Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) management highlighted 2025 as a year of continued earnings growth, strong leasing, and active redevelopment, supported by tight retail supply conditions in its Northeast-focused markets. On the company’s year-end earnings call, executives said they generated funds from operations (FFO), as adjusted, of $1.43 per share for 2025, up 6% from 2024, and pointed to a “signed but not open” (SNO) lease pipeline and redevelopment activity as key contributors to growth.
2025 results driven by leasing and the SNO pipeline
Chairman and CEO Jeff Olson said 2025 performance was driven by execution on the company’s SNO pipeline and 5% same-property net operating income (NOI) growth. CFO Mark Langer added that same-property NOI, including redevelopment, increased 2.9% in the fourth quarter and 5% for the full year, with growth primarily coming from rent commencements from SNO leases and higher net recovery income.
Olson said the company commenced more than $16 million of new annualized gross rent during 2025, citing openings that included Trader Joe’s, Burlington, Ross, Nordstrom Rack, Atlantic Health, Tesla, and a range of shop tenants such as CAVA, Shake Shack, First Watch, Starbucks, and Club Pilates. He said the remaining SNO pipeline is expected to generate an additional $22 million of annual gross rent, which he described as representing 8% of current NOI.
Record leasing metrics and occupancy trends
Urban Edge executives pointed to record leasing results and improving shop occupancy. Olson said the company executed 58 new leases in 2025 with a record same-space cash rent spread of 32% and achieved record shop occupancy of 92.6%. He said new lease spreads have exceeded 20% for four consecutive years and added that the company expects new lease spreads to remain above 20% in 2026.
COO Jeff Mooallem provided additional leasing detail, including fourth-quarter activity and full-year totals:
- Fourth quarter: 47 leases totaling more than 200,000 square feet, including 14 new leases at an 11% same-space spread and 33 renewals at a 17% spread.
- Full year: 58 new leases for over 360,000 square feet at a 32% same-space spread and 104 renewals for over 1,000,000 square feet at an 11% spread.
At year-end, same-property leased occupancy was 96.7%, according to Mooallem. Anchor occupancy ended 2025 at 97.5%, down 50 basis points from the prior year, while small shop occupancy rose 170 basis points to 92.6%. Mooallem attributed the dip in anchor occupancy to the company taking back one space, At Home, at Ledgewood Commons, which he said the company expects to retenant “soon at a strong overall spread.”
When asked about upside in shop occupancy, Mooallem said management believes a steady-state level is “somewhere in that 94% range,” adding that pushing meaningfully above that can be less strategic due to normal turnover and certain functionally obsolete space. He said 93% to 94% is a “good safe bet” for 2026, while also noting that the leasing team is evaluating whether to replace some existing tenants to drive spreads.
Redevelopment progress and longer-dated projects
Management said redevelopment continues to be a core value driver. Olson said Urban Edge completed 14 projects in 2025 totaling $55 million, generating unlevered yields of 19%. The company has $166 million of redevelopment projects underway, expected to generate a 14% unlevered return.
Mooallem said three projects stabilized in the fourth quarter totaling $12 million of investment as rent commenced for Tesla at Totowa Commons, Dave’s Hot Chicken at Yonkers Gateway, and First Watch at Bergen Town Center, with those projects expected to generate about a 26% yield. He also said the company “activated” four new projects totaling $28 million during the quarter.
On larger-scale initiatives, Mooallem described projects such as Sunrise Mall, Jersey City, Hudson Mall, Yonkers, and Bruckner as more complex undertakings that can require one to two years of entitlement work and may involve demolition and major anchors. At Sunrise Mall in Massapequa, New York, Mooallem said the company executed a lease termination with Dick’s Sporting Goods in the fourth quarter, removing the last tenant at the mall and enabling an application for an Amazon distribution center on roughly one-third of the site to advance through the entitlement process. He said the company is also in discussions with “a variety of users” for the rest of the site and hopes to have more to announce later in the year.
In Q&A, executives discussed Gateway (Everett, Massachusetts) and Bruckner. Mooallem said Gateway is in a strong location but is constrained by long-term leases, limiting near-term opportunity until space becomes available. On Bruckner, he described active construction and said that by this time next year the company expects to have tenants including Chick-fil-A and Chipotle open, with additional retailers cited as hopes. He also provided an NOI frame of reference, saying Bruckner NOI was around $7 million last year and the company expects it will increase by $8 million to $15 million in 2028.
Balance sheet, capital recycling, and 2026 guidance
Langer said the company ended 2025 with total liquidity of $849 million and no amounts drawn on its line of credit. During the quarter, Urban Edge paid off a $23 million mortgage at West End Commons at maturity using cash on hand. He said the company has no debt maturing until December 2026, when three mortgages totaling $114 million at a blended 4% interest rate come due, which the company expects to refinance or repay. Net debt to annualized EBITDA was 5.8x at year-end, below the company’s 6.5x target.
Subsequent to quarter-end, Langer said Urban Edge amended its line of credit into a new $700 million facility maturing in June 2030, with two six-month extension options, and executed two $125 million 12-month delayed draw term loans with five-year and seven-year maturities.
For 2026, management issued initial FFO, as adjusted, guidance of $1.47 to $1.52 per share, reflecting 4.5% growth at the midpoint. Same-property NOI (including redevelopment) is expected to grow 2.75% to 3.75%. Langer said guidance reflects the “full-year fallout” from the Saks OFF 5TH closure in East Hanover and assumes credit losses of 50 to 75 basis points. He also said the company expects $6 million of gross rent to be recognized in 2026 from the SNO pipeline, with 75% expected to come online in the second half, implying a stronger NOI growth cadence later in the year.
The company also announced an 11% dividend increase to an annualized rate of $0.84 per share, which Langer said implies an FFO payout ratio of about 56%.
On capital recycling and acquisitions, Mooallem said the company has an agreement to acquire a New Jersey property for approximately $54 million that is 95% leased and expected to be accretive “from day one,” with closing expected by the end of the first quarter. Olson said the acquisition market has become highly competitive, with cap rates continuing to come down, but added that the environment may also support additional dispositions at better pricing. In discussing tenant exposure, management also addressed Saks OFF 5TH: the company’s East Hanover location closed in January after paying about $800,000 a year of gross rent, while the Bergen Town Center location is expected to remain open at full rent.
Looking beyond 2026, Olson said the company’s longer-term goal is to increase FFO by at least 4% annually, and he cited anchor repositioning projects as a key source of visibility. Management added that through 2027, more than 80% of same-property NOI growth is expected to come from executed leases, letters of intent, and contractual rent increases, with 2027 NOI growth believed to be approximately 5% based on expected timing of rent commencements.
About Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)
Urban Edge Properties is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in owning, operating and developing grocery-anchored shopping centers. The company was formed in January 2017 as a spin-off from Regency Centers Corporation, establishing an independent platform focused on urban and densely populated markets. As a fully integrated REIT, Urban Edge oversees the acquisition, financing, leasing, redevelopment and management of its retail properties.
The company’s portfolio comprises predominantly open-air shopping centers anchored by national and regional supermarket operators.
