John Albright, president and CEO of Alpine Income Property Trust (NYSE: PINE), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: Virtual Investor Conference (held June 2-4).
Albright said that Alpine had the benefit of announcing its initial public offering in November 2019 when the market was strong, but then faced the challenge of investing immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have the benefit of having a lot of dry powder right now of very low leverage and a lot of cash on the balance sheet for our relatively small size,” Albright said. “So, we’re pivoting on our acquisitions stance...to a stronger set of credits.”
Albright added that several of the properties Alpine purchased before the pandemic—two 7-Eleven's and a BP gas station—remained open through the spring and performed well. Conversely, Alpine also acquired an AMC movie theater, which was closed through the pandemic. Going forward, Albright said Alpine will focus its acquisitions on essential businesses.
“[COVID-19 has] really changed our lens for sure to have more prominent assets…and assets that have been open during the pandemic,” Albright said.