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Dream Office REIT Reports Q4 2024 Results

This press release contains forward-looking information that is based upon assumptions and is subject to risks and uncertainties as indicated in the cautionary note contained within this press release. All dollar amounts in our tables are presented in thousands of Canadian dollars, except for rental rates and per unit amounts, unless otherwise stated. TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DREAM OFFICE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (D.UN-TSX) (“Dream Office REIT”, the “Trust” or “we”) today announced its financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2024. Management will host a conference call to discuss the financial results on Monday, February 24, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. (ET). OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS AND UPDATE(unaudited)   As at   December 31,     September 30,     December 31,     2024     2024     2023 Total properties(1)                 Number of active properties   24     26     26 Number of properties under development   2     1     2 Gross leasable area (in millions of square feet)   4.8     5.1     5.1 Investment properties value $ 2,175,015   $ 2,303,308   $ 2,342,374 Total portfolio(2)                 Occupancy rate – including committed (period-end)   81.1%     84.5%     84.4% Occupancy rate – in-place (period-end)   77.5%     80.9%     82.0% Average in-place and committed net rent per square foot (period-end) $ 27.20   $ 26.37   $ 26.35 Weighted average lease term (years)   5.5     5.2     5.2 Occupancy rate – including committed – Toronto (period-end)   83.8%     88.0%     89.0% Occupancy rate – in-place – Toronto (period-end)   80.2%     84.5%     85.4% See footnotes at end.                 Three months ended     December 31,     December 31,     2024     2023 Operating results           Funds from operations (“FFO”)(3) $ 14,104   $ 14,588 Comparative properties net operating income (“NOI”)(4)   24,742     24,756 Net rental income   27,286     25,760 Net loss   (19,101)     (42,424) Per unit amounts           Diluted FFO per unit(5)(6) $ 0.72   $ 0.75 Distribution rate per Unit(6)   0.25     0.50 See footnotes at end.         “We continue to manage our business in a very uncertain environment with a focus on reducing risk, improving liquidity and increasing our occupancy,” said Michael Cooper, Chief Executive Officer of Dream Office REIT. “The announced sale of 438 University is an attractive transaction for the Trust that will immediately reduce debt and increase liquidity. Our proposed plan to convert 606-4th Ave in Calgary from an office building to a new residential rental building will mitigate future office leasing risk in a very challenging market, diversify the Trust’s source of income and improve the average quality of our portfolio. We will be very focused on leasing 74 Victoria and other vacancies in our portfolio to improve occupancy in 2025.” In the midst of significant macro-economic uncertainties and continuing challenges in the Canadian office real estate sector, the Trust remains focused on delivering stable operational and financial performance in 2025 and beyond. We believe our portfolio is well-located, difficult to replace and uniquely positioned to outperform over the long term. Through our plan to invest capital in our best buildings over the past six years, the renovations across our best assets are substantially complete and we have created a uniquely competitive portfolio that is well positioned to attract high-quality tenants. Relative to Q3 2024, our in-place occupancy decreased from 80.9% to 77.5% and our in-place and committed occupancy rate decreased from 84.5% to 81.1%. The quarter-over-quarter decrease of 3.4% of total portfolio in-place occupancy was attributable to the reclassification of 438 University Avenue to properties held for sale (-1.2%), 23,000 square feet of negative absorption in Other markets (-0.5%) which was partially offset by the reclassification of 606-4th Building & Barclay Parkade to properties under development (+0.5%), and 142,000 square feet of net negative absorption at 74 Victoria Street for a previously known and announced lease expiry during Q4 2024 (-3.1%). Despite this lease expiry, occupancy in Toronto downtown only decreased by 98,000 square feet as the Trust had positive absorption totalling 43,000 square feet over the remainder of the region quarter-over-quarter (+0.9%). Subsequent to the quarter, the Trust signed a conditional lease for approximately 54,000 square feet at 74 Victoria Street for a term of 5 years at approximately $28.50 net rent per square foot to increase the committed occupancy at 74 Victoria from 46% to 67%. The Trust is also in negotiations with prospective tenants for up to an additional 50,000 square feet. As part of the leasing strategy at 74 Victoria, the Trust is undergoing a renovation program to modernize the lobby and is constructing built-out space on certain floors to help attract future potential tenants. Year-over-year, total portfolio in-place occupancy decreased from 82.0% in Q4 2023 to 77.5% in Q4 2024 and our in-place and committed occupancy declined from 84.4% in Q4 2023 to 81.1% in Q4 2024. In-place occupancy declined year-over-year due to negative absorption in both regions due to the reasons previously mentioned above. Excluding the effect of the lease expiry at 74 Victoria, Toronto downtown experienced overall net positive absorption of 0.9% in the remainder of its properties in the region compared to the prior year. The Trust has 164,000 square feet of vacancy committed for future occupancy. In Toronto downtown, 95,000 square feet, or 3.3% of the region’s total gross leasable area, is scheduled to commence in 2025 at net rents 1.6% above prior net rents on the same space with a weighted average lease term of 8.2 years and 9,000 square feet in 2026 at 15.4% higher net rents than prior net rents on the same space with a weighted average lease term of 15.0 years. In the Other markets region, 60,000 square feet, or 3.5% of the region’s total gross leasable area, is scheduled to commence in 2025 at 21.1% below prior net rents on the same space with a weighted average lease term of 12.6 years. During Q4 2024, the Trust executed leases totalling approximately 122,000 square feet across its portfolio. In Toronto downtown, the Trust executed 43,000 square feet of leases at a weighted average initial net rent of $33.45 per square foot, or 5.5% higher compared to the weighted average prior net rent per square foot on the same space, with a weighted average lease term of 5.0 years. In the Other markets region, comprising the Trust’s properties located in Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Mississauga, Scarborough and the United States (“U.S.”), the Trust executed leases totalling 79,000 square feet at a weighted average initial net rent of $16.99 per square foot, or 16.4% lower than the weighted average prior net rent per square foot on the same space, with a weighted average lease term of 7.8 years. Subsequent to December 31, 2024, the Trust executed a further 76,000 square feet of leases in Toronto downtown at a weighted average initial net rent of $29.42 per square foot. Since the beginning of the year to today’s date, the Trust has executed leases totalling approximately 710,000 square feet across its portfolio. In Toronto downtown, the Trust has executed 411,000 square feet of leases at a weighted average initial net rent of $33.84 per square foot, or 8.1% higher than the weighted average prior net rent per square foot on the same space, with a weighted average lease term of 5.8 years. In the Other markets region, the Trust has executed leases totalling 299,000 square feet at a weighted average initial net rent per square foot of $16.49, or 3.0% lower than the weighted average prior net rents on the same space, with a weighted average lease term of 7.3 years. 2025 REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY AND MORTGAGE REFINANCING UPDATE Subsequent to the quarter, the Trust obtained conditional credit approval for an extension of its $375 million credit facility from its existing syndicate of lenders. Prior to the Trust’s refinancing efforts during the year, the Trust’s 2025 debt maturities, including commitments, totalled $741 million, or 53.0% of its total debt stack. Since the beginning of 2024 to today’s date, the Trust has refinanced or received credit approval for a total of $711 million of maturing 2025 debt without paydown and at terms attractive to the Trust, which has eliminated all the Trust’s near-term refinancing risk. The Trust is in advanced negotiations for its remaining $30 million mortgage maturity and anticipates the refinancing will be complete by Q2 2025. The Trust’s 2026 debt maturities total $165.5 million across six mortgages. The Trust anticipates that it will be able to successfully address all of its 2026 debt expiries at or before maturity. DISPOSITION OF 438 UNIVERSITY AVENUE On January 24, 2025, subsequent to the quarter, the Trust announced that it entered into a binding agreement to sell 438 University Avenue in Toronto, Ontario, for gross proceeds before transaction costs of approximately $105.6 million or approximately $327 per square foot. As part of the transaction, the Trust secured the benefit of relocating approximately 17,000 square feet of tenants from 438 University Avenue to other downtown Toronto buildings within the Trust’s portfolio which will increase net operating income in those buildings by over $1 million on an annual basis. In addition, the Trust also received a relocation right to move one of the last tenants at 250 Dundas St. W. so that the building is fully unencumbered which would reduce costs significantly in the development, thereby improving the profit and value of our purpose-built rental development site. The Trust and the purchaser have also entered into a property management agreement at market terms for the Trust to continue to manage the property for the purchaser for a period of three years. We believe the transaction is attractive to the Trust as we estimate that these combined incremental benefits represent a value of over $20 million or $62 per square foot to the Trust. The Trust intends to use the proceeds to repay the $68.9 million property mortgage outstanding and use the balance of the proceeds to pay down its corporate credit facility to reduce leverage and improve liquidity. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. As at December 31, 2024, the Trust classified 438 University Avenue as an asset held for sale totalling $105.6 million, or approximately $327 per square foot and associated liabilities totalling $68.9 million. REDEVELOPMENT OF 606-4th BUILDING & BARCLAY PARKADE Since the end of 2014, the Trust has sold 64 buildings spanning 7.1 million of owned square feet in western Canada for $1.3 billion or approximately $177 per square foot which the Trust believes is attractive pricing relative to private market valuations in today’s market. The Calgary Office market has remained very challenging with vacancy elevated at 27%(7) over the trailing ten-year average. The Trust’s remaining three assets in the city, spanning approximately 464,000 square feet, are well located and in good condition with a weighted average occupancy of 84.9%, well above Downtown Calgary’s office occupancy of approximately 70%(8) as at Q4 2024. The Trust continually explores strategies to reduce risk and improve the value of individual assets within the portfolio. Over the past year, the Trust has been working on the design, approvals and strategic partnerships to create a financially viable redevelopment model. The redevelopment opportunity will convert the existing 126,000 square foot office building into a brand new 166-unit, purpose-built rental residential apartment. Concurrently, the Trust is working to relocate the office tenants within 606-4th Building to the adjacent 444-7th Building. At a 4.6%(9) apartment market vacancy and 30%(8) office vacancy in Calgary, this pivot in strategy derisks the portfolio while unlocking value. In addition, this strategy will allow the Trust to improve the occupancy of 444-7th while creating a new residential rental building in downtown Calgary, thereby reducing the operational and financial risk of both buildings. The Trust is in advanced stages of negotiations for a grant of up to $11 million from the City of Calgary for residential conversion at 606-4th Building & Barclay Parkade as part of the City’s Calgary Downtown Development Strategy Incentive Program. The Trust is also in the process of securing government financing for a ten-year loan at an interest rate lower than that of conventional development and mortgage loans. The Trust is currently in the process of finalizing a construction management contract following a market bid process and is also in discussions to potentially bring in a joint venture partner on the project to further reduce construction and balance sheet risk. With considerations of the above milestones that were achieved on the project during the quarter, the Trust has reclassified 606-4th Building & Barclay Parkade to properties under development. 67 RICHMOND STREET WEST – REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS UPDATE The development project at 67 Richmond Street West comprises full modernizations of the property, including technical systems, interior lighting and elevators, along with enhanced common areas and larger floorplates. To date, we have spent $9.6 million on the project at 67 Richmond Street West, $6.3 million of which has been funded by the CIB Facility. As a result of the redevelopment, the Trust attracted Daphne restaurant, which has been awarded Best Upscale Restaurant by Hospitality Design, for the entire ground floor retail space for a term of ten years. Including a 6,500 square foot office lease signed during the quarter at net rents of $21.05 per square foot, the Trust has leased 18,600 square feet of the 51,000 square foot building and is currently in active discussions with prospective tenants for the remainder of the space in the building. During the quarter, the scope of the project at 67 Richmond Street West was expanded to include building out model suites for the remainder of the vacant space at the property to meet the current market demand for move-in ready space and reduce lease-up time. During the year, the Trust implemented a model suite program investing capital in identified spaces across our portfolio to create move-in ready spaces. The program was implemented for nine suites, representing 56,000 square feet across four of its buildings and has since executed deals on all of the four completed suite spaces. The Trust anticipates replicating this strategy at 67 Richmond Street West will attract high-quality tenants to this building. With the expansion in project scope, 67 Richmond Street West is expected to be completed at the end of Q2 2025. FINANCING AND LIQUIDITY UPDATE KEY FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE METRICS   As at (unaudited)   December 31,   December 31,     2024   2023 Financing         Weighted average face rate of interest on debt (period-end)(10)   4.75%   4.53% Interest coverage ratio (times)(11)   1.8   2.0 Net total debt-to-normalized adjusted EBITDAFV ratio (years)(12)   12.1   11.5 Level of debt (net total debt-to-net total assets)(13)   52.9%   50.0% Average term to maturity on debt (years)   3.4   3.3 Undrawn credit facilities, available liquidity and unencumbered assets         Undrawn credit facilities (in millions) $ 119.7 $ 174.0 Available liquidity (in millions)(14)   138.0   187.2 Unencumbered assets (in millions)(15)   2.3   17.1 Capital (period-end)         Total number of REIT A and LP B units (in millions)(6)(16)   19.0   18.9 Net asset value (“NAV”) per unit(6)(17) $ 59.47 $ 66.31 See footnotes at end.         As at December 31, 2024, the Trust had $2.6 billion of total assets, including $2.2 billion of investment properties, $1.3 billion of total debt and $1.1 billion of equity. During the quarter, the Trust closed on its $225.0 million maturity mortgage loan at Adelaide Place with a syndicate of global and Canadian financial institutions for a term of five years at a floating interest rate based on the daily Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (“CORRA”) plus 2.40%. In connection with the refinancing, the Trust entered into a fixed-for-variable swap to fix the interest rate on the mortgage at 5.479%. On December 17, 2024, the Trust negotiated a one-year extension to December 7, 2026 for a $66.5 million interest-only mortgage secured by a property in Scarborough, Ontario, bearing interest at daily CORRA plus 2.245%. The Trust has previously entered into a fixed-for-variable interest rate swap relating to this mortgage, fixing the interest rate at approximately 6.44%. As at December 31, 2024, the Trust had approximately $138.0 million of available liquidity(13), comprising $18.3 million of cash, undrawn revolving credit facilities totalling $38.2 million, undrawn amounts on our non-revolving term loan facility pertaining to the 15-year lease at 366 Bay Street totalling $0.4 million and undrawn amounts on our CIB Facility of $81.0 million, which provides low-cost, fixed-rate financing solely for the purpose of commercial property retrofits to achieve certain energy efficiency savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Subsequent to the quarter, the Trust announced the sale of 438 University Avenue which is expected to close in Q1 of 2025. The Trust intends to use the proceeds to repay the property mortgage outstanding and use the balance of the proceeds to pay down its corporate credit facility to reduce leverage and improve liquidity. During Q4 2024, the Trust drew $3.5 million against the CIB Facility. In total, we have drawn $31.8 million against the CIB Facility since 2022. These draws represent 80% of the costs to date for capital retrofits at 13 properties in Toronto downtown for projects to reduce the operational carbon emissions in these buildings by an estimated 3,241 tonnes of carbon dioxide, or 57.5%, per year on project completion. Of the $31.8 million drawn on the CIB facility, $8.8 million was used to fund the full building retrofit of 366 Bay Street to secure a full building lease for a term of 15 years. A further $6.3 million has been used for the redevelopment of 67 Richmond Street West. SUMMARY OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS Net loss for the quarter: For the three months ended December 31, 2024, the Trust generated a net loss of $19.1 million. Included in net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2024 are negative fair value adjustments to investment properties totalling $38.9 million across the portfolio, interest expense on debt of $17.3 million, impairment of vendor takeback mortgage (“VTB mortgage”) receivables totalling $4.3 million, partially offset by net rental income totalling $27.3 million, fair value adjustments to financial instruments totalling $12.3 million primarily due to remeasurement of the carrying value of subsidiary redeemable units as a result of a decrease in the Trust’s unit price over the quarter net of fair value losses on rate swap contracts due to declining market yield curves, net income from our investment in Dream Industrial REIT of $3.4 million and a net deferred tax recovery of $2.2 million relating to our sole investment property in the U.S. Diluted FFO per unit(5)(6) for the quarter: For the three months ended December 31, 2024, diluted FFO per unit decreased by $0.03 per unit to $0.72 per unit relative to $0.75 per unit in Q4 2023, driven by higher interest expense (-$0.07) and lower NOI from 438 University Avenue due to lower occupancy (-$0.02), partially offset by lower tenant provisions (+$0.03), higher income relating to properties sold in prior periods for post-closing adjustments (+$0.02) and higher FFO from Dream Industrial REIT (+$0.01). Included in FFO for the three months ended December 31, 2024, are year-end cash adjustments that are included in other income and income arising from properties sold in prior periods totalling $0.07 per unit, the amounts of which could vary from period to period. Excluding these items, diluted FFO per unit for the three months ended December 31, 2024 would have been $0.65 per unit. Net rental income for the quarter: For the three months ended December 31, 2024, net rental income increased by 5.9%, or $1.5 million, over the prior year comparative quarter, due to an overall reduction in provisions, income from sold properties for post-closing adjustments relating to properties sold in prior periods and other income comprising a write-off of provisions which are no longer required and year-end billing adjustments. Comparative properties NOI(4) for the quarter: For the three months ended December 31, 2024, comparative properties NOI decreased slightly by 0.1%, or $14 thousand, over the prior year comparative quarter, as higher in-place rents in Toronto downtown and Other markets from rent step-ups, higher rates on new leases and renewals and free rent expiries were offset by lower weighted average occupancy in both regions. For the three months ended December 31, 2024, comparative properties NOI in Toronto downtown increased by 2.1%, or $0.4 million, over the prior year comparative quarter, primarily due to higher in-place rents from rent step-ups, higher rates on renewals and new leases and free rent periods rolling off, partially offset by lower weighted average occupancy in the region primarily driven by the 206,000 square foot lease expiry at 74 Victoria in October 2024. In-place occupancy: Total portfolio in-place occupancy on a quarter-over-quarter basis decreased by 3.4% relative to Q3 2024. In Toronto downtown, in-place occupancy decreased by 4.3% relative to Q3 2024 as 356,000 square feet of expiries were partially offset by 209,000 square feet of renewals and 49,000 square feet of new lease commencements. The major driver of the decrease in in-place occupancy in Toronto downtown was 142,000 square feet of net negative absorption at 74 Victoria (-4.9%) for a previously known and announced lease expiry during Q4 2024. Despite this lease expiry, occupancy in Toronto downtown only decreased by 98,000 square feet as the Trust had positive absorption totalling 43,000 square feet over the remainder of the region (+1.5%). The reclassification of 438 University Avenue to assets held for sale also led to a slight decrease in in-place occupancy in the region (-0.9%). Subsequent to the quarter, the Trust entered into a binding agreement to sell 438 University Avenue and as part of the transaction, the Trust secured the benefit of relocating approximately 17,000 square feet from the sold property to other Toronto downtown buildings within its portfolio, representing approximately 0.6% of the region's total gross leasable area. In the Other markets region, in-place occupancy decreased by 1.6% relative to Q3 2024 driven by net negative absorption (-1.3%) as 84,000 square feet of expiries were partially offset by 46,000 square feet of renewals and 15,000 square feet of new lease commencements and the reclassification of 606-4th Building & Barclay Parkade to properties under development (-0.3%). Total portfolio in-place occupancy on a year-over-year basis decreased from 82.0% in Q4 2023 to 77.5% this quarter, driven by the lease expiry at 74 Victoria Street in Toronto downtown, negative absorption in Other markets, along with the aforementioned negative effects of 438 University Avenue classified as held for sale in Toronto downtown and the reclassification of 606-4th Building & Barclay Parkade to properties under development in Q4 2024. Lease commencements for the quarter: For the three months ended December 31, 2024, excluding temporary leasing, 258,000 square feet of leases commenced in Toronto downtown at net rents of $34. Contacts For further information, please contact: Michael J. CooperChairman and Chief Executive Officer (416) 365-5145 mcooper@dream.ca Jay JiangChief Financial Officer (416) 365-6638 jjiang@dream.ca Read full story here The post Dream Office REIT Reports Q4 2024 Results appeared first on REIT REPORT.