Whitestone Provides Third Quarter 2020 Business Update Related to COVID-19

Q3-2020 Rental Collections of 90%

HOUSTON, Oct. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) (“Whitestone” or the “Company”), a leading owner and operator of open-air, e-commerce resistant, lifestyle community-centered retail properties located in the largest, fastest-growing and most affluent Texas and Arizona markets in the Sunbelt, provides a business update regarding operations and third quarter rental collections.

• All 53 properties are open and operating;
  
  
• 52 of 53 properties, representing 99.3% of revenues, are located in the business-friendly states of Texas and Arizona;
  
  
• 97% of our tenants are open and operating based on annualized base rent (ABR); 90% of total Third Quarter 2020 billed recurring rents have been collected, up from 81% reporting in the Second Quarter 2020; and
  
  
• Approximately 3% of our billed recurring rents in Q3-2020 have been deferred through the entry into rent deferral agreements with tenants.
  

Chairman and CEO Jim Mastandrea commented: “Whitestone’s industry leading collections in strategically-chosen, high growth markets continue to outperform the industry. Our team’s reaction and their commitment to working with our tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic is a testament of Whitestone’s character and philosophy. The team’s dedication and the strength of our rental collections continue to substantiate the proven investment quality of retail real estate assets that focus on entrepreneurial tenants serving the lifestyle needs of the local neighborhood consumer.”

Mastandrea continued: “By contrast, national retail tenants selling primarily soft and hard goods have announced store closures that reached a record high of over 10,000 stores in the first half of 2020 with 29 national retailers filing bankruptcy so far this year⁽¹⁾, while Whitestone experienced only 10 tenants out of our total 1,386 tenants, or less than 0.5% of our ABR as of Sept. 30^th 2020, that closed due to bankruptcy filings.”

Mastandrea added: “When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, it created a dynamic that caused the US economy to essentially drop off a cliff. When it did, we worked closely with our tenant base to help them stabilize and begin the recovery process, thus protecting Whitestone’s net cash flow. Through these steps, we have a well-covered dividend, with an annual yield of approximately 7%, that is paid monthly.”