Executive Chairman, Armada Hoffler Properties
Search every verified Louis Haddad interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Louis Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, discussed the company’s acquisition of the Exelon Building in Baltimore in 2022, describing it as a LEED Platinum building that houses Exelon Constellation and represents a commitment to greener energy. He noted that the company exited the student housing sector by selling assets in Charleston and a Johns Hopkins project, using the proceeds to fund the purchase. Haddad stated that the company has focused on ESG for over 40 years and emphasized transparency and social responsibility in its public-private partnerships with cities and universities. He also said that prior to the pandemic, the company earned $1.17 in normalized FFO with a stock price of $19, and that in 2022 it was on track to earn the same amount with a stronger earnings makeup, while the stock price was around $14. In earlier interviews, Haddad addressed the company’s response to economic downturns, noting that the management team had navigated five recessions. During the pandemic, he said the company worked with tenants, conserved cash, and suspended its dividend temporarily, while delaying four development projects to wait for clearer economic conditions. He expressed confidence that opportunities would emerge in 2021 and 2022, particularly from tenants in expansion mode and from projects controlled by others that might come back to market. Haddad also highlighted the company’s long-standing business model of manufacturing real estate through development rather than acquisition, and its focus on high-barrier-to-entry markets across multifamily, office, and retail properties.
“We built that building in 2014. It is one of the few LEED Platinum buildings in the country and it is adjacent to our other four assets at Harbor Point, so it really solidifies our presence at the harbor there and what we believe is one of the best locations on the East Coast.”
“It houses the largest clean energy producer in the country, Exelon Constellation, and it requires a lot of foresight, a lot of planning, and certainly a commitment to where we all need to go in terms of greener energy.”
“In April Armada Hoffler completed the disposition of two student housing assets in Charleston for 81 million dollars. Those properties were disposed of at a very low cap rate enabling us to purchase the Exelon building.”
“We've been focused on ESG for over 40 years and we're glad that the industry is finally catching up. We do a number of public-private partnerships with cities and universities and have done so since the late 1980s.”
“When you're dealing with cities and universities and public money, it's important to be the good guys in the white hats. We need to be completely transparent in our governance as we are dealing with public money and be very socially responsible.”
“We boast extremely long longevity with our employees; we have a number of folks that have their entire careers at Armada Hoffler, which gives our people a sense of pride in what they do and who they work for.”
“Prior to the pandemic, we earned a dollar seventeen in normalized FFO, the stock price was at nineteen dollars. This year we're going to earn a dollar seventeen again, only our earnings makeup is much stronger, much higher credit behind it, and much less fee income.”
“Our stock price right now is 14, so we believe that once the noise clears in the market and people start doing their research again, then we'll go right back to where we were.”
“This is our fifth recession essentially with the same management team so we know the routine, we know it well. It's a fairly simple formula: number one is to work with your tenants. We found that helping them through these kinds of times is a lot better than letting them go their own way and potentially vacate the spac...”
“We made the very difficult decision as the largest shareholder to suspend our dividend for the current quarter just until we have a better feel for how things are going to play out.”
“Perhaps the most important aspect for us that's worked four times in the past and we believe it'll work this time is to get ourselves ready to outperform our peers as soon as we get the all clear, hopefully this fall, and take advantage of what should be a lot of opportunities in the market.”
“We have four projects teed up to start this summer but we're delaying all four of those to conserve cash. We control the land either outright or through options and we don't want to launch until we feel better about what the economy is going to look like on the other side of this thing.”
“We're seeing a lot more opportunities come our way and believe there's going to be a very healthy pipeline to execute on in 2021.”
“In the past four recessions, there have been a number of opportunities that showed up in places you wouldn't intuitively recognize until you get there, and the same is going to be true here. The recovery may be quicker than normal since the economy was so healthy going into this.”
“There are going to be a number of opportunities that have been controlled by people that aren't going to be ready to execute; they're going to come back onto the market and we want to be poised to take advantage of those.”
Lou Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH), participated in a video interview in conjunction ...
Lou Haddad expects some tenants to be in full expansion mode in 2021 or 2022.
Louis Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video ...
Lou Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties (NYSE: AHH), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview ...
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