Veris Residential, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Veris Residential first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. The question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Taryn Fielder, General Counsel. Thank you, Taryn. You may begin.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Veris Residential's first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. I would like to remind everyone that certain information discussed on this call may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law. Although we believe the estimates reflected in these statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we cannot give assurance that the anticipated results will be achieved. We refer you to the company's press release and annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC for risk factors that impact the company. With that, I would like to hand the call over to Mahbub Nia, Veris Residential's Chief Executive Officer, who is joined by Amanda Lombard, Chief Financial Officer. Mahbub?

Thank you, Taryn, and good morning, everyone. We're pleased to report a positive start to the year, during which we further advanced our strategic goals while delivering another quarter of solid operational and financial results. Last quarter, we announced the completion of various residential strategic transformation into a pure-play multifamily REIT and outlined the three-pronged approach to value creation in this next phase, comprising accretive capital allocation initiatives, along with the continued optimization of our balance sheet, platform, and portfolio. We've begun to implement and progress a number of these initiatives. We took steps to further strengthen our balance sheet, securing a new $500 million credit facility and term loan that provides us with substantial liquidity and financial flexibility going forward, as well as potential for enhanced earnings this year, as reflected in our raised earnings guidance. Through these facilities, we've also effectively eliminated any perceived refinancing risk associated with our debt through the end of 2025. The high degree of interest and resulting commitments we received from a broad group of lenders for these facilities and what remains a challenging credit environment, is a testament to the progress our company has made over the past three years, and enables us to enter this next chapter from a position of strength. Amanda will discuss these transformative facilities in further detail. On the capital allocation front, we continue to unlock idle equity within the company, including sale of Harborside 5, our last remaining office property, and 107 Morgan Street, as well as two land sites, 6 Becker and 85 Livingston in suburban New Jersey that are under binding contract for $28 million and expected to close in the next few months. We anticipate recycling the net proceeds from these sales to more creative use, at this time the repayment of debt, as we seek to continue generating value for our shareholders. Before discussing our continued efforts to optimize portfolio performance, I would like to briefly touch on the broader market. This quarter, the Northeast saw relatively strong rental growth rates of 2%, with New Jersey and Boston outpacing New York. The Jersey City waterfront market, where nearly half of our properties are located, continues to be highly competitive compared to Manhattan and Brooklyn, with Class A rents reflecting an approximately 30% and 12% discount to these markets, respectively. This is underscored by move-ins from Manhattan to our portfolio, which continue to exceed 20% in the first quarter. Within our portfolio, we continue to evaluate innovative technological solutions as well as our organizational structure and processes to continuously enhance our platform. We're beginning to see early signs of the positive impact on earnings from previously introduced initiatives. In parallel, we upheld our commitment to the creation of exceptional resident experiences, combined the pursuit of operational excellence with our customer service-oriented approach to building management. In March, we ranked as the number one REIT in the US for online reputation by J. Turner Research, reflecting the unwavering dedication of our teams and our residents' recognition of their efforts. Turning to operational results, our same-store portfolio, which now includes House 25 and The James, was 94.1% occupied as of March 31st. While this is slightly below the year-end figure, the change can be largely attributed to the concentration of leases rolling at House 25, related to the rapid lease up of this recently completed property. Despite the beginning of the year being a typically slower leasing season, we achieved a 4.6% net blended rental growth rate during the quarter driven by 7.2% growth in renewals and 2% growth in new leases. We've also begun to see a slight pickup in new lease growth rates during the past few weeks as we entered the typically more active spring leasing season. Despite the continued rental growth across our portfolio, affordability remained healthy, with an average rent-to-income ratio of 12% in the first quarter. Turning to ESG, I'm pleased to share that we've improved our ISS corporate rating, earning us a prime status and the highest rating achieved by a real estate company in the United States. Furthermore, we were named a Gold Green Lease Leader by the US Department of Energy and the Institute for Market Transformation. We also secured three awards from the International Well Building Institute, the Well Concept Leader Award, Equity Leadership Award, and Commitment and Engagement Award, further validating our dedication to environmental and social initiatives. A comprehensive summary of our ESG report can be found on our new ESG website at vresustainability.com. With that, I'm going to hand it over to Amanda, who will discuss our financial performance and provide an update on guidance.