Highwoods Properties, Inc. Q1 FY2022 Earnings Call

Good morning. And welcome to the Highwoods Properties Earnings Call. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Afterwards we will conduct a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. I would now like to turn the conference over to Hannah True, Manager of Finance and Corporate Strategy. Please go ahead, Ms. True.

Thank you, operator. And good morning, everyone. Joining me on the call this morning are Ted Klinck, our Chief Executive Officer; Brian Leary, our Chief Operating Officer; and Brendan Maiorana, our Chief Financial Officer. For your convenience, today's prepared remarks have been posted on the web. If you have not received yesterday's earnings release or supplemental, they're both available on the Investors section of our website at highwoods.com. On today's call, our review will include non-GAAP measures such as FFO, NOI and EBITDAre. The release and supplemental include a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Forward-looking statements made during today's call are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed at length in our press releases as well as our SEC filings. As you know, actual events and results can differ materially from these forward-looking statements. And the company does not undertake a duty to update any forward-looking statements. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Ted.

Thanks, Hannah, and good morning, everyone. We had excellent financial and operational results in the first quarter, consistent with our performance since the start of the pandemic. Leasing activity is robust. Same property cash NOI growth was solid. We had our third consecutive quarter of record core FFO per share, which excludes land sale gains. Our cash flows continue to strengthen and our balance sheet is in excellent shape. We believe our strong performance to start the year is largely attributable to continuing execution of our strategy. As we've stated before, our simple and straightforward investment strategy is to generate attractive and sustainable returns over the long-term by developing, acquiring and owning a portfolio of high quality, differentiated office buildings in the BBDs of our markets or said another way, workplaces that are commute worthy. We are actively putting together the building blocks to further strengthen the financial and operational performance, resiliency and long-term growth prospects for our portfolio. Our development team is exploring numerous potential starts. We are optimistic about the potential to acquire additional high-quality assets, and we're continuing to make progress with our long-proven plan of cycling out of non-core assets. Turning to our results. We delivered FFO of $1.03 per share in the first quarter. Excluding $0.04 of land sale gains, our FFO was $0.99 per share, more than 8% higher than the first quarter last year. In addition to FFO, our operations were also healthy. Same-property cash NOI growth was consistent with last quarter at 3.1%. Occupancy held relatively steady at 91.1%, and leasing maintained its momentum with 658,000 square feet of second gen space, including a robust 391,000 square feet of new leases. Rent spreads were positive 14.9% on a GAAP basis and roughly flat on a cash basis, with average term increasing to 6.4 years. Average rental rates per square foot in our 27.4 million square foot in-service portfolio were 4.2% higher on a cash basis compared to one year ago. The upbeat start to the year has given us confidence to increase our year-end occupancy outlook as many of the new leases signed will commence later in the year. Utilization across our portfolios increased to around 50%, up about 10 percentage points during the past couple of months. And we expect to continue to pick up based on the return to work plans we are hearing from our customers. As we've stated before, even though utilization is below pre-pandemic levels and customers are figuring out their office workspace schedules, many of which are hybrid, we are encouraged by the consistently strong leasing activity we've seen across our markets since the start of last year. Turning to investments. During the quarter, we sold a land parcel in Tampa's Westshore BBD for $9.6 million, which included a $4.1 million gain. This sale is a good example of our strategy to maximize value from our existing assets, whether buildings or land. We sold the pad to a developer who will construct a luxury multifamily community adjacent to our 209,000 square foot base center office building. Our land bank has a value of approximately $340 million and has never been more attractive. It can support $2.2 billion of future office and another almost $2 billion of adjacent mixed-use development via new apartments, shops, restaurants and hotels. These mixed-use sites create excellent optionality for us as we may choose to sell the parcels outright or participate in the ownership and development. Either way, the build-out of this mixed-use land will bring even more desirable amenities to our adjacent office properties as will be the case at Bay Center. Our $283 million 615,000 square foot development pipeline is now 55% preleased, having leased another 23,000 square feet since our February call. We have healthy interest across our projects and remain confident that both Virginia Springs II and Midtown West will stabilize by the end of the year. As you may remember, we started both projects fully spec in 2019. While we didn't announce any new developments in the quarter, our team is busy working on potential build-to-suit and spec developments that could be announced later this year. We're progressing with additional non-core dispositions. We have multiple properties under contract, and we have others in various stages of the marketing process. As has been our plan, we are on pace to return our balance sheet to pre-pack acquisition metrics by the middle of the year. On the acquisition front, competition for high-quality properties in our markets BBDs has continued to be strong. As institutional investors recognize the excellent long-term value of assets located in the best submarkets across our footprint. We're seeing opportunities arise in BBDs, but rest assured, we will continue to be disciplined with our capital allocation as we seek to acquire office assets that would further strengthen our performance, resiliency and long-term growth prospects. Now to our 2022 FFO outlook. We project full year FFO of $3.82 to $3.98 per share, up $0.06 per share at the midpoint since our initial outlook in February. Same property cash NOI is projected to grow at 0.5% to 2%, up 25 basis points at the midpoint, and we now expect to end the year with occupancy of 91% to 92.5%, also up 25 basis points at the midpoint. Our investment activities, acquisitions, dispositions and development announcements are unchanged from our prior outlook. Before I turn the call over to Brian, I'd like to briefly recap our performance and outlook. Our leasing activity has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, especially new leasing as evidenced by this quarter's 391,000 square feet. Our full year 2022 outlook for all three of our primary financial and operational indicators, year-end occupancy, same-property cash NOI and FFO per share are higher at the respective midpoints than originally forecasted. Our $283 million development pipeline is 55% preleased and will generate meaningful cash flow as it delivers. And our balance sheet is strong with leverage of 39% and a debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 5.3 times. We're confident that we continue to have the building blocks in place to drive sustainable growth over the long-term.

Thank you, Ted, and good morning, all. Our team continued to deliver solid results for the quarter with a well-located, high-quality invest-resilient portfolio that's capturing latent and inbound customer growth and is welcoming back its occupants, albeit on different timelines. Our simple strategy of owning commute-worthy workplaces in the best business districts of our markets, which are both urban and suburban in nature, has positioned Highwoods at the nexus of a number of accelerating trends and proven a capable formula for maintaining occupancy, growing rents and increasing term. As important, our workplace making approach is providing our customers a compelling and competitive advantage for retaining, recruiting and returning talent to the office, where they've told us they can achieve together what they can on a part, culture, collaboration and collective creativity. The results for the first quarter bear evidence of this as our team signed 102 deals representing 658,000 square feet, of which, 391,000 square feet were new. These 58 new deals represent our highest quarterly count since Q2 of '14. As this leasing comes online, we expect occupancy currently at 91.1% to increase in the latter half of the year. To our markets, with the in-migration of residents and jobs continues and where unemployment rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels or below. Let's start in Tampa, where unemployment is below 3%. Office employment is up almost 4% year-over-year, and market rents have increased 8% from last year. Our leasing team has been busy signing 260,000 square feet for the quarter. We leased our portfolio's largest vacancy at 5332 Avion, which will bring this asset's occupancy to 95% by the end of the year. In addition, we backfilled our company's 2 largest remaining 2022 expirations, both at One Independence with no downtime via a long-term 112,000 square foot lease to a tech company. Our success at One Independent is a clear marker for our workplace making strategy, having taken the 44-acre single-use Independence Parkside through a mixed-use rezoning to add residential and retail uses to the master plan. For the quarter, GAAP rents were up 23.8% in Tampa and the average term for the 260,000 square feet of signed leases was over seven years. These leases emphasize our strategy of owning, maintaining and operating the strongest most commute-worthy buildings in the BBDs of our markets as they demonstrate the desirability of our properties to diverse corporate users. Not to be outdone, the Richmond team posted a strong quarter, signing 93,000 square feet of leases with market rents rising 4% year-over-year and where CoStar's commitment to Richmond was reinforced by their announcement of a $460 million expansion of their research and technology innovation campus, where 2,000 new employees will occupy a new 26-story tower. The Raleigh and Nashville markets posted positive net absorption for the quarter. Their unemployment rates are at or below 3% and our collective 11.4 million square feet in these markets fold main and main positioning in each of these markets BBDs. Raleigh's rents continue to grow, up 6% compared to last year and where JLL notes, the market has averaged over 4% year-over-year increases in rent over the last five years. Our team there signed 83,000 square feet of leases and ended the quarter at 93.2% occupied. In Nashville, we ended the quarter 95% occupied, and our Virginia Springs II development is 90% leased and on schedule to stabilize by the end of the year. Having acquired the balance of Ovation's 145 acres in Nashville's burgeoning Franklin Cool Springs BBD, as master developer, we are re-envisioning a more integrated mixed-use plan and will be working with the city and best-in-class third-party retail and residential developers to advance the mixed-use town center over the next several quarters. As Ted mentioned earlier, our development pipeline and potential is as solid as ever with either construction or design underway across our footprint with anchor or build-to-suit RFPs in hand. The team's success in delivering on time, on budget and leasing up throughout the pandemic gives us confidence looking ahead at the new development opportunities before us. While we continue to operate in a dynamic and ever-changing industry, a few things have become clear. The first is that a hybrid work model that provides for flexibility, most specifically throughout the work week is currently a matter of fact for many of our customers. This being said, these same customers have led us to believe that their teams are better together in the office, where they can onboard new hires, mentor rising talent, cultivate culture and collaborate to solve problems or develop new products. It is our opportunity to provide these places and spaces and we couldn't be realizing the results we are without a total team effort. To our Highwoods teammates, thank you for giving our customers your very best every day. Your unwavering commitment to providing the best possible customer care has been the foundation from which the portfolio has proven resilient and from which we will continue to grow.

Thanks, Brian, and good morning, everyone. In the first quarter, we delivered net income of $40.3 million or $0.38 per share and FFO of $110.4 million or $1.03 per share. As Ted mentioned, the quarter included a land sale gain of $0.04 and a termination fee of $0.01, while the $0.01 termination fee was factored into our original FFO outlook provided in February, the $0.04 land sale gain was not. Rolling forward from last quarter's FFO and excluding land sales from both the fourth quarter and first quarter, our FFO increased $0.02 per share. The increase in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter was attributable to the following: higher NOI contributed $0.04, including the aforementioned termination fee; the remaining $0.03 increase was driven by higher average occupancy and lower OpEx; and lower expense contributed $0.01, primarily attributable to lower average debt balances, which were primarily offset by $0.03 of higher G&A, mostly due to the accounting impact of our annual long-term incentive grants, which are customarily made in the first quarter each year. The combination of these items net to a $0.02 increase in core FFO from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022. Turning to our balance sheet, which remains in excellent shape. We ended the quarter with net-debt-to-EBITDA of 5.3 times, down from 5.4 times at the end of 2021. We're on pace to return our balance sheet to pre-pack acquisition metrics as we complete the last few non-core dispositions we've planned. Even if we don't sell any additional non-core assets or raise equity, our balance sheet still has plenty of dry powder to be opportunistic with future investments. To this end, we estimate we can complete our existing development pipeline and invest up to $0.5 billion in additional opportunities without the prerequisite of selling any assets or raising equity and still maintain a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of under 6 times. In addition, we have limited debt maturities, which creates optionality with our financing plans. Our only two debt maturities prior to 2026 are a $200 million term loan that matures in the fourth quarter of this year and a $250 million unsecured bond that matures in January 2023 that we can repay without penalty in October. We plan to satisfy these maturities with non-core disposition proceeds, retained cash flow and other financings. Similar to recent quarters, we issued a modest amount of shares on our ATM program at an average price of $46.50 per share for net proceeds of $6 million. ATM issuances remain one of the tools we believe are an efficient and measured way to fund incremental investments, particularly our development pipeline on a leverage-neutral basis. As Ted and Brian mentioned, our development team is busy exploring potential projects, and we believe creating some additional dry powder on our balance sheet ahead of future announcements is prudent and conservative financial planning. As Ted mentioned, we've updated our FFO outlook to $3.82 to $3.98 per share, up $0.06 per share at the midpoint from the original range we introduced in February. The major changes from our prior outlook at the midpoint of the range are the following: a $0.04 increase from land sale gains recorded in the first quarter; a $0.05 increase from anticipated higher anticipated NOI attributable to stronger leasing, better parking revenues and lower OpEx, and a $0.01 pickup from lesser anticipated dilution in 2022 from planned dispositions primarily related to timing. These items add up to $0.10 of upside, which are partially offset by $0.03 of higher projected interest expense due to rising interest rates and $0.01 higher projected G&A expense. These items equate to a net increase of $0.06 per share at the midpoint. Finally, as mentioned many times during the past several years, our cash flows continue to strengthen. This quarter is an excellent example of this improvement as our cash available after distribution was $27 million, while CAD and cash flow can be lumpy from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year, the trend is clear that our cash flows continue to strengthen. Cash flow improvement over the long run was one of the primary drivers behind the plan we executed in late-2019 and early 2020 to cycle out of the slower growth markets of Greensboro and Memphis and redeploy that capital into the higher growth market of Charlotte. It was, again, a primary driver behind the more recent plan of funding the acquisition of a portfolio of high-quality office assets from PAC with the sale of additional non-core assets in our existing markets. As we recycle capital going forward, we expect to continue to improve our portfolio quality, resiliency and long-term growth rate while also further strengthening our cash flows. Operator, we are now ready for questions.

Thank you. Our first question is from Vikram Malhotra with Mizuho. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. I guess, first, just maybe Brendan, you can walk us through your latest views on just expirations in the back half and into '23. Maybe just update us on any known move-outs, any ones where maybe it's still in process? And just how much of the kind of next 12 months do you actually have covered at this point?

Hey, Vikram. Good morning. Sure. So I'll start, and I'll probably pass that off to Brian to talk about the specific expirations and the activity that we're seeing there. But overall, I think as you saw in the updated outlook, we did increase our year-end occupancy target. So the midpoint moved up 25 basis points to 91.75 at that midpoint, and we ended the quarter at 91.1. So I think for our expectations, as we think about migrating throughout 2022, we do expect the occupancy ramp to be back-end loaded. So we would expect occupancy to accelerate as we move into the back half of the year. But we do have good overall activity throughout our markets. And then I'll hand it off to Brian to maybe talk about some of the specific expirations and activity we're seeing there.

Thanks, Brendan. Thanks, Vikram, for the question. I may have heard earlier in the remarks that we have been in regard, if you will, to take care of those 22 expirations and getting ahead into '23 specifically, the largest ones in the entire company were in one building in Tampa that we've since backfilled with no downtime to a tech company. So that's Independent One. So we're feeling really good about the team's work there. But as these expirations come up, we get ahead of them. And so even as we look into '23, where we have the Tivity expiration too. We're feeling really good about prospects and good activity for full relet on that building as well. So to Brendan's point, we do feel optimistic about being able to address these early, and we're staying on the front foot.

And sorry, if you could just clarify the tech company, what was the mark-to-market on that?

Vikram, that one was about flat. On a cash basis, it was positive, and on a GAAP basis, it was also positive. This was to address the two largest expirations we had in 2022, and we managed to fill those without any downtime. We were pleased with that transaction in Tampa.

Okay. On the operating expense side, given the current utilization and the return of some variable income, can you provide an update on what is included in operating expenses for this year and whether we should anticipate any changes?

We initially indicated that operational expenses, net of recovery, would be a challenge, estimating a headwind of $0.08 to $0.12 per share for 2022 compared to 2021. We now believe that impact has decreased slightly, and we expect the headwind to be more in the $0.08 to $0.10 range. However, this will be more than offset by improvements in parking revenue, overall occupancy levels, and other growth in net operating income. As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, our net operating income is up about $0.05 per share compared to our expectations at the beginning of the year, effectively countering some of the financial plan headwinds we've encountered.

Got it. Okay. Thanks so much.

Our next question is from Blaine Heck with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good morning. Brendan, thanks for the color on the ins and outs related to guidance. Just one more question on that. Can you talk about whether the $0.02 to $0.04 of increased interest expense that you're now expecting is driven solely by the increased expense on your loading rate term loan and credit facility? Or were there other balance sheet moves that were contemplated this year that might be a little bit more costly in this environment?

Yeah. No, Blaine, thanks for the question. Yes, it's solely attributable to rate overall. And just to give you a little bit of perspective, I mean, we don't speculate on what rates are going to do. We just look at the forward curve and layer that into our expense assumption. So the forward curve has moved up fairly substantially over the past two and half months, and that's really driving that $0.02 to $0.04 increase. But just as a reminder, our overall variable rate debt is about 10% of our total debt, and it's less than 4% of our total assets. So we're talking about a significant increase in terms of rates over the past several months, and it's impacting us by about $0.03 a share on an overall base that's $3.90 of FFO.

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe for Ted and Brian. The land bank is the largest it's been in quite a while, maybe in the company's history. Can you comment on whether some of the leasing you guys did during the quarter on projects under development makes you a little bit more comfortable starting something on land that you own in the near term? And where that might be, Nashville kind of jumps off the page as the largest opportunity for you guys from a development point of view, but that market has seen a lot of supply as well. So if you could comment generally and then on the prospects there on Nashville specifically, that would be helpful?

Certainly, Blaine. I'll start and then Brian can discuss Nashville specifically. You're right, our land bank valued at $340 million is probably at the higher end of what we've seen historically. Having a well-located land bank is extremely beneficial for us as it serves as our foundation for growth and development. It positions us favorably with prospects and allows us a seat at the table. Our development team is busier than they have been in a long time, with multiple active discussions happening across most of our markets, whether for build-to-suit projects or preleases that would initiate construction. The team is putting in a lot of effort, and most of these opportunities are on our own land from our existing land bank. We're hopeful for some project starts, although things are taking longer than expected. Our team has been working diligently over the past few quarters on all the ongoing discussions we mentioned previously, and we've even added a few more. However, the timeline for these developments is uncertain due to various reasons. Despite this, we remain enthusiastic about our land bank. Brian, would you like to discuss Nashville?

Our land bank provides us with a competitive advantage in these markets compared to traditional merchant development. It allows us the time to design effectively, especially during current challenges like cost escalations and supply chain issues. This leads to better visibility into our costs and what we plan to build. In Nashville, we are fortunate to have three significant land bank positions in key areas. We're currently navigating some nuances with local jurisdictions for site plan approvals on two of them, enabling us to move quickly. The third, located in the Gulch, has already received all necessary approvals for maximum density. We envision a mixed-use development there, potentially featuring over 1 million square feet of office space, high-end residential, hotels, and retail. In Brentwood, we are leasing up Virginia Springs II and expect that building to be stable and close to full commitment by the year’s end. We need the right inventory, and we're working with the city on a multi-building project. Additionally, we have full control and entitlements over Ovation, which encompasses 145 acres and includes 1.5 million square feet of office space, 950 residential units, and several hotels. This presents a tremendous opportunity, and we are exploring partnerships with third-party developers as we look to launch these projects by the end of this year.

Very helpful. Thanks, guys.

Our next question is from Rob Stevenson with Janney Montgomery Scott. Please go ahead.

Good morning, guys. Ted or Brian, can you talk about construction costs? I mean I know that you have the land bank. But in terms of just the materials and labor construction costs, if you're starting something later this year, how substantial has that been? Will that have been on a year-over-year basis if you start something in the back half of the year in terms of material and labor? And what is that doing to the rental rate that you need and or the expected yield on new developments?

Hey, Rob. Great question. I sort of probably threw that out there a little bit in that last answer. First off, I don't think we are compromising development yields we're not having to do that yet. They're holding steady based on a couple of things. Let me tell you what we're seeing. We're seeing about 0.5% to 1% of escalation kind of month-over-month. And we really see that continuing for the next year. This is primarily a delta between demand and supply and that's kind of throughout the markets. Now a couple of things I just want to hit on. Again, we have the ability to mitigate this in a way that others may not and more the live folks who are competing on the ground within the merchant build. Typically, the merchant developers will have to get to 100% GMP price with their general contractor to then secure construction financing to then go forward. And since we're developing on balance sheet without typically construction lending, so we can go ahead and get ahead of that 0.5% to 1% month-to-month escalation by buying out some major trades with the GC and the subs glass, site work, steel, asphalt, in some cases, getting on that early. That represents about 60% of project's cost. So if we can lock in that early, in many cases, six months to a year maybe of some others, it's helping us kind of control that yield erosion and not having to accept that because rates are growing. Rental rates are growing, particularly for the flight to quality. And we're seeing that in the buildings that we're developing, and we're seeing the ones that are in the market. And so that's basically how we're addressing it. But it's a real deal, and we monitor daily.

Okay. And then how big of an issue is the cost and general lack of availability of apartments in your markets in terms of office utilization and incremental demand in your markets? We've been hearing that there's a number of employers that are having issues getting their 2022 college graduating classes in the office this summer because they can't find housing. Are you guys seeing that and your tenants experiencing that issue? Or is that not yet an issue for you in your markets?

Yeah. I don't think that's an issue with us. Certainly, there's been a fair amount of multifamily construction going on in our markets. So that's the first I've heard of it. I know demand is extremely strong for multifamily product. Rents are definitely increased. I think affordability versus availability might be more of the issue here. Rents have risen in some of our markets, 20%, 25% in the last year, year and half. So I don't think it's an availability issue in our markets.

Rob, building on Ted's response, we've been working on this for the past couple of years. We didn't anticipate the pandemic or the housing shortage. Currently, the country is about 2 million housing units short compared to our average delivery over the last 50 years. Recently, as Ted noted, we sold a pad site next to our office building in Tampa for a high-rise residential multifamily tower. This is part of our strategy to provide nearby residential housing linked to our office spaces, allowing people to live and work in close proximity. We're exploring this approach across our entire portfolio, including a major rezoning and land enrichment around our key office buildings for multifamily developments, particularly in Nashville. If we can foster a live, work, play environment within walking distance of the office, we feel optimistic about maintaining high occupancy in our office spaces.

Okay. Lastly, Brendan, what do you expect to do with the 140-190 disposition proceeds? Will it be used to pay down the line and possibly part of the term loan, or do you have other plans for it? How are you planning to utilize those proceeds when they arrive in the next 60 days or so?

The fundamentals are that there may be a slight timing mismatch that could affect our FFO and earnings for a quarter or two, but it's purely related to timing. Regarding our overall debt, we have a $200 million term loan and a $250 million bond that matures in January 2023, which we can pay off in October. This totals $450 million in debt maturities classified as 2022. We expect to refinance the term loan and possibly increase it by about $100 million. Additionally, we plan to use approximately $150 million from the disposition proceeds, totaling $450 million in capital. We will then utilize the proceeds from the upsized term loan to pay off the remainder and settle the January 2023 bond in October.

Okay. And all of that is included in the guidance at this point or not?

It is, yes.

Hey, guys. It's Nick on for Dave. I first wanted to touch on rent economics. It seemed as though economics slipped in the quarter. Was that more of a function of more new leasing and/or geographical mix? Or is that more an indictment of the current economics?

Sure. We completed 391,000 square feet of new leases, which accounted for 59% of our total leasing. This is the highest percentage of new leasing in over 20 years, as our finance team informed us this morning. It's essentially a mix, considering the new leasing volume compared to total leasing. We're excited to welcome 58 new customers to our portfolio in just this quarter. This reflects the level of activity and the new leasing we are incorporating into the portfolio.

Great. And then touching on utilization a little bit. You mentioned 50% utilization. In prior calls, you mentioned that smaller tenants were more active than larger tenants and maybe some of the suburban assets you're seeing a little bit more activity. Is that still the case? Or has there been any changes there?

No, that's exactly what it is. The only change is that now the larger companies are beginning to return to the office. The major public companies have announced, as you may have seen in the news, that they are bringing their employees back, often in shifts over time. However, the smaller companies have still stayed in suburban areas, which I believe is more common than in urban areas. It's the larger companies that are contributing to that utilization.

Nick, it's Brian. One thing I may add on to that. And I know in general, on these calls, everyone wants to kind of put together some major trends to project in the future, but I'd like to add some anecdotes. One is in Charlotte, our large Bank of America Tower. The bank there has brought their people back officially. And during the pandemic, we worked really hard and got in the best-in-class coffee and cafe operator in all of Charlotte and built that out as part of an amenity, we want to make sure when people came back, they were properly caffeinated, and we've seen sales there double monthly basically for the last three months. So we're seeing that utility in real-time come back. Now if you ask us for our utilization Tuesday through Thursday, it's going to be the highest. We're still seeing kind of across the board Mondays and Fridays companies granting more flexibility to their teammates.

That's great. And then maybe lastly, maybe some additional commentary on your vacancies in Buckhead and/or the activity you're seeing there in particular?

Sure, Nick. Brian, again. So Buckhead it's busy. And we are seeing renewals. We're seeing folks grow. We're seeing some inbounds as well. The very little inventory has been added or kind of was in the pipeline, which is a good thing for Buckhead. We are doing a development they are right now 2827 Peachtree. So you're seeing that flight to quality win, that's leasing up very well, and it's barely even in the ground forget coming out of the ground. So there's prospects of all sizes. We Buckhead, one of our assets, we were able to land a law firm coming out of downtown and came in to Buckhead. And so we're bullish. The blend of quality of life, regional access shops and restaurants is pretty well unmatched. Maybe Midtown would be the closest. So we're still pretty busy there. Ted, any thoughts?

No, I think that's right. I think the demand we're seeing from professional services firms and financial services companies are largely demand law firms as well. But to Brian's point, I mean, we signed during the quarter. We just kicked off 2827 Peachtree and signed another 15,000 square feet, and we continue to see good demand on that project as, again, the flight to quality. So we're still a big fan of Buckhead and that's doing well.

Thanks, guys.

Our next question is from Jamie Feldman with Bank of America.

Hey, everyone. This is someone filling in for Jamie. Can you discuss the investor interest in assets within your markets? Additionally, how would you describe it, and have cap rates or buyer demand shifted due to the rising interest rate environment?

Sure. I think what you're seeing, obviously, rates have just started picking up the last couple of months. But pricing that we've seen for high-quality core assets with great credit, long weighted average lease term has generally held up. We've been a few in the market in the last couple of months. So it wouldn't surprise me to see the single-tenant market could be affected just given how low cap rates have gotten for some of the single-tenant deals. But generally, core assets have held up. We are hearing of some pressure on some value-add deals that attract leverage buyers for the exact reason you have said with interest rates going up. But we're still early in the rising interest rate environment. So we'll see how it plays out. The nice thing is the investor pool that wants to be in our markets is incredibly deep both unlevered that are chasing the core deals, but also the levered buyers are trying to get in our markets. So an abundance of capital is chasing and the fundamentals are good. So I do think buyers are able to underwrite some of the vacancy or the value-add aspects more easily than they were a year ago. So we'll see how that tenor balances. But net-net, a lot of investor appetite for assets still.

Okay. Great. And then kind of along those lines, have rising rates or recession concerns in general, slow tenant leasing decision-making? Or do any markets stand out on that front?

No, not at all. I mean, the activity is robust. I think you saw our numbers both on the second gen. We made good progress on some of our development projects as well. We signed leases, we mentioned the 2827, but Virginia Springs II went from 81% to 90% this quarter. Midtown 1 in Tampa went from 64%, 65%, I think to 71%. We've got prospects really to fill those buildings up. So we're seeing robust demand really across our markets.

I believe it's separate from your specific question about rates and decision-making. However, we are noticing that many customers have been hesitant for the past two years to make decisions, but now they understand that their workspaces need to contribute to their competitive advantage in recruiting, retaining, and encouraging their talent to return to the office, where they feel more effective together. Consequently, they are witnessing increases in fit-up costs and potential rates. Therefore, I think we are observing a growing sense of urgency from those who wish to occupy office space to make decisions now, as they recognize that rates and costs are escalating.

Okay, great. Thank you, guys. That’s all for me.

Our next question is from Manny Korchman with Citi. Please go ahead.

I wanted to follow up on the last topic. Regarding the tenant decision-making process, what is their timeline for moving into a space? Are they still considering buildings that Highwoods hasn't constructed yet and willing to wait a couple of years, or are they more focused on existing spaces that they can occupy quickly? How are they approaching the balance between immediate needs and future options in terms of the time required to get into these spaces?

Sure. I think the answer is yes and yes. I know we have some customers willing to wait and some who are not. We have also ramped up our spec suite program. There are customers who just want to do plug and play. They want to look at it on Friday and show up for work a week later. So there's good demand for that space as well. It depends on each individual company's decision-making process and their own timeline. But we’re seeing examples of both.

And then, Ted, are you seeing any differences in utilization between new releases and older leases? So somebody's had a space for a longer time, do they only have also a number, 20% of deals showing up and the new spaces are 80%? Or is that kind of a wrong conclusion?

I believe it's too early to determine the overall conclusion regarding the company. Larger companies have just started returning in the last couple of months, so we lack sufficient data points. As we've noted in previous calls, smaller companies have returned and are generally performing close to their pre-pandemic levels, perhaps slightly lower. We are still analyzing the situation and waiting to see how the larger companies’ return to work will unfold.

Great. Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Our next question is from Ronald Kamdem with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Hey. Just a couple of quick ones. Starting with the occupancy, the guidance was raised here. Can you take a step back and share what level of occupancy you think historically in the portfolio signals that you start to gain significant pricing power and the balance shifts towards the landlord?

Sure. I think it's a good question. I think historically, I would tell you, when the market vacancy gets down to about 10% the leverage a little bit to landlords. So we're elevated we're above that today. We are below it back in '18 and '19. So it's still, without a doubt, I do think it's a tenant market in most of our markets today. Certainly, there's nuances by market and submarket and then also building as well. But we typically historically, I've thought about 10% is the tipping point from a leverage standpoint.

It’s worth noting that this situation is less influenced by interest rates and more by the quality factor in many aspects. I believe we are observing this trend as well.

Great. And just to dig in on some of the specific lease expirations, obviously, no large ones in '22. Just on activity space, I think you said in the past that I think there was some tenant subletting, are the tenants still there? And is there still opportunities for maybe some of those tenants to take space or will it have to be just a new user space?

Sure. Good question and good visibility into that specific asset. So we do have some sub-tenancy in there with other users, and we could have the option to deal with them directly and we've stayed in touch, obviously. But there is good activity. We have started the process for a reimagination of that collection of what is, in a sense, it's kind of three buildings around a real central park. And we've started the process to bring in retail to bring performing music venue and even have Pickleball. And so we started that kind of repositioning, and we're getting really good traction with the food that wants to come in there. And so with that, we have some good interest and activity to relet that entire with a single user. So more to hopefully talk about that in the future, but we're feeling pretty good.

Got it. And then my last question was just on the lease structure. Anything, Joe, I think you talked about sort of you got more term, a great leasing quarter obviously. But is it still sort of 2.5% rent bumps? Is there any change on lease structure on the newer vintages versus maybe historically? Thank you.

Hey, Ron. It's Brendan. I would say, I mean, I think our bumps in the quarter were a little bit higher than average. So they were a little bit above that 2.5% range. But 2.5% is I think going forward, I would say, that's probably about where we think it will continue to be. I suppose if we remain in an elevated inflationary environment, there's probably some upward pressure on those annual escalators. And we did get better than that this quarter. But I think our expectation is we probably will continue to be average around 2.5% as we move forward over the next several quarters.

Great. That’s all my questions. Thank you.

Our next question is from Michael Lewis with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.

Great. Thank you. So I'm going to ask just 1 question, but it's potentially a long one, I'll try to be succinct. I've had more than one investor liken the current office situation to what malls faced in the recent past, where investing to B+ malls will be okay. And then they thought A- or better and then and then pretty soon investors just wanted to own the trophy assets. Is there a you think that office is going to be like that? And do you feel any sense of urgency to sell those lower quality assets to focus on your best ones and your development opportunities and maybe some capital into some assets? Or do you think I'm overstating the situation? Because I think if there's a pivot here that needs to be made in office, and I don't know that there does, but if it does, it seems like you're positioned with what Brendan said about the balance sheet and the flexibility and your development capability, that you guys could do that if you think that's a necessary thing or maybe, like I said, maybe I'm overstating it.

There's a lot to discuss here, and I think we can tackle it together. We've been engaging with our customers and CEOs, and they are eager to return to the office and be present with one another. It's about culture, and we believe that office spaces will continue to thrive. While there is a demand for quality, it's not just about the newest or most impressive buildings; it’s about quality buildings located in desirable areas with landlords willing to invest in their properties long term. If we look at the 102 leases signed this quarter, or even the 58 new leases, along with the approximately 400 leases from 2021, it's evident that many of these are in older buildings that are excellently situated close to decision makers' homes and favorable demographics near major transport routes. We strongly believe in securing the best locations in high-quality assets. Additionally, our office portfolio will drive development in these key submarkets. We have confidence in the future of the office sector. Concurrently, we are actively selling assets, having transacted over $1 billion in the past three years. We recognize that due to trends stemming from COVID, some properties may be less viable or accessible. For instance, we decided to divest a few suburban assets in Tampa that historically performed well. However, we noticed that, due to the shift brought by COVID, many tenants were call centers whose operations can now be managed more effectively from home. We expect those properties to be less resilient in the future, so we removed them from our portfolio. Ultimately, if we believe a location won't endure in the long run, we’ll dispose of those assets. I hope that covers everything.

Hi, Michael, Brian here. I appreciate your question and the comparison to malls and retail. When we analyze the experience level in malls, the fortress malls seem to have become even stronger during this time. Additionally, from a retail experience perspective, strip retail has also seen significant growth and engagement. Referring back to a term Ted used, we consider commute-worthy assets. If a workplace doesn't provide a competitive edge to attract and retain talent, we need to address that. The concept of commute-worthy starts with making commutes easier. This idea applies broadly, especially to suburban locations that are near where many people live and shop. As we focus on making our properties commute-worthy, we see potential in various uses. For example, in Brentwood, Nashville, we have many office buildings in an area called Maryland Farms that we are currently repositioning. We've reimagined these buildings, and initial renderings are already driving up rental interest. We have to follow through and build what we've designed because we believe it will exceed our original expectations. Not everyone needs extravagant spaces. People often use the term trophy, but our true assets are our people, and we are centering the work experience around the individuals who will occupy these buildings. We are learning that these convenient, commute-worthy locations are proving to be successful.

Michael, I want to address your question as a team. It’s a great question that we frequently discuss. From a financial standpoint, we have a history of selling assets that pose long-term risks, whether that’s due to NOI deterioration or value loss. As Ted mentioned, we've sold $1 billion worth of assets over the last three years, primarily during the COVID period. We have the strategy in place to monetize these assets and reinvest that capital, which allows us to continue growing our company and enhancing our cash flows over time. We are confident in our strategy and have solid foundations in place. I also want to highlight our upcoming Investor Day, where we will showcase some of the successful assets in Nashville that have excelled during the pandemic. We feel positive about how we’ve categorized our assets, distinguishing between those with long-term potential and those that carry greater risks, and we’ve focused on increasing the monetization of the latter.

Great. Thanks for the thoughtful answers, to what I think not an easy question. Thanks.

And we have no further questions at this time. You may continue with your presentation or closing remarks.

Well, thanks, everybody, for being on the call today. And thank you for your interest in Highwoods. If anybody has any follow-up questions, feel free to reach out. Thank you.

And that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you all for your participation and kindly ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a great day, everyone.