HOUSTON, Jan. 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) (“Whitestone” or the “Company”) announces the signing of 21,563 total SF of new and renewal tenant leases in the first two weeks of January at its Market Street at DC Ranch property in Arizona. The renewal of Wells Fargo Advisors, the largest of the three tenants, will occupy 18,321 SF for the next five years. Pet Smart Grooming will be a new tenant occupying 1,879 SF, and K2 Development will be adding to its existing footprint and will now occupy 1,363 SF. The new tenants all fit with Whitestone’s E-Commerce Resistant business model, continue the transformation of the Community Center, contribute to an increased Base Rent per Leased Square Foot of 13.8% since the Company’s acquisition of the property in December of 2013, and bring total property occupancy to 92.6%.

CEO Comments
Regarding the lease signings, Whitestone’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, James C. Mastandrea commented, “We are pleased that Wells Fargo will continue to be a part of the Whitestone community, driving traffic to all our tenants at Market Street. The addition of PetSmart Grooming underscores and validates Whitestone’s philosophy: we deliver E-Commerce Resistant services that cater to the needs of the local community and generate stable cash flow for our shareholders. All three leases are triple net and will produce revenues of approximately $3.7 million over the next five years as we continue to scale our operating infrastructure.”

About Market Street at DC Ranch
Acquired in December of 2013, Market Street at DC Ranch is a stabilized, 241,280-square-foot, Class-A neighborhood center that sits at the doorstep of DC Ranch, one of Scottsdale’s signature master planned, affluent communities. The center is anchored by a Safeway grocery store and is home to local and national restaurants and a mix of local businesses including Wells Fargo Bank, Fleming’s Steak House, Grimaldi’s Pizza, MidFirst Bank, McCormick & Co., and Edward Jones. It is conveniently located at the crossroads of Pima and Thompson Peak, just north of Highway 101 and includes land to build and lease another 35,000 square feet.

About Wells Fargo Advisors
Wells Fargo Advisors is a premier financial services firm, serving investors nationwide through more than 14,500 Financial Advisors. Driven by a strong and abiding commitment to service, Wells Fargo Advisors helps clients succeed financially with investment planning and advice for helping them achieve their life needs and financial goals.

About PetSmart
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, they love pets, and believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything they do for their customers, the way they support their associates, and how they give back to their communities.

About K2 Adventures Foundation
K2 Adventures Foundation is an organization whose goal is to positively affect the lives of individuals with life challenges and disabilities around the globe by combining philanthropy and community service. Their mission is to care for children, adults and families with special needs and or life-changing medical and financial circumstances by providing services, support and funds that will be used for educational and medical enrichment.

About Whitestone REIT
Whitestone is a Community-Centered retail REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops high quality “E-commerce resistant” neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers principally located in the largest, fastest-growing and most affluent markets in the Sunbelt. Whitestone’s optimal mix of national, regional and local tenants provides daily necessities, needed services and entertainment to the respective communities which are not readily available online. Whitestone’s properties are primarily located in business-friendly Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, which are among the fastest growing U.S. population centers with highly educated workforces, high household incomes and strong job growth. Whitestone’s total shareholder return ranks #1 of 17, #2 of 17, and #4 of 14 of the U.S public shopping center REIT’s for the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year periods, respectively.(1) Visit www.whitestonereit.com for additional information.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Company intends for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as applicable. Such information is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, as well as known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of the Company’s performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the Company’s use of forward-looking terminology, such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue” or similar words or phrases that are predictions of future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters, and include, without limitation, the Company’s beliefs regarding the impact of new leases on the results of the Company’s “E-commerce resistant” neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers and results of operations and other factors detailed in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company cannot guarantee the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the Company does not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact Whitestone REIT:
Kevin Reed
Director of Investor Relations
(713) 435-2219
[email protected]

(1)  Whitestone REIT Total Shareholder Return as compared to its peers according to the SNL Public REIT Market Data based on closing prices on January 10, 2018. Peers include: Regency Centers Corp., Cedar Realty Trust Inc., Retail Opportunity Investments, Weingarten Realty Investors, Saul Centers Inc., Urban Edge Properties, Federal Realty Investment, Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., Ramco-Gershenson Properties, Retail Properties of America, Kite Realty Group Trust, Acadia Realty Trust, Wheeler REIT Inc., Brixmor Property Group Inc., Kimco Realty Corp., and DDR Corp.