ELS Announces Major Management Changes

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (ELS) announced today (July 5) that, after almost 20 years of outstanding service, Ellen Kelleher, 51, executive vice president-property management, has decided to retire on Dec. 31, 2012. During the interim, she will transition her duties to others, according to a news release.

“Ellen Kelleher has been instrumental in laying this company’s foundation,” said CEO Tom Heneghan. “I am proud of what we have accomplished over the years. I wish her all the best.”

Chicago-based ELS owns or has an interest in 382 manufactured housing and RV properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 141,077 sites.

In connection with Kelleher’s decision to retire, the company has made the following changes to its management team:

• Peter Underhill has been appointed senior vice president-revenue management.
• Ron Bunce has been appointed senior vice president West Operations.
• Brad Nelson has been appointed senior vice president East Operations.
• Underhill, Bunce and Nelson, each of whom has been with the company or its predecessors for more than a decade and in the industry for decades, will each report directly to Heneghan. Marguerite Nader, the company’s president and chief financial officer, will also continue to report to Heneghan.
• Seth Rosenberg has been appointed senior vice president of marketing.
• Jim Phillips has been appointed senior vice president of sales.
• Dave Kozy has been appointed vice president of customer relations.
• Rosenberg, Phillips and Kozy will each report directly to Nader.

 

Equity Lifestyle Executes Several Promotions

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. today (May 11) announced several promotions.

According to a press release, Paul Seavey was named senior vice president of finance and treasurer. Seavey has worked for the company since 1994 serving in various roles within finance and accounting. Seavey will oversee all finance and accounting activity and most recently led the effort to raise debt and equity capital associated with the Hometown America transaction.

Martina Linders has been named vice president of investor relations and financial planning. Linders, who has worked for Equity Lifestyle Properties since 1993, will oversee investor relations and be responsible for budgeting.

Furthermore, effective May 10, Marguerite Nader has been appointed president in addition to her current role as CFO reporting to CEO Thomas Heneghan.

“These announcements reflect the deep pool of experienced talent within the company and demonstrate the company is well positioned for future success and growth,” commented Heneghan.

Equity LifeStyle Properties owns or has an interest in 382 quality properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 141,081 sites. The company is a self-administered, self-managed, real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago.

 

ELS Board Declares Second Quarter Dividends

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc.’s board has declared a dividend of $0.4375 per share, representing, on an annualized basis, a dividend of $1.75 per common share. The dividend will be paid on July 13 to stockholders of record on June 29.

The board also declared a dividend of $0.502125 per share on the company’s 8.034% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, representing, on an annualized basis, a dividend of $2.0085 per preferred share.

The dividend will be paid on June 29 to stockholders of record on June 18.

 

Equity Lifestyle Posts Improved FFO During 1Q

Real estate investment trust Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (ELS: News ), Monday (April 16) reported an increase in funds from operations for the first quarter, driven primarily by revenue growth.

RTT News reported that the Chicago-based company’s funds from operations or FFO for the quarter improved to $58.7 million or $1.29 per share from $40.6 million or $1.14 per share in the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, FFO for the first quarter last year was $41.5 million or $1.17 per share.

Equity LifeStyle’s net income available to shareholders for the quarter dropped to $12.4 million or $0.30 per share from $19.0 million or $0.61 per share last year.

Total revenues for the quarter rose to $181.3 million from $135.1 million in the prior year quarter. Five analysts had consensus revenue estimate of $158.77 million for the quarter.

Property operating revenues, excluding deferrals, were $174.0 million, compared to $133.0 million in the same period a year ago.

Property operating and maintenance expenses for the quarter increased to $54.4 million from $44.3 million last year. Depreciation on real estate and other costs increased to $26.0 million from $18.2 million last year. The company recorded amortization of in-place leases for the quarter of $18.4 million, while it was absent last year.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, ELS has forecast results in a range of loss of $0.04 per share to a profit of $0.06 per share. The company also projects FFO in a range of $0.96 to $1.06 per share. Analysts currently estimate FFO of $1.00 per share for the quarter.

ELS closed Monday’s trading at $68.03, up $1.03 or 1.54%, on a volume of 0.3 million shares.

To view the entire report click here.

 

 

ELS Appoints Nader to Succeed Berman as CFO

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (ELS) announced that Michael Berman has tendered his resignation as executive vice president and CFO of the company to take a similar position at General Growth Properties.

ELS said in a news release that Berman will be available to assist the company in the transition of duties for a short period of time.

The company also said that it has appointed Marguerite Nader to succeed Berman effective yesterday (Nov. 28). Nader currently serves as the company’s executive vice president – new business development and has worked for the company since 1993 serving in various roles, including asset management and sales and marketing.

Berman replaces Steve Douglas, who will return to Brookfield Asset Management after his tenure with GGP and assume a role with Brookfield. Douglas will remain with GGP until Dec. 31 to assist with the transition.

In 2003, Berman was an associate professor at the New York University Real Estate Institute. Berman was a managing director in the investment banking department at Merrill Lynch & Co. from 1997 to 2002.

 

ELS, National RV Investing in Florida Market

With home prices and personal incomes plummeting in Southwest Florida, local governments have declared the affordable housing crisis to be over, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

The tough economy has spurred demand for lower-priced homes, which, in turn, is driving the large number of recent mobile home park deals, investors say.

This month, Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. bought the 63-acre Lake Village mobile home park at U.S. 41 and State Road 681 in Nokomis. The park with nearly 300 home sites was sold for $23.8 million by the owner, a subsidiary of Hometown America.

In August, Equity LifeStyle paid $53.4 million for the 2,211-site Colony Cove mobile home park in Ellenton and $6 million for the 201-site Emerald Lake mobile home park in Punta Gorda.

And last month, a unit of National RV Communities LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz., bought Saralake Estates off Bahia Vista Street for $10.55 million. Saralake has nearly 200 mobile home sites.

During the boom, mobile home parks were being bought by developers who planned to shut them down and redevelop the land on which they sat.

Except for mobile home parks at key intersections, the flurry of purchases being made these days is driven by the attractiveness of investing in mobile home parks, said Charles Ellis, a principal and vice president for acquisitions at National RV.

That company was formed in 2005 and now owns 58 mobile home properties, 80% of them in Florida. It is backed by financing from General Electric Capital Corp.

“From an investor standpoint, the revenue is very stabilized,” Ellis said.

Once a mobile home is placed on a site and various improvements made, it becomes cost prohibitive to move, which translates into a stable stream of rents for investors.

National RV’s focus on Florida — most of its properties are in Manatee, Sarasota, Pinellas and Pasco counties — stems from a belief that middle-class retirees still want to retire to Florida but might not be able to afford a single-family home that costs well into the six figures.

“They’re more likely to buy a $30,000 or $100,000 park model or manufactured home,” Ellis said.

The history of mobile home park conversions makes residents at these newly acquired properties leery of the new owners, said Ellis, who noted there is a rumor at Saralake that National RV will clear the property and build a three-story medical office building there.

The rumors have not been quelled, Ellis noted, by either National RV’s history of buying and holding onto properties or by the fact that commercial office construction has all but halted in this region.

“As far as they know, I’m just some big corporation,” he said of Saralake’s residents. “We’ve owned it for three weeks now and we need to earn their trust.”

The stream of rent National RV says is so stable is improving these days, thanks to the economic downturn and the housing crisis, according to Equity LifeStyle.

In its second-quarter report, the public company that owns 111,000 home sites noted that it expected rental incomes to increase 2.7% this year. The report also noted that the extreme slowdown in new home construction was part of the reason rental demand was high, and that, in this market, it had an opportunity to convert renters into home buyers.

“The No. 1 thing with mobile home parks in the current economic crisis is affordable housing’s really in,” said Dave Reynolds, whose MHP Investment and Leasing LLC in Cedaredge, Colo., specializes in mobile home parks in the Midwest.

A key part of the housing crisis has been the difficulty many would-be buyers have in qualifying for a mortgage from a bank. But part of the investment strategy for the buyers of mobile home parks is to provide financing to park residents.

“The park owner becomes the lender,” said Reynolds, whose company also operates industry websites, such as mobilehomeparkstore.com.

Equity LifeStyle Reports Lower Q3 FFO Results

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. today (Oct. 18) announced results for the three and nine months ended Sept. 30.

For the three months, Funds From Operations (FFO) were $31.8 million or 73 cents per share, compared to $32.7 million or 92 cents per share for the same period in 2010.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, FFO was $99.7 million, or $2.57 per share, compared to $97.3 million, or $2.74 per share for the same period in 2010.

Excluding approximately $15.2 million and $17.3 million in transaction costs incurred in connection with property acquisitions during the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, respectively, FFO would have been $47.0 million and $117.0 million, or $1.08 and $3.01 per share, respectively.

Net loss available to common stockholders totaled $2.9 million, or 7 cents per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to net income available to common stockholders of $11.6 million, or 37 cents per share for the same period in 2010. Net income available to common stockholders totaled $22.9 million, or 67 cents per share for the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared to $32.6 million, or $1.06 per share for the same period in 2010.

Excluding approximately $15.2 million and $17.3 million in transaction costs incurred in connection with the acquisition, net income available to common stockholders would have been $12.4 million and $40.3 million, or 28 cents and $1.04 per share for the three and nine months ended Sept. 30, respectively.

Portfolio Performance

For the three months ended Sept. 30, property operating revenues, excluding deferrals, were $154.6 million, compared to $130.6 million in the same period in 2010. Property operating revenues for the nine months ended Sept. 30 were $411.8 million, compared to $385.6 million for the same period in 2010. Property operating revenues include approximately $22.1 million of property operating revenues from 58 properties acquired during the three months ended Sept. 30.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, core property operating revenues increased approximately 1.5% as compared to the same period in 2010. Core property operating expenses for the three months ended Sept. 30 decreased approximately 0.7%, resulting in an increase of approximately 4.1% to income from Core property operations over the same period in 2010. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, core property operating revenues increased approximately 1% and core property operating expenses decreased approximately 0.7%, resulting in an increase of approximately 2.8% to income from core property operations over the same period in 2010.

Storm Damage

A number of the company’s locations on the east coast of the United States were closed during the weekend of Aug. 27 due to power outages and other weather related issues caused by Hurricane Irene and a few properties remained closed over the Labor Day holiday weekend. As a result of Hurricane Irene, the company’s income from core property operations was approximately $600,000 less than expected due to the costs associated with the cleanup of flood damage and other items such as wind blown debris, falling trees and tree branches as well as reduced transient RV income due to property closures.

Asset-related Transactions

In the third quarter, ELS closed on 58 of the acquisition properties and certain Home Related Assets associated with the properties for $1.047 billion.

During October, the company closed on three more of the acquisition properties and certain Home-related assets for approximately $110 million.

The company expects to close on 14 of the remaining acquisition properties on or before Nov. 1.

Balance Sheet

Cash balance as of Sept. 30 was approximately $213.0 million. ELS expects to use most of the cash balance on the completion of the acquisition during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Guidance

The company’s annualized dividend for 2011 is $1.50 per common share. At the next quarterly board of directors meeting, management of the company intends to recommend an increase of 25 cents per common share to the annual dividend for 2012 for a total dividend of $1.75 per common share.

As of Oct. 17, ELS owns or has an interest in 368 properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 136,100 sites.

ELS Closes on Two More Acquisition Properties

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (ELS) announced on Monday (Oct. 3) that it has closed on two more of its property acquisitions, bringing the total to 60 since July 1.

The latest acquisitions were for a stated purchase price of approximately $82 million, according to a news release from the Chicago-based firm.

The purchase price in connection with this closing was funded with:

• The issuance of 497,538 shares of the company’s Series B Subordinated Non-Voting Cumulative Preferred Stock to the seller with an aggregate stated value of approximately $29 million.

• The assumption of approximately $35 million of mortgage debt secured by the two acquisition properties acquired on Monday.

• Approximately $18 million in cash.

The issuance of the Series B Preferred Stock is the final equity issuance to the seller for the acquisition. The cash was obtained from the proceeds of the previously announced $200 million of financings originated during the quarter ended Sept. 30.

On May 31, ELS entered into purchase and other agreements to acquire a portfolio of 75 manufactured home communities and one RV resort containing 31,167 sites on approximately 6,500 acres located in 16 states (primarily located in Florida and the Northeastern region of the United States) and certain manufactured homes and loans secured by manufactured homes located at the properties for a stated purchase price of $1.43 billion.

The company expects to close on eight additional properties by Oct. 14 and seven others by Nov. 1.

ELS Assesses Irene Damage at Less than $1.5M

Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. (ELS) said Thursday (Sept. 1) the impact on income from property operations as a result of Hurricane Irene will be less than $1.5 million.

The Chicago-based real estate investment trust (REIT) based its estimate after undertaking a preliminary assessment of the impact of Hurricane Irene on its operations, according to a news release. A number of the company’s locations on the East Coast were closed during the weekend of Aug. 27 due to power outages and other weather related issues while Hurricane Irene moved north up the coast.

“A few properties remain closed and will not be open over Labor Day weekend. We expect that the primary impact to our property operations will be costs to clean up flood damage and other items such as wind blown debris, falling trees and tree branches as well as reduced transient RV income due to property closures,” the company stated.

ELS owns or has an interest in 365 properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 134,005 sites.

 

Equity LifeStyle Closes Deal on 16 Properties

On May 31, Equity LifeStyle Properties Inc. through its operating partnership entered into purchase and other agreements to acquire a portfolio of 75 manufactured home communities and one RV resort containing 31,167 sites on approximately 6,500 acres located in 16 states (primarily located in Florida and the northeastern region of the United States) and certain manufactured homes and loans secured by manufactured homes located at the Acquisition Properties for a stated purchase price of $1.43 billion.

The company closed on 16 of the acquisition properties today (Aug. 2) along with certain manufactured homes and loans secured by manufactured homes located for a stated purchase price of approximately $436 million. The purchase price in connection with this closing was funded with: the issuance of 1,379,310 shares of the company’s common stock to the seller with an aggregate stated value of $80 million; the assumption of approximately $226 million of mortgage debt secured by 11 of the acquisition properties; and approximately $130 million in cash. The cash was obtained from the net proceeds of the company’s June 2011 common stock offering and a borrowing on our line of credit. The borrowing on the line of credit is expected to be repaid with proceeds from the previously announced $250 million secured mortgage financing that the Company expects to obtain in connection with the acquisition on or prior to October 1.

The closing of five acquisition properties that was previously scheduled on August 1 was postponed to September 1 due to a delay in lender approvals.

As previously announced, on July 1 ELS closed on 35 acquisition properties. The company’s closing of the remaining 25 properties is expected to occur by October 1 and assumption of the indebtedness is subject to the receipt of loan servicer consents. The acquisition is also subject to other customary closing conditions. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that the remainder of the acquisition will be completed in its entirety in accordance with the anticipated timing or at all.

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. is a fully integrated owner and operator of lifestyle-oriented properties and as of August 1 owns or has an interest in 358 quality properties in 32 states and British Columbia consisting of 130,891 sites. The company is a self-administered, self-managed, real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago.

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »