Posts Tagged ‘tenant’

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Where did I put that lease? Finding your best real estate strategy

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

By Ralph Benzakein, Vice President

Here’s the scenario: You just realized that your lease will be expiring in a few months and you start to think about what that will mean.  For the most part, your current space works for you.  You might need more open space or a couple of additional offices; the carpet is starting to show some wear; the walls have been marked up a bit.  But, it’s close to home and you have a comfort level there (the car practically drives itself to the office).  You also remember the nightmare of moving and the disruption to your business.

So…now what?  You didn’t get into business to have to worry about this stuff, but now you need to.  You decide there is plenty of time to address this and go about doing “more important” things.

At the same time, you begin to notice all of the “Available Space” signs on your way to and from your office.  You call one or two of them and discover that although there is a sign in front of the building, there isn’t necessarily any space that would suite your operation, but the broker representing the building would be happy to show you other buildings.  It then occurs to you that those signs never really come down and that they are really just a lead generation system for the broker.

More time goes by and brokers are calling you every other day to pitch you new space or tell you how much free rent they can get you.  Nobody has taken the time to evaluate what your business needs are and how they can be aligned with your real estate needs.

It all becomes a little overwhelming and with about 30 days left on your lease, you contact you current landlord and “ask” him if you can renew your lease.  He says, “Sure, I’ll send you a renewal letter, just sign it and you’ll be good for the next five years.”

Wow, talk about the path of least resistance.  You think to yourself, done deal.  You read the lease renewal, notice the part about continued escalations (seems reasonable), sign it, and it goes back in the drawer for another four and a half years.

You, my friend, are a landlord’s dream come true!

You may have saved some time, but it came at a very high price.  Here are just a few of the items that a tenant rep would have negotiated for you:

  1.  Lower rent (those continued escalations in the renewal have committed you to rent that is well above the market)
  2. Rent abatement (free rent)
  3. Refurbishment allowance (new carpets, paint, move partition walls, etc.)
  4. New base year for real estate taxes
  5. Reduce or enlarge space, per your needs
  6. Lower escalations

 

Your rationale that your landlord would not want a broker involved is accurate.  I’ve just shown you why.  It’s not because he doesn’t want to pay a broker’s fee, though he probably doesn’t.  It’s because many of the countless clauses you are not equipped to negotiate are his profit centers.

And by the way, some landlords are more than willing to pay a broker’s fee, even on the renewal.  Some even insist on it to ensure that the broker is not motivated to move the tenant out of their current space.

Bottom line: give yourself plenty of time to determine the best real estate strategy for your business.  That usually means at least one year, if not more, depending on the size of your space.

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The Industrial Relocation Checklist

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

By Sean Hoehn, Managing Principal, Industrial

Relocating your industrial facilities can be a challenging task and requires careful planning. It is important that equipment does not get damaged during the move, that the relocation is completed on time to limit disruption to operations, and that it is completed within budget.

It is important to research companies that specialize in the transportation of racking and machinery well in advance of the relocation. Be sure to choose a reputable mover, and do not base your decision on pricing alone; the latter can end up costing you more in the end. Try to find a moving company that can provide you turnkey services; it is more manageable, and less stressful, to deal with one project manager as opposed to dealing with several companies with different contacts for different services.

Prepare rough floor plans of the new site outlining where the machinery and equipment should go. Once you have a shortlist of moving companies to provide you with a final quote, have them perform site visits with you in your existing and future home and go over the rough floor plans.

Speak to your distribution or production manager regarding any possible down time and stock requirements, as you do not want your move to affect your relationships with your customers. You may want to consider over-holding machinery in your current facility for a short period and perform a staged relocation by moving certain lines at the most appropriate time.

Someone in your organization should create a timetable for coordinating services with your local providers. A common mistake when planning a relocation is forgetting a services checklist for things like draining of oil, electrical and mechanical disconnects and reconnects, or any other requirement that might apply to your operations.

Obtain budget approval from your associates and make sure they know what moving company you have chosen. Explain the plan to ensure both internal and external stakeholders are comfortable with the relocation and timetable.

Cresa and its project management team are well positioned to facilitate your relocation. Our integrated approach enables us to take you through the entire real estate process from strategy development, surveys, market opportunities, negotiations with landlords and renovations/relocations.

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Split Incentives Key to Energy Efficiency

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

By Mike Tobin, Director of Sustainability

Every tenant wants to pay less in operating expenses, and every landlord is challenged with how to maintain or improve their property to provide competitive operating costs. When it comes to capital investments in building systems, the conversation between the two can become frosty as neither one wants to be burdened with the expense.

In order to improve the energy efficiency of our national and international building stock, it is imperative that we identify a framework for addressing split incentives in both a working and legal relationship. To that end, CresaPartners participated in a workshop hosted by BOMA and the Rocky Mountain Institute to attempt to build just such a framework. BOMA and several of the other participants approached the issue from a landlord’s or owner’s perspective, and CresaPartners brought the tenant’s perspective to balance the table during the discussions. The result of this workshop will be a guidebook that outlines the issues and creates a road map for possible win-win solutions. The goal is to release this to the market by the end of the year.

I’ll outline a few of the key items that were addressed to hopefully spur some further discussion. One discussion point is whether or not the lease or another side agreement should be used to outline split incentive agreements. One on side, the lease is the central legal document to the relationship between landlord and tenant. It is the place to outline any split incentives such as allowing the landlord to pass through to the tenant the cost to upgrade the HVAC system. On the other side, the landlord in a multi-tenant building will have many different leases or forms, and it will be very time consuming and expensive to amend each lease for the split incentive. As a result, a side agreement may conceivably be more efficient to simply focus on the split incentive while not opening up the lease.

Another issue arises out of the multi-tenant buildings—how does a landlord move forward with an energy efficiency project if not all of the tenants agree to the split incentive agreement? A simple answer is that the landlord would just have to decide whether or not it was in their best interest to maintain that asset and thus make the capital investment themselves. But the landlord can also do more to try to be a better salesman. In a lot of instances, the tenants feel as if the landlord is trying to pull something over on them. By engaging the tenants earlier in an open dialogue and providing transparency into the capital planning, energy costs, etc., then the landlord may be able to do a better job of selling the building improvements.

This discussion of improved salesmanship brings up the area of financing the improvement. A new area of financing has arisen for landlords that will provide the upfront capital in return for the cost difference due to improvement in operating efficiency. If the new system is really efficient, then the financing entity gets a nice return. If the system is inefficient, then the financing entity may lose money. The tenants do not realize the cost benefit from the more efficient system during the term of the contract, but they are guaranteed a steady cost of energy that is no more than their current rate. The challenge is that the financing entity will not provide financing if not all of the tenants are in agreement. If not all tenants are in agreement, then there may be other financing agreements that can be structured to meet those needs. By openly discussing these options, the landlord may encourage non-committed tenants to commit.

Sales also takes a certain amount of trust that is sometimes hard to find in a tenant/landlord relationship. In order to build trust, landlords can improve the transparency of the building operations by doing something like publicly proclaiming the energy star rating or the energy use per square foot of the building. There is a lot of debate in the market today about whether or not landlords should be required to give energy star ratings or other national building labels. As tenants and brokers, let’s ask every landlord for their energy star rating (and/or energy use per square foot) until it becomes abnormal not to provide that level of transparency. In that way, we establish a basic level of shared understanding about the building and can build upon that to find common ground and win-win improvement scenarios.

This is just a sampling of some of the issues that were discussed surrounding split incentives, and there are many more issues and ideas around this topic. If you have any good examples or other ideas, please feel free to write me and help us promote better building efficiency through split incentives.

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Posted in Sustainability | 2 Comments »

Modest Job Growth Helps Recovery in Select Markets, Q3 2011

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

By Bill Goade, CEO

As Q3 2011 comes to a close, the recovery has not picked up any momentum and in fact has slowed. The few markets that showed recovery in the first half of the year (Silicon Valley, the Bay Area, Cambridge, Mass., and high-rise midtown New York) continued to show strength. However, in most office markets, job growth has remained modest, and demand has been relatively flat. It will be another year before national vacancy begins to fall significantly and average rental rents rise. A full market recovery does not seem likely for some time unless job growth accelerates dramatically.

The national availability rate of 17.3% is slightly down from Q3 2010, the high point since 1993. Meanwhile, average rents are still well below the highs by more than 25% in 2008 in most markets.

In most places it remains a tenant’s market and an especially good time for credit-worthy tenants to exercise their leverage in negotiations with landlords. While some landlords are becoming more bullish, most are focusing on tenant retention at almost all costs as demand remains sluggish in markets nationwide.
Along with modest job growth is the phenomenon of unused “shadow space.” Companies will backfill that space as they hire rather than expand. At the same time, over 70% of transactions continue to be renewals rather than relocations.

Bright Signs

Positive indicators include the following: The amount of occupied space increased slightly for the third straight quarter, and average office rents also rose slightly, their first spike since Q2 2008. In addition, investment activity rallied last year, recording $168 billion in sales, up 60% from 2009.

Opportunities for Tenants

The window is still open for tenants in most markets, and we continue to encourage companies to be proactive in negotiations before their leverage begins to slip. In some instances, one- or two-year extensions are available as landlords anticipate a better market in 2013 and beyond. Because of the likely tightening in availability, we rarely recommend the short-term extension strategy at this time, unless the business plan simply cannot support a longer commitment. However, tenants need to weigh flexibility versus likely rent hikes in two or three years. In other instances, tenants, especially those with strong business plans, have an opportunity to lock into leases of eight years or more. Finally, given low interest rates and impending changes in lease accounting, this may be an excellent time for some tenants to buy real estate.

Click here to read about your local market.

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Valuations Still Uneven, Vary by Product Type

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

By Jim Leslie, Principal

Valuations of commercial real estate product continue to vary by product type.  Primarily due to the housing crash and the continued fallout of the mortgage debacle, most multifamily rental communities are showing signs of stability as well as rent increases.  The industry is welcoming back individuals who had become home owners with the relaxed mortgage underwriting but now find themselves renting again.  The experiment of making everyone a homeowner has shown to be unsustainable, recharging demand for apartments.  Investors are rushing to purchase this product type at very competitive cap rates as they feel rent will continue to increase in the foreseeable future.

Office product has not been embraced by these same capital sources, and it is still difficult to find money (debt or equity) to fund new construction.  Other than 100% fully leased build-to-suit opportunities, very little new construction is occurring in most areas of the country.  In addition, landlords are still working to modify their capital stack to reduce leverage and extend terms.  As a result, many landlords are finding liquidity to be a challenge and that is creating problems for them in negotiating renewals as well as limiting their ability to close new leases.  Tenants should be looking at their current portfolio of leased properties to identify those landlords with liquidity issues and approach the landlord now to probe options which will be beneficial to the tenant and may also be helpful to the landlord.  For example, a recent transaction allowed for the tenant to pay for tenant improvements in exchange for a reduction in rent, giving the tenant a 15% annual return on the capital it invested in the improvements.  That is a 10 year investment return of 15% compared to a 10 year treasury rate of 3%.  How many Chief Financial Officers would love to get a 15% return on their own operations and not worry about the investment?  These kinds of returns are more the norm than the exception and can have a meaningful impact on the stated rent in the lease agreement.  It also allows the tenant to effectively gain long-term occupancy at below market rates regardless of who eventually owns the building.  Other opportunities exist for tenants to purchase the buildings they occupy at below replacement cost values.  They will eventually be able to take the building back to market in a sale leaseback transaction utilizing the credit of their balance sheet to maximize value.  We are seeing some developers beginning to sell some of their owned portfolio to free up liquidity for their remaining assets.  They recognize this is not a strategy that maximizes value, but they are going through a unique time and are looking to keep what they can.  It seems all of them are repeating the mantra: “it is what it is.”  This is an ideal time for a tenant to approach their landlord to see if a transaction can be accomplished.  There is no harm in pursuing those assets which you feel are quality and strategic to your core business.

This opportunity will exist throughout 2011 but it is beginning to appear that all “troubled” real estate investment portfolios will be either recapitalized or sold by 2012, creating a much more stable and patient landlord for the future.  Now is the time for tenants to aggressively review their own portfolio to see if opportunities exist within their markets.

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Modest Job Growth Helps Recovery in Select Markets

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

By Bill Goade, CEO

In mid-2010, economists declared that the recession was over, and the recent unemployment rate of 9.5% seems to confirm modest job recovery. But as Q2 2011 comes to a close, the recovery has not picked up any momentum and in fact seems to have slowed. The few markets that showed recovery in Q1 (Silicon Valley, the Bay Area, Cambridge, Mass., and high-rise midtown New York) continued to show strength. However, in most office markets, job growth has remained modest, and demand has been relatively flat. It will probably be another year before national vacancy begins to fall significantly and average rental rents rise. A full market recovery will probably not occur until 2013, when we likely will reach pre-recession employment levels, and that will occur only if the job growth picks up. For the most part, there is little velocity for class B space, and suburban areas are generally suffering more than CBDs.

The national availability rate of 17.3% is slightly down from Q3 2010, the high point since 1993. Meanwhile, average rents are still well below the highs by more than 25% in 2008 in most markets.

In most places it remains a tenant’s market and an especially good time for credit-worthy tenants to exercise their leverage in negotiations with landlords. While some landlords are becoming more bullish, most are focusing on tenant retention at almost all costs as demand remains sluggish in markets nationwide.
Along with modest job growth is the phenomenon of unused “shadow space.” Companies will backfill that space as they hire rather than expand. At the same time, over 70% of transactions continue to be renewals rather than relocations.

Bright Signs

Positive indicators include the following: The amount of occupied space increased slightly for the third straight quarter, and average office rents also rose slightly, their first spike since Q2 2008. In addition, investment activity rallied last year, recording $168 billion in sales, up 60% from 2009.

Opportunities for Tenants

The window is still open for tenants in most markets, and we continue to encourage companies to be proactive in negotiations before their leverage begins to slip. In some instances, one- or two-year extensions are available as landlords anticipate a better market in 2013 and beyond. Because of the likely tightening in availability, we rarely recommend the short-term extension strategy at this time, unless the business plan simply cannot support a longer commitment. However, tenants need to weigh flexibility versus likely rent hikes in two or three years. In other instances, tenants, especially those with strong business plans, have an opportunity to lock into leases of eight years or more. Finally, given low interest rates and impending changes in lease accounting, this may be an excellent time for some tenants to buy real estate.

Click here to read about your local market.

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Tenants Firmly in the Driver’s Seat

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

By Terry Quinn, Principal

As is often the case, there seems to be a public air of optimism, but behind the scenes, most participants acknowledge a continued lack of certainty and visibility related to the overall economy and the commercial real estate markets.   This uncertainty is largely driven by the market manipulation of the Fed in terms of QE2 (scheduled to end this summer), negative real interest rates, weak overall recovery, and commodity inflation as a result of the overheated dollar printing press.

Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) has certainly outpaced most other major markets throughout the country in terms of job creation.  As such, it seems that many CRE players are lined up to prepare for the next upward part of the cycle.  In the context of the office market, we think it’s a bit early for most landlords and investors to assume that the risks of loss of valuation are in the past.  It’s only the sixth inning, and therefore, despite the fact that the Fed has been successful in rebuilding bank balance sheets thereby allowing a delay for many owners facing refinancing, troubled waters potentially remain on the horizon.

The $64 billion dollar question is what happens if interest rates move significantly upward over the next 18-24 months.   We recently asked the COO of a major bank here in town about his thoughts regarding the future of interest rates.  His response:  “The window is between 6 and 18 months, but when the upward movement begins, we think it will move higher and much more swiftly than most expect.  The 10 year could easily hit 6% or go higher.”

We recently reviewed the $3.9B of CMBS mortgage loans currently outstanding in the DFW metroplex.  38% of the total CMBS loans in DFW are on the watchlist.  This ranks Dallas 3rd behind only San Diego and Riverside/Ontario in terms of the highest percentage of loans on the watchlist. In addition, 84% or $3.3B of the CMBS mortgages mature over the next 60 months.

We also looked at the 4 largest CMBS office loans in DFW scheduled to mature in 2012 (approximately $250MM in aggregate).  We then stress tested these loans considering the current net operating income (NOI) and mortgage principal balance.  We then applied current underwriting standards and current loan pricing/spreads against a 10 year treasury at 6%.  On this basis, only 1 of those properties would have a Debt Coverage Ratio in excess of 1.0 and none would have adequate cash flow to be refinanced without re-capitalization through new equity.

We are not pessimists but realists.  Other than a few exceptions, we see the uncertainty and weak economic growth placing tenants firmly in the driver seat.  Landlords will continue to aggressively pursue renewals and new tenants to firm up and secure NOI now in order to achieve a refinance or sale before the interest rates move upward to reflect the real inflation pressures in the pipeline.

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Foreign Trade Zones

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

By Rob Wheeler, Vice President       

If you have been around the world of industrial real estate and supply chain management long enough, you have come across the term Foreign Trade Zone or FTZ.  We hear the term often, but at the same time there are questions about what it is, how it works, and what savings can be achieved through the use of a FTZ.

Foreign Trade Zones are areas in the United States that are in or adjacent to U.S. Ports of Entry and are under the supervision of the U.S. Customs Service.  These areas allow companies to operate as though they are outside the United States.   Merchandise can be brought into the zone and held without being subject to normal Customs Duties and Taxes.  If manufacturing occurs in a FTZ, the duties and taxes are applied to the product as though U.S. based added value (think domestic materials, labor, overhead, profit) never happened.  In other words, the manufactured product is treated as though it’s just the parts, not the sum of the parts that has been assembled.  

Although overseen by the U.S. Customs Service, a Foreign Trade Zone is actually a local community development.  FTZs are typically an offshoot of an economic development corporation (EDC) or port authority that is trying to use the FTZ status to attract industrial development.  Corporations going through the industrial site selection process may see Foreign Trade Zone status as a “must have” if they import a large quantity of goods.

 In most cases, to obtain the FTZ perks a company has to locate to a General Purpose Zone.  This zone is typically land owned and developed by a port or economic development entity, or possibly an institutional development group that has partnered with the local EDC.  In some cases an organization might have enough business that a subzone is created just for that building.

An FTZ is a hot destination because of the savings it offers to the tenant.  Not only are there elimination of duties and taxes, but being in an FTZ also allows a company to file for entries on a Weekly Entry basis, not a per shipment charge, resulting in significant savings.    With the maximum dollar amount for entry on a per shipment basis being $485 for shipments valued at $230,952 and higher, a little math shows the dramatic impact of a Foreign Trade Zone.

EXAMPLE: 15 shipments per week, each with a value of over $230,952, would amount to a merchandise processing fee of $7,275 ($485 x 15) per week. If this number is annualized the amount is $378,300 (52 x $7,275) per year.

Companies in a Foreign-Trade Zone may take advantage of the Weekly Entry procedure. In the case of the above example, Weekly Entry would provide for one Entry per week. For example: the 15 ($230,952) shipments per week would be filed as a single shipment of $3,464,280 each week. The merchandise processing fee would amount to the maximum of $485 total for the week. If this fee is annualized utilizing Weekly Entry it is a total of only $25,220 yearly. In this example Weekly Entry provides a savings of $353,080 per year. The savings can be more or less depending on the number of shipments received during the year.

As you can see being in a Foreign Trade Zone can have a significant impact on budget of the supply chain department.  There are potentially significant savings to be had.  Is locating in a Foreign Trade Zone right for you?  The Industrial / Supply Chain team at CresaPartners has the experience to help your organization walk through the decision making process.

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Audit or Administration? Providing Value to Smaller Spaces

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

By Jeff Tosello, Principal

Choosing a boutique firm to audit your company’s largest leases at the lowest possible contingency fee you can negotiate—isn’t that all you need to do to ensure that your portfolio is protected?

In a word: no. You may be missing one of the greatest potential sources of cost reduction in the real estate department and passing up an opportunity to be a hero not only to the business unit with the largest amount of space, but to the smaller space users as well.

Often, lease audit is a phrase used to raise questions and entice tenants into discussions about representation.  It can also mean many different things—a desktop review, an exhaustive desktop analysis, an onsite review of the landlord’s books and/or extended discussion with the landlord over any number of gray areas open to interpretation in the lease where expenses are involved.  Many times, what a tenant thinks they’re going to get is not what the contingency firms actually do, and as a result, they end up paying too much to have the work done.  Understanding the nuances of this business and considering a more specific approach to expense review may influence how a company proceeds with this type of program.

Used properly, lease audit is an effective means of resolving past issues and, more importantly, of ensuring compliant lease payments in the future.  But the type of audits employed and how they are applied to the portfolio of locations is a big part of the equation. Further, implementing procedural changes in the payment process after audits are performed can increase the benefit of such a review exponentially.

Looking at a real-life example, let us suppose that we are considering a company with 50 locations in the US making up 1,000,000 SF and having an average size of 20,000 SF.  A closer look at this portfolio reveals the following (using the old 80/20 rule):

Assumptions:

-1,000,000 SF portfolio (average = 20,000), 50 locations

-80% of the portfolio averages 8,750 SF

-20% of the portfolio averages 65,000 SF

-Of the 10 locations that make up the 65,000 SF average, only 3 are above 40,000 SF

-Average cost per square foot = $30 (base rent plus OPEX and taxes)

-Ratio of basic errors to complex errors = 1% vs. 2.5%

 

Factors Conventional Approach Our Approach Net Difference
# of Leases to Audit 3 for 195,000 SF 50 for 1M SF 47
Basic Errors Found on All Leases (1%) $58,500 $300,000 $241,500
Complex Errors on Big Leases (2.5%) $146,250 $146,250 $0
Total Savings = $204,750 $446,250 $241,500
Cost of Auditing Just 3 = $71,663 Flat fees of $900 + %  of $51,188 = $52,087 ($19,575)
Cost of Auditing the Balance $0 $14,100 $14,100 
Net Savings to Client = $133,087 $380,063 $246,975

 

As you can see from this example, avoiding review of the small locations leaves $250,000 on the table even assuming a 1% error rate! Pure audit firms won’t touch these because a 1% savings at a 2,500 SF location means saving about $750, netting them only $263 which is less than their cost of doing the work. 

The bottom line:  Higher value, more savings, better results – Isn’t that what wins business?

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Accounting Boards Come Full Circle

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

By Brant Bryan, Principal

If you are into accounting, this is high drama. 

After lengthy debate, the US and International Accounting Boards (the FASB and IASB) tentatively decided in their May meeting to have all leases accounted for as a financing lease.  This reversed their decision earlier this Spring which would have provided an additional classification allowing some leases to be accounted for on a straight line basis.  The Board decided that it is less complex, overall, for all leases to be accounted for through a single approach.

What does this mean for tenants?  ON A TENTATIVE BASIS, here are some highlights:

-All lessees will reflect a front-loaded pattern of expenses.  Expense will be a combination of interest expense and an amortization of the recorded asset.  Higher interest expense will be charged during the early periods of a lease.

-All leases will be capitalized and added to the balance sheet as an asset and a liability.

-All measurements will be made as of the lease commencement date.

-At the beginning of a lease, tenants will determine if they have significant economic incentive to exercise options for renewal, expansion, purchase, etc.  If there is such incentive, the options shall be included in the measurement of lease asset and liability. 

-Reassessment of lease options will only be required when there is a significant change in economic incentive.  Market based factors will not be considered in reassessments.

-The discount rate used in determined lease liability or asset value will only be revised when there is a reassessment caused by a change in economic incentive to exercise options.

-The Boards did not reach a consensus on whether there will be one or two models for lessor accounting, and thus that is still an open item.

-The Boards expect to complete the lease project by the end of 2011.  Implementation will likely begin in 2013 or 2014.

As the Boards reach more decisions and release more information, we will let you know what is being said and what this might mean for tenants.

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