HOUSTON-Weingarten Realty, a REIT with about 70 million square feet of retail and industrial properties, posted a net income drop in the first quarter to $10.2 million, from $33.1 million in Q1 2009, and funds from operations totaling $48.9 million in the first quarter, compared to $67.2 million for the same period a year ago. However, there was positive news for the company , increasing occupancy to 92.2% from 91.8% in Q4 2009.

During a conference call Friday, company officials were upbeat about the high occupancy, a war chest of $100 million in available cash a high level of renewals. “(We) weathered the economic downturn very effectively,” said Drew Alexander, president and CEO, during the call. “We are pleased with our operations progress. Recently, we have seen activity pick up as assets were slowly trickling into the market. We evaluated many assets and portfolios, and have some deals working. We expect deal flows to increase toward the end of the year, and in the next year, we have talented human resources focused on approximately 10 major markets that we are targeting for growth.”

He said the company hopes to acquire about $100 million in assets this year. The trust has 10 active projects in the development pipeline, with three of those properties expected to stabilize this year.

There were some other negative figures. The trust reported same property NOI to be at negative 2.6 for the first quarter, and a decrease of 4% overall for signed leases in the first quarter.

“We do not think the economy is totally healthy,” Alexander said. However, he said he’s hearing a positive tone throughout the industry. “Some of the themes…include more aggressive store opening plans from over 90% of our retailers and restaurants. Many retailers are increasingly open to altering their prototype footprints to fit into existing space configuration. And more retailers are open to grocery-anchored co-tenancy vs. focusing just on the power center sector.”