Chris Benjamin, president and CEO of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE: ALEX), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Benjamin discussed the progress Alexander & Baldwin has made this year in advancing its strategic agenda. He noted that the REIT completed the migration of its mainland commercial portfolio back to Hawaii and also staffed up its commercial real estate team. “That team has been driving great results in our commercial real estate portfolio, as well as identifying and advancing development and redevelopment opportunities,” he said.
“Across the board in commercial real estate, we’ve made great progress. We’ve also made great progress in monetizing a lot of our development for sale projects,” Benjamin said. That has led to reduced debt levels, he noted.
Now that Alexander & Baldwin’s portfolio is concentrated in Hawaii, the company has the critical mass to bring in-house all of its value creation team, Benjamin explained.
Benjamin said the company will continue to “simplify our story,” in part by reducing its exposure to development for sale projects and considering longer term strategic options for its paving business.