Eastgroup Properties Inc Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Michael Albert Carroll - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : I wanted to touch on the development questions that you kind of commented earlier. I mean how -- when you underwrite new development projects, I mean, how have those initial targeted yields changed over time? I mean, have the higher construction costs and financing costs, has that pulled yields down? Or have market rents really kept those yields really unchanged over the past year or so?

Question: Michael Albert Carroll - RBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. And see if I heard you correctly, is like the 4 -- your target is probably about 100 basis points higher than what it was. But what about the exact projects? I mean, has those yields actually increased by that amount over the past year? Or has market rents really kept them in the high 6s, so you're still achieving similar yields as you were last year?

Question: Jason Belcher - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : I noticed your occupancy was up sequentially in the quarter, while lease rate was down. Both were flat just about 1.5 months ago when you provided your interim update on June 1, that will be a flat to the prior quarter at that time. Can you just give us some color on what drove that divergence over the past month or so?

Question: Jason Belcher - Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : Understood. And then secondly, you mentioned that the tenant decision time lines remain elongated. Can you just give us a little more color there and maybe comment on what that time line looks like today versus a year or so ago? And if that elongated time line, as it is today, is continuing to widen out or lengthen or does it appear to have stabilized somewhat in recent weeks or months?

Question: William Andrew Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : Quick question. Thinking about the development side, the supply side of things, have we ever seen such a dramatic decline in starts when fundamentals have been so strong? And it makes me wonder whether -- we're not just at a time out that we look ahead 12 months or 18 months and all of a sudden, we got that 40% that we're giving back now on the development side, all of a sudden starting again. Isn't that quite possible?

Question: William Andrew Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division - Analyst : And the starts you're seeing today and the ones that you think may happen over the next year or so, do you think you're seeing more like you? In other words, more multi-tenant last mile, shallow bay sort of product? Or has there been -- because clearly, it feels like you're winning here. Is there...