Whitestone REIT Secures $56M Loan To Pay Down Floating-Rate Debt
Houston-based Whitestone REIT secured a $56.3M loan from Nationwide Life Insurance Co. to help pay down its floating-rate debt.
The mortgage is backed by three of its properties, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The new mortgage comes a couple of weeks after Whitestone REIT rejected a $700M acquisition bid, saying the offer did not represent a fair valuation. Baltimore-based MCB Real Estate had suggested the buyout could help solve Whitestone’s challenges, “such as access to growth capital.”
Whitestone REIT has 51 portfolios throughout Texas and Arizona, primarily of open-air shopping centers. The three shopping centers backing the new loan are Las Colinas Village in the Dallas suburb of Irving, The Strand at Huebner Oaks in San Antonio and Scottsdale Seville in Scottsdale, The Real Deal reported.
The nonrecourse loan has a fixed interest rate of 6.23% and a 30-year amortization schedule, according to the filing. The proceeds “will be used to pay down the Borrower’s existing floating rate indebtedness,” with payments starting August 1, Whitestone said in the filing.
Whitestone has spent years protecting itself from being sold, starting around 2021, when it fired former CEO James Mastandrea, who was allegedly in negotiations to sell the company. Mastandrea’s $25M wrongful termination lawsuit was dismissed in late 2023.
Whitestone also rebuffed an acquisition attempt from Fortress Investment Group last year, according to anonymous sources. This led to a proxy contest with activist investor Erez Asset Management, which claimed it was concerned about the Whitestone board’s “independence and lack of transparency.”
Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services supported Erez’s candidates for Whitestone’s board, saying Whitestone didn't share information with shareholders about Fortress Investment Group’s attempted takeover last year.
But Whitestone successfully got its recommended board members elected in May, fending off the “hasty sale process” that the board said Erez was recommending.
Amy Feng, a director at Whitestone REIT, purchased 17,000 shares of the company on June 11, Yahoo Finance reported. With that purchase, she now owns over 40,000 shares. Feng was named chair of the REIT's board of trustees early last month.
Whitestone in March listed the Houston office building where it has its headquarters for sale, while it also continues trading shopping centers. It acquired the 107K SF Garden Oaks Shopping Center in Houston in February for $27.2M. In March, it sold the 119K SF Mercado at Scottsdale Ranch in Phoenix for $26.5M, according to its first-quarter report.
