Lou Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2022 Investor Conference in New York on June 7-9.
Haddad said that Armada Hoffler’s earnings makeup is much stronger today than it was pre-pandemic, with higher credit behind it and with less fee income.
“We believe that once the noise clears in the market and people start doing their research again, then we’ll go right back to where we were,” he added.
Haddad said that with the recent disposition of several student housing assets, Armada Hoffler has exited the student housing sector.
“Those properties were disposed of at a very low cap rate, enabling us to purchase the Exelon Building [in Harbor Point Baltimore],” he said, noting that the REIT built the LEED platinum-certified building in 2014.
“[The Exelon Building] houses the largest clean energy producer in the country,” Haddad said. “It requires a lot of foresight, a lot of planning, and certainly a commitment to where we all need to go in terms of greener energy.”
Haddad added that Armada Hoffler has taken part in public-private partnerships with cities and universities since the late 1980s, which has guided the REIT in its social responsibility and governance transparency for decades.