REITs Ready For Winn-Dixie Closings
Jul 1, 2005 12:00 PM, David Bodamer
Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.'s decision in mid June to close 326 stores and lay off 22,000 employees won't have that much impact on shopping center REITs, which have been unloading centers with the supermarket chain. That strategy left companies like New Plan Excel Realty Trust and Regency Centers largely unscathed.
New Plan will feel the greatest impact, losing eight of its 19 Winn-Dixie stores. The grocer pays $2.1 million in base rent on the eight stores. When base rent, CAM costs, taxes, insurance and potential impact of co-tenancy clauses is factored in, New Plan could record a $0.07 per share impairment in 2005. Winn-Dixie has also filed a motion in bankruptcy court to reject one additional lease with New Plan. Nonetheless, New Plan is sticking with its profit estimates for 2005.
Equity One has the greatest exposure to Winn-Dixie: Sixteen stores in its portfolio represent 5.5 percent of its funds from operations. But the REIT will only lose one store in this round of closings. When asked about Winn-Dixie in the past, Equity One executives have repeatedly said that they see any closings as an opportunity. Winn-Dixie pays between $6 and $6.50 per square foot in rent while Equity One gets $11 to $12 per square foot from other grocers, such as Publix.
A spokesman at Publix, which is strongest in Florida, said it was too early to speculate about whether the company would take over some of the empty locations. But Mark Weinberg of the Atlanta-based Shopping Center Group said that Publix could use this as an opportunity to expand in the Atlanta market.
Other REITs impacted by the Winn-Dixie closings include Developers Diversified Realty Trust, which will lose four of its 11 stores. Regency will lose three of its six Winn-Dixies. And Kimco Realty Corp. will lose one of its six Winn-Dixies.
“We've been very proactive over the past three or four years, as part of our overall strategy of disposing high-risk shopping centers,” says Lisa Palmer, senior vice president of capital markets at Regency. Because of that, she says, the REIT has only six Winn-Dixie-anchored centers, compared with 17 five years ago.
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