Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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John Kite: Paulina, I have got €“ like Heath, I definitely keep connected to this and got a lot of friends in the private market. There is definitely financing available on every retail product, power included. For us, it’s just €“ that’s not a market we are in as we are an unsecured borrower. We’re focused on that. So €“ but it’s definitely active. There is always going to be spread between different product types. But I think it’s not €“ it was extremely wide, a couple of years ago that narrowed and you are seeing transactions happen. So, it’s €“ I think it’s healthy. I think the retail market has become much healthier from availability of credit and capital. It’s just that we are at this point in time with the inverted yield curve that makes things challenging.

Paulina Rojas: Thank you for the color. And then regarding the announced Bed Bath closures, I am curious. Are these mostly leases that were scheduled to expire in €˜23 or we are talking about early terminations here? And if it were the latter, are you pursuing to obtain any termination fees?

Tom McGowan: From a Party City standpoint, we did have two natural expirations that were really occurring at the beginning of the year. Those are the two that we have already listed. And then from a Bed Bath & Beyond standpoint, our current list has us with closures of three stores. So, we are already actively working on that. And I think just as a point of context, in 2022, we leased 23 boxes at north of 465,000 square feet with an ABR of $16.90. So, we have shown, particularly this last year of our ability to execute on these. So, as these come in, these are not numbers that are of great concern. And you can tell, we are already chipping away each and every one of these.

John Kite: In terms of the question around expirations, these are early. But in terms of our guidance, we don’t have any term fees in our guidance, to be clear.

Heath Fear: And Paulina, it’s worth noting that the two Party Cities that Tom mentioned that closed vis-à-vis natural expirations, both of them have been backfilled and they are leased to the pOpshelf. So, great credit tenant replacing Party City. Again, an example of the demand in place.

Paulina Rojas: Great. And very short and last one, if you were asked, where are you seeing the more strength in the anchor or in the small shop side today? What’s your answer on this?

John Kite: Sure, Paulina. It’s very well balanced. I mean as you can see, just from the numbers, where our anchor leased percentage is almost back to where it was pre-COVID. So, that’s been very strong. And now we are €“ if you look at this quarter, the last quarter, and you look at our sequential growth, the sequential growth in the small shops was strong, stronger than anchors because we have closed that gap. So, now obviously, because we are getting so leased up in the anchors, you are going to see more activity in the small shops. The demand is strong. It’s broad-based. If you look at our investor presentation, I think we have a page in there about all the small shop leasing and the different types of tenants. And this truly is the strength of open-air retail.

And it’s really, I think I want to make sure people understand the depth of the pool that we draw from in leasing small shops and anchors from so many different product types, so many different types of retailers, but it’s really highlighted in the small shop category, it’s just amazing. And Tom, you may want to add some color to that?

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