Paul McDowell, president and CEO of Orion Properties Inc. (NYSE: ONL), sat down for a video interview at Nareit’s REITweek: 2026 Investor Conference in New York, June 1-4.
McDowell said the company is focused on deploying capital where it can generate the strongest returns: improving existing office assets and filling vacancies. While Orion continues to selectively acquire properties and pay down debt, McDowell said the highest-value opportunity is investing in buildings where new tenants can be brought in and begin paying rent.
McDowell also pointed to greater stability across the portfolio following several years of asset sales and lease rollover management. “We now have a stable portfolio of assets from which we think we will produce strong earnings growth over the next several years,” he said.
Improving office demand is also providing encouragement, with Orion leasing 1 million square feet in both 2024 and 2025 and another 400,000 square feet so far this year. “We've seen a pretty significant increase in demand for office space,” McDowell said, which “gives us some optimism about the coming periods.”