Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

As far as pricing and cap rates, I think that at this point, we have not – I think that the 10-K will have the acquisition price. I think, David, probably will be in the 10-K that’s filed, but we haven’t given individual cap rates on acquisitions. But I will tell you it is – I think we shared with you the capital recycling program that we’ve been able to sell assets kind of at the six two cap rate going out, and we are buying assets above that. So, this fits in that scenario. But there’ll be some – the actual – I can’t remember the exact amount. It was in the $20 million to $30 million range is what the acquisition price was, but that exact amount will be in the 10-K we file very shortly. And then just, we haven’t given cap rates on individual sales or dispositions.

John Massocca: Okay, that’s understood. And then maybe bigger picture, I know you’ve given very clear NOI guidance, but how should we think about rent growth as a component of that? Is what you were seeing in 2023 something you think you can continue into 2024, or is a lot of that NOI guidance going to be maybe lighter maintenance CapEx just given some of the items that were in your 2023 results?

Dave Holeman: Yes, I think we’re still seeing continued rent growth in all of our markets. And I think the benefit now is, we have filled most of our larger boxes. And again, we don’t have that many of them, but that was the challenge coming in 2022 and early 2023. And so, the smaller spaces – and by the way, smaller spaces doesn’t mean smaller balance sheets, and they’re a lot less capital-intensive to turn. We anticipate with – again, with revenue, the quality of revenue initiative, a lot of what we’re looking at is, if we do have weaker tenants that aren’t successfully serving the communities in this strong market, it makes sense to actually look at those businesses and transition them out and build in stronger operations.

Scott Hogan: Hey, John, one thing I might just add, I know you know this, but just one of the benefits obviously is Whitestone’s shorter leases, which enables us to capture those market increases more quickly. So, if you look at our spreads, they’re very strong, and I think they’re even stronger when you take into account the length of our leases compared to some of the others that report spreads.

John Massocca: Okay, that’s very helpful, and that’s it for me. Thank you very much.

Operator: [Operator instructions] Our next question comes from the line of Michael Diana with Maxim Group. Please proceed with your question.

Michael Diana: Hey, thank you. Obviously, most of my questions have been asked. You make great progress on getting rid of non-core assets that don’t fit. I think you said the only one that’s left really is your headquarters building. Do you have anything – is there any comment about that?

Dave Holeman: I’ll just – so our headquarters office building is a six story suburban office building. It is probably roughly 50% occupied. So, it’s very similar to some of that office product. Incredibly different than everything else we have in our portfolio, which are community centers that support neighborhoods. So, I think we – as Christine mentioned, we would – we expect to probably exit that property. For us, it’s just making sure we find a nice home for our roughly 50 people in Houston that occupy that where our headquarters are. We’d love to be in one of our retail centers, similar to we have in some other markets. But I think when we look at our portfolio, kind of the non-core assets that don’t fit this geography or the strategy, we’ve made a lot of progress there.

And Woodlake is the only one we identify. Recycling-wise, we’ll always be looking at properties that we’ve owned for a period of time, we’ve added value and we feel like there’s a better way to redeploy those proceeds, just like you would do with a stock portfolio. So, strategically, really Woodlake would probably be the only property at this point that doesn’t fit the strategy. And then capital recycling, we’ll continue to look at redeploying proceeds where we can create more value.

Michael Diana: All right. Thanks, Dave.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question is a follow-up from the line of Anthony Hau with Truist Securities. Please proceed with your question.

Anthony Hau: Hey guys. Sorry, just a quick follow-up. I noticed that the 24,000 square feet box at Windsor Park is still vacant. What’s the plan for that space and what type of demand are you guys seeing for this box?

Christine Mastandrea: Strong demand, but it’s one of our only centers that’s a power center and it has similar situations that other power centers have, and it has some of those restrictions and covenants that you have to work through. So, the demand is there. We actually have a very interested party and we’re just having to work through those, what I would consider items that are negotiable, but just take time because we have to work through that with the other tenants. So, the demands there, and I’m not concerned about filling it. Actually, we have two interested parties in it. So, it’s just working through the timing with a couple of other tenants that are existing in the center.

Anthony Hau: And I’m assuming that you guys are trying to remove those like covenants, right? Because I know that’s one of the – I think one of the key things that Dave always talks about.

Christine Mastandrea: Yes. As you know, that’s something that we – that’s one of the business models that we have that we avoid. This is one of the very few centers that we have that. It’s one of the legacy assets, but it’s also a very well located center in San Antonio. It’s right at two major highways. So, like I said, the demand is there, but this is a little bit slow going, but we anticipate that we’ll have that completed this year.