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Management Discussion

• The United States economy in 2020 experienced an unprecedented downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic with the gross domestic product declining by 3.5%. The recession was caused by dramatic changes in consumer behavior linked to business shutdowns, travel restrictions, and social distancing during the pandemic. The magnitude of the declines in gross domestic product and employment in the spring was unprecedented. Since then, economic activity and job growth have begun to recover as parts of the economy reopened, bolstered by the initial dissemination of vaccines and government stimulus, but remain well below pre-pandemic levels. The 10-year treasury yield trended down throughout the year fluctuating from 0.5% to 1.9% and ending the year at 0.9%, down from 1.9% at the end of 2019. While the economy has declined overall during 2020, the industrial real estate sector has been one of the most resilient sectors during the pandemic, which has been largely driven by e-commerce demand and additional demand from suppliers to drive up safety stock. We continued to pursue quality industrial assets in coastal Tier 1 markets during 2020. We resumed speculative development projects in the second half of the year and continued to lease up the speculative space. Despite the global crisis, we were able to execute our asset and capital strategies for the year and had a successful 2020.