William H. Conkling
Thanks, Jon, and good morning, everyone. Despite broader RevPAR headwinds, several of our key markets were strong performers during the second quarter. San Francisco and Chicago, for which RevPAR increased 18% and 10%, respectively, continue to reflect resilient group and business transient demand that is partially offsetting slower leisure and government trends. We are particularly encouraged by the signs of recovery we are seeing in San Francisco and Silicon Valley and the potential for these markets to continue to experience outsized growth. In addition, our Florida portfolio delivered a strong performance in the second quarter, with all three of our core markets: Orlando, South Florida, including Fort Lauderdale and Miami; and Tampa, posting robust year-over-year RevPAR growth. In Orlando, RevPAR increased 9%, driven by healthy leisure demand following the opening of Universal's new Epic Universe theme park, alongside solid corporate demand, particularly from construction-related crews supporting the development. Tampa posted a 5% increase in RevPAR, benefiting from solid group and special event-driven demand throughout the quarter. And in Miami, our Brickell properties delivered RevPAR growth of 16% as strong demand enabled our teams to successfully drive mix shift into higher-rated channels. Finally, Pittsburgh delivered a strong quarter with RevPAR growth of 11%. Performance was supported by robust citywide convention activity in May and June, complemented by a diverse lineup of concerts and the U.S. open at Oakmont, which collectively drove elevated leisure demand across the market. Strength in these markets was offset by a challenging quarter for several of our largest markets. In particular, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and New Orleans, all experienced RevPAR contraction greater than the overall portfolio during the quarter, driven by significant renovation displacement and difficult year-over-year comparisons. In all of these markets, we believe the future operating outlook is far more positive than second quarter results. While overall Dallas RevPAR declined in the quarter, it is important to remember that performance is highly specific to each submarket. The Grapevine and Downtown submarkets were impacted by slower convention calendars, which pressured average daily rates during the quarter. Downtown, in particular, is impacted by the ongoing disruption related to the convention center expansion. While this is creating a headwind to current performance, longer term, we believe the larger modernized convention center will provide a significant lift to the downtown submarket. For example, Dallas is set to host multiple World Cup events next year, and the renovated convention center will serve as the global media hub for the North American tournament, driving substantial demand during the second and third quarters of 2026. Our Frisco hotels delivered another strong quarter with RevPAR growth of nearly 4%, all of which came through average daily rate gains, supported by sustained strength in corporate demand. Looking ahead, we are particularly excited about the opening of the Universal Kids Resort in 2026, and we believe our hotels in this submarket are well positioned to benefit from the resulting increase in family leisure travel. Frisco continues to be at the center of the fastest-growing corporate relocation market in the country, and the Frisco Station submarket is in the early stages of a long-term growth cycle. For example, during the second quarter, the Health & Wellness District within Frisco Station commenced groundbreaking of an 85,000 square foot medical center that will be part of a broader 35-acre district, which will further add to the depth and diversity of demand generators in this market. Our results in Atlanta, New Orleans and Phoenix also weighed on our overall RevPAR growth for the quarter, though Atlanta and New Orleans were impacted by displacement due to renovation disruption. Phoenix, in particular, faced a difficult comparison to last year due to the Men's Final Four. Looking forward, future convention center pace is up double digits in Phoenix and New Orleans, and we expect our newly renovated hotels in all three markets to provide additional lift to results upon completion. Despite modest RevPAR headwinds, food and beverage and other revenues increased 9% and 3%, respectively, in the second quarter. Food and beverage benefited from the reconcepting of the Oceanside Fort Lauderdale, including its oceanfront bar and restaurant as well as a pilot program to charge for breakfast at certain of our hotels. Other revenues were driven by the implementation of resort and parking fees. We expect continued growth in both of these departments, in particular, food and beverage through the balance of the year. As Jon previously mentioned, successful expense management continued in the second quarter with pro forma operating expenses increasing 1.5% year-over-year or 2% on a per occupied room basis as the company realized incremental progress across our labor structure. Our asset management team and hotel managers have successfully focused on managing wages, reducing hotel reliance on contract labor and improving employee retention. Hourly wages, excluding contract labor, increased just 1.2% compared to second quarter 2024. The company continues to benefit from reductions in contract labor, which declined by 13% on both a nominal and per occupied room basis versus second quarter 2024. Contract labor now represents 10.5% of our total labor costs, which is over 700 basis points below peak COVID era levels, but 250 basis points above 2019 levels, suggesting the opportunity for further improvement. We also continue to see improvement in employee retention, which results in improved productivity in the hotels and reduced training costs. Turnover rates in the second quarter have declined nearly 40% from peak COVID era levels. Below GOP, the company realized a tailwind in the second quarter from insurance expense. However, increased property taxes more than offset those insurance savings, a trend we expect to continue for the balance of the year, mostly driven by favorable property tax appeals and refunds received in 2024. We continue to be encouraged by expense trends in our portfolio and how the current baseline cost structure positions the company for future bottom line growth. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA was $50.9 million. Second quarter adjusted FFO was $32.7 million or $0.27 per share as the company continues to benefit from lower interest expense and a lower share count resulting from our accretive share repurchase activity during the quarter. From a capital expenditure standpoint, through the first 2 quarters of the year, we invested $35 million in our portfolio on a consolidated basis and $30 million on a pro rata basis. Recently completed and ongoing renovations include the Oceanside Fort Lauderdale Beach, Courtyard Grapevine, Residence Inn Atlanta Midtown, Hampton Inn & Suites Silverthorne, Mederty Residence Inn and the Scottsdale/Old Town Hyatt Place. In our press release yesterday, we announced the completion of the 23-unit expansion at Onera Fredericksburg, our luxury landscape hotel located in Texas Hill Country. Prior to the expansion, Phase 1 of the property generated a year-to-date RevPAR of $360 and hotel EBITDA margins of nearly 50%, demonstrating the attractive nature of its low-labor-efficient operating model. The expansion offers multiple new units that merge innovative architecture and nature. In addition, the property now offers a multiunit lodge to accommodate group events and outings as well as an additional pool, commissary and other guest enhancements. We have underwritten unlevered yields in the low to mid-teens related to the Onera Fredericksburg expansion, and we believe there is significant upside in the operating performance of this hotel given its unique location in the rapidly growing Fredericksburg market. Turning to the balance sheet. We continue to be proactive in extending maturities, reducing borrowing costs and enhancing corporate liquidity. In May, we refinanced our AC Element hotel in Miami's Brickell neighborhood with a new $58 million mortgage. The hotel's strong performance allowed the partnership to realize over $12 million of incremental proceeds. The new loan has a fully extended maturity of May 2030 at an interest rate of SOFR plus 260 basis points, which represents a 40 basis point reduction in spread versus the prior loan. In connection with the new AC Element mortgage, we entered into a 3-year swap that fixes SOFR at 3.57%. In July, subsequent to quarter end, we refinanced our $396 million GIC Joint Venture Term Loan that funded the acquisition of the NewcrestImage portfolio in January 2022. The new $400 million term loan has a fully extended maturity of July 2030 and an interest rate of SOFR plus 235 basis points, which represents a 50 basis point reduction in spread versus the prior loan. We estimate annual interest savings of approximately $2 million related to these two refinancings. When combined with the $275 million delayed draw term loan that closed in March 2025 and which will be used to retire the $288 million convertible notes in February 2026, the company has no debt maturities until 2028. Due to our interest rate management efforts, our interest rate exposure continues to be effectively hedged with a swap portfolio that has an average fixed SOFR rate of approximately 3.1% and 75% of our pro rata share of debt is fixed after consideration of interest rate swaps. When accounting for the company's Series E, F and