Whitestone Acquires Assets - Analyst Blog
January 03 2012 - 5:45AM
Zacks
Whitestone REIT (WSR) recently
announced that it has acquired a Class A center, namely, the Shops
at Starwood for $15.7 million in cash. In a separate transaction,
the company also bought a 2.73 acre parcel of land, adjacent to the
Starwood property, for $1.9 million in Frisco, Texas. The
transaction was funded through the assumption of a $1.4 million
non-recourse loan, secured by the land and cash of $0.5
million.
The Shops at Starwood, spanning 55,385 square feet, is an
accretive acquisition for Whitestone. The property is currently 98%
leased and has been purchased at below the replacement cost.
This is the first retail Community Center in the Dallas area
with the adjacent land of 2.73 acres, which provides opportunities
for major expansion given its favorable location in an
affluent area and as it is already zoned to accommodate retail and
office space.
Whitestone reported third quarter 2011 funds from operations
(FFO) of 17 cents per share compared with 34 cents in the
year-earlier quarter. Fund from operations, a widely used metric to
gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding
depreciation and other non-cash expenses to net income.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Whitestone is a fully
integrated real estate company that owns, operates and re-develops
community centered properties, which are visibly located properties
in established or developing culturally diverse neighborhoods.
Whitestone currently retains a Zacks #4 Rank, which translates
into a short-term Sell rating. We are also maintaining our
long-term Underperform recommendation on the stock. One of its
competitors, General Growth Properties Inc
(GGP), currently has a Zacks #3
Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating.
GENL GRWTH PPTY (GGP): Free Stock Analysis Report
WHITESTONE REIT (WSR): Free Stock Analysis Report
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