Independence Realty Trust Provides Update on COVID-19

Reinforces Financial Flexibility

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: IRT) (“IRT”) today released the following statement from Scott Schaeffer, Chairman and CEO of IRT, regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

“We are monitoring the pandemic very closely and following CDC guidelines for the safety and well-being of our residents and our employees. This includes practicing social distancing, closing our common areas to residents and community offices to non-employees, and repetitive deep cleaning of commonly used surfaces. We have also identified opportunities to rotate our onsite staff, while maintaining full attention to resident and property needs. We are actively engaging with our existing residents on lease renewals and prospects for new leases. We are closely monitoring our value add renovation program and will manage the capital spend, and delivery of newly renovated units with new tenant demand. We also understand that this pandemic could have a significant impact on our residents and their families, and we are committed to working with those that are directly impacted. We have also implemented policies to provide IRT employees additional flexibility as it relates to paid leave.

We are pleased with our portfolio performance year-to-date and expect to deliver first quarter results that are in line with our initial expectations. For the first two months of the year, same store revenue increased 4.8% year-over-year with average occupancy of 92.6% However, given uncertainty around the length and depth of this crisis and its impact on our economy, we believe it is prudent to suspend our fiscal 2020 guidance. We plan to provide an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the portfolio when we report first quarter 2020 earnings.

We are confident that we have the right team and portfolio of assets across strong non-gateway markets to navigate this unprecedented challenge. IRT’s balance sheet remains strong with ample liquidity and no significant debt maturities until 2023. Additionally, the forward sale of 10,350,000 shares of common stock we completed on February 24, 2020 provides IRT with further financial resources.”

About Independence Realty Trust, Inc.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily apartment properties across non-gateway U.S. markets, including Atlanta, Louisville, Memphis, and Raleigh. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts, high-quality retail and major employment centers. More information may be found on the Company’s website www.irtliving.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “seeks,” “believes,” “potential,” or other similar words. Such statements include, but are not limited to, those about our future financial and operating results, expected benefits of the pending acquisition and market conditions. Because such statements involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the pending acquisition will be completed on the terms described in this press release, or at all, and there can be no assurance that we will realize the expected benefits from the acquisition if it is completed. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of IRT’s management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally not within IRT’s control. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, inability to achieve occupancy levels, rental rates and operational efficiencies at expected levels and those disclosed in IRT’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. IRT undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law.