- CEO
- Michael Andrew Franklin
- Full Time Employees
- 56
- Sector
- Real Estate
- Industry
- REIT - Retail
- Address
- Riversedge North Virginia Beach VA United States of America 23452
- IPO Date
- Jul 21, 2017
- Business
- Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (WHLR) is a fully integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and formed in 2011 that acquires, finances, develops, leases, owns and manages income-producing retail properties including strip centers, neighborhood centers, grocery-anchored centers, community centers and free-standing retail properties primarily in secondary and tertiary markets across the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States; properties are generally leased to nationally and regionally recognized necessity-based retailers such as Food Lion, Kroger, Home Depot, Harbor Freight Tools, TJ Maxx, Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, five Below, Dollar Tree and Planet Fitness. The company operates through its operating partnership Wheeler REIT, L.P. and subsidiaries including Cedar Realty Trust, Inc., which it acquired in 2022, with a portfolio of approximately 5.3 million square feet across 66 retail centers and three undeveloped properties in states including South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Maryland and West Virginia; as of June 30, 2025, the portfolio reflects occupancy of around 93% supported by leasing spreads with 40 renewals covering 273,579 square feet at a 12.5% increase and eight new leases covering 68,502 square feet at a 38.1% premium. Recent major changes include multiple reverse stock splits in 2024 (May 1-for-24, June 1-for-5, September 1-for-3, November 1-for-2) and 2025 (January 1-for-4, March 1-for-5, May 1-for-7) to maintain Nasdaq compliance; Series D Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock (WHLRD) redemptions and exchanges into common stock generating gains and reducing outstanding shares from over 84,000 to 72,257 (in liquidation value); repurchases of noncontrolling interests in Cedar Series C Preferred Stock for $10.2 million in a December 2024 tender offer yielding $1.0 million in annual dividend savings; property dispositions generating $33.4 million in cash such as Winslow Plaza, Devine Street and Webster Commons with net gains of $10.9 million; a $25.5 million term loan refinancing four properties at 6.80% fixed; and strategic leasing activity with robust occupancy at 93.3% as of early 2025.