Michael Landy, president and CEO of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (NYSE: MNR), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: Virtual Investor Conference (held June 2-4).
Landy said that the industrial sector was strong heading into the pandemic, so as online shopping became more popular, it was well-positioned to handle the demand.
“In a post-pandemic world, supply chains are going to be more localized. We have seen that it’s just not sustainable and not optimal to depend on other nations for the lion’s share of the supply chain,” Landy said, adding it is likely to see supply chains moving back to the U.S. and inventories moving toward stockpiling.
Landy said that Monmouth has strong tenants and its cash flow has remained resilient throughout the pandemic, with 100% of March rent and 99% of April rent collected and an occupancy rate of 99.4%.
Landy added that omnichannel logistics require robotics and highly automated sortation equipment.
“That was a trend before the pandemic, and I think that trend will only be exacerbated as a result of social distancing and people wanting to be less dependent on human labor,” he said.