Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Nexus Industrial REIT First Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in the listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Kelly Hanczyk, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
I'd like to welcome everyone to the 2024 First Quarter Results Conference Call from Nexus Industrial REIT. Joining me today is Mike Rawle, Chief Financial Officer of the REIT. Before we begin, I'd like to caution with regard to forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures. Certain statements made during this conference call may constitute forward-looking statements, which reflect the REIT's current expectations and projections about future results. Also, during this call, we'll be discussing non-GAAP measures. Please refer to our MD&A and the REIT's other securities filings, which can be found on our website and at sedar.com for cautions regarding forward-looking information and for other information about non-GAAP measures. In the first quarter, we continued to pursue our strategy as a Canada-focused, pure-play industrial REIT.
We made great progress at our development projects, which will soon transition from cash out to cash in as construction is completed and tenants move in. As we expected, this quarter was impacted by temporary vacancies at two of our properties, which was largely due to tenants transitioning to larger spaces within our portfolio, which I will explain in a moment. But while it resulted in a challenging quarter, we will benefit from it in the longer term. We're also starting to see the positive impact of our acquisitions. Properties that we acquired over the past 12 months contributed CAD 4.4 million to our net operating income in the quarter, and we were the primary reason why our net operating income grew 15% to CAD 29.5 million year-over-year.
Our industrial same-property net operating income was CAD 21.5 million in the quarter, which is about CAD 200,000 increase from a year ago. Rental steps contributed to CAD 700,000 of growth, but much of this was neutralized by CAD 500,000 of industrial vacancies that we saw coming. We realized these vacancies at two properties. The first property was our 29,000 sq ft specialty cross-dock building and associated excess land located at 102 2nd Avenue in Southeast Calgary. Our tenant outgrew the location and moved to another building of ours, a newly acquired 83,000 sq ft facility at High Plains Drive in Rocky View, northeast of Calgary. This left the property vacant for part of the quarter. However, we have leased this space to a new tenant for the building portion, effective August 1.
And since the excess land is well located and is not required by the new tenant, we have an opportunity to construct a new 115,000 sq ft small bay industrial building on the property, a highly desirable build in this location. At market rates, this will return approximately a 12% yield on a CAD 15 million investment, which we expect to complete in early 2025. Combined, this will bring us ahead of where we were with the Canada Cartage as the sole tenant. The second property was our 220,000 sq ft Exeter Road building, multi-tenant property in London, Ontario. During the quarter, one of our tenants vacated to upsize from their 44,000 sq ft space to a 70,000 sq ft space in another one of our buildings at a significant rental lift.
At the same time, we had a second tenant vacate from a challenging office portion of space adjacent to this, leaving us with a total of 68,000 sq ft vacant. We're currently in the final negotiations with a new tenant for the full 68,000 sq ft, with significant rental lift for occupancy expected to be in August. It is a testament to the strength of our portfolio that when our tenants look to upsize, they look to do so with us. Similarly, I am impressed at how quickly and profitably we have been able to backfill the space. So while we face challenges in the quarter, the headwinds will indeed be temporary, and I expect they will lead to a favorable outcome overall.
On a full year basis, I expect that the actions we have taken and the positive benefit of embedded rent escalation will drive mid-single-digit same-property NOI growth in our industrial portfolio. Looking beyond 2024, I continue to expect to earn a healthy rent lift on renewals due to the industrial market rents that are on average 25% above in-place rents and from rent escalation embedded into our lease contracts. Turning to our development projects, this quarter, we made good progress at our four industrial projects. These developments are scheduled for completion throughout the year, and they will add incremental annual stabilized NOI of approximately CAD 10.3 million combined. We have completed construction at our Park Street intensification project in Regina.
On April first, the primary tenant took occupancy of 200,000 sq ft, and we are marketing the remaining 109,000 sq ft. This project will contribute a yield of about 7.5% on total development costs of CAD 48 million. We're very hopeful that the existing tenant is going to expand into the 109,000 sq ft, and we should know relatively soon on this. We've also made excellent progress at our Hubrey Road development in London, Ontario. Construction has progressed ahead of schedule, and we have a lease to an existing tenant from within the REIT's portfolio, effective July first, when it is expected to be complete. This is becoming a major tenant within the REIT's portfolio. The project will contribute a yield of over 8% in the first year, with significant yearly rental steps thereafter.
The project also reinforces our leadership position in the highly desirable London market, which continues to be one of the tightest industrial markets in Canada. Construction is progressing ahead of schedule at our 116,000 sq ft Glover Road development in Hamilton. The walls are up, the flooring has been poured, and is on track to be ready for a tenant in July. This property has industry-leading 40-foot clear height and is expected to be LEED certified. We own 80% of this property, and we're hopeful that we'll see positive leasing action on this space now that it is nearing completion. I also have good news from our 240,000 sq ft Dennis Road project in St. Thomas, Ontario. Development costs are coming in about 10% below budget at roughly CAD 45 million.
We're currently laying the foundation and expect the project to be completed on time in the late fourth quarter of this year. Expansion is for an existing tenant, and we earn a development fee during construction to eliminate any cash flow drag. Upon completion, the tenant will pay a contractual rent equal to a 9% yield. In Richmond, BC, the newly constructed Belvedere Club is ready to receive final city approvals. I expect the tenant will take occupancy very shortly. We're currently working on start date details with the tenant. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I expect this property to be a strong contributor to our results for years to come. Compared to last quarter, we experienced lower normalized AFFO and consequently an elevated payout ratio in the quarter. This was mostly due to our stronger net operating income being overshadowed by higher interest rate expense.
This temporary circumstance will normalize as our development projects come online over the coming quarters and our vacant space begins to cash flow. Our payout ratio has peaked, and I'm confident this will improve to a more sustainable level for the balance of the year. At March 31, 2024, our NAV per unit was CAD 1,309, a CAD 0.96 per unit increase from a year ago. Our weighted average cap rate increased by 12 basis points to 5.84 in the quarter, compared to 5.62 a year ago. The fair value of our investment properties increased by CAD 15.2 million in the quarter, driven by gains of CAD 9.4 million at our development properties as construction progressed, and CAD 5.7 million resulting from an increase in stabilized rent at our income-producing properties.
We have built a strong institutional quality asset base, and our focus is now to trim the few properties that no longer fit into our long-term strategy. These include our legacy retail and office assets, including our seven Old Montreal office buildings, as well as some non-core industrial buildings. Selling these assets has two significant benefits. It will increase the percentage of our portfolio allocated to industrial assets, and it will de-lever our balance sheet. We expect to complete these sales in the second half of this year and to generate approximately CAD 200 million in proceeds. We continue to advance our strategy as Canada-focused, pure-play industrial REIT. In the remainder of the year, we will benefit from the industrial same-property NOI growth from filling the vacancies.
We will begin to reap the benefit from our four new development projects, and we will further focus our portfolio and delever our balance sheet through strategic dispositions. I'll now turn the call over to Mike to give some more color on our financials.
Thank you, Kelly. Good morning, everyone. Starting with headline earnings the quarter, net income was CAD 43.7 million, a CAD 40 million increase compared to a net income of CAD 3.7 million last year. The increase was primarily due to a positive fair value adjustment on investment properties of CAD 15.2 million in the quarter, compared to a negative adjustment of CAD 2.7 million in 2023. In addition, we recognized a CAD 10.8 million fair value gain on Class B LP units and a CAD 7.5 million unrealized gain on derivative hedges in the quarter due to higher midterm interest rates. As Kelly mentioned, our net operating income increased 15%, or CAD 3.8 million, year-over-year to CAD 29.5 million.
Of this amount, new acquisitions accounted for CAD 4.4 million, partially offset by CAD 0.7 million relating to asset dispositions made since Q1 2023, and a reduction in same-property NOI of CAD 0.4 million due to the vacancies that Kelly discussed earlier. Normalized AFFO for the period was CAD 0.134 per unit, a decline of CAD 0.025 from a year ago, as the benefit from higher per unit net operating income was more than offset by higher interest expense per unit. Total general and administrative expense for the quarter was CAD 2.4 million, which was flat on a year-over-year basis. Net interest expense in the quarter was CAD 13.2 million, a CAD 5.1 million increase from the same period last year.
The increase was primarily due to a higher outstanding average debt balance resulting from borrowings to fund acquisitions and development expenses. I'm pleased to share that earlier this month, we added a further CAD 100 million of five-year pay fixed receive floating core interest rate swaps at a blended rate of 3.44% to hedge our outstanding debt. These swaps are cancelable at the counterparty's option after one year. After adjusting for the applicable credit spread, this will reduce our all-in interest rate on our drawings by approximately 160 basis points. I'll now turn the call back to Kelly.
Thanks, Mike. We will open up the call for any questions.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their telephone keypad. You will hear a tone acknowledging your request. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. We will pause for a moment as the callers join the queue. The first question comes from Mike Markidis from BMO. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, Mike and Kelly. Just starting off with the congrats on getting the new Canada Cartage facility on the books. Looks like a really nice building. I think you mentioned it was a 7 cap rate. Can you just provide us some incremental color with respect to the term of the lease and the contractual rent growth embedded, please?
Off the top of my head, I believe it has 2.5% contractual rental rate increases on that one.
That sounds about right, yeah.
Yeah.
Is it just the term of the lease?
10 year. 10 year.
Okay. Great, thanks. Also, really good news on getting 102, the existing building backfilled. Sounds like that's coming in on August first. Do you have the rate offhand in which that was backfilled at?
Yeah. It's about, I believe it's CAD 19 a foot. Let me just. I wanna clarify that a little bit. So when Canada Cartage was in there, there were two kind of rent structures there. There was the existing rent on the building and then the existing rent on the land. So that's what combined with the income on that site. So we backfilled the building portion at CAD 19 versus I think they were paying 23 on that space. But the 19 ramps up pretty quickly. And then that leaves the land portion, which we're going to build the building on, 'cause that's the small bay is very much in demand in that area, and leases up pretty quickly.
So to get back to a whole and greater, which we will at the end of the day, we will be building that building, which will take us greater combined income on that site than when it was just Canada Cartage. So I hope, hope that kind of clarifies it.
Yeah, no, that does. And then, CAD 19, it sounds really high. What is it about that building that allows a such a strong rent? Because, I mean, I guess there was a-
Yeah.
I guess there was a look-
It's not that high. Yeah, yeah.
What?
The cross-dock facilities already are always higher than normal industrial rents.
Got it. Okay. No, thanks for that. Okay, I guess just sounds like you got-
Add a little, add a little color. Just a little bit more color. The 19 that Kelly quoted goes up to 24 by 2030, 2031. So we have, you know, embedded rental steps there.
Great. Okay. Oh, it sounds great. Thank you. Just with respect, so I guess you get on Exeter and the 102 2nd Avenue property, you get backfill, that helps you out. Just in terms of thinking about the same property, for the industrial portfolio you're thinking about, where sort of the other drivers of the increase that you expect to see over the back half of this year? Is there anything that sticks out in particular, or is it just weighted average contractual rent increases? Is there any big leasing successes? Just trying to get a picture of what the driver is.
Yeah, that's, that's number one. Plus, we have, coming, we have about 500,000 remaining of leases to come, that come up this year, which are, well on the way of being renewed, but, we expect some significant rental lift as those are, as those are finalized.
Okay, perfect. Last one for me. Just, I see the notable increase in your asset held for sale balance, which is a good news sign. So I guess sticking with the disposition target, I guess there'll be some more that you'll start to market as well. Kelly, what should we be thinking about in terms of a disposition yield on the gross, the CAD 200 million of gross proceeds that you expect to close on?
It would probably be. I mean, they're, they're different. So, we've got the Montreal office, which would be a lower yielding, the Montreal, Old Montreal portfolio, which would be a lower yield, probably in the 6 or even sub-6 range. The 3 Montreal office buildings that we're talking about, we had them under contract, the suburban office, sorry, had them under contract, they dropped out. We now have one of them under contract, and it, it actually will be a quick close, and hopefully, this buyer buys another one, leaving us with one left. So those would be in a higher cap rate, probably in the 9s, in that range. And then, there would be the, the retail portfolio, which we're working our way through here. That would probably be in the-.
in and around the 7 range on that, I believe. And then would be our, call it non-core industrial, that I believe is right around that 7 range. So somewhere right around there.
Okay. So blending it all together, if I just look at those numbers, 7, 7, 9, 6, somewhere in the seven range, I'll-
Yeah.
Makes sense?
Yeah, I would say, yeah, the Old Montreal brings it down and the retail and those, and the office is smaller, so yeah, it would be right around that seven.
Okay. That's wonderful. I'll turn it back. Thanks so much.
Thanks. Bye.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Brad Sturges from Raymond James. Please go ahead.
Hey, good morning. Just to follow on Mike's line of questions there. Just in terms of maybe thinking through the timing of some of the transactions you're working on right now, I think on the office deals you were working on, you were thinking or had some optimism around maybe in the early to mid-summer in terms of getting some deals announced. I'm just curious if that's still the rough timeline you're working towards right now?
Yeah. So the Old Montreal portfolio is under contract. I think there's a due diligence waiver date of mid to beginning of June with a scheduled closing, I believe, in July. And then the other single asset that we have, the suburban office one, I believe that will close in end of June, I believe. Could be even earlier. So that's scheduled for that. The retail is going to be later in the year by the time we work our way through that whole thing. And then the non-core industrial that we're talking about, if all goes well with the buyer, and it seems to be going well, they're just looking for, throughout their own portfolios, of selling some things to get the liquidity required to purchase this. That's kind of right now scheduled for an August close date on that.
Okay, that helps. Maybe switching back to the leasing front on Exeter. I know you're trying to finalize terms and lease there. Just, I wonder if you could give a rough sense of what that uplift on rents could be, when you combine the, I guess, the industrial and the office space together.
Yeah. I believe, combined those probably blend to, CAD 6.50 range, I think, CAD 6.50-CAD 7 dollar range. And, the new rate we're talking about for that space is CAD 10.
It's 10, okay. Yeah, and my last, my last question-
I hope, I was gonna say, I hope to have that completed today.
Okay. Very final stages then.
Yeah.
Just on the guidance then, I guess last quarter, you were guiding for mid- to high-single-digit organic growth, and that's, I guess now the mid-single-digit. Is that just related to the Exeter transitional vacancy, or what would be driving the adjustment on the same-property NOI guidance?
Yeah, just to highlight, I guess, it's the current, the new one is for industrial. And before we were talking total business and y ou know, given the timing of the sales, we have more confidence in predicting the industrial same property, because of the impact of the sales on the office and retail portfolio.
Just industrial, just on the industrial basis, would there be much of a change then, is it, or was it?
No.
Okay.
No.
Perfect.
No, it's just-
Perfect.
We gave the range before, because the range really depended, was driven by the timing of the sales.
Yeah.
And, given the, now let's give it industrial.
I'll clarify a little bit more, too, is when we were looking at our building in London on Robins Hill Road, we had a tenant that we were trying to early renew, and it was looking good. As you remember, they're sitting at $4 and change, and it's in a $ 12-$ 13 market for that building. So I'd been working with their local people to have kind of an early extend and blend, and it was looking very good. And I'm not sure it's going to happen, and we may have to wait till the lease expires. It's a U.S.-owned company, it moves very slowly. So I've kind of backed that out of our forecast for now.
Sorry, when's that lease expiry then?
That's the end of next year.
End of next year. Okay. Okay, that's helpful. I'll turn it back.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sam Damiani from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.
Thanks, good morning, everyone. First question, just to continue on the disposition line of questioning earlier. I believe last quarter, Kelly, you had mentioned an 8% targeted overall cap rate on those dispositions, and now you're it sounds like you're targeting closer to 7? I just wanted to clarify if that's the case, and if so, I guess what changed between then and now?
Yeah, it's kind of, I guess, a moving target. The retail we haven't really fixed on yet, so it's hard for me to judge where that pricing is going to come in. I know where we are on the Old Montreal. And I know where we're gonna be on the suburban office. So the Old Montreal is like 6.6, and the suburban office is gonna be around the 9.5 to 9.75, probably 10. So those combined blend downwards, and the moving target will be the retail, and because I know where I'm going to be on the industrial non-core, call it some, as we have that under contract. So it's just where that retail portion will pan out to.
Just on the retail, Kelly, like, is there, are you purposely sort of pushing that transaction back? Or, like, what, where does that part of it stand right now? What's the status on that, on that listing?
Yeah. So it's a little harder. So I've put them into two tranches now. So I have the retail portfolio, and then we've removed out Les Halles d'Anjou, which is a different one. And I think if you remember Les Halles, we are in the throes of selling some additional land there. So we're waiting for the developer to have his final approval from the city, which is apparently fairly imminent. And once that happens, we get the first tranche of cash from that, which I believe is around CAD 9 million at our interest. So it's difficult to put together a package while this was outstanding and up in the air.
So we are looking at just the one portion of the retail portfolio, and then when we have Anjou figured out in that land portion and we've received it, we'll package that one separately. So there's the two bases. So we'll work with our existing partner to perhaps take out our position, or if not, then we will go out to market with that, a bridge portfolio, less Anjou at the start, and then we'd look at Anjou towards the end of the year.
Got it. Makes sense. And just on the Kelowna acquisition, what was the background on that? And do you expect to make any more acquisitions this year?
Yeah. No, that's one we had worked on. We had a PSA from a while ago. There could be one more acquisition, as we are in due diligence on one, on a unit deal basis, which at favorable unit price to the current trading price, very favorable. So after that, I don't think you'll see us making any more acquisitions. It'll be focused on paring down the portfolio and continuing to, I guess, high grade in what we've been doing over the last several years. So really focused on the balance of the year of getting out the retail and office portions. And so we're not really actively looking at any more acquisitions.
Got it. Okay, and just last one for me. The London development yield went down, I think, to 8% from 10%, if I'm not mistaken. I'm just wondering if you could shed some light on what happened there.
Yeah. It was just that we originally were targeting, like, CAD 14 a foot. And with this tenant, we put them in at CAD 12 a foot, which is good, and we have a CAD 1 rental rate a year increases for the first 3 years, and then a contractual percentage, I believe it's 3.5% a year after that. So, existing tenant within our portfolio, existing expanding tenant, so they're the tenant that we have at Wilton Grove Road. So a very important tenant to us, very big, growing tenant in Southwestern Ontario. So, we ramped up their rent as we went along versus, so to give them a break, to expand into our space.
Oh, okay. So just the initial yield. Okay.
Yeah, exactly.
Thank you. Thank you. That's it for me.
Okay.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kyle Stanley from Desjardins. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Morning, guys.
Good morning.
So you've given a lot of good color on kind of the moving pieces on some of the, the vacancies. Just curious, at this point, you know, is there anything else that you're seeing, you know, over the next year or two, where you might expect to get some space back?
So, we have about for 2024, I think it was 850,000 sq ft of expiries. We've renewed about 310,000 right now, at about a 19% growth rate in the industrial portfolio. We have another 250 in Chatham that we know, we're fully expecting to renew. They're just in discussions on the final rate. So that's a fairly significant amount. So that's about 65% would be taken care of by the end of May. We have a pretty good bead on another 350. Like, another significant amount that is signaled that they're renewing.
We do have some that will vacate, probably about 120,000 sq ft, but in some of them, they're in pretty good locations that we have seen. We have some time on the renewals here or to backfill the space. So I think it's in Regina, in one of our buildings in Regina. and in Nisku, Alberta, which is actually a pretty hot market right now. So we think we'll be able to backfill them in due time, so not too challenging from the 2024 market. And then in 2025, we've already renewed 45% of what was expiring that year, with Westcan being one, an early renewal and Chrysler being another one.
We have a pretty good bead on the other ones that are expiring. 2025 looks pretty good as well, as we're already pretty well ahead of the game there.
Okay, great. No, that's, that's very helpful. Obviously, you also gave a lot of good color on lease up of your development assets. Just curious, you know, so I think you've got Hubrey coming online July 1, you've got Regina effective April 1. Is there any free rent with that, or is that income producing right away?
Those both are income producing right away.
Okay, perfect.
We're hopeful in Regina that we'll see, but we've been working closely with the existing tenant. He's bursting at the seams there. We went and saw it a couple weeks ago, and they are packed, and they need the additional space, and they're just trying to get approval for it. So if that was. In a perfect world, that would be the perfect scenario.
Right. Yeah, that would be the easiest course, for sure. Okay, moving to Savage Road, you made the comment that you know, occupancy should be imminent. Last quarter, I think you'd highlighted you know, maybe gradually ramping the rent. Just curious if you could talk about that. I mean, I think you mentioned you're kind of working through that and optimistic about the outcome, but just maybe elaborate a little bit more, especially for how we kind of bring the income trajectory online.
Yeah. I think from a look at it, it probably equates to from a pure base rent, it's gonna be somewhere around CAD 100,000 a month, additional income that'll come online. From that, I'm just negotiating right now where that start date. So, it could be - it will be this quarter, it could be even partially through last quarter. So there could be a little back catch up to do, so in part and parcel with me negotiating, a reduced rate to let them ramp up and go. So, it's a little moving piece right now, but, we're almost there.
Okay, perfect. And one last one, more technical. And, you know, I, I did notice there was a reclassification of your Class B this quarter to the current liability section of the balance sheet from non-current. Just curious, is there anything to read into there, or is that something more normal course?
No, that's, that's fully due to no change at all in any of the, from our perspective, the structure of, of the, of the units. What drove it was, IAS 1 came effective January 1st, so it's just an accounting pronouncement or accounting guidance that came out January 1st. It came out, came effective January 1st, and that gave a little more guidance on how to classify, equity or, or, you know, equity-like debt. And, given that the, the, the, Class B units, all of these-- some of the Class B units are already convertible into equity, we have to carry them as, a short-term equity. But if they are not, not, convertible within the next 12 months, then they're carried as, as longer-term, debt, so . or longer-term liabilities. So it's just a IAS pronouncement that became effective January 1st.
Okay, perfect. That, that clears it up. Thank you very much. I'll turn it back.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Himanshu Gupta from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning. So just on lease expiries, and thanks, Kelly, for providing some color there. So it looks like 120,000 sq ft is expected to come back. Can you tell, like, when are we expecting that space back, and what could be the NOI impact associated with that?
I don't have the NOI impact here, Himanshu. I'll have to get back to you on that. I believe they're later in the year, in the third and fourth quarter. Two of them are in our Titan Business Park, where we just completed the new space, so it's two of those existing tenants in the older building. And then, I'm looking here, it's really, it's, you know, 90, a 120, yeah, 120,000, the other one. Two are in Edmonton, one in Edmonton and one in Edmonton. So I believe they're towards the end of the year, but I'll have to get back to you on the rate and the vacate date.
Got it.
It's given us enough time. We know, we know, so it's given us quite a bit of time to market them.
Got it. So just to clarify, the both the vacancies are in Regina and Edmonton. So that's pretty much it, right?
There's four. Yeah, there's four.
Okay.
2 in, 2 in Regina, 2 in, Edmonton.
Okay, fantastic. And then the other one that you mentioned, 250,000 sq ft, you said, you know, that's pretty much a done deal. Any any sense, like what kind of rental spreads are we doing on that?
I have to wait and see what the final rate is on that, but it will be greater than the existing rate.
Got it. Okay, fair enough. And then, you know, thanks for the color on the same property for this year. Any thoughts into 2025, next year?
2025 should be pretty good. If we classify HCL Logistics in Robins Hill Road, you know, when they're sitting at CAD 4 and change, and we're talking about a CAD 12-CAD 14 renewal, that alone is 260,000 sq ft, so it'll be, that one will be pretty big. But overall, I don't have that guidance yet.
Fair enough. Yeah. So we could expect some kind of acceleration from 2024, given that, you know, some of these vacancies-
Yeah.
Will be backfilled as well?
Yeah.
Okay.
Where it looks is we dropped throughout this year. Next year, 2025 looks good, 2026 is spectacular. So the 2025 and 2026 are, are pretty strong, go forward from a cash flow basis.
Awesome. Okay. And then on the core development projects, so Glover Road, Hamilton is the only one which is not leased up yet.
Correct.
So any thoughts there? How's the response there on that asset?
It's been pretty good. I mean, it's a good asset that the market has slowed a little bit. So, and I've found that, like, even look at our Hubrey, we thought we'd have that leased way before. And, you know, now that it's literally nearing completion, we had someone step up and take it, right away. So I'm hoping as, you know. The Hamilton one was supposed to be done in November, but with no snow this winter, they're completing in July. So as it comes closer and closer to the final product, I hope to see some pickup on the leasing there. We've kind of targeted and budgeted in our model, a November 1 start date to give us time, so if we can beat that, it's even better. That's kind of how we're looking at it right now.
That's good to hear. And then on dispositions, and I know, you know, a lot of questions have been asked regarding that. Just to clarify, that includes Montreal office, Sandalwood, and non-core industrial, but does not include Richmond, right? I mean, that's still not on sale.
That's right.
Okay.
That's right.
And then what is the, sorry, go ahead. Go ahead, Kelly.
No, I'm just saying there could be little spatterings, because we do get interest coming up on other ones that we would look at. I'll give you an example. So in Montreal, we banked a deal with someone where we moved a tenant from one of our properties to another one, and it left about a 25,000 sq ft vacancy, effective March, and then I think it's May fifteenth, we've signed a new deal at CAD 16. And that tenant, in about a year's time, we've agreed on a purchase price to take half of the building from us at our carrying value, which is carried pretty low cap rate.
So, and then I believe that tenant wants to expand into the balance of the building at same rental rate, where I think we probably are sitting at a CAD 8 rent. So, that one will pop up as we go. And as we look through the portfolio, we get a lot of interest on kind of smaller properties or less, and we may pick them off one by one as we go throughout the year as well.
Okay. And, my question, follow-up question was on the non-core industrial, you know, properties for sale. Can you quantify how much is non-core industrial out of this CAD 200 million? And how do you define that? I mean, is it like Edmonton, is it Regina, or is it anything in Ontario as well?
No, no. That non-core industrial that we're talking about right now is about CAD 81 million of that 200. And the ultimate, it's the Westcan portfolio, so we are working with someone. It's a good portfolio from us, from a cash flow, but we like the purchase price. And if they can get the equity required, I believe that will close, and that'll free up the cash to do more of the properties that, you know, we're currently doing, whether it's for development and develop new, newer, new generation, LEED certified warehouse, modern warehouse, versus the old truck terminals that we have in that portfolio. So it's just an evolution of the portfolio.
Got it. Okay. Thanks for clarifying that. The proceeds which come from disposition will be used first towards the development and then some for debt paydown as well?
Yes, both. Yep.
Okay. Okay.
Correct.
Okay, okay, fair enough. And just last question. The variable debt exposure looks like you did CAD 100 million of swaps in the first quarter, so your variable rate exposure is pretty much taken care of. Is it fair to say that?
Yeah. Well, we still have some variable debt outstanding, but that's, you know. I think we had about CAD 130 million outstanding at the end of the year, and at the end of the quarter, and we swapped CAD 100 million of that.
Got it. Okay. Thank you, guys. I'll turn back.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Anthony Bogdan from National Bank Financial. Please go ahead.
Thanks, operator. Good morning. Just quickly, you mentioned that development costs were coming in 10% below budget in St. Thomas. Is this a broader trend in construction or more property specific?
I would say it is a broader trend in construction. Lumber's gone down. I think, overall, prices have stabilized and dropping a little bit.
Okay, and, are you considering starting any new developments in the near term?
No, not right now. So, I would say the only way I would do one right now is if we had a tenant in our pocket that came to us with an expansion. You know, at the end of the day, we have Wilton Grove Road, where Drexel is, and that just had a 155-160 thousand sq ft expansion when we purchased it, put on. And we have the one that they just took. We could add a 100 thousand more to the one at Hubrey that they just took. So that's available to us if they came to us. In the one in Wilton Grove Road, we could easily add another 150 thousand, maybe 200 thousand, possibly 250 thousand, that if they came to us with a deal.
Unless we had a tenant in hand, we wouldn't go forward. Other than the Canada Cartage former site, where we have that six acres of land now attached there, we're not looking to do anything right now.
Great. So nothing on spec?
No. No.
So, at the Richmond site, you're still waiting last mile for the occupancy permits. Is the tenant ready to go, they can start up operations the next day, or is there going to be a little bit of a lag there?
It's fully staffed, and we're ready to go.
That's good. And then my last question: You have mid-single digit, same-property NOI growth in the industrial portfolio. How does that blend out on an overall portfolio basis? And if you could just comment on, sorry, if you could just comment on the industrial target, does that factor in the CAD 80 million, CAD 80 million dollars in dispositions, or like, how would that change depending on the, the sales?
So the blended rate really depends on the timing of dispositions for the rest of the portfolio.
Okay.
So-
Got it.
Yeah, it's hard to nail it down, depending on whether the dispositions happen at the end of the year or earlier in the year. The overall blended rate includes, I think, the mid-single digit, does not assume the sale of the non-core portfolio.
If it were to be sold, I guess maybe a little higher, on the mid-single digit range?
It would be slightly lower, on the slightly lower end of that range. I mean, it'd still probably be still be mid-single digit, but, you know, maybe a percent or two lower.
Okay, great. I'll turn it back.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of, Mike Markidis from BMO. Please go ahead.
Thanks, operator. Sorry to draw this out, guys. Just a couple of clarifications on my end while I have you. I guess I missed a little bit. So Kelowna is Kelowna, it says in your press release you closed during the quarter, but then it doesn't show as closing during the quarter. So what was the timing of the Kelowna acquisition?
It, it.
Go ahead.
It's scheduled. There was a little, I guess, it was supposed to be pulled out of the press release, but it's scheduled to close today.
Got it. Okay. Got it. So it's a Q2 acquisition. All right, and it just so happens to be the same dollar amount as Canada Cartage?
Yeah.
Thirty-five mil?
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Then can you remind me then, what was the yield on Canada Cartage? I said 7, but I was referencing Kelowna and just thought it was Kelowna and Calgary were mistakenly printed.
Yeah. I believe the Cartage one was a 5.25, I believe.
505. 505. 5.1?
5.1, but there is some management fee that goes in there, so it's about a 5.2, 5.25.
Okay, got it. So Canada Cartage, CAD 35 million, that's in there, but that's already in your quarter.
Yeah.
But then we got another one coming in now, Kelowna, at 7.
Yeah.
Okay, perfect. All right, great. And then just going back to Savage, so good to hear that the occupancy permit's there. Just thinking about the ins and outs. So there's a vendor rent obligation of CAD 600,000 or so that gets added back to the quarter. And I know we keep talking about the, you know, the ramp of the new NOI or new rent from when Belvedere Club opens. So, so what happens to that CAD 600 and some odd thousand dollars?
That swings from vendor obligation, I believe, to rent.
Correct.
So that's all being kind of done part and parcel with this. So by next quarter, it'll be much cleaner and easier to understand.
Okay, so the CAD 100,000 a month is in addition to the v endor rent obligation?
It is.
Okay, perfect.
Right.
And then what? I know you're giving them some time to ramp. So if we think about it then, when it starts, CAD 100,000 a month, plus the CAD 600,000, we're at about CAD 1 million a quarter. So what's the, once they get fully stabilized, what's the thought process there in terms of the NOI?
Yeah. So, I'm not yet finalized on it, but I believe I'm giving them a couple years at the one rent, and then it ramps up to, call it, in two years after that, another, I believe, like, CAD 1 million on there. So, in four years or three, four years, it. In two years, then it will ramp, and then it'll ramp again, up.
Okay.
So just let them get stabilized. No one expected a permit to take this long, and it's actually mind-boggling to me. But I was out there in the city, and that city is unbelievable. But, and as you can imagine, that's, that's a costly obligation. So, I'm giving them the opportunity to ramp up and make the site successful.
Okay. No, that's fair. So just, so the NOI impact will be about once they start paying CAD 1 million-ish a quarter, and the FFO impact will be about CAD 300,000 a quarter. Because the CAD 600 or some odd is already in FFO, or normalized.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah, the 600's already there, so it just be the incremental on top of that. Yeah.
Got it. Okay, and then last one for me, I promise, is just so great news on that interest rate swap. Mike, is that gonna be a pure interest P&L flow through, or is there an element of that that's being capitalized, and therefore, the impact doesn't flow through?
To the extent that it's still, we still have properties under development, some of it will be effectively capitalized, but, you know, that's as we're finishing these properties off, most of the CapEx is being spent. So, it's a lower and lower portion being capitalized at this point.
Right. Right. Okay. Okay, now that makes sense. All right. Thanks, sorry for drawing that out, and I appreciate the clarification, so thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Jimmy Shan from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Yeah, I just have one question. Having a tough time with all the various moving parts with respect to Canada Cartage. So I'm hoping if you could just simplify for me, between Canada Cartage and Exeter, what is the incremental NOI relative to Q1 that we should be adding, you know, once the tenants come online?
Well, you would have on Canada Cartage, once that tenant come online, you have CAD 19 times 29,000 sq ft. S o that would be that one. And the-
That would be August?
That begins August first. I think they have two months fixturing, June, July to for fixturing, and then it commences August. And then the Exeter, if all goes well, I believe that's an August start as well, and you would take it's 10 bucks a foot on 68,000 sq ft.
Okay, perfect. Thank you. Sorry, I do have one more. You mentioned London being the tightest market in the country. I wondered if you could just comment generally on that market and, and sort of the sustainability of it remaining as tight as it is?
I think it's going to remain very tight. I don't see anything in the fundamentals that are changing. I think the Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas that's about to start is a very, very, very positive thing for that region. So I see that as a driver, of the overall from the ancillary demand that's gonna be required, just to service that plant. So at the end of the day, the net effect will be pretty big migration into that Southwestern Ontario node. And everything that we've seen so far, the market is still pretty good, and there's not much build going on. So, fundamentally, looks really sound.
Thank you for that.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of David Chrystal from Echelon Capital Markets . Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks. Good morning. Quick one for me. Just some incremental color on the NOI outlook. The Canada Cartage space, does the land component come out of same-property NOI, if that's gonna be a development site?
Yes, it does. Yeah, we'll take it out.
Okay, and then the sports complex, the Savage Road, will the incremental CAD 300,000 a quarter, that will be additional NOI for same-property NOI calculation?
No, that would be inclusive in the 5, in the mid-single digit forecast.
Okay, yeah, but the incremental 300 would be additional NOI, so it'd be factored into that mid-single digit. Okay.
Correct.
Okay, perfect. That's it for me. Thanks.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sumayya Syed from CIBC. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning. Just wanted to touch on the payout ratio, given there are some moving pieces. We chart a path for how that payout tracks over the course of the year, and I think previously, we're expecting normalization around the low-to-mid 90% range for the year. Does that comment still stand?
Yeah, no, I think so what you'll see is probably next quarter, it drives back down to the right around that 100 range, and then as the next two quarters come by, the third and fourth quarter, that continues to drop down. And it's going to also be a little bit how the asset sales roll out here as well, because that will affect it. But I would say, by the end of the year, it's looking hopefully in and around the mid-90s, and then it sets us up nicely for next year and the growth that we perceive for next year. Overall, this quarter, with the vacancies we had and where we know and what we've backfilled, that continues to drive down throughout the balance of the year.
Okay, great. Thank you.
Thank you. Once again, if you have a question, please press star then one. This concludes the question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Kelly Hanczyk for closing comments.
All right, I want to thank everyone for attending the call. Any questions, just please feel free to reach out to Mike or myself, and we'll chat next quarter.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines. Thank you for participating, and have a pleasant day.