Marshall Loeb, president and CEO of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE: EGP), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITworld: 2020 Annual Conference.
EastGroup develops, acquires, and operates industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States, with an emphasis on Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, and North Carolina.
Growing e-commerce and migration to the Sun Belt have both boosted results during 2020, despite the pandemic and resulting economic uncertainty, Loeb said.
At the end of the first quarter, EastGroup’s portfolio was 97.8% leased, its second highest quarter on record.
In various submarkets, EastGroup is breaking ground for individual tenants that are “feeling a little bit more like they’ve got their sea legs through this downturn and are talking about growth,” Loeb said. “It feels [like] there’s pent-up demand,” he added.
EastGroup also had its best rental rate increase in the third quarter, and rental rates are up 23% year to date. “We’re on trend for a record year this year,” Loeb said.