Whitestone REIT Completes the Sale of Legacy Houston Retail Center
- Recycling of Capital and Improvement in Quality of Holdings
- 6.7% Capitalization Rate
HOUSTON, Oct. 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) (“Whitestone” or the “Company”) today announced the sale of Torrey Square, a 106,000 square foot shopping center located in Houston, Texas. The legacy property was sold at a 6.7% cap rate (1) for $8.7 million. The sale is consistent with the Company’s strategy to improving the overall quality of its portfolio as Torrey Square had the lowest base rent per leased square foot in Whitestone’s wholly-owned portfolio. The proceeds from the sale are expected to be reinvested in properties that will provide greater long-term value to its shareholders.
Through disciplined stewardship of capital, value-add acquisitions, and proactive asset management, Whitestone has assembled a portfolio of well-located, high-quality Community Centered Properties™ located in some of the highest household income neighborhoods in the country. Since its IPO in 2010, Whitestone has improved its base rent per leased square foot by over 80%.
Chairman and CEO Jim Mastandrea commented, “We are pleased to announce the sale of one of our Houston legacy properties and the continued upgrading of our value add retail service-based portfolio. Whitestone’s objective in the Houston market, as well as Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix, is to become one of the leading owners of quality retail properties providing services to the surrounding community, as evidenced by our purchase of BLVD Place on Post Oak Boulevard, in the Uptown Galleria area last year.”
About Whitestone REIT
Whitestone is a community-centered retail REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops high quality "e-commerce resistant" neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers principally located in the largest, fastest-growing and most affluent markets in the Sunbelt. Whitestone’s optimal mix of national, regional and local tenants provides daily necessities, needed services and entertainment to the communities in which they are located. Whitestone's properties are primarily located in business-friendly Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, which are among the fastest growing U.S. population centers with highly educated workforces, high household incomes and strong job growth. Visit for additional information.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Company intends for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, as well as known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the Company's use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “goals” or similar words or phrases that are predictions of future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters.
The following are some of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results and its expectations to differ materially from those described in the Company's forward-looking statements: the Company's ability to meet its long-term goals, its assumptions regarding its earnings guidance, including its ability to execute effectively its acquisition and disposition strategy, to continue to execute its development pipeline on schedule and at the expected costs, and its ability to grow its NOI as expected, which could be impacted by a number of factors, including, among other things, its ability to continue to renew leases or re-let space on attractive terms and to otherwise address its leasing rollover; its ability to successfully identify, finance and consummate suitable acquisitions, and the impact of such acquisitions, including financing developments, capitalization rates and internal rates of return; the Company’s ability to reduce or otherwise effectively manage its general and administrative expenses; the Company’s ability to fund from cash flows or otherwise distributions to its shareholders at current rates or at all; current adverse market and economic conditions; lease terminations or lease defaults; the impact of competition on the Company's efforts to renew existing leases; changes in the economies and other conditions of the specific markets in which the Company operates; economic, legislative and regulatory changes, including the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017; the success of the Company's real estate strategies and investment objectives; the Company's ability to continue to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact Whitestone REIT:
Kevin Reed
Director of Investor Relations
(713) 435-2219
(1) Represents trailing twelve-month net operating income divided by sale price.
