Dive Brief:

• Erez Asset Management has sent a letter to Veris Residential, telling the REIT that to realize its full value, it needs to commence and publicly announce a formal review of strategic alternatives, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 3. Erez, led by CEO Bruce Schanzer, holds 4.87% of Veris’ outstanding shares
• In the letter attached to the SEC filing, dated Dec. 1, 2025, Schanzer said that Veris properties, located in supply constrained, high-growth markets, trade at a more than 30% discount to net asset value. 
• Furthermore, Schanzer said one-off asset sales are unlikely to close the gap in value. Instead, he recommends a formal review, similar to those undertaken by Veris’ REIT peers Aimco, Centerspace and Elme. He said Veris’ shareholders could realize approximately $22 to $25 per share in a sale, after transaction expenses, representing roughly a 40% to 70% premium to Veris’ current share price.

Dive Insight:

In the letter, Schanzer, who was CEO of shopping center REIT Cedar and a managing partner at Goldman Sachs, said that the REIT’s stock has traded at a discount to consensus net asset value for all but 15 trading days over the last decade.

“Despite management’s efforts to enhance the Company’s performance and valuation through asset sales, debt reduction, capital investments and operational initiatives, the significant gap between Veris’ intrinsic value and its valuation in the public markets persists,” Schanzer said in the letter.

In August 2025, Veris made progress toward its goal of selling $300 million to $500 million of assets by unloading The James in downtown Park Ridge, New Jersey, for $117 million. 

In a Feb. 6 research note, Anthony Paolone, executive director at JPMorgan, said it would not be a surprise for the REIT to evaluate strategic alternatives. “To be sure, over the past decade the company has been the subject of activism, management changes, and in 2022, VRE received a purchase offer from Kushner Co. for $16/share,” he wrote.

Furthermore, Paolone said Veris has been on JPMorgan’s list of potential “event” names for some time. However, he also complimented the leadership of Veris, which had rebranded the firm in 2021 after being known as Mack-Cali Realty Corp.

“We think the management team has been doing a very good job of simplifying the portfolio, shedding non-core assets/land, and streamlining joint ventures [buying in partners or selling assets] where it did not have control,” Paolone wrote. “It has also reduced debt significantly. We think all of these actions help improve optionality.”

As a concern, Paolone said Varis would “still be challenged” and does have the capital costs to grow. “However, we do think its underlying asset value is north of where the current stock price is, making it a candidate for a sale,” he wrote.

Additionally, he called Erez’s price of $22 to $25 per share aggressive and estimated a price of $18 to $19 per share. “Portfolio quality is quite high here, with an average asset age of only 10 years and an extremely low rent-to-income ratio of 10.1% given a very high $481k household income level,” Paolone wrote.

Schanzer noted that other similar-sized REITs have also undergone strategic reviews. 

In November 2025, Centerspace, which owns more than 12,000 units, confirmed that its board of trustees initiated a review of the REIT’s strategic alternatives. The Minot, North Dakota-based REIT’s board, with the support of its independent financial and legal advisors, will consider a range of options, including a sale, merger and other business combinations. 

Also in November, Aimco announced the targeted marketing and sale of its remaining assets as it concluded its strategic review. As part of that process, it went under contract to sell a seven-property portfolio in Chicago to LaTerra Capital Management, in partnership with Respark Residential, for $455 million in November.
In August 2025, Elme Communities took the first step toward liquidating the company by selling a 19-asset portfolio to Atlanta-based investor, developer and manager Cortland Partners for $1.6 billion in cash.

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