Federal Realty Investment Trust 10-K 2023-12-31

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 1-07533 (Federal Realty Investment Trust)

Commission file number: 333-262016-01 (Federal Realty OP LP)

FEDERAL REALTY INVESTMENT TRUST

FEDERAL REALTY OP LP

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its charter)

909 Rose Avenue, Suite 200, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

(301) 998-8100

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Federal Realty Investment Trust ☒ Yes ☐ No

Federal Realty OP LP ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Federal Realty Investment Trust ☐ Yes ☒ No

Federal Realty OP LP ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Federal Realty Investment Trust ☒ Yes ☐ No

Federal Realty OP LP ☒ Yes ☐ No

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Federal Realty Investment Trust ☒ Yes ☐ No

Federal Realty OP LP ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Federal Realty Investment Trust ☐ Yes ☒ No

Federal Realty OP LP ☐ Yes ☒ No

The aggregate market value of the registrant's common shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based upon the closing sales price of the registrant's common shares on June 30, 2023:

Federal Realty Investment Trust: $7.9 billion

Federal Realty OP LP: N/A

The number of Federal Realty Investment Trust's common shares outstanding on February 7, 2024 was 82,989,879.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of Federal Realty Investment Trust’s Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for its annual meeting of shareholders to be held in May 2024 will be incorporated by reference into Part III hereof.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This report combines the annual reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, of Federal Realty Investment Trust and Federal Realty OP LP. Unless stated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references to "Federal Realty Investment Trust," the "Parent Company" or the "Trust" mean Federal Realty Investment Trust; and references to "Federal Realty OP LP" or the "Operating Partnership" mean Federal Realty OP LP. The term "the Company," "we," "us," and "our" refer to the Parent Company and its business and operations conducted through its directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership. References to "shares" and "shareholders" refer to the shares and shareholders of the Parent Company and not the limited partnership interests for limited partners of the Operating Partnership.

The Parent Company is a real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns 100% of the limited liability company interests of, is the sole member of, and exercises exclusive control over Federal Realty GP LLC (the "General Partner"), which is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2023, the Parent Company owned 100% of the outstanding partnership units (the "OP Units") in the Operating Partnership.

The Company believes combining the annual reports on Form 10-K of the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership into this single report provides the following benefits:

• Enhances investors' understanding of the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership by enabling investors to view the businesses as a whole in the same manner as management views and operates the business;

• Eliminates duplicate disclosure and provides a more streamlined and readable presentation; and

• Creates time and cost efficiencies through the preparation of one combined report instead of two separate reports.

Management operates the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership as one business. Since the Operating Partnership is managed by the Parent Company, and the Parent Company conducts substantially all of its operations through the Operating Partnership, the management of the Parent Company consists of the same individuals as the management of the Operating Partnership.

We believe it is important to understand the few differences between the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership in the context of how the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership operate as a consolidated company. The Parent Company is a REIT, whose only material asset is its direct and indirect interest in the Operating Partnership. As a result, the Parent Company does not conduct business itself other than issuing public equity from time to time. The Parent Company is not expected to incur any material indebtedness. The Operating Partnership holds substantially all of our assets and retains the ownership interests in the Company's joint ventures. Except for net proceeds from public equity issuances by the Parent Company, which are contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for OP Units, the Operating Partnership generates all capital required by the Company’s business. Sources of this capital include the Operating Partnership’s operations, its direct or indirect incurrence of indebtedness, and the issuance of partnership units.

Shareholders' equity, partner capital, and non-controlling interests are the primary areas of difference between the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Parent Company and those of the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership’s capital currently includes OP Units owned by the Parent, and may in the future include OP Units owned by third parties. OP Units owned by third parties, if any, are accounted for in capital in the Operating Partnership’s financial statements and in non-controlling interests in the Parent Company’s financial statements.

The Parent Company consolidates the Operating Partnership for financial reporting purposes, and the Parent Company does not have assets other than its investment in the Operating Partnership. Therefore, while shareholders’ equity and partners' capital differ as discussed above, the assets and liabilities of the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership are the same on their respective financial statements.

In order to highlight the differences between the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership, there are sections in this report that separately discuss the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership, including separate financial statements (but combined footnotes), separate controls and procedures sections, and separate Exhibit 31 and 32 certifications. In the sections that combine disclosure for the Parent Company and the Operating Partnership, this report refers to actions or holdings as being actions or holdings of the Company.

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FEDERAL REALTY INVESTMENT TRUST

FEDERAL REALTY OP LP

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023

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PART I

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are forward-looking statements. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Federal Realty Investment Trust and Federal Realty OP LP (together, “we” “our” or “us”) and members of our management team, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based, and generally are identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “seeks,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “should” or similar expressions. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time, unless required by law.

The following are some of the risks and uncertainties, although not all risks and uncertainties, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements:

• risks that our tenants will not pay rent, may vacate early or may file for bankruptcy or that we may be unable to renew leases or re-let space at favorable rents as leases expire or to fill existing vacancy;

• risks that we may not be able to proceed with or obtain necessary approvals for any development, redevelopment or renovation project, and that completion of anticipated or ongoing property development, redevelopment, or renovation projects that we do pursue may cost more, take more time to complete or fail to perform as expected;

• risks normally associated with the real estate industry, including risks that occupancy levels at our properties and the amount of rent that we receive from our properties may be lower than expected, that new acquisitions may fail to perform as expected, that competition for acquisitions could result in increased prices for acquisitions, that costs associated with the periodic maintenance and repair or renovation of space, insurance and other operations may increase, that environmental issues may develop at our properties and result in unanticipated costs, and, because real estate is illiquid, that we may not be able to sell properties when appropriate;

• risks that our growth will be limited if we cannot obtain additional capital, or if the costs of capital we obtain are significantly higher than historical levels;

• risks associated with general economic conditions, including inflation and local economic conditions in our geographic markets;

• risks of financing on terms which are acceptable to us, our ability to meet existing financial covenants and the limitations imposed on our operations by those covenants, and the possibility of increases in interest rates that would result in increased interest expense;

• risks related to our status as a real estate investment trust, commonly referred to as a REIT, for federal income tax purposes, such as the existence of complex tax regulations relating to our status as a REIT, the effect of future changes in REIT requirements as a result of new legislation, and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT; and

• risks related to natural disasters, climate change and public health crises (such as the outbreak and worldwide spread of COVID-19), and the measures that international, federal, state and local governments, agencies, law enforcement and/or health authorities implement to address them, may precipitate or materially exacerbate one or more of the above-mentioned risks, and may significantly disrupt or prevent us from operating our business in the ordinary course for an extended period.

In addition, we describe risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially in “Risk Factors” (Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K), “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” (Part II, Item 7A), and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” (Part II, Item 7).

General

Federal Realty Investment Trust (the "Parent Company" or the "Trust") is an equity real estate investment trust ("REIT"). Federal Realty OP LP (the "Operating Partnership") is the entity through which the Trust conducts substantially all of its operations and owns substantially off of its assets. The Trust owns 100% of the limited liability company interest of, is sole

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member of, and exercises exclusive control over Federal Realty GP LLC (the "General Partner"), which in turn, is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. Unless stated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, "we," "our," and "us" means the Trust and its business and operations conducted through its directly and indirectly owned subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership. We specialize in the ownership, management, and redevelopment of high quality retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where we believe retail demand exceeds supply, in strategically selected metropolitan markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States, California, and South Florida. As of December 31, 2023, we owned or had a majority interest in community and neighborhood shopping centers and mixed-use properties which are operated as 102 predominantly retail real estate projects comprising approximately 26.0 million commercial square feet. In total, the real estate projects were 94.2% leased and 92.2% occupied at December 31, 2023. Our revenue is primarily generated from lease agreements with tenants. We have paid quarterly dividends to our shareholders continuously since our founding in 1962 and have increased our dividends per common share for 56 consecutive years.

We were founded in 1962 as a REIT under the laws of the District of Columbia and re-formed as a REIT in the state of Maryland in 1999. In January of 2022, we consummated the UPREIT reorganization described in the Explanatory Note at the beginning of this Annual Report. We operate in a manner intended to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes pursuant to provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). Our principal executive offices are located at 909 Rose Avenue, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852. Our telephone number is (301) 998-8100. Our website address is www.federalrealty.com. The information contained on our website is not a part of this report and is not incorporated herein by reference.

Business Objectives and Strategies

Our primary business objective is to own, manage, acquire and redevelop a portfolio of high quality retail focused properties that will:

• provide increasing cash flow for distribution to shareholders;

• generate higher internal growth than the shopping center industry over the long term;

• provide potential for capital appreciation; and

• protect investor capital.

Our portfolio includes, and we continue to acquire and redevelop, high quality retail in many formats ranging from regional, community and neighborhood shopping centers that often are anchored by grocery stores to mixed-use properties that are typically centered around a retail component but also include residential, office, and/or hotel components.

Operating Strategies

We continuously evaluate and assess our operating strategies to ensure they are effective and put us in the best position to address changes in the market. We actively manage our properties to maximize rents and maintain occupancy levels by attracting and retaining a strong and diverse base of tenants and replacing less relevant, weaker, underperforming tenants with stronger ones. Our properties are generally located in some of the most densely populated and affluent areas of the country. These strong demographics help our tenants generate higher sales, which has generally enabled us to maintain higher occupancy rates, charge higher rental rates, and maintain steady rent growth, all of which increase the value of our portfolio. Our operating strategies also include:

• increasing rental rates through the negotiation of contractual rental increases during the term of the lease, the renewal of expiring leases or the leasing of space to new tenants at higher rental rates while limiting vacancy and down-time;

• maintaining a diversified tenant base, thereby limiting exposure to any one tenant’s financial or operating difficulties;

• monitoring the merchandising mix of our tenant base to achieve a balance of strong national and regional tenants with local specialty tenants;

• minimizing overhead and operating costs;

• monitoring the physical appearance of our properties and the construction quality, condition and design of the buildings and other improvements located on our properties to maximize our ability to attract customers and thereby generate higher rents and occupancy rates;

• managing our properties to take into account their impact on climate change and their resilience in the face of climate change;

• developing local and regional market expertise in order to capitalize on market and retailing trends;

• leveraging the contacts and experience of our management team to build and maintain long-term relationships with tenants;

• providing exceptional customer service; and

• creating an experience at many of our properties that is identifiable, unique and serves the surrounding communities to help insulate these properties and the tenants at these properties from the impact of on-line retailing.

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Investing Strategies

Our investment strategy is to deploy capital at risk-adjusted rates of return that exceed our long-term weighted average cost of capital in projects that have potential for future income growth and increased value. Our investments primarily fall into one of the following four categories:

• renovating, expanding, reconfiguring and/or retenanting our existing properties to take advantage of under-utilized land or existing square footage to increase revenue;

• renovating or expanding tenant spaces for tenants capable of producing higher sales, and therefore, paying higher rents;

• acquiring quality retail and mixed-use properties located in densely populated and/or affluent areas where barriers to entry for further development are high, and that have possibilities for enhancing operating performance and creating value through renovation, expansion, reconfiguration and/or retenanting; and

• developing the retail portions of mixed-use properties and developing or otherwise investing in non-retail portions of mixed-use properties we already own in order to capitalize on the overall value created in these properties.

Investment Criteria

When we evaluate potential redevelopment, retenanting, expansion, acquisition and development opportunities, we consider such factors as:

• the expected returns in relation to our short and long-term cost of capital as well as the anticipated risk we will face in achieving the expected returns;

• the anticipated growth rate of operating income generated by the property;

• the ability to increase the long-term value of the property through redevelopment and retenanting;

• the tenant mix at the property, tenant sales performance and the creditworthiness of those tenants;

• the geographic area in which the property is located, including the population density, household incomes, education levels, as well as the population and income trends in that geographic area. This may from time to time include the evaluation of new markets;

• competitive conditions in the vicinity of the property, including gross leasable area (GLA) per capita, competition for tenants and the ability of others to create competing properties through redevelopment, new construction or renovation;

• access to and visibility of the property from existing roadways and the potential for new, widened or realigned, roadways within the property’s trade area, which may affect access and commuting and shopping patterns;

• the level and success of our existing investments in the market area;

• the current market value of the land, buildings and other improvements and the potential for increasing those market values; and

• the physical condition of the land, buildings and other improvements, including the structural and environmental condition.

Financing Strategies

Our financing strategies are designed to enable us to maintain an investment grade balance sheet while retaining sufficient flexibility to fund our operating and investing activities in the most cost-efficient way possible. Our financing strategies include:

• maintaining a prudent level of overall leverage and an appropriate pool of unencumbered properties that is sufficient to support our unsecured borrowings;

• managing our exposure to variable-rate debt;

• maintaining sufficient levels of cash and available line of credit to fund operating and investing needs on a short-term basis;

• taking advantage of market opportunities to refinance existing debt, reduce interest costs and manage our debt maturity schedule so that a significant portion of our debt relative to our size does not mature in any one year;

• selling properties that have limited growth potential or are not a strategic fit within our overall portfolio and redeploying the proceeds to redevelop, renovate, retenant and/or expand our existing properties, acquire new properties or reduce debt; and

• utilizing the most advantageous long-term source of capital available to us to finance redevelopment and acquisition opportunities, which may include:

◦the sale of our equity or debt securities through public offerings, including our at-the-market ("ATM") equity program in which we may from time to time offer and sell common shares including through forward sales contracts, or private placements,

◦the incurrence of indebtedness through unsecured or secured borrowings including exchangeable debt,

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◦the issuance of units in our operating partnership (generally issued in exchange for a tax deferred contribution of property); these units typically receive the same distributions as our common shares and the holders of these units have the right to exchange their units for cash or common shares at our option, or

◦the use of joint venture arrangements.

Human Capital

At February 7, 2024, we had 297 full-time employees and 7 part-time employees. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining unit. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative action employer, and strive to maintain a workplace that is free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, or protected Veteran status.

Health, Safety, and Wellness

We are committed to the health, safety, and wellness of our employees, and foster an environment that allows our people to succeed while balancing work and life. We provide our employees with access to health and wellness programs, which includes benefits that support both physical and mental health. We have also transitioned to a hybrid work model.

Compensation and Benefits

We provide competitive pay and benefits including health, dental, vision, short and long-term disability, life insurance and a 401(k) retirement program, as well as a generous paid time off program that includes vacation, sick, and personal leave. In addition to our equity awards program, we also offer a quarterly recognition program, as well as rewarding employees with spot bonuses for stellar performance or going above and beyond the base requirements of their job description.

Talent Development

Employees have access to a variety of different training courses, books, book summaries and audio books, and an array of source materials covering a myriad of different business and soft skills training subjects. Additionally, we provide reimbursement for tuition and professional licensures.

Community Involvement

Giving back to the community is an integral part of who we are and what we do. We provide ample ways to give back through programs at our properties or charitable endeavors and volunteer opportunities that also serve as team building exercises for our employees.

Tax Status

We elected to be taxed as a REIT under the federal income tax laws when we filed our 1962 tax return. As a REIT, we are generally not subject to federal income tax on taxable income that we distribute to our shareholders. Under the Code, REITs are subject to numerous organizational and operational requirements, including the requirement to generally distribute at least 90% of taxable income each year. We will be subject to federal income tax on our taxable income (including, for our taxable years ending on or prior to December 31, 2017, any applicable alternative minimum tax) at regular corporate rates if we fail to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes in any taxable year, or to the extent we distribute less than 100% of our taxable income. We will also generally not qualify for treatment as a REIT for federal income tax purposes for four years following the year during which qualification is lost. Even if we qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to certain state and local income and franchise taxes and to federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed taxable income.

We have elected to treat certain of our subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries, which we refer to as a TRS. In general, a TRS may engage in any real estate business and certain non-real estate businesses, subject to certain limitations under the Code. A TRS is subject to federal and state income taxes. Our TRS activities have not been material.

General Economic Conditions

The heightened levels of inflation, higher interest rates, and the potentially worsening of economic conditions presents risks for our business and our tenants. We continue to monitor and address risks related to the general state of the economy. The extent of the future effects on our business, results of operations, cash flows, and growth strategies is highly uncertain and will ultimately depend on future developments, none of which can be predicted.

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Governmental Regulations Affecting Our Properties

We and our properties are subject to a variety of federal, state and local environmental, health, safety and similar laws. Please see Item 1A. "Risk Factors - Risk Factors Related to our REIT Status and Other Laws and Regulations" for further discussion of potential material effects of our compliance with government regulation, including environmental regulations and the rules governing REITs.

The application of these laws to a specific property that we own depends on a variety of property-specific circumstances, including the current and former uses of the property, the building materials used at the property and the physical layout of the property. Under certain environmental laws, we, as the owner or operator of properties currently or previously owned, may be required to investigate and clean up certain hazardous or toxic substances, asbestos-containing materials, or petroleum product releases at the property, we may be held liable for property damage and for investigation and clean up costs incurred in connection with the contamination, and we may be liable under common law to third parties for damages and injuries resulting from environmental contamination emanating from the real estate. Such costs or liabilities could exceed the value of the affected real estate. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination may adversely affect our ability to sell or lease real estate or to borrow using the real estate as collateral.

Neither existing environmental, health, safety and similar laws nor the costs of our compliance with these laws has had a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations, and management does not believe they will in the future. In addition, we have not incurred, and do not expect to incur, any material costs or liabilities due to environmental contamination at properties we currently own or have owned in the past. However, we cannot predict the impact of new or changed laws or regulations on properties we currently own or may acquire in the future. We have no current plans for substantial capital expenditures with respect to compliance with environmental, health, safety and similar laws and we carry environmental insurance which covers a number of environmental risks for most of our properties.

Energy and Emissions Regulations Affecting Our Properties

Some jurisdictions in which we own property have enacted or may enact legislation that requires use of only certain types of energy sources, limits energy usage on site, or limits allowable emissions from buildings with fines or other costs being imposed for exceeding those limits. This type of legislation typically includes an extended period of time from adoption to implementation to allow property owners ample opportunity to make investments and take other actions to comply with the legislation. Any investments we believe we will need to make to comply with laws that have been passed to date are being included as part of our ordinary capital improvement planning process for our properties. We also address the potential effects of these types of laws in our energy reduction and energy efficient efforts that are described in more detail in Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Corporate Responsibility." These types of laws have not had a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations and management does not believe they will have a material adverse effect in the future. We cannot, however, predict the impact of new or changed laws or regulations on properties we currently own or may acquire in the future

Competition

Numerous commercial developers and real estate companies compete with us with respect to the leasing and the acquisition of properties. Some of these competitors may possess greater capital resources than we do, although we do not believe that any single competitor or group of competitors in any of the primary markets where our properties are located are dominant in that market. This competition may:

• reduce the number of properties available for acquisition;

• increase the cost of properties available for acquisition;

• interfere with our ability to attract and retain tenants, leading to increased vacancy rates and/or reduced rents; and

• adversely affect our ability to minimize expenses of operation.

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

Available Information

Copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) are available free of charge through the Investors section of our website at www.federalrealty.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the material with, or furnish the material to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.

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Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct, Code of Ethics applicable to our Chief Executive Officer and senior financial officers, Whistleblower Policy, organizational documents and the charters of our audit committee, compensation and human capital committee and nominating and corporate governance committee are all available in the Corporate Governance section of the Investors section of our website.

Amendments to the Code of Ethics or Code of Business Conduct or waivers that apply to any of our executive officers or our senior financial officers will be disclosed in the Corporate Governance section of our website as well.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Exchange Act and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Also, documents that we “incorporate by reference” into this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including documents that we subsequently file with the SEC will contain forward-looking statements. When we refer to forward-looking statements or information, sometimes we use words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates” and “continues.” In particular, the below risk factors describe forward-looking information. The risk factors describe risks that may affect these statements but are not all-inclusive, particularly with respect to possible future events. Many things can happen that can cause actual results to be different from those we describe. These factors include, but are not limited to the following:

Risk Factors Related to our Real Estate Investments and Operations

Revenue from our properties may be reduced or limited if the retail operations of our tenants are not successful.

Revenue from our properties depends primarily on the ability of our tenants to pay the full amount of rent and other charges due under their leases on a timely basis. Some of our leases provide for the payment, in addition to base rent, of additional rent above the base amount according to a specified percentage of the gross sales generated by the tenants and generally provide for reimbursement of real estate taxes and expenses of operating the property. Economic, legal, and/or competitive conditions, as well as public health concerns, may impact the success of our tenants’ retail operations and therefore the amount of rent and expense reimbursements we receive from our tenants. Any reduction in our tenants' abilities to pay base rent, percentage rent, or other charges on a timely basis, including the closing of stores prior to the end of the lease term or the filing by any of our tenants for bankruptcy protection, will adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. In the event of default by a tenant, we may experience delays and unexpected costs in enforcing our rights as landlord under lease terms, which may also adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our net income depends on the success and continued presence of our “anchor” tenants.

Our net income could be adversely affected in the event of a downturn in the business, or the bankruptcy or insolvency, of any anchor store or anchor tenant. Anchor tenants generally occupy large amounts of square footage, pay a significant portion of the total rents at a property and contribute to the success of other tenants by drawing significant numbers of customers to a property. The closing of one or more anchor stores at a property could adversely affect that property and result in lease terminations by, or reductions in rent from, other tenants whose leases may permit termination or rent reduction in those circumstances or whose own operations may suffer as a result. Over the past several years, we have seen higher levels of anchor turnover and closings in some markets, which has caused an oversupply of larger retail spaces. Therefore, tenant demand for certain of our anchor spaces may decrease and as a result, we may see an increase in vacancy and/or a decrease in rents for those spaces that could have a negative impact to our net income. As of December 31, 2023, our anchor tenant space is 96.0% leased and 93.9% occupied.

A shift in retail shopping from brick and mortar stores to online shopping may have an adverse impact on our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.

Many retailers operating brick and mortar stores have made online sales a vital piece of their business. 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. This risk is partially mitigated by our strategy of maintaining a diverse portfolio of retail properties. The trend of retailers utilizing brick and mortar locations for ‘showroom’ and on-line sales distribution purposes (particularly at shopping centers in densely populated areas like ours) may further mitigate this risk. However, there can be no assurance that our shopping centers will not be further impacted by the shift to online shopping. As a result, our cash flow, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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We have properties that are geographically concentrated, and adverse economic or real estate market declines in these areas could have a material adverse effect on us.

As of December 31, 2023, our tenants operated in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Any adverse situation that disproportionately affects the the markets where our properties are concentrated may have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. Refer to “Properties” (Item 2 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K) for additional discussion of the geographic concentration. Real estate markets are subject to economic downturns, as they have been in the past, and we cannot predict how economic conditions will impact this market in both the short and long term.

Declines in the economy or a decline in the real estate market in these states could hurt our financial performance and the value of our properties. Factors that may negatively affect economic conditions in these states include:

• business layoffs or downsizing;

• industry slowdowns;

• elevated levels of inflation over an extended period of time;

• increasing interest rates;

• increased business restrictions due to health crises;

• relocations of businesses;

• changing demographics;

• increased telecommuting and use of alternative work places;

• infrastructure quality;

• any oversupply of, or reduced demand for, real estate;

• concessions or reduced rental rates under new leases for properties where tenants defaulted; and

• increased operating costs including insurance premiums and real estate taxes.

We may be unable to collect balances due from tenants that file for bankruptcy protection.

If a tenant or lease guarantor files for bankruptcy, we may not be able to collect all pre-petition amounts owed by that party. In addition, a tenant that files for bankruptcy protection may terminate our lease in which event we would have a general unsecured claim that would likely be for less than the full amount owed to us for the remainder of the lease term, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We may experience difficulty or delay in renewing leases or re-leasing space.

We derive most of our revenue directly or indirectly from rent received from our tenants. We are subject to the risks that, upon expiration or termination of leases, whether by their terms, as a result of a tenant bankruptcy, general economic conditions or otherwise, leases for space in our properties may not be renewed, space may not be re-leased, or the terms of renewal or re-lease, including the cost of required renovations or concessions to tenants, may be less favorable than current lease terms and may include decreases in rental rates. As a result, our net income could be reduced.

Our development activities have inherent risks.

The ground-up development of improvements on real property, as opposed to the renovation and redevelopment of existing improvements, presents substantial risks. We generally do not look to acquire raw land for future development; however, we do intend to complete the development and construction of future phases of projects we already own. We may undertake development of these and other proje

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None.

Please see Item 7. "Managements's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Cyber Security" for discussion regarding the cyber security policies of the Company.

General

As of December 31, 2023, we owned or had a majority ownership interest in community and neighborhood shopping centers and mixed-used properties which are operated as 102 predominantly retail real estate projects comprising approximately 26.0 million commercial square feet. These properties are located primarily in densely populated and affluent communities in strategic metropolitan markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, California, and South Florida. No single commercial or residential property accounted for over 10% of our 2023 total revenue. We believe that our properties are adequately covered by commercial general liability, fire, flood, earthquake, terrorism and business interruption insurance provided by reputable companies, with commercially reasonable exclusions, deductibles and limits.

Tenant Diversification

As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 3,300 commercial leases and 3,100 residential leases, with tenants ranging from sole proprietors to major national and international retailers. No one tenant or affiliated group of tenants accounted for more than 2.7% of our annualized base rent as of December 31, 2023. As a result of our tenant diversification, we believe our exposure to any one bankruptcy filing has not been and will not be significant, however, multiple filings by a number of tenants could have a significant impact.

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Geographic Diversification

Our 102 real estate projects are located in 12 states and the District of Columbia. The following table shows the number of projects, the gross leasable area (“GLA”) of commercial space and the percentage of total portfolio gross leasable area of commercial space in each state as of December 31, 2023.

Leases, Lease Terms and Lease Expirations

Our leases are classified as operating leases and typically are structured to require the monthly payment of minimum rents in advance, subject to periodic increases during the term of the lease, percentage rents based on the level of sales achieved by tenants, and reimbursement of a majority of on-site operating expenses and real estate taxes. These features in our leases generally reduce our exposure to higher costs and allow us to participate in improved tenant sales.

Commercial property leases generally range from three to ten years; however, certain leases, primarily with anchor tenants, may be longer. Many of our leases contain tenant options that enable the tenant to extend the term of the lease at expiration at pre-established rental rates that often include fixed rent increases, consumer price index adjustments or other market rate adjustments from the prior base rent. Leases on residential units are generally for a period of one year or less and, in 2023, represented approximately 9.7% of total rental income.

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The following table sets forth the schedule of lease expirations for our commercial leases in place as of December 31, 2023 for each of the 10 years beginning with 2024 and after 2033 in the aggregate assuming that none of the tenants exercise future renewal options. Annualized base rents reflect in-place contractual rents as of December 31, 2023.

During 2023, we signed leases for a total of 2,091,000 square feet of retail space including 2,027,000 square feet of comparable space leases (leases for which there was a prior tenant) at an average rental increase of 10% on a cash basis. New leases for comparable spaces were signed for 1,016,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 13% on a cash basis. Renewals for comparable spaces were signed for 1,011,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 8% on a cash basis. Tenant improvements and incentives for comparable spaces were $29.84 per square foot, of which, $56.95 per square foot was for new leases and $2.60 per square foot was for renewals in 2023.

During 2022, we signed leases for a total of 2,048,000 square feet of retail space including 1,985,000 square feet of comparable space leases (leases for which there was a prior tenant) at an average rental increase of 6% on a cash basis. New leases for comparable spaces were signed for 757,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 8% on a cash basis. Renewals for comparable spaces were signed for 1,228,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 4% on a cash basis. Tenant improvements and incentives for comparable spaces were $31.65 per square foot, of which, $75.12 per square foot was for new leases and $4.86 per square foot was for renewals in 2022.

The rental increases associated with comparable spaces generally include all leases signed for retail space in arms-length transactions reflecting market leverage between landlords and tenants during the period, excluding leases at properties sold or under contract to be sold. The comparison between the rent for expiring leases and new leases is determined by including contractual rent on the expiring lease, including percentage rent, and the comparable annual rent and in some instances, projections of percentage rent, to be paid on the new lease. In atypical circumstances, management may exercise judgment as to how to most effectively reflect the comparability of spaces reported in this calculation. The change in rental income on comparable space leases is impacted by numerous factors including current market rates, location, individual tenant creditworthiness, use of space, market conditions when the expiring lease was signed, capital investment made in the space and the specific lease structure. Tenant improvements and incentives include the total dollars committed for the improvement (fit out) of a space as it relates to a specific lease. Incentives include amounts paid to tenants as an inducement to sign a lease that do not represent building improvements. Costs related to tenant improvements require judgement by management in determining what are costs specific to the tenant and not deferred maintenance on the space.

Historically, we have executed comparable space leases for 1.4 to 2.0 million square feet of retail space each year and expect the volume for 2024 will be in line with these historical averages. Although we expect overall positive increases in annual rent for comparable spaces, changes in annual rent for any individual lease or combinations of individual leases reported in any particular period may be positive or negative and we can provide no assurance that the annual rents on comparable space leases will continue to increase at historical levels, if at all. 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.

The leases signed in 2023 generally become effective over the following two years though some may not become effective until 2026 and beyond. Further, there is risk that some new tenants will not ultimately take possession of their space and that tenants for both new and renewal leases may not pay all of their contractual rent due to operating, financing or other matters. However,

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our historical increases in rental rates do provide information about the tenant/landlord relationship and the potential increase we may achieve in rental income over time.

Retail and Residential Properties

The following table sets forth information concerning all real estate projects in which we owned an equity interest, had a leasehold interest, or otherwise controlled and are consolidated as of December 31, 2023. Except as otherwise noted, we are the sole owner of our real estate projects. Principal tenants are the largest tenants in the project based on square feet leased or are tenants important to a project’s success due to their ability to attract retail customers.

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(1)Represents the GLA of the commercial portion of the property. Some of our properties include office space which is included in this square footage.

(2)Average base rent per square foot is calculated as the aggregate, annualized in-place contractual (defined as cash basis excluding rent abatements) minimum rent for all occupied spaces divided by the aggregate GLA of all occupied spaces. Average base rent is for commercial spaces only.

(3)Percentage leased is expressed as a percentage of rentable commercial square feet occupied or subject to a lease. Residential percentage leased is expressed as a percentage of units occupied or subject to a lease.

(4)We own the controlling interest in this property.

(5)We own a noncontrolling interest in this property.

(6)All or a portion of this property is encumbered by a mortgage loan.

(7)All or a portion of this property is owned pursuant to a ground lease.

(8)We own all or a portion of this property in a “downREIT” partnership, of which a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trust is the sole general partner, with third party partners holding operating partnership units.

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(9)Aggregate information is calculated on a GLA weighted-average basis, excluding Chandler Festival, Chandler Gateway, and La Alameda, which are all unconsolidated properties at December 31, 2023.

(10)Portion of property is currently under development. See further discussion in Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

(11)This property includes interests in four nearby buildings.

(12)This property includes 40 buildings primarily along Washington Street and 14th Street in Hoboken, New Jersey.

We are involved from time-to-time in various legal and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business, including, but not limited to, commercial disputes, environmental matters, and litigation in connection with transactions such as acquisitions and divestitures. We believe that our current proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity or results of operations. See Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements for further discussions.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Our common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FRT.” Listed below are the high and low sales prices of our common shares as reported on the New York Stock Exchange and the dividends declared for each of the periods indicated.