Regional Senior Vice President of Dallas & Austin, Whitestone Reit
Search every verified David Spagnolo interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. David Spagnolo, Regional Senior Vice President of Dallas & Austin at Whitestone REIT, has been active in the company's public communications. In September 2024, Whitestone REIT CEO David Holeman discussed the company's focus on small-space tenants, noting that 94% of its 1,500 tenants occupy spaces under 10,000 square feet, accounting for 75% of revenue. Holeman stated that the company has been "focused on continuing to improve our financial and operating performance" and has committed to "strengthening our balance sheet, reducing our leverage" and exiting joint venture investments. He also said the company has "won a couple litigation matters" and expects to collect on them, which he said would enable further balance sheet improvement. Holeman described the current environment for Whitestone as "as strong as I've ever seen," citing low supply of new retail space in its Sun Belt markets and strong tenant demand. He noted that the company's occupancy was up 20 basis points year-over-year and that it had grown rent levels by over 5% annually. Holeman acknowledged that higher interest rates have been a headwind, leading to an adjusted guidance, but said the company's long-term debt is mostly fixed-rate. He expressed confidence in the company's momentum, stating, "I believe that momentum as well as the macro environment is going to position us for a nice two or three years ahead."
“We really focused on continuing to improve our financial and operating performance, we wanted to dramatically improve our relationship with shareholders and initially we announced a series of governance changes. We committed to strengthening our balance sheet, reducing our leverage and then really exiting and monetizin...”
“94% of our 1500 tenants occupy spaces less than 10,000 square feet; those tenants make up 75% of our revenue and that's very intentional for us. If you compare us to a number of the other public REITs, that percentage would be about 50% for them, it's 75% for us, so very much focused on small spaces.”
“Today people work virtually much more than ever before and so for Whitestone as an owner of neighborhood centers, we see people spend more time around their homes and we're benefiting from that trend.”
“Quality of revenue is very important to us. Being able to grow by raising our rental rates over time is strongly tied to the success of thriving businesses that drive traffic and grow. Today's environment for companies like Whitestone is as strong as I've ever seen.”
“There has been very little supply built of product in our markets over the last 10 years, and despite the current environment, I believe the environment's going to stay strong for a while now.”
“We recently went through a rough proxy contest. We spent a tremendous amount of time with all of our shareholders. We believe that a number of the things claimed by the dissident were inaccurate and misleading. We've made a lot of progress over the last couple years and we're going to continue to make progress.”
“We have the right type of properties, open neighborhood centers, in markets that are growing and continue to be business friendly. Our momentum is really strong and I believe that momentum as well as the macro environment is going to position us for a nice two or three years ahead.”
“We recently won a couple litigation matters and we're going to collect on those over the next few months. The collection of that will enable us to continue to improve our balance sheet and have a lower debt level, which many investors consider a key valuation criteria.”
“We've got our debt locked down obviously in a rising interest rate market. Our strong organic growth is really going to shine and come through over the next few years with the debt lockdown.”
“We are attracting new institutional investors who are beginning to notice what we're doing. The key is just to remain financially disciplined to provide consistent growth and that's absolutely what we intend to do.”
“Whitestone focuses on necessities and services, so if you think about the places you frequent regularly, maybe your gym, maybe your favorite restaurant, and we're seeing those businesses still do very well.”
“Whitestone has spaces that are typically smaller and in greater demand and we've seen a tremendous amount of need for that product.”
“Whitestone had a very good quarter. We saw our occupancy in our centers up year over year about 20 basis points. We've been able to grow our rent levels by a little over 5% annually. And then our organic growth is very strong.”
“We have seen the impact of higher interest rates. Whitestone has long term debt, most of it at fixed rates. So we're not that subject to increasing rental rates. But that has been a headwind on our results this year. And accordingly, we adjusted our guidance because of that higher interest rate earlier in the year.”
“Our biggest category is restaurants and we continue to see people, especially younger folks, eating out more often than ever before, probably the biggest competitor to grocery stores.”
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