Executive Director, Stag Industrial
Search every verified Benjamin Butcher interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Benjamin Butcher, chairman, president, and CEO of STAG Industrial, has discussed the company’s focus on using data analytics to improve underwriting and asset selection, stating that the industrial sector has historically lagged others in data use and that STAG aims to change that perception by demonstrating the positive impact of data. He has also highlighted the company’s charitable work through its Charitable Action Committee in Boston, describing the level of employee engagement as gratifying. Butcher has noted that while strong industrial fundamentals continue, supply is becoming an issue in a few large markets, and he cited potential demand impacts from tariffs and Washington policy. Butcher has described STAG as a bottom-up investor focused on acquiring assets that produce strong cash flow, with a diversified portfolio across geography, industry, and tenant credit. He has expressed confidence in consumer-driven U.S. economic strength and noted that industrial demand closely tracks GDP, with e-commerce and supply chain shortening providing additional tailwinds. Butcher has also stated that the company’s acquisition pace may accelerate as its cost of capital improves and opportunities remain plentiful, and that STAG has built a platform capable of handling larger annual acquisition volumes.
“We've had the benefit of very strong fundamentals for a long time now and they continue to be strong. Supply can begin to be an issue and there are some demand issues from potential GDP impacts of tariffs and other things going on in Washington these days.”
“The oversupply is really constrained to a few very large markets; the poster child is typically South Dallas, Lehigh Valley, some parts of Chicago, South Atlanta. But it's really constrained to just a few very large markets. We operate mostly in secondary markets where speculative supply is not an issue.”
“The industrial sector has historically lagged other sectors in terms of using data analytics. We hope to change that perception by demonstrating the positive impact of data. We're working on identifying assets to be acquired, better visibility into rent achievement, and how hard we can push rents and a variety of other...”
“We're proud of some of the things we've done in terms of energy conservation, but without question, our Charitable Action Committee—the level of engagement and the positive feeling that's engendered within the company from the philanthropic work we do within the city of Boston—has really been gratifying and well adopte...”
“With their cost of capital improving and with the opportunities pretty plentiful out there, I think we actually may accelerate. We targeted in the second quarter buying between 200 and 250 million, something in order of 25 properties in the second quarter, so I think you'll see the pace accelerate.”
“We're always looking to sell assets where someone else thinks the asset's worth more than we do in our portfolio. Having said that, we're not a very active seller.”
“STAG's FFO was up five percent in the quarter. What was driving that? Well, it's a partially cost of capital and the accretive nature of our acquisitions. That's due in some part to our operating leverage. We have quite an advantage in terms of deploying the assets, the people, persons, and processes that we have in pl...”
“STAG was a private company from 2003 to 2011; we went public in 2011 with initial equity of 205 million, and it's now about 1.7 billion. We will continue to grow as we see an opportunity in a persisting inefficient market, the single tenant industrial sector.”
“Real estate itself, the only thing that really matters is cash flow, and our focus is on producing the most cash flow per dollar of equity invested that we can, with a focus on industrial properties.”
“In 2015, we looked at about a thousand assets to buy, underwrote 360, made offers on about 200, and bought 32. This progression was about eliminating assets that others would pay more for than we thought they were worth.”
“The US industrial market is very large, about a trillion dollars in value, with half of that being single tenant, which is our focus. We own about 1% of that market, so there is a very large opportunity for us to continue to grow.”
“Industrial demand for space follows closely with GDP growth, but three factors have promoted demand beyond GDP: onshoring of manufacturing, supply chain shortening, and most importantly, e-commerce, which requires up to three times as much warehouse space per dollar of retail sales compared to brick and mortar.”
“Tenant retention in industrial real estate tends to run 70 to 80 percent because industrial users only leave for valid business reasons, unlike urban office tenants who may leave for more whimsical reasons.”
“We are undervalued in almost every metric versus other REITs, and the greatest challenge is getting people to understand that we will produce more cash flow per dollar of equity invested than our competitors.”
“There has been some prediction that supply will outstrip demand in industrial real estate, but across the US, supply is at best meeting demand, and demand cannot exceed supply forever; vacancy cannot go to zero or below zero.”
Ben Butcher says STAG wants to change the perception that the industrial sector is lagging other sectors in the use of data ...
Ben Butcher sees “pretty plentiful” opportunities to buy.
Ben Butcher, Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chairman of the Board of STAG Industrial, visited the Baker Program in Real ...
Ben Butcher, chairman, president and CEO of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE: STAG), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video ...
Benjamin Butcher, president and CEO of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE: STAG), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview ...
Ben Butcher, chairman, president and CEO of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE: STAG), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video ...
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