Jones Lang LaSalle Income Property Trust, Inc (JLL), continued to execute on an acquisition strategy aimed to drive operational and investment performance while positioning the company for future growth and enhanced stockholder value in the third quarter of 2018.
The REIT, which owns and manages a diversified portfolio of office, retail, industrial and apartment properties located primarily in the U.S., declared its 28th consecutive quarterly dividends payout to shareholders, with an average annualized growth rate of 4.9%.
JLL reported third-quarter total revenues of $128 million in the first nine months of 2018, a 4% and 35% year-over-year increase compared with 2017 and 2016 and the board approved a gross dividend for the fourth quarter of 2018 of $0.13 per share.
“JLL Income Property Trust continues to deliver a competitive current yield and attractive annualized total returns while maintaining a high-quality portfolio of institutional-caliber investments,” said Allan Swaringen, president and CEO of JLL Income Property Trust.
“As our program completed its sixth year, we anticipate being able to continue to add value to our portfolio and generate modest appreciation over time.” With $2.7 billion in assets and a portfolio of 71 core properties spanning multi-family, industrial, office and retail property sectors the REIT achieved a third-quarter total net return of 1.96% on Class M shares and income return of 1%.
The portfolio’s 94% occupancy and an average remaining lease term of six years, will support JLL Income Property Trust’s investment objectives of generating attractive income for distribution to stockholders, the REIT said in a statement.
JLL’s third quarter strategic initiatives included the acquisitions of two class A apartment buildings, The Tremont and Huntington, located within 15 miles of downtown Boston in Burlington Massachuttes in late summer of 2018. These acquisitions were driven by desirable locations of an affluent tech-savvy tenant base, highly rated schools and strong market fundamentals of these properties.
Burlington, which hosts one of the largest concentrations of tech jobs outside of Silicon Valley, has a median household income of more than $110,000 and median home values within the zip code of are upwards of $530,000 – making it a highly attractive location for rentals.
Both Tremont and Huntington are high-amenity luxury rental apartment buildings which meet the demands for millennials living in the area.
Boston ranks as the No. 4 most expensive city to rent a one-bedroom, trailing San Francisco, New York, and San Jose with a median cost of $2,340 per month, is almost double the national the median price for a one-bed.
“Burlington has seen no new apartment construction in ten years, putting these two luxury communities in a class by themselves,” said Swaringen. “This investment in one of Boston’s thriving live/work/play neighborhoods brings our aggregate apartment allocation to just over $730 million, with over 2,800 apartment units, representing nearly 30% of our $2.6 billion, 71-property portfolio,” Swaringen added.