Good morning, everyone, welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for Centerspace. Before we get started, I would like to go over a few items regarding participation in today's meeting. Number one, you have joined the annual meeting via live webcast. Number one, at the end of the meeting, you will have the opportunity to submit questions to today's presenters by typing your questions into the questions chat panel of the control panel. You may also send in your questions at any time during the meeting. We will collect these and address them during the Q&A session at the end of today's shareholders meeting. Number three, we'd like you to know that today's meeting is being recorded. I would now like to introduce John Schissel, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Centerspace.
Thank you, Anne, and thank you, everybody. Good morning, or I should say good afternoon in some parts of the U.S. I'd like to welcome everybody to Centerspace's 56th Annual Meeting of Shareholders. My name is John Schissel, and I'm the Chair of Board of Trustees. On behalf of the board and the Centerspace team, I wanna thank you for your participation in this virtual meeting and your continued interest in the company. As Chair, I will be presiding over the meeting, and Haral Gandalia will act as the recording secretary of the meeting. I now hereby call this meeting to order. First, I'd like to acknowledge the other current members of the Board of Trustees who are joining us virtually today: Emily Green, Ola Hixon, Rodney Jones-Tyson, Jay Rosenberg, and Mary Twinem. I would also like to note the virtual attendance of Grant Thornton, Centerspace's independent auditor.
There are also panelists present with us today, Anne Olson, who's a fellow trustee and also the Chief Executive Officer and President of Centerspace, and Bhairav Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Anne and Bhairav will also be serving as the Inspectors of Elections for this annual meeting. Finally, on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, I would like to recognize all the Centerspace associates joining us today and across the organization, and to thank each of you for all you do for our residents and your fellow teammates. We are very grateful for your hard work, your commitment, and individual sacrifices over the past year in support of our mission of providing great homes for the residents of our communities. Before we begin, I'd like to go over the procedures for today's meeting.
By way of reminder, each of you attending this meeting should have registered online, where a meeting agenda should be posted and which should be visible to you on the screen. It may not be at this time. We're having some technical difficulties, but I'll proceed along the lines as previously laid out. Only shareholders may address the meeting. Shareholders can post questions online either before or during the meeting. We ask that you restrict your remarks and questions to the three proposals on the agenda. At this time, I will note that the secretary has delivered an affidavit of distribution establishing that notice of this meeting was duly given. A copy of the notice of meeting and the affidavit of distribution will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting.
All shareholders of record at the close of business on March 20, 2026 are entitled to vote at this annual meeting. Our first order of business at this meeting is to determine whether the shares represented at the meeting, either in person or by proxy, are sufficient to constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business. Based on a report from the secretary, as of March 20, 2026, which is the record date, there were 16,785,899 common shares outstanding. At the beginning of the meeting, there were represented in person or by proxy 14,981,013 shares, or approximately 89.2% of all shares entitled to vote at this meeting.
Accordingly, a quorum is present, and I declare this meeting to be duly convened for purposes of transacting such business as may properly come before it. There are three proposals that were presented in the proxy statement to the shareholders for voting. The election of six trustees is set forth in the proxy statement. They are John A. Schissel, Ola Oyinsan Hixon, Rodney Jones-Tyson, Anne M. Olson, Jay Rosenberg, and Mary Twinem. An advisory vote on executive compensation and the ratification of Grant Thornton as the company's independent auditor for the year ending December 31st, 2026. The board recommends a vote of for each of the nominees in Proposal 1 and for each of the Proposals in 2 and 3. We will now open the polls for voting online for those who have not already voted their shares or if you'd like to change your prior vote.
If you do wish to vote your shares now, you will need to provide the 16-digit control number provided to you when you access the meeting website. If you're a beneficial shareholder, you'll be required to present a legal proxy from your broker in order to vote at the meeting. As a reminder, if you have previously voted by proxy, you do not need to vote today unless you wish to change your vote. Polls are now open, and we will wait to record any activity. Thank you. I hereby declare that the polls are now closed. As to Proposal 1, based on a report from the secretary, as of the beginning of the meeting, each of the nominees had received significant support from the shareholders, with each trustee receiving at least 99.2% of the votes shares in favor.
Because each of the nominees received the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes of the shareholders present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote for the election of trustees, all the nominees have been elected as trustees. As to Proposal 2, based on a preliminary report from the secretary as of the beginning of the meeting, the proposal received substantial support from shareholders with more than 13 million shares, representing 97.7% of the shares cast by shareholders present in person or by proxy voted in the affirmative. Accordingly, this proposal has been approved on an advisory basis. As to Proposal 3, based on a report from the secretary as of the beginning of the meeting, more than 14 million shares, representing 99.3% of the shares cast by shareholders present in person or by proxy voted in the affirmative.
Accordingly, this proposal has been approved. Now, the final vote on each of the proposals will be disclosed in a current report on Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC no later than four business days from this meeting, and we will place it on Centerspace's website. Prior to adjourning, I would like to formally recognize Emily Green, who will be retiring from the Centerspace board at the conclusion of this annual meeting. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank Emily for eight years of service on behalf of Centerspace and its shareholders. Emily, you brought a very valuable perspective from outside the REIT industry that challenged our discussions and made us a better company. We appreciate all your contributions, your insights and passion for Centerspace. Your presence will be missed.
There being no additional business to be properly brought before the meeting, the annual meeting is hereby officially closed, and the 2026 annual meeting is hereby adjourned. On behalf of the Centerspace, company management team and the board, I'd like to thank the shareholders who attended today's virtual meeting, as well as those who submitted their proxies but were not able to attend. The board remains focused on what matters most, creating durable, long-term value for our shareholders. We appreciate your continued interest, and we value your investment in the company.
There being no questions, this concludes the annual meeting of shareholders. Thank you all for attending today's meeting. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Thank you. That concludes the conference today. You may now disconnect.