Sun Communities, Inc.

good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for standing by welcome to the sun community's first quarter 2022 earnings conference call at this time management would like me to inform you that certain statements made during this call which are not historical facts may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meanings of the privacy of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. although the company believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the company can provide no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. Factors and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations are detailed in yesterday's press release and from time to time in the company's periodic filings with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to advise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. Having said that, I would like to introduce management with us today. Gary Schiffman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John McLaren, President and Chief Operating Officer, Karen Dearing, Chief Financial Officer, and Fernando Castro Caratini, Senior Vice President, Finance and Capital Markets. After their remarks, we will have an opportunity to ask questions. I will now turn the program over to Gary Shiffman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Shiffman, you may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us as we discuss our first quarter 2022 results and growth initiatives and provide an update on our outlook. As anticipated, we delivered another strong quarter, building on 2021's momentum and positioning us for another solid year we execute on each of our growth pillars, including organic growth, accretive acquisitions, and developments. In quarter, core FFO per share was $1.34, which is a 6.3% increase over last year. The ongoing demand for attainable housing and affordable vacationing continues to be evident in our platform as driving compelling, ongoing organic growth. Applications to live in a Sun community increased 6%, and same property occupancy increased 160 basis points over the same time last year. Revenue-producing sites increased by approximately 30% compared to the first quarter of 2021. The majority of those were conversions of transient RV to annual RV leases, which provides us a 50% revenue uplift within the first year. In terms of acquisitions, in the first quarter and year to date through this call, we have completed approximately $1.6 billion of transactions, including the 950 million pound or $1.2 billion acquisition of Park Holidays. We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of the Park Holidays portfolio, which expands on its total addressable market and takes advantage of our relative cost of capital within a very fragmented UK market. The acquisition of these 40 properties in many highly desirable seaside locations provides Sun with an additional platform for growth, growing on our expertise and proven track record. Our holidays is a mirror image of our manufactured housing business with the same supply and demand drivers sticky revenues, and a highly experienced and dedicated management team. Our manufactured housing business ended the quarter with 96.7% total portfolio occupancy, a 20 basis point increase over last year. With compelling demand tailwinds, we are continuing to pursue greenfield developments and expansion opportunities. is uniquely positioned to capture this opportunity given our experience development platform and team. It has played an important role since we developed our first communities over 30 years ago. Within the RV business, robust demand continues as many new guests discover the joy and affordability of an RV vacation. This has only accelerated over the past two years. For its quarter, same-property RV revenue growth increased 20.5% compared to 2021. Furthermore, an outdoor industry-leading monthly research report in March indicated that 50% of campers have already booked trips for 2022, indicating the ongoing outdoor vacationing demand. Our marina properties have also continued to perform well, with overall performance exceeding our first quarter expectations. Our same property marinas produced a 7.7% revenue increase this quarter compared to last year. During and subsequent to the first quarter, we added four marinas to our portfolio. These new locations strengthened Safe Harbor's network effect as the largest operator of marinas in the United States. It also gives new boat owners and used boat owners additional opportunities to join as Safe Harbor members. Additionally, as you may have seen in a recent press release, I'm excited to announce the promotion of Fernando Castro to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective May 2nd. I'm pleased to have both Fernando and Karen with us on this call today to take any of your questions. Aaron will play a key role in the CFO transition and will be staying on as an executive officer leading the UK integration efforts and advising on other corporate initiatives. Aaron has deep experience integrating many acquisitions, including large corporate transactions, such as American Land Lease, Carefree, and Safe Harbor. A strong cycle-tested record of operating, expanding, and acquiring communities is favorably positioned to continue to deliver solid results. Macro tailwinds we are seeing support growth across the business. The demand for attainable housing, outdoor vacationing, and marina slips and storage is sustained through economic cycles. Sun is uniquely positioned to meet these customer needs. Furthermore, with the closing of Park Holidays, we look forward to continuing to establish a presence among the fragmented UK market. We have a highly talented and experienced team across our entire organization, and we are excited about the opportunity to continue to build on Sun's best-in-class platform. I will now turn the call over to John and Fernando to discuss their results in further detail.

Thank you, Gary. Our team delivered another excellent quarter of operational results. Some same property MH and RV NOI growth for the first quarter was 7.7%, a 150 basis point increase over the high end of guidance. This was driven by a 9.2% increase in revenues, offset by a 12.7% increase in property operating expenses. Outperformance during the first quarter was driven by annual RV revenues given increased annual RV conversions and transient RV revenues, which benefited from a full return of our Canadian snowbirds and strong rate and occupancy growth in the first quarter. The weighted average rental increase was 4.2% for the quarter and occupancy increased by 160 basis points. Marina same property revenues were up 7.7% for the quarter, driven by rental rate, occupancy gains, and transient revenues. Same property Marina NOI growth was 1.2% as certain expenses were unseasonably higher during the first quarter. The first quarter is the lowest contributor to NOI from a seasonality perspective at 18%, and therefore higher expenses had a disproportionate impact to NOI growth. That said, current demand, leasing activity, and forward visibility into the strong start to the summer boating season helps us reaffirm the full year NOI growth guidance to 6% to 7.4%. Performance for the overall marina platform exceeded expectations as we also experienced stronger demand for service by our members. Our acquisitions of approximately $1.6 billion during and subsequent to the end of the first quarter include the 41 UK properties with over 16,700 sites and four marinas with nearly 900 wet slips and dry storage spaces. This also includes Sandy Bay, a popular southern England seaside retirement manufactured housing community for approximately $184 million, consisting of approximately 600 occupied sites with an additional 600 expansion sites that we expect to build out over the coming years. Additionally, we disposed the three assets of Florida in the first quarter for a total of $29.6 million as we continue to optimize our portfolio. As of today, our total platform includes 644 properties throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. As Gary mentioned, applications to live in a Sun community increased 6% compared to the first quarter of 2021. For the quarter, Sun sold over 800 new and pre-owned homes in line with last year. Our new home selling price increased by almost 17% to almost $180,000, and we maintain margins compared to last year. Additionally, our brokered home selling price increased by 35.4% in the quarter, which demonstrates the value proposition for residents who come to live in a Sun community. Our total portfolio occupancy as of March 31st was 97.5%, and during the quarter, we gained 670 revenue-producing sites, with the majority being RV transient annual lease conversions. Sun's inventory of nearly 11,000 zoned and entitled manufactured housing and RV sites provides Sun with an investment pipeline to fuel growth for many years as we execute on our development plans. In addition, we have a significant pipeline of land for future development within the entitlement process that will enable us to be in a position to meet the increasing demand for attainable housing across the country. We plan to start development of five new greenfield manufactured housing communities in 2022, with two communities actively under construction today, with first phases anticipated to open late this year in Colorado and Florida. Board bookings for our sun-owned and operated RV resorts are pacing approximately 5% ahead compared to the same time last year for the second quarter. As you will recall, the second quarter of 2021 delivered strong results as all resorts were open and in very high demand. They are pacing 13% ahead for the second half of the year. Our RV same property NOI growth of almost 23% compared to the first quarter of 2021 shows the continued demand for outdoor vacationing, which benefited from the Canadian border being open for our Snowbird residents and guests. There's a lot of conversation around the potential impact of inflation and rising gas prices. We're also pleased to see the continued strong forward bookings for the remainder of the year, which we believe is a solid indicator of an RV vacation's continued desirability. Operationally, Sun had a very positive quarter due to the diligent effort of all team members. Fernando will now discuss our financial results in more detail. Fernando?