High-volume asset gives Company a foothold in one of the strongest performing retail corridors in the trade area
Acquisition positions Whitestone to benefit from upcoming development, driven by strong neighborhood dynamics
HOUSTON, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR), a neighborhood-focused owner and operator of open-air shopping centers in Texas and Arizona, today announced it has acquired 5000 South Hulen, a 86,907 square-foot shopping center located in Fort Worth, Texas. 5000 South Hulen is situated within one of Fort Worth’s strongest performing retail corridors and is just minutes from Interstate 20 and two of the most affluent neighborhoods in the entire trade area—Chisholm Trail Parkway and Mira Vista. The acquisition of the high-volume 5000 South Hulen marks Whitestone’s 29th asset in Texas—and 10th in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex—solidifying its strong position in one of the fastest-growing states in the country.
“The addition of 5000 South Hulen aligns strategically with our investment thesis, allowing us to add scale in a thriving and fundamentally strong region of Texas, a state we know well,” stated Christine Mastandrea, President and COO of Whitestone REIT. “We will leverage our deep relationships and market knowledge to unlock the full potential of the asset and look to remerchandise where possible to ensure the center is adequately serving the long-term needs of the community.”
Located adjacent to Hulen Mall, the highest-visited mall within a 30-mile radius, 5000 South Hulen sits between two heavily-traveled thoroughfares in I-20 and Hulen Street, which collectively attract more than 182,000 vehicles per day. More than 300,000 residents reside within a 5-mile radius of the center, with an average household income of $113,520, resulting in nearly $14 billion in spending power. 5000 South Hulen is home to a synergistic mix of thriving national and regional businesses, including Sephora, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Potbelly, Sports Clips, Kincaid’s Hamburgers and Jamba Juice.
“We are pleased to add 5000 South Hulen to our Dallas/Ft. Worth portfolio, which will allow us to leverage our in-place leasing and property management teams and apply our operational expertise at the asset level to drive further corporate level earnings growth and value for our shareholders.” said Dave Holeman, CEO of Whitestone REIT.
About Whitestone REIT
Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) is a community-centered real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns, operates, and develops open-air, retail centers located in some of the fastest growing markets in the country: Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
Our centers are convenience focused: merchandised with a mix of service-oriented tenants providing food (restaurants and grocers), self-care (health and fitness), services (financial and logistics), education and entertainment to the surrounding communities. The Company believes its strong community connections and deep tenant relationships are key to the success of its current centers and its acquisition strategy. For additional information, please visit the Company’s investor relations website.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, and other matters. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but are the intent, belief or current expectations of our management based on its knowledge and understanding of our business and industry. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “potential,” “predicts,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates” or the negative of such terms and variations of these words and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements include these words. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made in this Report include: the imposition of federal income taxes if we fail to qualify as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) in any taxable year or forego an opportunity to ensure REIT status; uncertainties related to the national economy, the real estate industry in general and in our specific markets; legislative or regulatory changes, including changes to laws governing REITs; adverse economic or real estate developments or conditions in Texas or Arizona, Houston and Phoenix in particular, including the potential impact of public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, on our tenants’ ability to pay their rent, which could result in bad debt allowances or straight-line rent reserve adjustments; increases in interest rates, including as a result of inflation operating costs or general and administrative expenses; our current geographic concentration in the Houston and Phoenix metropolitan area makes us susceptible to local economic downturns and natural disasters, such as floods and hurricanes, which may increase as a result of climate change, increasing focus by stakeholders on environmental, social, and governance matters, financial institution disruption; availability and terms of capital and financing, both to fund our operations and to refinance our indebtedness as it matures; decreases in rental rates or increases in vacancy rates; harm to our reputation, ability to do business and results of operations as a result of improper conduct by our employees, agents or business partners; litigation risks; lease-up risks, including leasing risks arising from exclusivity and consent provisions in leases with significant tenants; our inability to renew tenant leases or obtain new tenant leases upon the expiration of existing leases; risks related to generative artificial intelligence tools and language models, along with the potential interpretations and conclusions they might make regarding our business and prospects, particularly concerning the spread of misinformation; our inability to generate sufficient cash flows due to market conditions, competition, uninsured losses, changes in tax or other applicable laws; geopolitical conflicts, such as the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the conflict in the Gaza Strip and unrest in the Middle East; the need to fund tenant improvements or other capital expenditures out of operating cash flow; the extent to which our estimates regarding Pillarstone REIT Operating Partnership LP’s financial condition and results of operations differ from actual results; and the risk that we are unable to raise capital for working capital, acquisitions or other uses on attractive terms or at all and other factors detailed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release contains supplemental financial measures that are not calculated pursuant to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) including EBITDAre, FFO, NOI and net debt. Following are explanations and reconciliations of these metrics to their most comparable GAAP metric.
NOI: Net Operating Income: Management believes that NOI is a useful measure of our property operating performance. We define NOI as operating revenues (rental and other revenues) less property and related expenses (property operation and maintenance and real estate taxes). Other REITs may use different methodologies for calculating NOI and, accordingly, our NOI may not be comparable to other REITs. Because NOI excludes general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, equity or deficit in earnings of real estate partnership, interest expense, interest, dividend and other investment income, provision for income taxes, gain on sale of property from discontinued operations, management fee (net of related expenses) and gain or loss on sale or disposition of assets, and includes NOI of real estate partnership (pro rata) and net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, it provides a performance measure that, when compared year-over-year, reflects the revenues and expenses directly associated with owning and operating commercial real estate properties and the impact to operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates and operating costs, providing perspective not immediately apparent from net income. We use NOI to evaluate our operating performance since NOI allows us to evaluate the impact that factors such as occupancy levels, lease structure, lease rates and tenant base have on our results, margins and returns. In addition, management believes that NOI provides useful information to the investment community about our property and operating performance when compared to other REITs since NOI is generally recognized as a standard measure of property performance in the real estate industry. However, NOI should not be viewed as a measure of our overall financial performance since it does not reflect the level of capital expenditure and leasing costs necessary to maintain the operating performance of our properties, including general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, equity or deficit in earnings of real estate partnership, interest expense, interest, dividend and other investment income, provision for income taxes, gain on sale of property from discontinued operations, management fee (net of related expenses) and gain or loss on sale or disposition of assets.
Contacts:
For Whitestone REIT – Investors
David Mordy
(713) 435-2219
ir@whitestonereit.com
For Whitestone REIT – Media:
Matthew Chudoba
WhitestonePR@icrinc.com
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2b437a42-e06f-44d1-95ae-0ab6797f8759
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/de3e8205-40d8-49ae-857f-a96cf2879b13
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