Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: Your next question for today is coming from Alan Peterson at Green Street.

Alan Peterson: Hey everyone. Thanks for the time. I was just hoping you guys could share the breakout between the legacy Mid-Atlantic same-store portfolio and the new 23 additions. Just your expectations on NOI growth between those two groups would be super helpful.

Steven Freishtat: Yes. I mean so our 23 same-store pool, so there were two communities that came into the same-store pool this year. And we are seeing growth in the Atlanta portfolio higher than D.C. So €“ but D.C. is, Amy, go ahead.

Amy Hopkins: This is Amy. Our Atlanta communities are contributing about 60 basis points to our NOI growth for the full year.

Alan Peterson: Perfect. Thank you. And in regards to the recent term loan extension, I was just hoping you can provide some color around the banks. And if there is any banks that are starting to close off lending or lending activity for multifamily product today, did you guys have any difficulty with that term loan extension versus, call it, this time 2 years ago?

Steven Freishtat: I am sorry, Alan, can you repeat the question? We lost the voice for just a second.

Alan Peterson: Yes. In regards to the term loan extension, I was just hoping if you could provide any color if there is any difficulty right now getting those term loan extensions through given that banks €“ some banks may have closed off lending activity for multifamily activity today.

Steven Freishtat: Yes. Alan, this is Steve Freishtat. What we have heard from the banks is that they are being more selective in this market that they are choosing to do, first off, shorter term loans, our term loan was a 2-year, maybe a couple a year or 2 years ago, it would have been a 5-year. But the banks are selecting based on relationships and based on the sector that companies are in. So, for us being in the multifamily sector, I think we had an easier time than if this was not €“ we had our portfolio from a year ago with office. But what we saw was the banks are doing shorter terms of 2 years. The pricing has not changed that much, but the upfront fees have gotten a bit more extensive as we are looking for higher returns.

Alan Peterson: That’s helpful. Thank you. And then just one more on the internalization of management for the portfolio. Have you guys had any difficulties in retaining on-site staff? Are you having to go out into the marketplace and hire new personnel, or are you able to transfer the staff at the property very smoothly?

Steve Riffee: Alan, we have just finished our fourth wave, and we have had tremendous success in recruiting and getting people to change jerseys. We are heading into Wave 5. We have a lot of acceptances there. But we also have beefed up our recruiting and we are supplementing the folks that are coming on board from our third-parties with people from the outside. We obviously build our own regional management team. And so we are making great progress. And €“ but for the most part, we have been able to retain and we had incentives for people to change jerseys and come to our company.

Alan Peterson: Awesome. I appreciate the time, guys and congrats to both of the Steves on the call.

Steven Freishtat: Thanks Alan.

Operator: Your next question for today is coming from Yang Ku at Wells Fargo.

Unidentified Analyst: Great. Thank you and good morning. Just wanted to get your thoughts on rent controls, which seems like a hot topic these days, it looks like there have been a couple of rent control motions that are being pushed forward in Maryland. Could you provide some color regarding these and potential impact this may have on your portfolio?