FRP - Q2 2023
August 10, 2023
Transcript
Operator (participant)
Good day, everyone, and welcome to today's FRP Holdings Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, you will have an opportunity to ask questions during the question-and-answer session. You may register to ask a question at any time by pressing the star and one keys on your telephone keypad. Please note this call is being recorded and that I will be standing by should you need any assistance. It is now my pleasure to turn today's program over to John Baker. Sir, please go ahead.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Good morning. I'm John Baker III, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of FRP Holdings. With me today are David deVilliers Jr., our President, John Baker II, our Chairman and CEO, John Milton, our Executive Vice President and General Counsel, John Klopfenstein, our Chief Accounting Officer, and David deVilliers III, our Executive Vice President. As a reminder, any statements on this call which relate to the future are, by their nature, subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are listed in our SEC filings. We have no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, except as imposed by law, as a result of future events or new information.
To supplement the financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, FRP presents certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures with the meaning of Regulation G, promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Non-GAAP Financial Measure referenced in this call is Net Operating Income, or NOI. FRP uses this Non-GAAP Financial Measure to analyze its operations and to monitor, assess, and identify meaningful trends in its operating and financial performance. This measure is not and should not be viewed as a substitute for GAAP financial measures. To reconcile GAAP to net income, please refer to the segment titled Non-GAAP Financial Measures on page 12 and 13 of our most recent earnings release. Now for our financial highlights from the second quarter.
Net income for the second quarter was $598,000, or $0.06 per share, versus $657,000, or $0.07 per share in the same period last year. Second quarter of 2023, when compared to the previous year, was impacted primarily by an increase of $2,281,000 in equity and loss of joint ventures from two projects in lease-up, an increase in management company expense of $235,000 due to new hires and recruiting costs, as well as an increase in interest expense of $390,000, offset by an increase in interest income by $2,005,000.
First quarter pro forma NOI for all segments was $7,610,000, versus $6,550,000 in the same period last year, for an increase of 16.3%. Net income for the first six months of 2023 was $1,160,000 or $0.12 per share, versus $1,329,000 or $0.14 per share in the same period last year.
The first six months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, were impacted by an increase in equity and loss of joint ventures of $4.3 million as we lease-up The Verge and .408 Jackson, an increase in management company indirect expense of $300,000, an increase in interest expense of $658,000, offset by an increase in interest income of $3,489,000. The first six months of 2022 were also positively impacted by a $733,000 gain from property sales, which we did not repeat in the first six months of 2023. Revenue, operating profit, and NOI are all experiencing strong growth, growth this quarter and for the year to date.
Compared to the second quarter of 2022, we grew revenue by 11.1%, operating profit by 33.9%, and pro forma NOI by 16.3%. For the first 6 months compared to last year, these metrics grew by 13.5%, 63.9%, and 24.5%, respectively, and yet, net income has been more or less flat. The situation is not new to the company, but the product of development and lease-up when equity and loss and joint ventures are at their highest and have a negative impact financially on our net income. This was the situation during previous lease-ups, and it is quite literally the cost of doing business. We count ourselves very fortunate that we have a shareholder base that understands the situation and is patient while we transition these products into stabilization and income production.
I'll now turn the call over to David for his report. David?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Thank you, John, and good morning to those on the call. As I have done for the last few quarters, I'd like to provide you with a perspective on the results of the company from an operational standpoint. We report our business segments in designated silos, which are important in analyzing the company. However, operationally, we have overlap and synergies that are difficult to follow using the business segments as reported. Employing a day-to-day look at FRP, which we call our real estate operations, let me offer the following. Our real estate operations consists of a four-pronged approach that has been the core of our business programming since mid-2018, when we liquidated our legacy warehouse portfolio. One, in-house, which happens to be the same as our reported asset management business segment... includes our industrial, commercial, and land development platform.
These properties are developed, managed, and owned 100% by FRP. 2, mining and royalties. 3, third-party joint ventures, which as the name implies, are projects developed in conjunction with third parties, where FRP is a major owner, but relies on seasoned and respected third-party operating partners to perform the lion's share of entitlements, construction, and day-to-day operations. 4, lending ventures, which we are the principal capital source for residential land development activities. Relative to our in-house or asset management platform, occupancy at our three buildings at Hollander Business Park since the beginning of the year, as well as rent growth on renewals at Cranberry, have produced a healthy lift to our NOI.
As of last month, our buildings in Hollander, totaling 247,000 sq ft, are fully occupied, helping to lift second quarter NOI for our in-house properties to $834,000 versus $681,000 in the same period last year. This represents a 23.8% increase. Our industrial pipeline is strong, with three projects in the queue. The 17-acre parcel in the Perryman industrial section of Harford County, Maryland, not too distant from our other assets in Aberdeen, received its building permit this week for a planned 259,000 sq ft warehouse building, which based upon current market conditions, we plan to commence construction this month.
Pre-development activities on our 170-acre tract in Northeast Maryland are ongoing and pending favorable market conditions, we could break out ground as early as mid-2024 on a 900,000 sq ft distribution facility at this location. Finally, our 55-acre tract of land in Aberdeen, Maryland, adjacent to the Cranberry Run Business Park, is being designed with multiple options to deliver several buildings or a single large distribution center. Options include 600,000-700,000 sq ft under roof, depending on final design and market dynamics. Existing land leases for the storage of trailers on-site help to offset our carrying entitlement costs on this property. Depending on market demand, we could very well begin construction here in 2025 or 2026.
Completion of these three aforementioned development projects will add over 1.9 million sq ft of additional warehouse product to our industrial properties. That, when added to the assets already in operation, will create over 2.35 million sq ft. Relative to mining and royalty, as John III stated in his opening remarks, our mining and royalty division saw revenues for the quarter of $3,264,000 versus $2,883,000 in the same period last year. This is record revenue for any quarter in the mining and royalty segment for the second quarter in a row. NOI was $3,125,000, an increase of 14% over the same period last year. Moving on to our third-party joint ventures.
Currently, we operate both under development and stabilized projects with four distinct partners: MRP, Steuart Investment Company, Woodfield, and St. John Properties. The difference between under development and stabilized being a sustained occupancy level of 90% for a minimum of 90 days. As of 6/30, our JV platform includes six, excuse me, seven mixed-use projects. Six mixed-use residential projects totaling 1,827 apartments and 198,000 sq ft retail, and one mixed-use office project totaling 72,000 sq ft of single-story office and 27,950 sq ft of retail. Four mixed-use residential projects are located in Washington, D.C., where MRP is our joint venture partner.
Our neighboring projects, Dock 79 and The Maren, along the Anacostia River, where our partners include MRP Realty and most recently, Steuart Investment Company, remained healthy, with occupancies of 95.4% and 94.3%, respectfully, at quarter's end, with all retail fully leased. Quarterly renewal success rates consisted of Dock 79 at 65.31% and The Maren at 39.6%, with rental rate increases of 3.74% and 6.6%, respectively. Bryant Street, a multi-building, transit-oriented, mixed-use project located on the Rhode Island in Northeast, contains three residential buildings as well as a movie theater, anchored retail building, and a flexible outdoor platform, fully leased to a unique entertainment concept called Metrobar.
At the end of the second quarter, Bryant Street's three residential towers, totaling 478 residential units, were 93%-- 93.2% occupied, and its retail components were 95.9% leased and 79% occupied. 67.25% of expiring residential tenants renewed their lease. with a combined average rental rate renewal increase of 2.86% for the quarter. Our food hall, Bryant Street Market, opened in March and has seen early success with eight of nine stalls leased, and the first four tenants have opened for business. The grand opening for the Bryant Street Market is planned for the fourth quarter this year. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and entertainment venue continues to see greater revenues that have been enhanced by blockbuster films such as Mission: Impossible, Oppenheimer, and Barbie.
Our fourth and newest mixed-use residential project in D.C., Verge, received its final certificate of occupancy in the first quarter and is showing strong performance at 68.6% leased and 43.3% occupied. A significant boost in leasing over the first quarter, with nearly half or 45% of retail spoken for as of the end of June. In terms of velocity, we gained occupancy of 22 units per month on average during the second quarter at Verge. Moving on, our two projects in Greenville, South Carolina, with Woodfield Development as our development partner, are seeing great success. Riverside and its 200 apartments with 95.5% occupied and renewed 61.76% of its expiring leases, with rental rate increases of 11.96% for the second quarter.
.408 Jackson was placed in service during the fourth quarter of 2022, and at quarter's end, its 227 apartments were 85.9% leased and 76.2% occupied. Another strong performer in lease-up, .408 demonstrated a significant boost in occupancy over the second quarter, averaging 29 units per month. Its retail component is fully leased and targeting an opening date in the fourth quarter this year. Relative to the six aforementioned mixed-use residential joint venture projects, FRP's share of NOI was $3,290,250, versus $3,049,948 in the same quarter last year, a 7.9% increase. The last or seventh mixed-use project that makes up our third-party JV division is undertaken with St.
John Properties, a pioneer in flex and office development and former national developer of the year. With St. John, we are developing Windlass Run in Baltimore County, Maryland, that includes 72,080 sq ft of single-story office and 27,950 sq ft of retail. This project is now 62.79% leased and 48% occupied overall, due to an increase in leased space over the second quarter as a result of a new 12,000 sq ft office lease. NOI for this past quarter for this asset was $109,213, versus $102,400 over the same period last year, or a 6.7% increase. Lending ventures, the last leg of our operating stool.
This is a program where we provide working capital toward the entitlement and horizontal development of single-family residential projects and ultimately, a sale to national homebuilders. The first of our two current projects is Amber Ridge in PG County, Maryland, with a total commitment to this project of $18.5 million. The investment includes a charged 10% interest rate and a minimum preferred return of 20%, above which a profit-induced waterfall determines the final split of proceeds. All but 23 of the 187 lots have been taken down as of June 30, and $19.6 million of principal interest and profits have been returned as of the end of the quarter. The final 23 units, providing additional profits, are on track to be taken down by year-end.
Our other current lending venture is called Presbyterian Homes, which is a 344 lot, 110 acre residential development project in Aberdeen, Maryland. We've committed $31.1 million in funding under similar terms as Amber Ridge. A national home builder is under contract to purchase all the lots, which include 222 townhomes and 122 single-family dwellings. Horizontal construction has begun. We expect the first lots to be taken down in Q4 this year. In closing, we're pleased with the company's performance this quarter. I would be remiss not to mention the headwinds facing us. In Washington, D.C., the volume of new apartment units being delivered is significant, will present a challenge for our leasing teams and could impact our rental rate expectations.
Additionally, a rising interest rate environment presents challenges for construction material pricing and availability, as well as affordable financing terms. On a positive note, competitive developers who may not be buttressed by a balance sheet like ours might not be able to obtain or have the available capital to construct projects like our upcoming 259,000 sq ft warehouse facility at Chelsea Road. We have flourished in a constantly changing environment, due in no small part to the strength of our financial foundation and the consistent efforts of our talented teams. We look forward to building upon our successes and finding new ways to explore our skills in the marketplace. Thank you, and I'll now turn the call back to John.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Thank you, David. At this point, we're happy to open the call up to any questions you might have.
Operator (participant)
Thank you. At this time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to remove yourself from the queue at any time, you may press star two. Once again, that is star one to ask a question. Our first question will come from Curtis Jensen with Robotti. Your line is open. All right, we'll move next to Stephen Farrell with Oppenheimer. Your line is open.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
Good morning. How are you?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Good morning, Steven.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Morning.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
First question, regarding your comments about, the construction loans. What is the sensitivity of rental rates in relation to construction loans?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
I don't quite understand your question, Stephen. John may-
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
In other words, with development on the sidelines, how do you see the restriction of new supply affecting rental rates?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Obviously, the all of the construction loans out there are floating, right? For example, year-over-year, these interest rates have gone up for us between 3.5%-4%. The market's gonna dictate what the rental rates. We've talked about our rental rates have actually done pretty well and favored pretty well over the last, you know, 12 months, whether they're already there through trade outs and lease-ups. I think where the big, the big pull is gonna come from, Stephen, is our buildings are done, and so we don't have to worry about what's happened with the increased construction costs and material pricing, because that's behind us.
I think that's probably the big issue and, and, you know, trying to get out and, and start a new building with these kind of interest rates is gonna be, is gonna be very, very difficult, I think.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
At what level do you think it does make sense, either, from a rent level and increase in rental rates or a cost perspective?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, again, the rental rates are really not subject to anything other than the market. There is a lot of competition in D.C., especially with a lot of the new units coming on. That drives your rental rates. We look at the rental rate market for all of the competition every day. We raise and lower prices depending on the type of unit, the location of unit. That kind of does its own thing. Interest rates, we can't control. The only thing we can do is decide not to start something, if the interest rates continue to go up, obviously, they do have an impact on our operating cash flow.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
David, what would you say the interest rate on a typical construction loan would be today?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, for example, the three that we have at Bryant Street, that's 7.4% as of June, the end of June. That's probably the biggest. We have another one at 7.2% and another one at 7.4%. They've literally gone from the threes up to the sevens. They usually run on a SOFR, an average 30-day SOFR and anywhere from 2.25 to 250 basis points. Anything coming out today, the new loans or the basis points are in the mid to high threes. It's another whole, another interest rate point with the new stuff rather than the existing.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Yeah, I think you'd have to see sustained, really high increases in, in, in rental rates in order to justify, you know, taking on that kind of construction loan to, to build.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
You do.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Yeah.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
I mean, for example, our Riverside property in South Carolina, we got almost a 12% increase in our rental rates for the second, you know, for the for all the tenants coming due in the second quarter. That's a dramatic increase. You're gonna need some, as John says, some sustained, it não be that high, but you do need to have some pretty strong rent growth to be able to support these kind of interest rates.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
Longer term, maybe, two to three years down the road, I'd, I'd think that, restricting the supply and, you know, development being on the sidelines would be beneficial to properties like Bryant Street and just rental rates in, in general. Do you think, do you have a similar view?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
I think-
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Yeah, I think that definitely helps. David, you can answer that.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, it's interesting, Stephen, you're, you're absolutely right, we do. There's gonna be a slow down in deliveries in 2025 and 2026 because of that. It takes, you know, basically two years to build these things. The fascinating thing that's happened throughout the country is that, you know, during COVID, there, there wasn't a whole lot of construction, so it got ramped up in the, in late in the year and early in 2021, which has led to a lot of units coming online over the last six to nine months, you know, causing a record number of units available in the market now. As the project lease-up, you know, then, then there's gonna be the, the whole thing's gonna change, and we think 2025 and 2026 could be great years for rental rate increases.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
Maybe I missed this in the call. Do you have an updated timeline for development of phase one of the Steuart deal? I know you just said now you'll need either big rent increases or reduction in the rates on the construction loan, do you foresee pushing it back farther, maybe 2024, end of 2024 or 2025? What are, what are your thoughts on that?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, we're, we're still the plan right now, Steven, is we're going through the entitlement process, which takes a while. We wanna get it ready, which could probably, should probably be sometime here in this quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter. Then we'll take a look at the all of the, all of the, the metrics, right? Part of our deal, and we usually don't go into these things without guaranteed maximum prices from our contractors and, and we have everything lined up, not to mention the fact it's a good construction loan. I would doubt, unless something changes dramatically, that we would consider starting that in 2023. Not to mention the fact, starting something in the winter in Washington is not very favorable from an efficiency standpoint.
probability says that we wouldn't get into that probably until sometime in 2024, if, you know, again, if the market conditions dictate such a time.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
Turning to industrial, we have, starts are down, and we're starting to see some pressure on rents around the country. Is it as similar as supply and demand dynamics around Baltimore?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
We have... Not, not so much. The development is somewhat restricted. For example, where our Chelsea property is, which is the one that I mentioned earlier, which is getting literally ready to start this week, there's a moratorium on all the construction in the area. We're like the, not, not only do, or is it tough for certain people to spend that kind of money to build a building, they're not accepting any permit applications. We're like the only game in town, starting, literally now, and it will come on one year from now, and we're excited about that market because of the, the vacancies are very low and the rental rates have, have done very, very well. I mean, the vacancies are still well below the pre-pandemic norms. It's a, it's a, it's a very tight market.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
With the timing of the phase one of Steuart being pushed back, do you envision using cash to opportunistically invest in additional industrial properties or just developing the pipeline?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
We're always looking for value-add, Stephen. For example, our Cranberry Run Business Park we bought, which we've enjoyed some really strong results in that property over the last, you know, over the last several quarters. We're always in the market for value-add stuff, for sure. If something comes along and, and it works and it's not so, doesn't require so much rehabilitation or refurbishment, and the numbers work, we'd absolutely consider it.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
Have you seen any opportunities in non-development properties, or maybe the seller might need liquidity or anything of that nature?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
We haven't yet. We're very particular in who we do business with. We've got a pretty strong team of folks in MRP and Woodfield, St. John. We're very careful in as to being out in the market and looking for other platforms that would be in a joint venture type of business. That's, that would be a tough one. We're always looking. We look at properties every day in certain areas, obviously throughout the North, the Southeast, North Carolina, South Carolina, we've got our eye on, obviously, because we've got projects in South Carolina.
Yeah, we're always looking in the banks that we've been dealing with, and the lenders, you know, know who we are and the fact that, you know, that we're fairly strong from a balancing standpoint, and we're good boots on the ground operators. You know, so many of these people would develop properties before, and, you know, there's a lot of fee developers out there that would build them and, and sell them and, and move on to the next one. You know, we've historically been pretty strong in, in managing these assets, so we bring a lot of, we think we bring a lot to the table with our joint venture partners for sure.
Stephen Farrell (Associate Director of Investments)
That's good. Thank you for taking my questions.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Thank you, Steven.
Operator (participant)
Once again, that is star one to ask a question. Next, we have Curtis Jensen with Robotti. Your line is open.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Hey, good morning, fellas.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Hi, Curtis.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
I got cut off earlier, so I-- it was my fault, but I apologize if I'm redundant here. I, I have a couple of questions, and the first one's sort of about presentation. Specifically when I go from the text, your text disclosure in the press release to kinda like the tables and-... It seems to me it may even get a little cloudier when I think about the GAAP accounting for all this. Like, to take an example, Bryant Street. Is, is Bryant Street considered stabilized at this point? It's been 90 days above 90%.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
No, sir, it has not reached it yet. It'll probably make it next quarter. It would have to be... We've still got, you know, just because it's leased, it's got to be occupied, and the residential is not quite there for 90 days, which is what kind of the mark that we puts on it, put on it, and the retail is still having people move in, but it's close.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
When I go to the tables, and I see the development segment, and I see, like, the three-month result of the lease revenue is $467,000. Is that Bryant Street's lease revenue, your portion of Bryant Street, or is there something else, or is Bryant Street revenue, lease revenue disclosed somewhere else?
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
Hi. Good morning, Curtis. This is John Klopfenstein. Our, our unconsolidated joint ventures, which includes Bryant Street, The Verge-
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Right.
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
Riverside, all the Greenville, you know, .408 Jackson, they're all unconsolidated. From a GAAP perspective on our income statement, they don't run through revenue or expense. They all run through that one line on the income statement that you find on the main page called equity and loss of joint ventures. We are going to be filing our 10-Q today, and in the footnote about our joint ventures, you'll find a breakdown of each of those, each of those joint ventures income statement showing the revenue and expense.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Okay, when I go into the tables in your press release and I see development segment, that's not gonna include Riverside or Bryant Street or anything like that, anything that's, like, somewhere between development and stabilized and, and not, and not...
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
It, it does not. It won't include, and it won't be included in stabilized joint ventures in revenue and expense either in the future once it stabilizes because those aren't our revenues, they're our, they're our joint venture partners' revenues. You'll have to refer to the table I'm talking about in the footnotes.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Okay, I guess for GAAP, for GAAP purposes, it'll continue to be showing equity and loss of joint or equity in, in joint ventures.
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
That's, that's exactly right. They will always be there.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
All right. The only, the only two things in your tables that are considered stabilized joint ventures are The Maren and Dock. That's been consistent over time.
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
That's correct. Yes, Riverside is, is not reflected in, in that table, in, in, in the revenues and expenses because of the GAAP treatment that's required.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
All right. I just hope you... I mean, I understand how you disclose it as a, like Bryant Street's, a mixed-use joint venture between, you know, FRP and MRP, but it's not, it's not disclosed the same way. It's not if I were a first-time reader, I'd say, "Okay, I'm gonna look under joint ventures." Then I go to the table, and I say, "Oh, that's stabilized joint venture," but that's... You know, I've been around the anyway, it's a little bit confusing to me, and I've been around the company for seven years. I guess the last-
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
Well, that's good feedback. We'll see if we can improve that disclosure in the future to, to highlight.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Yeah, I only say it because the NOI from your, you know, multifamily and mixed use is gonna be becoming bigger and bigger and bigger over the next couple of years. Then, of course, you've got a whole another stream of income coming on in asset management and. As, as, as a, as, you know, from a, a place of trying to analyze the company, I'm gonna have to go from kind of book value, asset values, development kind of assets to income earning, you know, income-producing properties. It's gonna be harder to dissect all of this if, if there isn't some more disclosure about, about that. I, I, I think is. Anyway, I don't want to hold us up on that, but it, and on The Verge, and again, I apologize if I'm being redundant here.
You know, consistent with your heads and beds philosophy, are you having to offer a lot of incentives to get people over there or unusual incentives, or is it just kind of, you know, you're pretty happy with it?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
We're actually pretty happy with it right now. As I said, we've been moving a lot of people in, and we've, we actually did a temporary, a temporary program with a group called Placemakr, which takes on, which actually takes on 27 units as of June 1, and then they lease them. They, they master lease effectively that way. That's 27 units that we would not have been able to get occupied that quick because they, interestingly enough, that they, rent these spaces to professionals and that kind of thing for, you know, 30, a minimum of 30 days. In fact, when they moved in on June 1, they took all 27 units. We have them for one year, and we're wondering, and that's of, we, we kind of do a 60/40 split.
We get 60% of the revenues. They get 40%. The place is leasing up so quick, we're, you know, we're wondering if that was a great idea or not. You know, things are going very well at The Verge, but look, we are giving up one to 1.5 months concessions, which is not, you know, overly, overly penal. Once, just like we did with Coda and that kind of thing, when you open these things up in December, that the, the early months of the year and the late months of the year are not the best months to be opening up for lease.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Yeah.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Now that we've come in, and now that we've come into the summer and to the fall, the rents are getting, are getting a little stronger, as you can see. But yeah, we're so far, we're, we're pretty happy with it. One of the concrete plants has come down, that was in Steuart's side, so we're looking to animate that, that area just to the, the right of Verge. Of course, you've got the soccer stadium behind us. There's a lot of really good things going on over there, so we're, we're pretty happy with it as of, you know, so far, so good.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Would you, would you, and, and maybe this is jumping the gun a little, you know, you talked about an Analyst Day in October. Would you anticipate sort of a mini property tour again? You know, just.
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
Yeah, I think that would be. Partner also love it.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
circling back to Bryant Street for a second, did I hear there's still a construction loan on that, or are you...
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Yeah
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
moving toward, you're moving-
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
There is
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
... towards getting a mortgage? I mean, it's, can a, can a, can a mortgage kinda come in under a 7.4%, or whatever I heard David say is on the construction loan?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, a permanent financing cat does. They usually come in about 150 basis points or more less than a, you know, than a construction loan. But we've still got some, some wood to chop at Bryant Street. obviously, the units, we showed average for the 487 units, the average renewal rate for the three buildings, averaged about 2.86%. It went from 1.8% all the way up to 4.2%. So the residential side is, is, is starting to come into its own. Where we feel, the success of that project is really gonna be as it continues to mature, is in the retail.
Alamo, for, as I mentioned, Alamo has done, their, their sales are way up over last year, which was, I guess, people still like the Barbie, you know, movies, they've done very well, so we're happy there. Our inline retail, we have some new leases. They take a while to move the, to, to move the tenants in. The animation of that area and a sense of place is not there yet. It's not the greatest project right now, both from a, you know, from a lending standpoint and just from a, from as you walk around, it's still needs to mature a little bit more. You know, we'll take a look at it at the beginning of 2024 and see how things go.
I mean, we do have a, we are looking at different options right now. We just haven't made a decision.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Is there, is there anything going on across the street? I know there was a site across the street from Bryant Street that, there was potential for development. Is, is there, is there any movement there, or is it, is it sorta status quo? It's like is it an industrial site or-
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
It, it is. It is. It's a couple of industrial-type buildings. actually, one of them has a basketball court on the roof. It's owned by a development entity. I believe they're going through the entitlement process and trying to figure out what they wanna do, and that takes a while, as you know. We've been doing it down there since a long... I'm embarrassed to say how long we've been doing it, so it takes a while. Like us at the Steuart property, we're going through the entitlement process. It takes time, you know, and then if you see something that says you may wanna change the use or whatever, then that adds more time. For example, our dock in The Maren, you know, we still have two more phases down there in phase three and four.
We're going through a modification of that project that's gonna take us about a year to change the use from office and hotel to residential. It takes a while. Yes, to answer your question, there's some development pre-development activity there across the street.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
I guess I'll, I'll wrap up with one more question. It's, kind of on the lending ventures. Is that, you know, is the vision there to kind of strictly limit it to home builders? Is, is there, is there a point when you say, let's wind it down, or is this gonna be an open-ended, opportunistic lending vehicle with its, you know, where you've got dedicated personnel and, I mean, how do you see it?
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Yeah, Curtis.
John Klopfenstein (Chief Accounting Officer)
Well-
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
... this was a great, great way to put money to use with a partner that David has had a relationship with for a long time going back. When we had, you know, post-sale, a lot of cash on our balance sheet and no plans for it, and, you know, money market rates were roughly zero, this was a good way to get a good return on our money and, you know, in a market and a product type that we, we're comfortable with. I think going forward, you know, as we plan to put more and more money into our, our own income-producing properties, we'll be less likely to do a lending venture.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Okay, I, I agree. I mean, I thought it was a pretty, pretty interesting way to deploy capital. I, I, I think you're getting good returns. It might be interesting if you have a page on that in your annual state presentation to kinda summarize the ins and outs of the cash and the returns on that would be interesting.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Sure. Absolutely.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Again, I guess it was an interesting to take advantage of homebuilders who wanted to stay asset-light and didn't wanna commit and had option, you know, sort of used options to develop properties. Another way of thinking about it.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Well, there's some other ways too. You know, the intangible advantages of that is, is when the world knows that we're looking for property, whether it's residential or industrial, you know, it just gives us the ability to cast a wider net. For example, the property that we found at Chelsea, where the buildings are gonna go, those are two smaller properties that we put together. People know that we are active land developers. We've been doing it since the company opened in 1988. It kinda keeps us out there in the market, and that's another advantage that, that this brings. We have been very, very selective, you know, on the choosing these properties.
We really don't, we usually don't even get involved unless we can buy them right, buy them wholesale, and, and not even do that until the entitlements are there. The risk is, is obviously, is in investing capital, but we would we obviously don't have any loans, and we certainly don't borrow money on these. So far, they've been very, very advantageous with IRRs, 20% or above. We are, as, as John said, we're, we're gonna take a look at it and, and see where the, the money is, is best spent. If it's spent at all, and, or just invested, at least the returns right now on, cash investments, I think, are pretty good right now.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Well, I'll just say keep up, keep up the good work. I'll look forward to seeing you guys in October. I don't know why anybody would give their money to a private equity real estate group, and they can give it to you guys.
David H. deVilliers, Jr. (President)
Tell everyone you have that. Thank you, Curtis. That's a very kind word.
Curtis Jensen (Portfolio Manager)
Have a good.
Operator (participant)
As a reminder, that is star one to ask a question. All right, we have no further questions in the queue. I would like to turn the floor back over to our speakers for any additional or closing remarks.
John Baker III (CFO and Treasurer)
Thank you all for your maintained interest in the company. I'd just like to offer a quick reminder. As Curtis referenced, we are holding an Investor Day on October 11, 2023, in Washington, D.C., at our Dock 79 property. The event will feature presentations from our executive management team. For information on the event and to RSVP, please email [email protected] or check the investor relations section of our company's website. Thank you.
Operator (participant)
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's presentation. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect at any time.