Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Todd Hartman: Thanks, Steve. Well, it’s hard to answer the €“ where everybody is going to look. We’ve got some prospects that are yet to come to the market. I would just say that the overall vacancy rate in Baltimore is over 20%, and I would anticipate all prospects to cast a wide net and take their time choosing a location. As Steve said earlier, we’ve invested in 100 Light. We’re very happy with the way the building is showing. I expect us to be very competitive, but there’s going to be a lot of options for the tenants.

Steve Sakwa: Great. That’s it from me. Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question, one moment please. It comes from Dave Rodgers with R.W. Baird. Please go ahead.

Dave Rodgers: Hi Steve, good afternoon. When you look at your two core kind of parcels NBP and Huntsville, I think you’re 98% leased. Your development pipeline is 89% leased. And you’re pretty confident or at least cautiously optimistic about the growth of the business over the next couple of years. So, can you talk about kind of spec development and whether you would consider that? And two, I guess if you would or wouldn’t, is that a function of maybe types of buildings that are needed? Are they just becoming more specialized? Do you think you would benefit from putting more space into these, kind of core locations? And I guess how do you kind of handicap that or think about that over the next couple of years given your overall tone today?

Steve Budorick: Yes. So, at Huntsville, we are completing one building we built on spec, and we €“ our plan is to constantly be ready to add the next building . So, we’re advancing work to get to build the next building as we start to sign leases for this one. At the NBP, demand this year really was very strong. And drove us to a level, I think, a little quicker than we thought we were going to get there. So, we’re actually working on start scenarios for three different buildings to be in a position to move quickly to capture demand. Two of those would be contractor, and we’re starting to advance our readiness to do another government building if we see that demand materialize. We’re cautious in this environment to put out capital where we don’t have demand because we all know how expensive short-term or unfixed debt rates are. So, we will be very prudent, but we also want to be extremely well prepared to seize the opportunities when they come.

Dave Rodgers: In terms of the demand for those types of buildings, is that a demand that you see? You kind of mentioned the 600,000 and then the behind it. Is that something a demand where you could see potentially more lease signings this year or does that still feel like it’s probably a 2024-type event?

Steve Budorick: Well, we expect solid progress at Redstone Gateway, and it would not surprise me at all if we got a commitment that allowed us to start a building at the NBP this year.

Dave Rodgers : Great. Alright. Thanks Steve.

Operator: Thank you. And I will now turn the call back to Mr. Budorick for closing remarks.

Steve Budorick: Thank you for joining our call today. We are in our offices, so please coordinate through Venkat if you would like a follow-up call. Have a great day.

Operator: Thank you for your participation today in the Corporate Office Properties Trust fourth quarter and full-year 2022 results conference call. This concludes the presentation. You may now disconnect. Good day.

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