President, Chief Executive Officer & Trustee, Copt Defense Properties
Search every verified Stephen Budorick interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Stephen Budorick, president and CEO of COPT Defense Properties, said at Nareit's REITweek: 2026 Investor Conference that the company's consistent operating performance, disciplined capital deployment, and favorable defense spending trends continue to support long-term growth. He noted that the company has maintained portfolio occupancy above 94% and a tenant retention rate near 80%, and has deployed about $270 million annually into new investments and development. Budorick stated that the U.S. is entering a period of accelerated investment in defense, citing a 20% increase in the FY 2026 budget and a 43% increase requested for FY 2027. He said this would mean expanded programs for contractors and the government, and that COPT is well positioned to serve them. Regarding Moody's upgrade of the company's investment-grade rating, Budorick said it acknowledged the strength of the company's operating performance over the past eight or nine years, but that fixed income investors had already recognized that strength in advance of the rating agencies.
“We are what we call a specialized real estate investment trust. We originally an office company but now over 90% of our assets support defense activities. Our strategy is to invest in assets that support priority defense missions and 197 of our 203 properties are oriented to our defense segment.”
“Because of the work we've done for the government, literally 45% of our employees carry the highest credentials to operate secure facilities available to any contractor. We design, develop, operate, and maintain some of the most high-secure properties in the country.”
“Our primary growth activity is and always has been development. Over 75% of the property we own, we develop. When you narrow that down to our defense assets, it's 82.4% of those properties we built, typically pre-leased or build-to-suit, and we maintain a very low risk posture.”
“The one common thread of all these missions is they require very high levels of secrecy or security and this work cannot be done from anyone's home. They have to do that work in their facilities.”
“Secure facilities are highly valuable. They're very difficult to get permission to build. They're difficult to achieve the construction. They're very expensive to build. It can take up to two years to get a SCIF approved and constructed. And once they are installed, they cannot be moved.”
“Fully 36% of our revenue comes from the United States government and 54% comes from defense contractors. So that's who COPT Defense is.”
“We have delivered six consecutive years of FFO growth. We have industry-leading statistics. And we have delivered that through a worldwide pandemic, the most inflationary period since I was graduating college, and the highest spike in interest rate.”
“We delivered twice as much development under Trump than we did under Biden. We delivered 40% more vacancy leasing. We delivered 70% more government leasing.”
“We generate enough free cash flow after dividend to support $250 to $300 million a year in incremental growth without any need for financing. That's why you should own our stock.”
“As of today, we're a pretty attractive value at $26.30. It's a screaming value to buy our stock, our multiples at 10x. Long-term average is 14. We got a 4.7% safe dividend and we have increased the dividend the last 3 years.”
“We invest in assets that serve National Defense missions of the United States and their defense contractors, so our locations are different for an office company. We're approximate to defense installations in various parts of the country.”
“Our biggest tenant is the United States government; they represent 37% of our revenue, 65 separate buildings, and 5.5 million square feet of office space.”
“During COVID, we were the top performing office company in the country because our tenants do National Defense missions; we operated every building every day and collected 99.5% of our rents.”
“Our strategy is very simple: we find important US defense missions, invest in land close to them, develop buildings to meet the needs of the defense community, and operate them efficiently with a long-term ownership approach.”
“A third of our employees carry the highest security credentials available from the US government, which underscores our deep integration with national defense requirements.”
Stephen Budorick, president and CEO of COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP), sat down for a video interview at Nareit's REITweek: 2026 Investor Conference in New York, June 1-4. Budorick said the company's consistent operating performance, disciplined capital deployment, and favorable defense spending trends continue to support long-term growth. Read more: https://www.reit.com/news/video/copt-...
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