Dear Hartman Team Members,
We have so much to celebrate moving into the second half of the year! In review of our leasing activity for all markets year-to-date, we have leased over 500,000 square feet. The Leasing Department did very well in July. We continue to push our velocity in a very positive trajectory, and I am ecstatic to share that we hit 80.57% occupancy and in August we have potential to close at over 81%. We have the potential to be over our budgeted 83.5% by the end of the year! The hard work and dedication of our team is inspiring, I am excited to see how each agent pushes themselves to finish this sprint strongly. Congratulations to Bryan Collins for his outstanding performance in increasing his portfolio’s occupancy by 2.78% this month.
Overall, for July, our FFO Yield is 8.3% versus the 10.1% budgeted.
The Capital Markets team is working diligently to continue to build capital for potential growth. The team closed over $1 million in June and momentum continued through July where we hit budget. The activities of our sales team are vital to the growth of our company and is opening doors to acquire more properties.
I was rereading 212: The Extra Degree by Samuel Parker, and I want to share what really struck me, and I believe embodies our team members.
At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, water becomes steam capable of powering a locomotive. The simple and profound message here is elevating your degree of effort in work and life by a single degree is oftentimes the difference between good and great. Some of the small items on your task list that you may push off until tomorrow could be finished today, substantially elevating your performance. Our team members push themselves to make that extra call or do that one extra item each day because, as the book states, “with contact comes opportunity.” After one year, that could potentially be opening 200 possibilities!
I encourage each of you to read the article with the insights of Horst Schulze, who sits on our board of directors. In the article he highlights that excellence is a result of hard work and high intent. As the leader and founder of Ritz-Carlton, Horst led his team and the company to have the highest occupancy hotels in the 50 markets they operated in. Also, the employee turnover rate in the hotel industry is 80-100%, but he maintained his 15-20%. It is clear to me from studying Horst’s work that to operate with excellence, it starts with our team. We have a rigorous hiring process and only hire people like you, who are the best of the best. We see dozens of candidates before we hire one, and only hire the highest potential people. When you combine that with hard work it makes for spectacular rewards. Congratulations to each one of you!
I want to congratulate our AMAZING team for being nominated for three REDnews Real Estate Awards this year. Hartman won the award for Best Technology Pivot for the implementation of our Needlepoint Bi-Polar Ionization. Responding to the changing needs of our tenants and implementing our Clean Air Initiative is an investment we would make time and time again. We know that tenants have brought forward their return to the office plans because of the peace of mind that NBPI offers, and it is a leading factor to why we have some of the highest occupied office buildings in our markets. The team also received a finalist award for Best COVID Plan for rapidly implementing our CARE Committee to help Hartman employees have a one-stop resource for information regarding food services, education resources, medical assistance, COVID-19 testing, financial aid, and spiritual support. Shane Cawood, Hartman’s Director of Operations, was also recognized as a finalist for Executive of the Year. Congratulations to all of you!
These accolades are the cherry on top of last month’s fantastic NPS scores from our tenants! I am so proud of our team members for the work and dedication you are putting in each day to ensure we provide exceptional service while encompassing our Inspired Values.
In closing, I ask you to add a few minutes to your day and push yourself the extra degree. You are already extraordinary just by virtue of you working here, so just a tiny extra push each day will make all our goals become a reality. Also, we thank God as we achieve spiritual growth in our lives. Utilize the resources we have here at the company, such as our life coach, chaplain services, weekly bible studies, prayer requests, RightNow Media, and our library of Christian books as you grow closer to God.
‘Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.’
– 1 Corinthians 15:58
God Bless you all!
Sincerely,
Al Hartman
