- Obtains $13 million in proceeds to pay off higher cost debt
maturing in 2014
- Lowers Overall Cost of Capital
- Locks in attractive $37.0 million loan with a fixed rate of 3.76%
and a 7 Year Term
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR), a fully integrated real estate company that
owns, re-develops, leases, manages, and operates Community Centered
PropertiesTM, announced today that it closed on a $37.0
million loan, with a fixed interest rate of 3.76% and a maturity of
November 26, 2020. Loan proceeds will be used to pay off the existing
$23.0 million floating rate loan maturing on December 1, 2013, and pay
off approximately $10.1 million of fixed rate debt maturing in 2014 with
a weighted interest rate of 6.1%. The loan is a non-recourse loan
secured by nine Houston properties, and a limited guarantee by the
Company.
Throughout 2013, Whitestone has continued to strengthen its balance
sheet through debt refinancing resulting in lower cost of capital, and
maturity dates which have been extended and laddered over the next 10
years. Earlier in the year, Whitestone expanded, restructured and
extended its corporate-level unsecured credit facility, growing the
borrowing capacity by $50 million and adding an accordion option, giving
the Company the availability of $225 million in this facility. Lowering
the interest rate by 100 basis points reduced interest expense by $1.1
million or $0.06 per share through the first nine months of 2013.
Including this loan, the Company has completed $84.2 million in
refinancing in 2013 with a weighted average fixed rate of 4.13% and a
weighted average term of 8.1 years.
James C. Mastandrea, Whitestone’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
said, “REIT’s are not simply a collection of real estate assets, and
must be operated as a real estate enterprise. We typically acquire value
add properties that have undergone distress in one way or another in
all-cash transactions, apply our strategic repositioning, operating and
leasing plan, and then judiciously apply debt over time.” Mastandrea
added, “We now have 58 properties well-located in Houston, Dallas, San
Antonio, Chicago, and Phoenix in multiple stages of repositioning with
increasing cash flow that conservatively supports our restructured and
extended debt.” Mastandrea concluded, “Our relationships with top-tier
lenders provides us the ability to grow our asset base using a
combination of debt and equity to increase our profitability per share.”
About Whitestone REIT
Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) is a fully integrated real estate investment
trust that owns, operates and redevelops Community Centered PropertiesTM.
Whitestone focuses on value creation in its community centers,
concentrating on local service-oriented, smaller space tenants (less
than 3,000 square feet). Whitestone has a diversified tenant base
concentrated on service offerings including medical, education, casual
dining, and convenience services. The largest of its approximate 1,200
tenants comprised less than 1.6% of its annualized base rental revenues
as of September 30, 2013. Founded in 1998, the Company is internally
managed with a portfolio of commercial properties in Texas, Arizona, and
Illinois. For additional information about the Company, please visit www.whitestonereit.com.
The Investor Relations section of the Company's website has links to
Whitestone’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, news
releases and financial reports.
Whitestone REIT
Suzy Taylor, 713-435-2219
Director of
Investor Relations
STaylor@WhitestoneREIT.com
Source: Whitestone REIT