Veris Residential, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Veris Residential Inc. Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference 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 during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Ms. Taryn Fielder. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Veris Residential's third quarter 2025 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 Ana Mohari, Chief Operating Officer, and Amanda Lombard, Chief Financial Officer. Mahbub.

Thank you, Taryn, and good morning, everyone. We're delighted to report another quarter of exceptionally strong operational performance, including blended net rental growth of 3.9%, significantly outperforming the national market, and core FFO per share of 20 cents. Despite challenging transaction markets, we made considerable progress on our corporate plan to monetize select non-strategic assets using sales proceeds to further de-lever as we seek to continue unlocking the value embedded within the company. To date, we've sold or entered contracts of $542 million of non-strategic assets, including half site eight and nine, exceeding the upper end of our initial $300 to $500 million target which we are now raising to $650 million. These sales and subsequent debt repayments continue to drive outside earnings growth relative to our peers while strengthening our balance sheet, as we have proactively reduced net debt to EBITDA by 15% since the beginning of the year to 10 times. Halbside 8 and 9 is expected to close early next year, albeit closing is subject to factors outside of our control, and the resulting proceeds are anticipated to generate four cents of run rate earnings, while further decreasing net debt to EBITDA to approximately nine times, with the potential to delever to below eight times by the end of 2026, as we continue divesting non-strategic assets in accordance with the revised $650 million target. We anticipate that this will significantly enhance optionality for the company and allow us to explore a wider range of financing strategies, including alternatives that were previously unavailable to us. with the potential to further reduce our cost of capital over time, positioning various continued outperformance next year relative to peers. We also realized several one-time taxable refunds during the quarter, which Amanda will discuss in more detail. As a result of these adjustments, core FFO per share for the quarter increased to 20 cents, which is reflected in our decision to raise guidance for the second consecutive quarter to 67 to 68 cents, 12.5% above 2024. Before discussing our recent sales in further detail, I'd like to say a few words regarding the broader multifamily market, as well as current dynamics in our key markets. While the national multifamily market remains structurally undersupplied, demand has recently weakened in select markets, driven by an influx of new supply, which is expected to be absorbed over time. Rent slowed significantly in September, growing by only 30 basis points year over year, with asking rents decreasing in the largest one month drop since November 22. Looking ahead, softening labor markets, declining consumer sentiment, and more stringent immigration policies could present headwinds to the sector overall. In contrast with the national market, the Northeast continues to perform encouragingly well, supported by favorable supply-demand dynamics and resilient urban migration trends. In September, New York City led the nation in rental growth of 4.8%, reflecting continued strength in demand and extremely limited supply. Between 2020 and 2024, New York City's multifamily supply grew by only 6%, approximately half the national average, driving robust demand to neighboring submarkets with strong transit links, including Jersey City and Port Imperial, where the majority of our properties are located. Over the past two quarters, the neighborhoods surrounding Manhattan have largely absorbed more than 8,700 units of new supply, including nearly 5,000 units in the third quarter alone, the highest quarterly total in five years, with deliveries expected to taper beginning in 2026. Despite this regional supply influx, Manhattan alternatives continue to outperform, with the broader New York metro area averaging rental growth of 2.3%. Among these sub-markets, the Jersey City waterfront has been particularly resilient, maintaining low vacancy levels and rental growth of almost 3%, reflecting robust sustained demand and an ongoing lack of new supply. The waterfront has not seen any meaningful deliveries since mid-2022, with new supply well below its historical annual average of 600 units, which have been consistently absorbed over the past 15 years. Currently, approximately 4,500 Class A units are under construction on the waterfront, with 2,500 units expected to be delivered over the next 24 months across four projects. While not directly competing with the waterfront, nearby sub-market Journal Square saw 2,800 units of new supply delivered and absorbed in the last year, further testament to the ability of the broader Jersey City market to absorb new supply across various price points. We expect the New York City demand supply imbalance to continue fueling sustained demand for housing in alternative submarkets, such as Jersey City, that are expected to see population growth well in excess of projected unit deliveries for the foreseeable future. Turning to the investment market, while transactions remain challenging, particularly for larger sales, with core capital largely remaining on the sidelines, there are early signs of renewed engagement from core plus capital with interest concentrated in gateway cities. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we've exceeded our target for non-strategic asset sales with $542 million of sales closed or under contract this year. During the quarter, we closed on the sale of four small and non-strategic multifamily assets for a combined $387 million, reflecting an average cap rate of 5.1%. In addition to Signature Place and 145 Front Street, closed in early July, as previously announced. We sold to James, a 240-unit property in New Jersey, for $117 million, and Quarry Place, a 108-unit property in New York, for $63 million. We also continued rightsizing our land bank during the quarter, disposing of Port Imperial South for $19 million, and entering a $75 million contract for the sale of Harvestside 8 and 9. The Harborside transaction is anticipated to reduce net debt to EBITDA to around nine times and contribute $0.04 to core FFO on an annualized basis. Following these sales, our remaining land bank is valued at approximately $35 million, with parcels primarily located in Massachusetts. Before Anna walks through our operational performance, I wanted to share our recent results from the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark, or GRESP. Year-over-year, our GREST score improved by one point to 90, maintaining our five-star rating and green star and earning us the number one rank in our peer group, as well as designations as a regional listed sector leader and top performer for residential companies in the Americas. Last but not least, I'd like to thank our team whose dedication and execution have been instrumental in establishing Veris as a high-growth, rapidly deleveraging company. With that, I'll hand it over to Anna to discuss our operational performance for the quarter.