CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) executives said the REIT finished 2025 with what management called a “robust” fourth quarter, citing record leased occupancy, accelerating leasing spreads, and ongoing progress re-tenanting vacant anchor space across the portfolio.
Portfolio performance and leasing activity
President and CEO John Albright highlighted record leased occupancy of 95.9% at year-end and reported 4.3% same-property NOI growth for the company’s shopping centers in the fourth quarter. Albright attributed results to the company’s focus on shopping centers in “higher growth Southeast and Southwest markets” along with proactive asset management and leasing.
Anchor backfills and the Signed-Not-Open pipeline
Management also detailed progress on backfilling 10 vacant anchor spaces. In the fourth quarter, the company signed a 48,000-square-foot lease with a national investment-grade retailer at Marketplace at Seminole Towne Center. Albright said that single lease consolidated multiple spaces, including the 34,000-square-foot former Big Lots box, 9,000 square feet of small shop space, and 5,000 square feet of expansion space.
Albright said the company resolved seven anchor spaces in 2025 totaling 177,000 square feet. Management said it remains in negotiations for the remaining three anchor spaces, as well as space at Carolina Pavilion previously occupied by Value City, which it “expect[s] to get back in early 2026.” Albright added that across the anchor backfill efforts, the company expects to achieve a positive cash rent spread of approximately 60%, which he described as the high end of its previously disclosed targeted range.
As of year-end, CTO’s Signed, Not Open pipeline stood at $6.1 million, representing about 5.8% of annual cash base rents. Management said nearly half of the pipeline is expected to be recognized in 2026 and 100% by 2027.
On the timing of rent commencement, CFO Philip Mays said the pipeline should “ramp up about half in 2026” and be fully online in 2027. In the Q&A session, he said modeling the recognition as “ratable” is “pretty close,” with some ramp toward the latter half of 2026, and a similar pattern in 2027 based on current visibility. Management also explained that the year-over-year change in the percentage expected to be recognized in 2026 was influenced by tenants moving into rent-paying status and the sale of Shops at Legacy North, which removed that property’s pipeline from the totals.
Acquisitions, dispositions, and development opportunities
In December, CTO acquired Pompano Citi Centre in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area for $65.2 million. The open-air retail center sits on 35 acres and includes 509,000 square feet of operating space that was 92% occupied at the time of acquisition, plus 62,000 square feet of unfinished shell space that management described as a future leasing opportunity. Anchors include Burlington, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, Ross Dress for Less, and JCPenney.
Discussing value creation at Pompano Citi Centre, Albright emphasized the leasing upside and said the company is “very active” with letters of intent out to prospective tenants. He also pointed to JCPenney—describing it as the largest tenant—saying it “literally pay[s] nothing” and could represent a longer-term opportunity if the tenant were to give back space or if the company were able to buy out the space.
For full-year 2025, management said it closed $166 million of investments at a weighted average initial cash yield of 9%, including the Pompano acquisition, the early-2025 acquisition of Ashley Park, and $21 million of structured investments originated during the year.
On the disposition side, CTO sold Shops at Legacy North in Dallas for $78 million at a “low 5%” cash exit cap rate. Albright said the lease-up took longer than expected, but the company was pleased to recycle proceeds into higher-yielding opportunities.
Looking ahead, management said it is under contract to acquire a 384,000-square-foot shopping center in Texas for approximately $83 million, with an expected closing in the first quarter of 2026. Albright described the asset as “stabilized” with “upside opportunity,” including some lease-up, below-market leases without near-term rollover, and a land parcel with potential uses. While CTO said it has liquidity to fund the acquisition, management said it may choose to sell a stabilized property to recycle proceeds.
CTO also discussed outparcel development: the company has identified six outparcels in various stages of tenant negotiations. Management said the opportunities average about $5 million of investment capital and “low double-digit yields,” with capital expected to be invested during 2026 and 2027 and leases beginning to contribute to earnings in the second half of 2027.
Earnings results and balance sheet update
Mays reported fourth-quarter Core FFO of $15.8 million, up from $14.2 million in the prior-year quarter. Core FFO was $0.49 per diluted share, compared with $0.46 a year earlier.
For full-year 2025, Core FFO was $60.5 million, up from $47.9 million in the comparable prior year. Core FFO per diluted share was $1.87, compared with $1.88 the prior year. Mays said the per-share change reflected reduced leverage late in 2024, when the company reduced net debt to EBITDA by approximately “a full turn.”
Total same-property NOI, including four non-core properties, increased 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mays said results for non-core properties were impacted by Fidelity vacating nearly half of a 212,000-square-foot office property in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and lower percentage rent from beachfront restaurants in Daytona Beach, Florida. He said the vacated office space has been re-leased to the State of New Mexico for an initial term of 10 years, making the building 100% leased to two investment-grade tenants, with cash rent from the state expected to begin in the latter half of 2026.
On financing and liquidity, Mays said the company entered the fourth quarter after completing a $150 million term-loan financing at the end of the third quarter. Proceeds were used to retire a $65 million term loan maturing in March 2026 and reduce revolving credit facility borrowings. CTO ended the year with $167 million of liquidity, including $149 million available under its revolver and $18 million of cash available for use. Net debt to EBITDA was 6.4x at quarter-end, improving from 6.7x at the end of the third quarter.
Mays also noted that CTO repurchased $5 million of common stock early in the fourth quarter at a weighted average price of $16.26 per share, bringing total 2025 repurchases to $9.3 million at a weighted average price of $16.27 per share.
2026 guidance and key assumptions
CTO issued initial full-year 2026 guidance of $1.98 to $2.03 for Core FFO per diluted share and $2.11 to $2.16 for AFFO per diluted share. Assumptions underlying the outlook include:
- $100 million to $200 million of investment volume, including structured investments, at a weighted average initial yield of 8% to 8.5%
- Shopping center same-property NOI growth of 3.5% to 4.5%
- General and administrative expenses of $19.5 million to $20 million
Mays said the cadence of same-property NOI growth is expected to improve during the year as tenants in the Signed, Not Open pipeline take possession and begin paying rent.
About CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO)
CTO Realty Growth, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in single-tenant net lease properties. The company’s primary focus is on acquiring, owning and managing retail assets leased to creditworthy operators under long-term, triple-net lease agreements. By targeting essential retail segments, CTO Realty Growth seeks to generate stable, inflation-protected income streams while maintaining a disciplined investment approach.
The REIT’s portfolio is concentrated in convenience store and fuel service locations, with additional assets in other retail categories where net lease structures prevail.
