Whitestone REIT Announces 100% Lease Up and Development Completion of The Anthem Marketplace Pad Site in Arizona

HOUSTON, Sept. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whitestone REIT WSR ("Whitestone" or the "Company") today announced the recently completed, 6,853 square foot, multi-tenant pad site at the Anthem Marketplace property in Arizona is now 100% leased. The new development is expected to generate an annual unlevered return on total cost of 10.5%, with tenant lease terms averaging 7.5 years.

Jim Mastandrea, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This completion demonstrates the value-add component of Whitestone REIT's ‘e-commerce resistant' business strategy. The development of this residual land that we acquired at little to no cost during the initial acquisition, enhances the value of the overall community, and is a key element of our innovative, scalable and sustainable business model." Mr. Mastandrea added, "The total cost to acquire the land, construct and lease the new development was approximately $2.2 million. Valuing the property at a 6.4% cap rate ⁽¹⁾ creates over $1.3 million of value for our shareholders."

Mr. Mastandrea concluded, "Getting the property fully leased shows our ability to increase cash flow, create value for our shareholders, and provide long-term benefits to the surrounding community, the existing tenants, and all of Whitestone's stakeholders."

 ⁽¹⁾  Source:  CoStar, Anthem, AZ Retail Submarket Report as of Sept 6, 2019.

About Whitestone REIT

Whitestone is a community-centered retail REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops high quality "e-commerce resistant" neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers principally located in the largest, fastest-growing and most affluent markets in the Sunbelt. Whitestone's optimal mix of national, regional and local tenants provides daily necessities, needed services and entertainment to the communities in which they are located. Whitestone's properties are primarily located in business-friendly Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, which are among the fastest growing U.S. population centers with highly educated workforces, high household incomes and strong job growth. For additional information, visit www.whitestonereit.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The Company intends for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, as well as known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the Company's use of forward-looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "plan," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "goals" or similar words or phrases that are predictions of future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters.

The following are some of the factors that could cause the Company's actual results and its expectations to differ materially from those described in the Company's forward-looking statements: the Company's ability to meet its long-term goals, its assumptions regarding its earnings guidance, including its ability to execute effectively its acquisition and disposition strategy, to continue to execute its development pipeline on schedule and at the expected costs, and its ability to grow its NOI as expected, which could be impacted by a number of factors, including, among other things, its ability to continue to renew leases or re-let space on attractive terms and to otherwise address its leasing rollover; its ability to successfully identify, finance and consummate suitable acquisitions, and the impact of such acquisitions, including financing developments, capitalization rates and internal rates of return; the Company's ability to reduce or otherwise effectively manage its general and administrative expenses; the Company's ability to fund from cash flows or otherwise distributions to its shareholders at current rates or at all; current adverse market and economic conditions; lease terminations or lease defaults; the impact of competition on the Company's efforts to renew existing leases; changes in the economies and other conditions of the specific markets in which the Company operates; economic, legislative and regulatory changes, the success of the Company's real estate strategies and investment objectives; litigation risks; the Company's ability to continue to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and other factors detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Whitestone REIT:
Kevin Reed
Director of Investor Relations
(713) 435-2219
ir@whitestonereit.com