Urban Edge Properties

Greetings. Welcome to Urban Edge Properties' fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Areeba Ahmed from Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning and welcome to Urban Etch Properties' 2024 Year-End Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Jeff Olson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Mualem, Chief Operating Officer, Mark Langer, Chief Financial Officer, Rob Milton, General Counsel, Scott Oster, EVP and Head of Leasing, and Andrea Drazen, Chief Accounting Officer. Please note today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements about the company's views of future events and financial performance, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, and which the company does not undertake to update. Our actual results, financial condition, and business may differ. Please refer to our filings with the SEC, which are also available on our website, for more information about the company. In our discussion today, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including reference to our 2025 FFO as adjusted targets. Reconciliations of these measures to GAAP results are available in our earnings release, supplemental disclosure package, and our April 2023 investor presentation in the investor section of our website. At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Olson.

Great. Thank you, Areva, and good morning, everyone. 2024 was a year marked by significant accomplishments for Urban Edge. We continued to outperform expectations and delivered outstanding results, notably increasing FFO as adjusted by 8% for the year to $1.35 per share, allowing us to achieve our three-year earnings target one year ahead of plan. The strong performance has been fueled by our creative capital recycling, record leasing volumes, and new rent commencements. In 2024, we executed a record 79 new leases totaling 485,000 square feet with a same space cash rent spread of 26% and achieved a new record for shop occupancy at 91%. Same property portfolio occupancy grew to 96.6%. Our signed but not open pipeline is expected to generate $25 million of future annual gross rent representing 9% of NOI. Our centers are benefiting from improved co-tenancy as we add retailers like Trader Joe's, BJ's Wholesale Club, TJX, Burlington, and Ross, which stimulate higher quality shop tenants and QSRs like First Watch, Chipotle, Dave's Hot Chicken, Starbucks, and Tate Bakery and Cafe. These structural shifts in tenancy have lasting benefits in the form of higher rent growth, improved occupancy, and notable value creation as cap rate compression occurs with new dominant anchors and the addition of high quality shop tenants. We expect the same pattern to occur if we recapture some of the at-risk names in the headlines today. Our development and construction team had a very productive year. We completed $30 million of redevelopment projects expected to generate a 16% unlevered return And we ended the year with $163 million of anchor repositioning and redevelopment projects expected to generate a 15% unlevered return. 2025 marks the 10-year anniversary of the formation of Urban Edge. It has been rewarding to see us carry out our mission to improve shopping centers located in and on the edge of urban communities. Over the past decade, we have built an exceptional team that has significantly improved our portfolio, adding top retailers who drive traffic and rents while replacing underperforming tenants. Our portfolio is now 80% grocery anchored, with grocers generating average sales of $900 per square foot, which we believe is the highest in the sector. Since our spin, we have increased portfolio ABR by almost 30 percent, achieved record leasing volumes in the past three years, simplified our portfolio through capital recycling, and expanded our concentration in the Boston and Washington, D.C. metro markets. These accomplishments have significantly improved the strength and stability of our cash flows, and we are optimistic about our growth plans in the next 10 years to continue to add value through disciplined capital allocation and operational excellence. Now, turning to our 2025 outlook. Our goals for the year include achieving FFO as adjusted growth of 4% or better while generating same property NOI growth of at least 3.5%. We expect to generate $8 million of gross rents during 2025 from our $25 million signed but not open pipeline and increase our leased occupancy back to our historical high levels of 97 to 98%. As a result of our higher earnings and taxable income, we are increasing our dividend by 12%. While we do not include any acquisitions or dispositions in our guidance, we are on the hunt for opportunities. And we are hopeful that we will find deals that make sense for our company. Our track record is strong. Over the last 16 months, we have acquired over $550 million in assets at a 7 percent cap rate, funded in part through $427 million of dispositions at a 5 percent cap rate. We are proud of our performance over the past decade, and we look forward to continuing our success in 2025. I will now turn it over to our Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Muellem.