Don Miller, president and CEO of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE: PDM), joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWeek 2017: NAREIT’s Investor Forum at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Miller commented that markets in the Southeast and Southwest are showing solid growth. Activity in Washington, D.C., and suburban Chicago is not as robust, he noted.
Piedmont has been more aggressive on the disposition side of late, Miller said. The company recently announced it would bring a $500 million-plus portfolio to market, he noted.
“We think it’s a really good time to try to extract value from the market today, especially compared to the last year or two,” Miller said.
Acquisition activity, meanwhile, has been more subdued, Miller noted.
“It’s been much tougher this year to be a successful buyer if you’re trying to be value oriented,” Miller said. “People seem to be blowing through conventional norms of replacement cost and things like that more often than they were in the past,” he added.
Miller also said that domestic buyers seem to be outpacing foreign buyers, except for acquisitions made in the highest-quality primary markets.