Anthony Maretic: Which is typically at the front end of a deal.
Robert Stevenson: Okay, and to that point, what have you guys spent thus far in ’23 on the Spec Suite program, and how much you guys likely to spend in ’24 given your comments about continuing to expand that program? How should we be thinking about that?
Anthony Maretic: Yeah, sure. So you know, we made some significant headway in 2023. Year-to-date, we’ve spent just over $4 million. I just mentioned, it’s about $800,000 in Q3. So I think the best way to think about it is, Q4 will probably be in that $1 million dollar range, and you probably expect that same trend to continue throughout 2024.
Robert Stevenson: Okay, thanks, guys. That’s all for me. Have a great day.
Anthony Maretic: Thanks a lot.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question today comes from Barry Oxford from Colliers. Barry, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Barry Oxford: Great, thanks, guys. On the same store NOI, Tony, it looks like you had a pretty nice reduction in expenses. Was there one particular thing that was driving that and would we look for that to continue?
Anthony Maretic: Good question. Barry. That was a little bit of an anomaly if you’re looking at the year-to-date in that pool, if anything operating expenses are remaining. There’s still inflation challenges. So I would expect to be flat to increasing moderately going forward.
Barry Oxford: Okay, and what caused the occupancy and same store to drop just a little bit.
Anthony Maretic: And so the occupancy, we had in terms of the quarter, the largest move out we had was at Papago Tech. We had a 34,000 square foot tenant vacate at the beginning of July,
James Farrar: Leasing was a little slower in Q3. We see as of right now, a few leases post quarter end have been done. And we’re seeing it pick up a bit. So we’re feeling better about that particularly at our best properties.
Barry Oxford: Right. Great, great. Jamie, question for you. When you’re — I would imagine you’re still kind of looking at acquisitions, or distressed opportunity starting to hit the market where you’d be like, gosh, if I can get my hands on that building and rehab it, I know, it’ll be the best building in that sub market, and I can lease it up.
James Farrar: We’re staying active in looking at opportunities. I think it’s still quite early Barry. I think what you’re seeing generally is a lot of lenders playing ball with owners. And that’s delaying kind of transactions being forced out. And you’re also seeing virtually zero availability of debt if you’re acquiring assets. And that just means, if you don’t have to sell, you’re not right now. And so I think that’s going to continue. My guess is if it starts to change in 2024, you’ll start to see more activity.
Barry Oxford: Do you think it’s going to be the banks that will eventually drive that?
Anthony Maretic: I think that’s probably the number one question.
Barry Oxford: Yes. Okay, guys, thanks for the time.
Anthony Maretic: Thanks, Barry.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question today comes from [indiscernible] from KeyBanc. Pupul, your line is open. Please go ahead.
Unidentified Analyst: Hey, thanks for taking my question. So just real quickly from me, I was wondering, do you are you in any kind of appeal processes with any municipalities that may help reduce property tax, heading into next year?
James Farrar: Yeah. So generally, we appeal every year, virtually every property. So the answer is yes. And we’re hoping that is more and more transactions happen and values come down, that we’re going to see some reductions there in 2024. I’d say we haven’t really had that much in savings so far. But I think that’s going to be a line item as we go forward, that hopefully starts moving in our direction a bit.
