended that through May of 24. It's under the same terms, but we're not going to be putting any capital in that. So essentially, that's a cash flow loan. We came to agreement with the lender group that we're not going to invest. We and our partners are not going to invest any capital from our balance sheet to be able to move forward on that project. That asset continues to remain challenged. Peter talked about the market being challenged. That asset is 56% leased. And so we have a cash flow loan that we will pick up our share of the shortfalls in our earnings, but it will be picked to the principal balance. And as you know, we've already written off our investment in that asset last quarter. So, you know, we're going to see how that develops, how the market develops in a year from today, protecting our balance sheet by not investing our own capital into it. And then we'll reassess a year from today.

Great. Very helpful color from both of you. Thank you. Second question, can you guys give us any color on the Wilson Cincinnati lease and where that rent is relative to what Clifford Chance was paying and maybe what the concession package looked like on that lease from both the TI and free rent perspective?

Sure. I mean, you know, interestingly enough, ordinarily we would not give that, but the reality is we had that lease in New York and it shows up in our stats. That was 119,000 square foot lease. You saw the initial rent on that deal was $81 a foot, mark to markets. relative to the Clifford Chance space. I think we said 92,000 square feet served to de-risk the Clifford Chance space. The remainder of it really was occupancy increasing because it served to absorb a vacant former TD Bank floor. So on the 92,000 square feet, you saw the mark-to-market was negative 3.6%. So the stats are published in our leasing results, Glenn.

Great. That's helpful. And then just generally, can you talk a little bit about how higher interest rates have impacted the competitive landscape with regard to TIs? I assume some landlords are kind of less willing to spend on TIs based on their higher cost of capital. So how does that play out with respect to free rent increasing or lower face rates? And how do you think PGRE can differentiate itself to compete in that environment?

Blaine, this is Peter. I think in many respects, it shrinks the market in terms of buildings that can compete given the environment that we're functioning within. I don't think we've seen a significant uptick in concessions. They're already at historical levels. But I think brokers and prospective tenants are extraordinarily mindful in terms of who they are about the transact with and want to ensure that the owner is well capitalized and able to deliver on the commitment. I'm actually seeing it in a deal that we were able to influence on our direction because, and I know this to be true, that tenant had considered a building where they were concerned about that owner's ability to execute and transact ultimately. And so, we're seeing it play out real time, and we think it inures to our benefit in the end.

In essence, the flight to quality term has broadened. It does not only apply to the asset quality, it applies to the landlord quality.

That's very helpful. Thank you all.

Our next question today. Thank you. Thank you. Our next question today will come from the Karamahaltra of Mizuho. Please go ahead.

Thanks for taking the question. Just to sort of stick to San Francisco and some of the larger leases. I know this is two years out, but wondering if you've had any early conversations with Google on their lease. They're obviously in process or will be building a bigger campus down the road. And I'm assuming tech is generally consolidating. So any conversations or early conversations you may have had on Google?

Um, maybe this is Albert. Um, it's, uh, I think too early to talk about, uh, any, uh, give predictions on on, uh, what what tenants are going to do. And I would say, um, San Francisco is, uh, behind on, uh, coming back to the office work. Uh, here in New York, um, it's, it's really stabilizing dramatically over the last I mean, dramatically in a positive way. substantially in the last, I would say, couple of months. We are now talking from 1633 Broadway and most days back to 75% occupancy. That is, and that means people in the office. That is still different in San Francisco. However, San Francisco has been, the increases have been more drastic than in New York over the last couple of months. And we also have developed through one of our funds, the condominium tower that sits right on the waterfront at the Embarcadero. And it's arguably the best condominium tower in San Francisco. And I could say it was relatively quiet for the last 12, months with regard to sales, but now sales have picked up and interest has picked up significantly over the last six weeks or so, and we are making deals. So, two years from now is a lifetime in these kind of markets. There was a term in Stay Alive Till 95 at one time by Sam Zell. I would call it Stay Alive Till 25. That's a new one. You have to be a little patient. Things are changing dramatically very quickly.

That's fair enough. Just talking about 25, I guess, Wilbur, if we look at all the moving pieces you've just outlined, there's still work to be done in terms of releasing Do you mind just abating us on thoughts, you know, how you think about dividend coverage? You know, some of your peers have decided to postpone or cut the dividend and potentially exploring future cash or stock payouts. And I'm just wondering how you're thinking about the dividend here, given the yield and what you're seeing in terms of cash flow.

The dividend is something, it's a policy that... gets decided by the board, and we are talking about this on a quarterly basis, Bikram. And we are looking at this, especially in these kind of times, very, very carefully. I'll ask Wilbur to give more details, but that's something where management is putting their heads together and then recommending things to the board. And I think it's too early to say what the company is planning here.

Yeah, no, Albert is exactly right. I mean, you know, we continue to discuss this with the board. It's not lost on us what is happening. in the market where our stock is where our peer stock is we've seen the actions they have taken some have have done it you know more than once so we continue to evaluate uh we recognize our profile we recognize that the stock is not trading on the dividend yield today and um so you know more to come on that we will continue to discuss and more to come okay and then just one bigger picture question i guess albert

You referenced the improvement in traffic in New York and the recent month San Francisco improving as well. There have been some workouts. Other players have handed back keys on the private side. So I'm just wondering if things are sort of inflecting, I'm trying to wonder what things you're monitoring that would sort of make Paramount want to go on offense in terms of whether it's value-add or other types of buildings in your core markets. What are the things you're

monitoring that would suggest okay we now are finally seeing the inflection we want to put capital to work very good question bikram and we were referring before to the big difference between bid and ask and the expectation and i think And I mentioned before, we are very careful. Even so, we have been historically very opportunistic in these kind of market cycles. So, our expedition team is quite active evaluating what happens in the market. We, as you know, have MES funds that see what's going on in the MES business. And I think there's more pain to come. I would say the market is improving for making an acquisition if you want to be really, if you have the right capital structure, but you want to be very, very careful. It's important to have long-term capital available, but it's next to impossible to find the bottom. We are not stock pickers here. We are asset pickers if you look at it. And to find an asset that's attractive for us, sometimes we have to look for years, and it has to be in a certain location, and it has to have certain characteristics, and it takes a long time. But from the valuation point of view, I think we are getting close to where it might make sense to put some money. Paramount, as such, will not invest a lot of its own equity capital, but there are a lot of parties that have capital out there, and they're looking for these kind of opportunities.

Great. Thank you so much.

So you're welcome.

Our next question today is from Derek Johnston of Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Hey, everybody. Good morning, I guess, or early afternoon. I just wanted to go back to TIs, specifically in San Francisco. Nice volume there with 77,000 square feet, but a term of five years is less than ideal for the TI package that they received at around 23% of starting rents. So I was just wondering, is there something special about this deal, something in a one-off nature, or is this somewhat of the new norm for TIs in the San Francisco market?

No, my Derek, this is Peter. We were excited about the tenant. It was a shorter term deal. They intend to continue to improve their own space. We believe that Waymo is a candidate to potentially continue to expand within the building. We think those are productive dollars that they will likely use to improve the space. And we felt very good, I would say, about the overall economics of the deal, even though the concessions were slightly elevated relative to where we have been historically.

Derek, the only thing I'll highlight and maybe add to what Peter is saying, you know, when a real estate business, downtime is a killer, okay? When we look at the economics of transacting, you value typical downtime. We've done now de-risking a nice chunk of the Uber space ahead of its expiration. We have de-risked a nice chunk of the Clifford Chan space ahead of this expiration. We de-risked the Craig Agri-Cole space with 161,000 square feet with Old Melvin ahead of its expiration. And that is not talked about. That's a tremendous amount of savings by eliminating downtime now on, you know, 300, 400,000 square feet of leasing activity over the last nine months.

And especially if you talk about assets that we own Those leases seem to be a little bit more lumpy, and the team is laser-focused on approaching these kind of explorations early and making plans for it.

No, that's very helpful, and specifically what Peter said with the expansion opportunity with Waymo, it seems to make good sense. I guess second question is, You know, we were pretty impressed with the leasing volumes this quarter. Definitely, you know, beat our internal expectations here at DB. But, you know, I was also wondering, you know, why you guys kept the leasing guidance unchanged, given the strength that you saw very early in the year.

You know, it's very early in the year. You said it, and that's why we didn't change it. It's... As I mentioned a minute ago, these leases are very lumpy, and you can't expect and the parties negotiate sometimes for month and month. It's very hard to predict when the decision is going to be made, so that's why we are not doing it. changing things.

And Derek, if you look at the guidance, I mean, even if you were to annualize that number, it falls within the range. So it falls slightly above the midpoint of where our current range is between six and 900,000 square feet. And so as Albert said, we felt it was too early to adjust that at this point.

Okay, fair enough. And lastly, you know, look, just thinking out loud, you know, I'm not a bank analyst, but First Republic, usually when you acquire something, you acquire the assets and the liabilities. And I'm just wondering if there's any recourse that you could potentially have if JP Morgan decides to not take the space. And are there any ways that you can perhaps recover a sizable lease expiration fee or any possible way to somewhat monetize that space if you can't even just force them to continue to occupy it and pay rent. Just once again, thinking out loud, I don't really know. This isn't a traditional bankruptcy where you have bankruptcy court protection, right?

Yep. Derek, it's too early. This was two days ago to speculate what we can do, and I would clearly not do it on an earnings call. I think we should leave it at that.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. You're welcome.

Our next question today is from Ronald Camden of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Hey, just a couple quick ones. So saw the 60 wall and 111 Southern was extended. Can you comment on 300 Mission Street? I think that was the other debt piece. How's that, how's those conversations coming and so forth? Thanks.

So, as you point out, 300 Mission matures in September of this year, or October of this year, rather, and we're starting to launch a broader process in the market. We continue to have negotiations with the existing lender group as well. That asset is a terrific asset. It's well leased. It has, you know, no major near-term role, and it has plenty of debt coverage. I mean, I would envision, obviously, you know, us to be successful in refinancing that asset, albeit at north of where the current interest rate is.

Got it. Makes sense. And then just a bigger picture question on San Francisco. You know, we saw the same article on Visa and obviously Autodesk earlier in the year and was just wondering sort of Albert and team, what sort of needs to happen in San Francisco market for that market to bottom? Because if you sort of look at the class A or B availability, if you look at sublease, they've been going in the wrong direction, right? Do you need something governmental? Just trying to figure out what stops sort of this vicious cycle. How are you guys sort of thinking about it? Because it doesn't seem like if you just wait and see, everything's going to get better. It feels like there needs to be some sort of a catalyst. How are you guys thinking about that?

Yeah. I think it starts with, and then Peter will talk about the visa, because that's old news, sorry to say. But Peter will give you details. I had mentioned it in answering another question before a little bit. These markets go in cycles, and San Francisco is clearly behind New York with in terms of back to the office users. And it has picked up tremendously over the last couple of weeks. And I'm confident that this will impact the market over the next 12 months. And you can also see, I mentioned it a minute ago, that we have developed, you might know, a condominium tower right on the waterfront that had no sales activity for quite a long time, I would say for 12 months. Now we have sold a couple of, this is held in a fund, so not to confuse anyone, it's held in one of Paramount's funds, and the public company has a very small interest in that fund. But it's interesting to see that just recently, we have a couple of sales. There's activity. There's visitor activity. So, I think some of the news you are getting today, it's old news. And they, San Francisco is a market that goes down quickly, but then comes back also pretty quickly.

Yeah, Ron, just to clarify, we did get another question on Visa. Just to clarify, that lease was signed two years ago, and that occurred after we were unable to accommodate them at one market because one market so well leased for roughly 400,000 square feet. So I just wanted to clarify that. I know there had been something written about it most recently, but this is old news. We do think the return to office has been significant. Companies have been very demonstrative about acknowledging the importance of in-person work, specifically in San Francisco with tech companies. And we think that's going to be a needle mover for us. Companies, of course, are focused right now on cost controls, capital preservation, et cetera. But the return to office is very significant. And as the economy starts to settle down and improve to some extent, we think, well, that is the impetus to ultimately realize an uptick and increase leasing going forward.

Great. Thanks so much. You're welcome.

And as a reminder, please press star then 1 to ask a question. Our next question today comes from Michael Manos of Green Street. Please go ahead.

Hey, guys. You have Mike on for Dylan this morning. But just one quick question. Kind of looking at the balance sheet, seems like you guys have a large cash balance that has continued to grow. And understand that looking at potential acquisitions as distress may come up in some markets, you guys are looking to really mostly use JV capital and be mindful of your current cost of capital. And then also just kind of triangulating everything together. It seems like there's 15 million left on your current share repurchase authorization. So just curious if you guys have any plans for that large cash balance.

Let's start with the buyback. We are discussing that. with the board on a quarterly basis. We are looking very carefully not to increase leverage, so we try to do this leverage neutral. When it comes to acquisitions, and I talked about it on this call a minute ago, we will clearly be very careful with our own capital because in times like this you don't know what happens with your assets. The company, you're right, the company has a clean balance sheet. We have no debt on balance sheet, and we have only non-recourse debt on assets, and some assets have no debt at all. And we would like to keep it clean. We will clearly not go out there and acquire something with significant equity capital from PGRE. But if there is an opportunity, and we have been opportunistic in the past, that's how this company grew and ran its fund business in the past, we will look at opportunities, and we have joint venture partners who are interested to venture with us. They want boots on the ground that are experienced difficult situations who are familiar with leasing assets. And we will only look at class A opportunities. I think quality, we talked about this a couple of times, quality is key. And that's where tenants want to go to. And this is where the team will focus on. But we will be very, very careful.

Great, thanks. That's it for me.

Thank you.

And at this time, showing no further questions, we will conclude our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Albert Baylor for any closing remarks.

Thank you very much, all of you, for joining us today. We look forward to giving you an update on our continued progress when we report our second quarter 2023 results. Goodbye.

The conference has now concluded. We thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.