Ben Butcher, chairman, president and CEO of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE: STAG), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2015: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Wynn Las Vegas.
STAG focuses on single-tenant, industrial properties throughout the United States.
Butcher reflected on the current state of the economy.
“We’re pretty confident the U.S. economy seems to be pretty resilient, driven in large part by consumer demand,” Butcher said. Noting that industrial demand tends to be very closely related to gross domestic product, Butcher added that STAG is “very confident demand will continue.”
Positive economic trends are being reflected in tenant renewal spreads, retention and expansion, according to Butcher.
Meanwhile, STAG has had a particularly active year for acquisitions, purchasing 39 buildings through the end of November for $319 million.
Butcher explained that the properties are all distinguished by their solid cash flows.
“We’re looking for assets that will produce good cash flow for our investors. That’s the consistent theme, but they are widely diversified in terms of geography, industry and individual tenant credit,” Butcher explained.
Butcher also highlighted that STAG is seeing leasing strength in almost every market across the country as a result of solid demand, low vacancy rates and positive rental spreads.