HOUSTON—AmREIT Inc. said late Tuesday that its board will explore strategic alternatives for enhancing stockholder value, and has hired Jefferies LLC as its financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster LLP and Venable LLP as its legal advisors. The decision comes as the shopping center REIT has rejected an unsolicited offer from Regency Centers Corp. to buy it for $22 per share.

“AmREIT has one of the highest quality retail and mixed-use real estate portfolios in the country, with nearly 50 premier properties strategically located in five of the most desirable growth markets in the US,” including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Atlanta, says Kerr Taylor, AmREIT's chairman and CEO. “Given the value of our unique assets, robust development pipeline and promising future prospects supported by our top-of-class platform, our board believes that now is the right time to conduct a thorough review to determine how best to continue to enhance stockholder value, and we are taking appropriate action to ensure a thorough evaluation.”

While conducting the review, the company will continue following its existing business plan. The AmREIT board has also taken steps to prevent a hostile takeover, voting to make the REIT subject to the Maryland Business Combination Act.

AmREIT also announced its second-quarter operating results late Tuesday afternoon, and analysts at MLV & Co. maintained a “buy” rating on the REIT. Its Q2 funds from operations came in at 24 cents per share, a penny above consensus. Guidance for the full year was maintained at $1.02 to $1.06 per share.

Although “less exciting” than the company's announcements about the takeover bid rejection and a flurry of development news in AmREIT's Houston backyard, including its Uptown Park mixed-use project, the 18% gain in the REIT's cash releasing spreads drew positive comment from MLV's analysts. Along similar lines, its portfolio-wide occupancy ticked up 30 basis points to 95.2%.