The company continues to have several development projects in process, with a projected total cost of approximately $321 million that is expected to stabilize over the next several years. These projects are pursued opportunistically based on market conditions and tenant demand.

The company continues to review acquisition opportunities that complement the portfolio and provide long-term growth opportunities. Any growth from acquisitions is contingent on finding properties that meet qualitative standards at prices that meet financial hurdles.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the company sold one retail property and one portion of a property for sales prices totaling $30.4 million, resulting in net gains totaling approximately $9.7 million.

The company is committed to implementing sustainable business practices at operating properties that focus on energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste minimization. They have also established greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

Cybersecurity risk management falls under the general counsel as part of the overall risk management program, which is ultimately overseen by the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees. The team is supported by a third party company that acts as the chief information security officer.

The Trust and the Operating Partnership's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2023, the Trust and the Operating Partnership's disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.

Revenue from properties depends primarily on the ability of tenants to pay the full amount of rent and other charges due under their leases on a timely basis. Economic, legal, and/or competitive conditions, as well as public health concerns, may impact the success of tenants' retail operations.

The shift to online shopping may cause declines in brick and mortar sales generated by certain of our tenants and may cause certain of our tenants to reduce the size or number of their retail locations in the future.

Climate change may add to the unpredictability and frequency of natural disasters and severe weather conditions, impact the availability of natural resources, and create additional uncertainty as to future trends and exposures.

Numerous commercial developers and real estate companies compete with us in seeking tenants for our existing properties and properties for acquisition. This competition may reduce properties available for acquisition and reduce rents payable to us.

Retailers at our properties also face increasing competition from online retailers, outlet stores, discount shopping clubs and other forms of sales and marketing of goods, such as direct mail. This competition could contribute to lease defaults and insolvency of tenants.

Real estate investments generally cannot be sold quickly. In addition, there are some limitations under federal income tax laws applicable to real estate and to REITs in particular that may limit our ability to sell our assets.

Rental expenses as a percentage of rental income decreased to 20.5% for the year ended December 31, 2023 from 21.3% for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Real estate tax expense increased $3.6 million, or 2.8% to $131.4 million in 2023 compared to $127.8 million in 2022 due primarily to the acquisitions and higher assessments.

Property operating income increased $51.5 million, or 7.2%, to $769.1 million in 2023 compared to $717.6 million in 2022. This increase is primarily driven by higher rental rates and occupancy, the 2022 and 2023 openings at our non-comparable properties, and 2022 and 2023 acquisitions.

The company relies extensively on information technology systems to process transactions and manage our business, and our business is at risk from and may be impacted by cybersecurity incidents.

Cybersecurity risk management falls under our general counsel as part of our overall risk management program, which is ultimately overseen by the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees.

We employ a number of measures to prevent, detect, and mitigate these threats, which include password encryption, multi-factor authentication, frequent password change events, firewall detection systems, anti-virus software in-place, frequent backups, a redundant data system for core applications, and penetration testing

Capital expenditures for development and redevelopment were $214.1 million compared to $309.0 million in the prior year.

Total capitalized costs were $312 million for 2023 and $425 million for 2022.

As of December 31, 2023, we had the capacity to issue up to $312.1 million in common shares under our ATM equity program.

We have aligned our program and efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as described in our ESG Policy and our 2022 Environmental Social and Governance Report

We are committed to implementing sustainable business practices at our operating properties that focus on energy efficiency, water conservation and waste minimization and have established greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets in accordance with the Science-Based Targets initiative as well as energy reduction targets.

We also understand that we face risks presented by climate change and are working to evaluate our risk exposure. In our 2022 Sustainability report, we provided a disclosure pursuant to the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure and we intend to provide that disclosure annually.

The heightened levels of inflation, higher interest rates, and the potentially worsening of economic conditions presents risks for our business and our tenants.

The current economic conditions could adversely impact our volume of leasing activity and the amount of rent we are able to charge to new or renewing tenants.

We believe the locations and nature of our centers and diverse tenant base partially mitigates any potential negative changes in the economic environment.