Major Office REITs Didn't Look So Hot In 2015
Office REIT giants SL Green and Vornado had an underwhelming 2015, producing -3% and -3.9% returns, respectively. That’s a sharp dive from 2014’s numbers, when SL Green got a 31.4% return and Vornado raked in 36.4%.
Sandler O’Neill analyst Alexander Goldfarb says SL Green took a hit from its planned 1.6M SF One Vanderbilt office tower (pictured), which “went from being a positive for them to a negative, in investors’ minds.”
Vornado was hurt by its Urban Edge Properties spinoff early last year, Goldfarb says, a move made to focus more on luxury retail properties and office towers.
Unsurprisingly, the REITs' stocks slid with their yields: SL Green dropped -4.2% while Vornado tumbled -14.1%, The Real Deal reports.
Their performance contrasts sharply with returns from multifamily REITs AvalonBay and Equity Residential, each producing over 16%. Avalon’s stocks climbed 13.4% while Equity’s rose 14% on the year. [TRD]
