Whitestone REIT (WSR) Announces Board Refreshment

Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) today announced that the Board of Trustees (“Board”) has appointed Amy S. Feng, an independent Trustee, as the Chair of Whitestone’s Board of Trustees, and Julia B. Buthman, also an independent Trustee, as Chair of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee. Mss. Feng and Buthman joined the Board in July of 2022 and May of 2023 respectively, and both have played a vital role in overseeing management’s successful turnaround strategy which has resulted in sector-leading total shareholder return of 43.7% ⁽¹⁾ since the beginning of 2022.

The Company is in the process of engaging a well-known national search firm to conduct a comprehensive search to identify two new independent board members to replace current trustees, David F. Taylor and Nandita V. Berry. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Berry plan to step down from their roles once their highly qualified successors are appointed or elected to the Board.

“David and Nandita have both served on the Whitestone Board since 2017 and oversaw the company’s strategic re-set in early 2022, which included a CEO change and numerous governance improvements. They have made tough decisions and provided critical expertise, which has contributed to Whitestone’s significant outperformance over the last two years,” said Dave Holeman, Chief Executive Officer. “Whitestone has strengthened the company’s operations, balance sheet and governance during David and Nandita’s tenure and I am thankful for their full support of our board refreshment efforts. Over the last couple of years, and more intensely over the last couple of months, we have connected with a vast majority of our shareholders, and we are grateful for their overwhelming support at our recent Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The feedback from these interactions is invaluable and will guide us as we continue to refresh the Board, as well as evolve and improve in the months and years ahead.”

“I am honored to accept my new leadership role as Chair of the Whitestone Board, and affirm not only mine, but also the full Board and management’s commitment to enhancing shareholder value. Under Dave’s leadership as CEO, the Company has a clear runway for success with a premier portfolio of properties in the best and fastest growing markets in the country, strong supply and demand fundamentals, rapidly improving leverage metrics, and strong earnings growth driven by operational excellence.” said Ms. Feng.

“I am excited and honored to be elected Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and look forward to leading the Committee’s efforts regarding such vital matters as continued board refreshment and composition, board member selection, committee membership, oversight of our ESG efforts, and continued engagement with shareholders.” said Ms. Buthman.

You May Also Be Interested In