Hello, and welcome to the Joint Annual General and Special Meetings of the Stapled Unitholders of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT Inc. Please note that today's meetings are being recorded. If you participate in today's meeting and disclose personal information, you will be deemed to consent to the recording, transfer, and use of name. If you disclose personal information of another person in today's meetings, you will be deemed to represent and warrant to Computershare and Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT Inc. that you first obtained all required consents for the disclosure, recording, transfer, and use of such personal information from all appropriate persons before your disclosure.
During this meeting, you will have a question, or we will have a question and answer session. You can submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the Q&A tab. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to Kelly Marshall, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Board of Directors of Granite REIT, Incorporated. Mr. Marshall, the floor is now yours.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. This is Kelly Marshall, Chair of the Board, speaking. I would like to welcome you to the 2024 Joint Annual General and Special Meetings of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT Inc. Today's meetings will be conducted virtually by way of a live audio webcast. Holding a virtual meeting, we believe, will enable unitholders to attend and enjoy an equal opportunity to participate in the meetings, regardless of their location. We have made every effort to afford unitholders the same rights they would have had at a physical meeting by way of enabling registered holders of stapled units and duly appointed proxy holders to listen to the meetings, submit questions, and vote online in real time. As in past years, a majority of votes have been cast in advance of the meetings by proxy.
If you submitted your vote in advance of today's meetings and do not wish to revoke your vote, do not vote again during the online ballot. Registered holders of stapled units and duly appointed proxy holders will be allowed to vote online during the meetings in accordance with the instructions that were provided. In order for us to undertake the business of the meetings expediently, we request that if a unitholder has a comment or question on formal business of the meetings, please make such written submission now. Please clearly identify the item of formal business to which your submission applies. During the course of the meetings, at the appropriate time, any such submission will be addressed prior to voting on the applicable motion.
For the good conduct of the meetings, questions should be of interest to all unitholders and not personal in nature. If your question is related to a personal matter, a Granite representative will communicate with you after the meetings if you have provided your contact information. Following the formal business of the meetings and presentation, we will have a question and answer session. If you have any questions not specifically relating to an item of formal business to be discussed at today's meetings, please feel free to submit those questions at any time during the meetings, and we will do our best to address such questions at the conclusion of the meetings. Questions can be submitted at any time during the meetings until the chair closes the session.
All questions, to the extent not deemed offensive or inappropriate, will be read verbatim for the benefit of the unitholders participating in the meetings. To submit a question, select the Q&A icon at the top right-hand side of your screen. Type your message within the text box at the bottom of the message screen, and then click the Send button. When asking a question, please indicate your name, company, if any, and email, and confirm that you are a registered holder of the stapled units or a duly appointed proxy holder. If you have an objection to an item of business, please follow the same procedure at the appropriate time.
If you are having trouble connecting to the meetings, please contact support via the following numbers: local, 888-724-2416, or international, +1-781-575-2748. Before I commence with the formal business of the meetings, I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank our trustee and director, Gerry Miller, who is retiring from the board, for his significant contributions to serving Granite over the last 13 years. We miss—we'll miss Gerry and wish him all the success on the golf course and other forms of retirement. I would like—I would now like to introduce the other trustees and directors who are attending today's meetings.
Peter Agar, Rob Brower, Remco Daal, Kevan Gorrie, also Granite's President and CEO, Fernand Perreault , Al Mawani, Sheila Murray, Emily Pang, and Jennifer Warren. Also attending today's live audio webcast are Teresa Neto, CFO, Lorne Kumer, EVP, Head of Global Real Estate, Mike Ramparas, EVP, Global Real Estate and Head of Investments, and Lawrence Clarfield , EVP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. The purpose of today's meetings, excuse me, the purpose of business to be conducted today were described in the Management Information Circular dated 10 April 2024, made available to the unitholders to the holders of stapled units, along with the joint notice of these meetings. Voting at today's meetings will be open to registered holders of stapled units and duly appointed proxy holders and will be conducted by online ballot.
As I mentioned earlier, if you have already voted by proxy, there is no need for you to vote online since your vote will be recorded in accordance with your proxy instructions. The polls will be open for all items of business to be voted on at the same time. This will allow you to vote on each item immediately, or if you prefer, you may wait until the conclusion of the discussion on each item prior to casting your vote. The matters of business to be voted on and your available voting options will be visible on the voting panel on your screen. To submit a vote, please click on the voting choice displayed on your screen. Once discussion has concluded on all matters of business, you will have a few minutes to enter your votes.
I will then declare voting closed on all matters of business. Following the formal business of the meetings, Kevan Gorrie, Granite's President and CEO, will make a presentation, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation. Before we proceed further, I want to note that in the course of today's meetings, including during the presentation and the question and answer period, trustees, directors, and officers of Granite may, in their remarks or in response to questions, make certain statements which are forward-looking statements or contain forward-looking information. I draw your attention to the cautionary note regarding such statements on the screen. And there we go. Okay. I will now call the meetings to order. With the consent of the meetings, I will act as chair, and I will ask Lawrence Garfield to act as secretary.
Unless there is an objection, I will appoint Shirley Tom of Computershare to act as scrutineer for the meetings. As there is no objection, I appoint Shirley Tom of Computershare to act as scrutineer of the meetings. The joint notice calling these meetings together with a form of proxy and circular have been provided or made available to each of the trustees and directors, Granite's auditor, and each intermediary and registered holder of stapled units of record as of 10 April 2024, the record date for these meetings. The annual report containing the combined financial statements of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT for the financial year ended 31 December 2023, and the auditor's report therein, have also been provided or made available to unitholders. With the consent of the meetings, I will dispense with the reading of the joint notice of meetings.
The scrutineer has provided me with a preliminary report regarding attendance. The scrutineer report that there are at present at these meetings in person or represented by proxy holders of stapled units holding 49,509,067 stapled units, representing 78.11% of the issued and outstanding stapled units. Accordingly, I confirm that the requisite quorums are present, and I declare that each of the meetings is duly and properly constituted for the transaction of business. I direct that the confirmation of mailing received from the Computershare and the scrutineer's report on attendance to be, excuse me, on attendance, be annexed to the meetings of-- minutes of the meetings. The vote for all matters will be conducted by online ballot.
Since the management nominees for each for election, appointment are the same for each Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT Inc., I intend to conduct the voting for election of trustees and directors and the reappointment of auditors concurrently for both Granite entities. In order to expedite matters, I would request that certain persons make and second formal motions, and I will call on these persons at the appropriate time. The secretary has the minutes of the last meetings of unitholders, and these can be examined at any time. With the consent of the meetings, I will dispense with the reading of such minutes. The first item of business is the presentation of the combined financial statements of Granite REIT and Granite REIT Inc., and the auditor's report therein. With the consent of the meetings, I will dispense with the reading of the auditor's report.
We will now proceed with the election of the trustees and directors. The number to be elected is 10. I declare the meetings open for nominations and will ask Allison Clements to nominate these individuals specified in the Management Information Circular for the meetings.
I nominate Peter Agar, Robert T. Brower, Remco Daal, Kevan Gorrie, Vern Greener, Kelly Marshall, Al Mawani, Sheila Murray, Emily Pang, and Jennifer Warren to serve as trustees of Granite REIT and the directors of Granite REIT Inc. to hold office until the next annual general meeting or until their earlier resignation or removal or their successors are duly elected or appointed.
Thank you. May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Lindy. These nominees have accepted their nominations. In accordance with the advance notice provisions of the Declaration of Trust of Granite REIT, no further nominations may be made at this time. Therefore, I declare the nominations closed. May I have a motion for the election of the 10 nominees?
I move that each of the 10 individuals nominated for election as trustees of Granite REIT and directors of Granite REIT Inc. be elected on the basis proposed with immediate effect.
May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
The polls are now open. We will now vote on this motion. Only registered holders of stapled units or duly appointed proxy holders can vote by online ballot. With those unitholders who have not already voted by proxy, please now submit their online ballot for the election of trustees and directors by selecting a vote option on the voting panel displayed on your screen. I will announce the results of the vote at the conclusion of the meetings. We will now move to the next item of business, which is the reappointment of the auditor. May I have a motion that Deloitte LLP be reappointed as auditor of each of Granite REIT and Granite REIT Inc., in the next annual general meeting, or until a successor is appointed and the board of Granite REIT Inc., be authorized to fix the remuneration of the auditor?
I so move.
... May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Is there any discussion on this matter? Seeing none, we will conduct the vote by way of online ballot. I will announce results of the vote at the conclusion of the meeting. We will now move to the next item of business, which is the consideration of the non-binding advisory resolution of Granite's approach to executive compensation. As described in the Management Information Circular, dated 10 April 2024, and made available to unitholders of stapled units, unitholders are being asked to approve the resolution of Granite's approach to executive compensation.
Our board values the opinion of Granite's unitholders. Although the vote is non-binding, the board and its committee will take into account the outcome of the vote when considering Granite's compensation philosophy. Granite will disclose the voting results of the Say on Pay resolution as part of its report on voting results for the meetings. The advisory resolution is set out on page 25 of the Management Information Circular. May I have a motion on the advisory resolution?
I so move.
May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Is there any discussion on this matter? Seeing none, we will conduct the vote by way of online ballot, and I will announce results of the vote at the conclusion of the meeting. Special business. I will now move on to the meeting business. Excuse me. I will now move on to the special business to be conducted at today's meeting. As described in the Management Information Circular for these meetings, unitholders of Granite REIT and shareholders of Granite REIT Inc. are being asked today to consider, and if thought advisable, to pass, without variation, the applicable special resolutions authorizing and approving a plan of arrangement involving Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and Granite REIT Inc. under the BC Business Corporations Act. The transaction will be completed in accordance with the terms of an arrangement agreement between Granite REIT and Granite REIT Inc., dated 10 April 2024.
If the arrangement resolutions are duly passed and the closing conditions are satisfied or waived, each common share of Granite REIT Inc. will be exchanged for the issuance of a fraction of a trust unit of Granite REIT to each shareholder, to each such shareholder. Following such exchange, the number of issued and outstanding trust units of Granite REIT will be consolidated such that each unitholder of Granite REIT will hold the same number of trust units of Granite REIT after the consolidation of such unitholder prior to the arrangement. I will remind you that the full text of the arrangement resolutions is set forth in Appendix C of the Management Information Circular. Unless there is an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the arrangement resolutions.
The arrangements resolutions must be approved by, one, not less than 2/3 of the votes cast by unitholders of Granite REIT Inc., and two, not less than 2/3 of the votes cast by shareholders of Granite REIT Inc. May I have a motion that the special resolutions of the holders of trust units of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust and special resolutions of the holders of common shares of Granite REIT Inc, authorizing and approving the proposed arrangement in the forms attached as Appendix C of the Management Information Circular, be passed.
I so move.
May I have the motion seconded?
I second the motion.
Is there any discussion on this matter? Seeing none, we will conduct the vote by way of online ballot, and I will announce the results of the vote at the conclusion of the meetings. Is there any other formal business that may be properly brought before these meetings? It is now 10:06 AM, and the polls on all matters of business will close in two minutes or at 10:18 AM For those of you who have not voted on all matters of business, please do so now. We will now take a short break while the polls close and the results are tabulated by the scrutineer.... The polls are now closed. I confirm the polls are now closed, and the scrutineer has reported to me that all matters put to a ballot have been passed with the requisite shareholder and unitholder approval.
Accordingly, as a result, I hereby declare the trustees and directors elected, the auditor reappointed, and the advisory resolution on executive compensation, and the special resolution of the unitholders of the trust units of Granite Real Estate Investment Trust, and holders of common shares of Granite REIT Inc., with respect to the arrangement approved. A report disclosing the voting results will be filed on SEDAR and disclosed in a press release promptly following the meetings. That concludes the voting at today's meetings. For the information of the meetings with respect to Granite's majority voting policy, I note that Granite has received proxies and votes in respect of the election of each of the nominees that results in a greater number of votes in favor of his or her election than the number withheld from his or her election.
There being no further business, that concludes the formal business of the meetings. I declare the formal part of these meetings is now terminated. We will now have a presentation from Kevan Gorrie, Granite's President and CEO, Chief Executive Officer. A copy of the presentation will be available on Granite's website following the meetings.
I think that's it. Okay. Thanks, Kelly. I am pleased to be speaking to you on the eightieth anniversary of the Allied landing in Normandy, France. As Kelly mentioned, I will take you through a brief presentation and discussion of our 2023 results, which you should be able to see on the screen now, and outline our objectives for 2024 and progress we have made to date against those objectives. Following the presentation, we will open the line up for questions from unitholders. Just to note that the format of this presentation is the same as in past years to maintain consistency, and as mentioned, it will be available on our website following the meeting for you to review at your convenience. As you can see from this, this is the highlights as of the end of 2023.
Obviously, no change in our principles. We remain very long-term focused on adding value for our unitholders, and these principles continue to guide our decisions every day. Our portfolio grew through development, where we added 9 properties and roughly 3.5 million sq ft of newly built space to the portfolio. Our growth book value effectively remained unchanged from 2022, as higher rates, which impacted capitalization rates and asset values, were offset somewhat by favorable contributions from our development stabilizations, which remained profitable for Granite in 2023. Our weighted average lease term increased to 6.7 years, resulting from roughly 8.5 million sq ft of lease extension signed in 2023, at a very strong increase in rent rate of 22% on average.
This helped to drive strong same-property NOI growth, despite a drop in occupancy, which was partially caused by the addition of 1.5 million sq ft of vacant new development properties during the year. Notably, our AFFO payout ratio also decreased to 71%, despite a 3.1% increase in our annual distribution, our 13th consecutive annual increase since our inception in 2011. Sorry for the delay. It seems to take quite a while to move the slides. Okay, as you can see, this slide shows our transformation. We continue on our transformation to be a leading provider of logistics real estate, with logistics and e-commerce properties currently representing roughly 80% of our portfolio by GLA.
I think as importantly, we have driven strong NOI and cash flow growth throughout this transition, increasing FFO per unit by an average of over 6% annually since 2011. And it's important to note that this included the disposition of almost CAD 1 billion in higher-yielding, non-core assets over that period. Again, my apologies for the delay. We're moving the slide, but it seems to be taking a long time. I think as most will appreciate, 2023 was another challenging year for our industry, including industrial, where tenant demand continued to moderate sharply from the highs of 2020 and 2021 in the face of higher interest rates and economic uncertainty.
Despite these challenges, the team executed on a number of key initiatives, strategic initiatives, including the delivery of 3.4 million sq ft of new development projects, now 56% leased, the disposition of 2 non-core assets above book value, and almost CAD 500 million in new and refinancings at an average interest rate of 4.8%. Opportunistically, we also repurchased almost 400,000 units at an average discount to NAV of 27%, while maintaining a very strong liquidity position... and reducing our net debt to EBITDA from 7.9 x at the end of 2022 to 7.3 x at the end of 2023, among the lowest in the Canadian REIT universe. If the previous slide outlined what we did in 2023, this slide tells you how we did financially.
We saw strong operational performance, again, despite a decline in occupancy, as cash NOI increased by 13% over 2022, and same property NOI increased by a very respectable 6.2%. As a result, FFO and AFFO, preferred cash flow metrics for REITs, both saw double-digit increases year-over-year. Consequently, as you can see in bullet point two, our payout ratios continue to fall to very conservative levels at the end of 2023. With respect to net asset value, as mentioned, the increase in interest rates continued to negatively impact businesses and asset values in the year. Again, on a positive note, stabilization or partial stabilization of our development projects in 2023 helped to partially offset these losses. At Granite, we are proud to be considered as among the leaders in ESG in our sector.
Many of you may not know GRESB by name, but it is the leading global ESG benchmark for the real estate industry, and we have been recognized once again for our leadership in this area among our peer group, which includes some of the largest public industrial real estate firms globally. Further, we exceeded our target of achieving green building certification on at least 30% of our properties by the year 2030, having now achieved certification on roughly 45% of our portfolio by GLA through 2023. I invite all of our unitholders to review our corporate ESG reports available on our website and updated annually each August. I mentioned the growth in the number of green-certified buildings in our portfolio, and highlighted for you on this slide are a few of our key additions.
And I think it demonstrates our commitment to certifying all new development projects across our entire portfolio. As you can see here, two in Canada, two in the U.S., and two in the Netherlands, as an example, all in accordance with our Green Bond Framework, published in 2020. As in past years, we like to include a specific project, such as our Houston property shown on this slide, completed in early 2023, in order to hopefully provide some useful context on the methodology used by the industry to evaluate energy and GHG emission performance for new properties.
From a return perspective, I'm happy to report that we had a very strong year in 2023, both on an absolute and relative basis, as we outperformed the TSX REIT Index by over 12% in 2023, and we have now outperformed the index in five of the past 6 years. Further, our preferred metric would be our relative performance over the longer term, and our 5-year total return of 75.2%, per Bloomberg, compares very favorably to the REIT index's total return of 22.8%. Further, we have also outperformed the composite index as well over that period, despite a rather severe pullback in real estate equities in 2022 and 2023.
Regarding 2024, it was clear to us at Granite that conditions from a capital markets and leasing perspective would remain challenging, at least for a significant part of the year. And consequently, we have focused our energies on leasing, execution of our development projects, and preserving our balance sheet and liquidity. We are slightly ahead of expectations through the first quarter, based primarily on higher than budgeted NOI. The team has successfully renewed roughly 80% of our expiring leases at an average rate increase of 16%, and our remaining development projects continue to progress on schedule and are now 95% leased. And we are projecting another year of strong same-property NOI growth between 7% to 8%.
From a capital allocation perspective, as you can see from our SEDAR filings, we have remained active on our unit repurchase program, having purchased almost 650,000 units at a significant discount to NAV, again, all while maintaining a liquidity position and conservative capital ratios. I think just on a final note, before we open up the line for questions, I'd like to thank our unitholders for supporting, frankly, all of our resolutions and our, our board candidates, but also for supporting our proposal to consolidate the stapled unit structure to a simpler form of trust units. We believe it will simplify our ownership structure in the eye of potential unitholders and hopefully will broaden our appeal to investors globally. And on that note, we'll open up the line for any questions.
Yep, so to that end, we would now like to invite any supplemental questions from unitholders or proxy holders present at the meetings. As with the physical meeting, we will observe the same protocols of appropriateness and relevance to the meetings, and we'll do our best to address the issues raised. I will ask that all attendees who would like to ask a question, use the instant messaging feature for the virtual interface to do so. We will now give attendees a moment to type in their questions. As there are no further questions, on behalf of the board and management of Granite, I would like to thank all of our unitholders, as well as others who have joined us today, for your support and your attendance in this meeting. Thank you. This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.
Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect.