About Mahbod A.c.a.
Mahbod Nia, CEO of Veris Residential, has described the company’s transformation from a two-thirds office firm to a pure-play multifamily REIT, a process he said involved selling over $2.5 billion of office assets and growing its multifamily portfolio to over 7,000 units. In interviews, Nia stated that the company’s strategy is supported by strong market fundamentals, including job and wage growth, limited new supply in its core Jersey City waterfront market, and a long-term housing shortfall. He noted that Veris Residential has raised guidance, reinstated its dividend, and announced a plan to sell $300–500 million of less strategic assets to further deleverage its balance sheet and fund up to $100 million in share repurchases.
Nia has also emphasized the company’s focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, describing them as a lens for decision-making that aligns with shareholder value. He cited examples such as installing smart thermostats with a payback period of under a year, achieving a 50% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions over three years, and partnering with MIT’s Center for Real Estate on decarbonization research. Nia characterized the company’s approach as one that seeks to address climate risks while reducing operating expenses and improving returns.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Mahbod A.c.a.'s recent appearances.
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Transcript (8 segments)
I
Interviewer0:00
We are seeing some positive signs of life and some convergence of value expectations between buyers and sellers that's resulting in more transactions getting done. Now joining me today is Mahbod A.c.a., CEO of Veris Residential. So Mahbod, how would you describe the macro operating environment for Veris Residential today and how are you positioned to react?
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Mahbod A.c.a.0:24
Well, the macro fundamentals are still very strong. So we have a macroeconomic backdrop that remains very positive. We have continued job and wage growth which is supporting the revenue side of things. We are seeing, at least in our markets, quite limited supply, almost no supply actually in the near to midterm, and even across the country in the multifamily sector we have a long-term shortage of new supply, which again underpins the fundamentals. So between those two factors and home affordability, which has become a lot more challenging with interest rates having risen in the way that they have, that's really fueling the demand side, while longer term we feel the supply side is still undersupplied and allowing us to continue outperforming as an asset class relative to some other asset classes.
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Interviewer1:33
And to what extent is Veris Residential seeing acquisition opportunities or the chance to dispose of properties in this environment?
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Mahbod A.c.a.1:45
Well, the multifamily sector has seen transaction volumes drop quite significantly over the last few years, but we are seeing some positive signs of life and some convergence of value expectations between buyers and sellers that's resulting in more transactions getting done. I would say particularly smaller transactions for individual assets or smaller portfolios, but actually we've also seen a few larger portfolios trade, generally to private opportunity funds.
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Interviewer2:19
And can you point to an aspect of your latest earnings report that you feel especially highlights Veris Residential's broader strategy?
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Mahbod A.c.a.2:28
Well, I wouldn't say there's one. Having gone through the transformation that we've gone through over the last three and a half years of really being an office REIT—three years ago we were two-thirds office and a third multifamily, and we've pivoted to now a pure-play multifamily REIT. We paid a billion dollars of debt, turned the dividend back on. We announced earlier this year a three-pronged strategy that captured capital allocation within the business, portfolio and platform optimization, and balance sheet optimization. Good news is we're making progress along all three of those areas, and off the back of that we've raised guidance this year, we've raised our dividend, and are well positioned to post another strong year of results for our shareholders.
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Interviewer3:24
So how does the current business environment impact your approach to environmental and social focus areas?
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Mahbod A.c.a.3:33
Well, environmental and social and governance issues—ESG has really underpinned our business since the reconstitution of the board in 2020 and the rebranding of the business to Veris Residential. For us, ESG is a lens through which we look when it comes to making decisions as a management team and as a board. The reality is these are issues that affect every business that's out there. We're seeing climate change, increased adverse severe changes in climate, and the resulting impact of that on us as a property owner—floods, wildfires, etc. So for us, as we look through that lens, what we're really solving for is scenarios that we can contribute to solving the issues or mitigate the impact of climate change while actually making decisions that are in the best interest of our shareholders, that are actually generating value for our shareholders. That's something that I think we should all have in the forefront of our mind. If we can take actions—and it could be changes in the way we operate our business, it could be changes in the decisions we make around the nature of the systems and the M&A that we use within our buildings—if there are things that we can do that ultimately reduce our carbon footprint while allowing us to reduce our operating expenses and create value for our shareholders, why wouldn't we do that? That's the right thing to do. It's a socially and environmentally responsible thing to do, and it's consistent with our fiduciary obligations of maximizing value for shareholders or creating value for shareholders.
