Chester L. Arnold, UCONN Center for Land use Education and Research
Changing Connecticut Landscape

Curt Johnson, Staff Attorney, CT Fund for the Environment
Development and the Environment

John DeStefano, Mayor, New Haven, and chair, Blue Ribbon Commission on Property Tax Burden and Smart Growth Incentives
Effect of the Property Tax on Planning for Development

Lewis J. Wallace, co-chair, Planning and Development Committee, CT General Assembly
Role of Citizens in Developing Policies for Growth

Richard E. Heapes, Founding Principal, Street-Works LLC; Partner, BBS Development LLC
Role of Business in the Development of Policies for Growth

Luncheon (12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.)

Speaker: David LeVasseur, Intergovernmental Policy Division, OPM

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please make check payable to LWVCTEF, and mail it, with the tear-off, by November 15, to:
LWVCTEF, 1890 Dixwell Ave., #113, Hamden, CT 06514-3183

I will attend the Conference. My check for $20, made out to "LWVCTEF" is enclosed.

Name: ____________________________ League: _________________________

Phone: ______________________ e-mail: __________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BREAKING REPORT:

R.E.I.T. crash next? When does vacancy percentage at a mall doom it?  Will this be like downtown's demise?  This time it would fall to...the Internet?  Buy stock in UPS and FED EX!
Simon Property Results Top Expectations
NYTIMES
By REUTERS
Filed at 9:48 a.m. ET
January 30, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters)* - Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE:SPG PRJ) (NYSE:SPG PRF) (NYSE:SPG PRG) (NYSE:SPG PRI) (NYSE:SPG), the largest U.S. mall owner and operator, reported a 6.5 percent increase in quarterly funds from operations on Friday, citing cost controls and curtailed spending on development.

Also, Simon's board voted to pay a quarterly dividend of 90 cents per share in 10 percent cash and 90 percent stock. The company, which had previously paid all-cash dividends, said the move would allow it to retain $925 million in cash in 2009.

"The retail environment has been and will continue to be challenging in the upcoming months, however, we are experienced in working through difficult economic cycles," Chief Executive David Simon said in a statement. "This decision is a reflection of our conservative stance on capital allocation and liability management and is not in response to the current retail operating environment."

But the move could temper some investors' interest in shares of Simon as well as of other real estate investment trust stocks.

"From a cash management standpoint I think it's good for companies to keep an eye on every piece of cash and be shepherding capital as well as they can," said Joseph Betlej, portfolio manager at Advantus Capital Management.

"But from the prospective of the REIT industry, there's a lot of investors that care about that dividend," he added, "and the idea that we're going to be paying these things now in stock lessens the attractiveness of REITs to the investing public, both retail and institutional investors."

At the end of the quarter, Simon had about $1.1 billion of cash on hand, including its share of joint ventures, and more than $2.4 billion of available capacity on its revolving credit facility. For the fourth quarter, Simon's FFO, a performance measure for real estate investment trusts, rose to $540.5 million, or $1.86 per share, from $507.7 million, or $1.76 per share, a year earlier.  The latest results beat the average of analysts' forecasts of $1.85, according to Reuters Estimates. The results include an impairment charge of $21.2 million, or 7 cents per share for the write-off of certain predevelopment projects that have been abandoned as well as for a property in operation.

FFO removes from net earnings the profit-reducing effect of depreciation, a noncash accounting item. Under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Simon posted net income of $145.2 million, or 64 cents per share.

For 2009, the Indianapolis-based company said it expected FFO of $6.40 to $6.60 per share. Analysts have forecast $6.57, according to Reuters Estimates.  Simon has a stake in 386 malls and high-end outlet centers and shopping centers in the United States, Europe and Asia.

The consumer-led U.S. recession has rocked retailers, who have closed more than 6,000 stores. The dismal holiday shopping season failed to give a last-ditch boost, with sales in that period falling 2.2. percent -- the worst result since the International Council of Shopping Centers trade group began compiling such data in 1970.

Vacancies at U.S. regional malls in the fourth quarter rose to a decade high of 7.1 percent, according real estate research firm Reis Inc. (NASDAQ:REIS)

For Simon, occupancy at its U.S. malls fell 1.1 percentage points to 92.4 percent. Average rent at its mall stores rose 6.5 percent to $39.49 per square foot. For stores open more than a year, sales fell 4.3 percent to $470 per square foot.  At Simon's Chelsea Premier outlet centers, occupancy fell 0.8 percentage points to 98.9 percent and rent rose 7.7 percent to $27.65 per square foot. For outlet stores open more than a year, sales rose 1.8 percent to $513 per square foot.

Simon shares fell 1.2 percent to $43.93 in early New York Stock Exchange trade.
-------------
* = Fourth-quarter FFO $1.86/share; Board votes to pay dividend in cash and stock; sees full-year FFO $6.40-$6.60/share; stock down 1.2 percent. (Adds occupancy and sales details, CEO quote, investor quote, dividend and stock information)

Report #1
Great meeting, great speakers, great questions...just to illustrate exactly how good this Fall Conference was, one of the speakers, just before lunch break, asked to address the meeting and said he was awed by the quality...of the other speakers!  Now that is praise indeed!  (P.S.  He himself gave a spectacular presentation on the Changing Connecticut Landscape.)