John Albright, president and CEO of CTO Realty Growth, Inc. (NYSE: CTO), participated in a video interview during Nareit’s REITworld: 2023 Annual Conference held Nov. 14-16 in Los Angeles.
Albright noted that two acquisitions made in late 2022, West Broad Village in Richmond, Virginia, and The Collection in Atlanta, have been “extremely well-received” in the market with regard to leasing. Key achievements during 2023, he said, have been the lease up of properties that CTO bought that had key vacancy opportunities.
CTO has also purchased 10 acres of raw land next to The Collection, Albright said, and the REIT will present that opportunity in the market for tenants who want to be in that location.
Meanwhile, CTO is focusing on bringing in new tenants for the properties it has just acquired, Albright said, as well as at The Shops at Legacy North in Plano, Texas. He added that CTO is “cautiously optimistic” on backfilling some of the space at the Plano location. “With a challenging macro market… all we want to do is continue that lease volume and velocity, and so far, so good.”
Albright added that CTO is still looking for acquisitions that are “opportunistic buys…we hope that 2024 brings us some other opportunities as the capital markets are challenging for private investors and operators.” He added that CTO will take a patient approach as it seeks out potential opportunities.