Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

So, in total, the economic contribution is greater. I don’t want to just look at that lease rollover spread. I want to look at it holistically, in total, including the contractual bumps.

Donald Wood: And I think because demand is strong and continues to be strong, we found success in being able to push on both of those levers, particularly in the last couple of quarters.

Operator: And our next question is from Alexander Goldfarb with Piper Sandler. Please proceed with your question.

Alexander Goldfarb : Hi, thank you. Good evening. Just a question on Santana West because it seems to be — that seems to be the delta versus the Street. I think it was $0.20 is what you originally guided when you ceased capitalization. Now obviously, great to hear that there’s work going on in demand. But I guess my question is, do you guys think that you were a little too conservative in ceasing capitalization? I understand that you stopped work on the project, but given markets are moving or fluid when it comes to leasing, do you think that maybe should have just left it as a capitalized project? I’m just wondering because all the other stuff that you guys are doing is great, but that capitalized interest seems to be the delta between the ’23 outlook and where the Street is, so I’m just trying to understand.

Don Wood : So, Alex, my point on that is the direct answer to your question is no, I don’t think we are too conservative on that. I think your inherent premise and what you’re saying is that the accounting drives the business decision. And it’s exactly the opposite. It is the business decision with what — with the strategy towards the building, that drives whatever the accounting is and frankly, we didn’t even know the accounting when we first talked about how the — how we were going to go after — what tenant base we were going to go after once we lost the first couple of big building users. So, no, I don’t think so, and the notion of looking at capitalized interest as a positive or negative thing with respect to ’23, here’s the fallacy in it.

What we’re laying out in ’23, agree, does not have an impact from Santana West. What it does is show the impact of everything else in this company. And that’s why that operating growth is coming through. That’s why the bottom line is coming through. ideally, you will see, as we move forward, rent debt more than pay — rent on Santana West that more than pays for the interest expense. But it’s not like we’re getting a benefit for that in ’23. We simply don’t have any impact of Santana West for ’23. So just fundamentally, I think you’re looking at it a little backwards.

Operator: And our next question is from Paulina Rojas with Green Street. Please proceed with your question.

Paulina Rojas: Hi. Good evening. Last time we spoke, I think office traffic at Santana Row was still down materially versus pre-pandemic. I don’t remember the exact figures, but maybe in the neighborhood of 30% down. Has that changed at all? And at this point, what is your view of how those traffic patterns will look like in the midterm?