Veris Residential, Inc. (NYSE:VRE) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Going forward, given the size of the business, there are other areas potentially, we’re looking at a couple of, on the whole we have a very young portfolio as you know, but there are one or two areas where we think there could be potential value add opportunities and continued operational efficiencies, all of which together really do have the potential to continue driving or enhancing value of the platform in this next optimization phase.

Steve Sakwa: But I guess as a, just maybe a quick follow-up, do you feel like you have kind of the right people in place to sort of make all these changes and steps or do you feel like you still need to add to the organization?

Mahbod Nia: No, absolutely not. We’ve got a lean but very effective team as you’ve seen. To date, we’ve gone a long way towards rebuilding the operational side of things as well. So no, I’m very comfortable with the team that we’ve got that we can execute on this next optimization phase.

Steve Sakwa: Okay, and then there’s been some articles about kind of rent control coming up in Jersey City and maybe some of the surrounding communities. Can you maybe just sort of speak to, I know it’s a very complicated and long-winded answer and longer than this conference call, but just maybe high level, how are you sort of thinking about the rent control within kind of the market in your portfolio and are there things that you need to do to make sure that you follow kind of all the rules and regulations? Or is there any risk about rent control being imposed on any part of the portfolio?

Mahbod Nia: Sure. Look, we believe that we’ve taken all the necessary and appropriate steps to preserve the available exemptions from rent control ordinances, which may be applicable to the properties in our portfolio. We’re, I’d say, in a fortunate position that we have a younger vintage portfolio that helps in that respect and that we’ve developed most of those assets and so feel comfortable with the position we’re in.

Steve Sakwa: Great, thanks. That’s it for me.

Mahbod Nia: Thanks, Steve.

Operator: Thank you. Next question comes from the line of Anthony Paolone with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Anthony Paolone: Thank you. I guess first question is around non-core. Beyond Harborside 5, it does sound like you still have some things that you might consider getting rid of. Can you maybe just talk a bit more about what those might be and where there might even be liquidity that’s acceptable to pursue other sales right now in the market?

Mahbod Nia: Sure, good morning. Yes, Harborside 5 is the obvious non-strategic one. The question really beyond that is do we seek to potentially further rationalize the land bank which to the extent not developed really is just idle equity again in the business that isn’t really generating a return. So that’s really what I was primarily referencing with that comment. But there are further potential pockets of capital as well. If you look at the joint ventures, the remaining joint ventures where we may seek to reallocate some of that capital over time to put it to a higher and better use and a more accretive use.

Anthony Paolone: Okay, and then on the core, to appreciate just the strength and the rent growth in your market and what you’ve done operationally. I mean, the numbers are just outsized. Can you maybe just give us a sense as you look back over the last few quarters how much that’s really just been the market versus just efforts you’ve made to hunker down either and change how you price or be more aggressive there or just on the operation side and just trying to understand maybe how much more runway might exist there if that was a big part of this?