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
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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: __________________________
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BREAKING
REPORT:
Shopping as the great American sport - is it doomed to the junkyard? R.E.I.T.
crash
next? When does vacancy percentage at a mall doom
it? Will this
be like downtown's
demise?
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.
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* = 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)
The LWVCT has
agreed to co-sponsor the first annual Sustainable Connecticut Expo,
which will take
place in
Follow-up
unrelated to 2004 Fall Conference...from a university
think-tank: how about the general subject of sustainibility?
"A
Brief History of Sustainability
The
modern concept of “sustainability” may best be understood as
the integration of very rich but often separate conversations about
ecological stewardship, sound economic practices, and social
responsibility.
The conceptual components associated with sustainability have a long
history, even though the term itself—at least as it relates to
ecologically sustainable economic development—was popularized only in
the mid to late 1980s."
Report:
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.)