PARAMUS, NJ—Urban Edge Properties, a shopping center operator spun off from Vornado Realty Trust, has begun trading as a separate company on the New York Stock Exchange under the UE ticker. VNO, which announced the spinoff last April, had predicted in December that that the REIT would trade on its own by this month.

Since Jan. 5, shares have traded on a “when issued” basis on the NYSE under the UE WI ticker. That enabled VNO common shareholders and Vornado Realty LP limited partners to receive one UE common share for every two VNO common shares or VRLP common limited partnership units in a distribution VNO made Thursday, permitting shareholders to trade the right to receive UE shares in today's distribution. “When issued” trading of UE common shares ended at the close of the market Thursday.

The newly independent company holds interests in 79 strip shopping centers, three malls and one warehouse park formerly owned by VNO. The UE portfolio encompasses more than 15 million square feet across 10 states and Puerto Rico, with concentrations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

An investor presentation on the portfolio cites “embedded growth opportunities” from leasing and redevelopment. It states that the spinoff's objective is to improve the centers, 44 of which were part of the original 55 that served as the basis of VNO when it began trading as a REIT in 1993. 

The composition of VNO's portfolio has changed considerably since then. In a letter to shareholders this past spring, chairman and CEO Steven Roth estimated the value of the spinoff at $3 billion. However, he wrote that the shopping centers, together with VNO's office and urban retail properties, “have been together for legacy reasons, but have no real operating synergies.”