| to who they are, they’re traditional real estate lending financial institutions. So we don’t have investment banks, we don’t have European or Asian banks in that syndicate. We’re thrilled to have a few Canadian banks in that syndicate because they’re in pretty good shape. And so, the idea is reflecting the reality that it’s going to be a higher cap rate for leverage purposes. By the time we get to November of 10, it’s going to be lower overall levels of leverage and at that $300 million mark with the roadmap that I laid out, you know, we believe we’d be able to, with this existing group, roll that debt out for market rate terms at that point and comply with market rate covenants, you know, whether that be a two-year deal, quite frankly which is more realistic in today’s market and potentially some of that $300 million may have to take the form of a secured revolver or secured term loan versus unsecured. |
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MICHAEL KNOTT: | Okay. That’s really helpful. So you don’t expect to need new common equity at this point, because as you noted it wouldn’t get you a lot of proceeds and it’s very expensive at today’s prices, is that right? |
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CHRISTOPHER MARR: | Yes, we need to de-lever, there’s no denial on that, just the way the market has moved, even though one can argue that at, you know, 50% kind of overall leverage by our current credit facility metrics, we’re not leveraged at all above historical levels, but you know, it’s a new world. If we can continue to execute on the disposition side, you know, we view that as a lower cost kind of form of de-levering than straight common equity and you know, then there’s the practicality of where our share price is, that doesn’t, you know, today make common equity necessarily a final solution. |
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MICHAEL KNOTT: | Right. And then what’s the depth of buyer demand for individual property sales? I know previously you said it was largely local operators, local entrepreneurs. What’s the demand look like today? |
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CHRISTOPHER MARR: | Yeah, the demand is definitely softer then it would have been in late February of last year, but we continue to find what demand there is and they are, at the one-off level, they continue to be local operators now more than necessarily new investors, although we see some. And they’re having the same discussions with the community or regional bank that we are and are satisfied with 50% LTVs and it’s a safe place they’ve used, safer than the equity markets to put their capital. So, it’s tougher going, there’s no doubt, then it was in February of last year, but we still are seeing good levels of interest. |
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| Institutions are becoming more convinced that this product and its cash flow will be more stable on a relative basis then other options and you are seeing, you know, kind of levels of direct interest and we’re exploring those. You know, the sophisticated buyer clearly tends to have a higher cap rate expectation than the local or regional guy. |
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MICHAEL KNOTT: | And then my last question is sort of following on that. Given how costly common equity would be today and although your sales you have executed to-date have been surprisingly low cap rates, can you just help us understand your thinking in terms of how your pricing or what price you’re willing to sell assets? It seems like you should be willing to sell almost as much as you could within reason, you know, even if the cap rates go higher than what you’ve done so far. |