Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) like Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA), are you defintely factoring in the stability of the ultimate tenant? This is a unique entity that, as of late 2025, owns 102 operating properties totaling 10.2 million leased square feet, nearly all backed by the U.S. Government, the world's most creditworthy tenant. The core question for any investor is whether that rock-solid lease structure-with a weighted average remaining lease term of nearly 10 years-justifies a valuation that implies an annualized dividend yield of around 8%. We'll break down how Easterly Government Properties generates revenue and why their narrowed 2025 Core FFO guidance of $2.98 to $3.02 per share is a critical data point for your portfolio strategy.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) History

You're looking for the bedrock of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA), and it all comes down to a simple, powerful insight: the U.S. government is the world's most creditworthy tenant. The company's history is a deliberate, two-stage evolution from a specialized private fund to a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on mission-critical, Class A facilities leased to federal agencies, mostly through the General Services Administration (GSA).

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The core strategy began in 2009 with the co-founding of a private equity fund. The publicly traded entity, Easterly Government Properties, Inc., was officially founded in 2011 and is an internally managed Maryland corporation.

Original location

Washington, D.C.

Founding team members

The foundational idea was launched by Darrell Crate and William C. Trimble III. Mr. Crate, who previously served as CFO of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., and Mr. Trimble, who later served as CEO, recognized the mispricing of government-leased real estate in the market.

Initial capital/funding

The initial private equity real estate fund, which preceded the REIT, was capitalized with approximately $100 million in 2009. The major public funding event was the Initial Public Offering (IPO) in February 2015, which raised $180 million from the sale of 12 million shares at $15.00 per share, plus a concurrent private placement, bringing the total net proceeds to $297.1 million.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The most significant shifts in Easterly Government Properties' trajectory were its public market debut and the strategic decision to become a full-service real estate platform, not just a buyer of existing assets. That's how you move from a niche fund to a long-term growth engine.

• The 2015 IPO was the first major transformation, providing the scale and capital structure (as a REIT) necessary to compete for larger portfolios and establish a national footprint.
• Adding the development vertical in 2015 was a game-changer; it allowed the company to create brand-new, purpose-built facilities for agencies like the FDA and FBI, securing 20-year non-cancelable leases from the start. This is how you lock in stable, long-term cash flow.
• The April 2025 1-for-2.5 reverse stock split was a necessary, pragmatic move to address capital market concerns. It was done alongside a dividend reduction to right-size the payout ratio, which was an elevated 600% before the split, making the dividend more sustainable for the long haul.
• By Q3 2025, the portfolio reached 103 operating properties totaling 10.3 million leased square feet, demonstrating consistent, compounding growth from both acquisitions and development. The company expects to end the 2025 fiscal year with Core FFO per share in the range of $2.98 to $3.02, showing strong operational delivery despite the balance sheet refinement.

Honesty, the 2025 balance sheet moves-the reverse split and dividend adjustment-were the most recent, defintely crucial steps to position the company for a lower medium-term leverage goal of 6x and sustained future growth. For a deeper dive into who is betting on this strategy, check out Exploring Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Ownership Structure

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) is overwhelmingly controlled by institutional investors, a common structure for a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which means a few large funds drive most strategic decisions, but the company's internal management team still steers the ship day-to-day.

Easterly Government Properties' Current Status

The company is a publicly traded, internally managed real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol DEA. Its primary focus is on acquiring, developing, and managing Class A commercial properties leased to U.S. Government agencies, often through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). This public status means its financials, like the reported Q3 2025 revenue of $82.21 million, are transparent and subject to SEC oversight, but it also exposes the stock to market volatility.

To be fair, the nature of its business-leasing to the U.S. Government-provides a stable revenue base, which is why the company set its full-year 2025 Earnings Per Share (EPS) guidance in the range of $2.98-$3.02.

Easterly Government Properties' Ownership Breakdown

As of late 2025, the ownership structure is heavily weighted toward large financial institutions, which is typical for a REIT. These institutional holders, like Blackrock, Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc., hold significant sway over shareholder votes and long-term strategy.

Institutional ownership is high; that's where the power lies. If you want to dive deeper into who is buying and why, you should check out Exploring Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Easterly Government Properties' Leadership

The company is led by an experienced team with deep expertise in government real estate and finance. This internal management structure is crucial for a REIT, as it means the executive team is defintely focused solely on the company's performance, not an external manager's fees.

The average tenure for the Board of Directors is long, about 10.8 years, which points to a stable, experienced governance structure. Here are the key leaders steering the organization as of November 2025:

• Darrell W. Crate: Chief Executive Officer, President & Director. He co-founded the company as a private equity fund in 2009. He was appointed President in September 2024, consolidating executive power.
• Allison Marino: Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. She manages the financial strategy, a critical role given the company's debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.
• Michael P. Ibe: Executive Vice President, Development & Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. His focus is on the growth vertical, acquiring and developing new properties for the U.S. Government.
• Franklin Logan: Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary. He handles the complex legal and regulatory landscape of government leases.

Darrell Crate's total yearly compensation is approximately $4.63 million, with the majority (82.7%) tied to bonuses and stock options, which helps ensure his incentives are aligned with shareholder return.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Mission and Values

Easterly Government Properties stands on a clear, mission-critical foundation: providing the essential, high-quality real estate that allows the U.S. Government and its partners to operate without interruption. This focus translates into a business model built on stability, which is why the portfolio maintains a stellar 97% occupancy rate with a weighted average lease term of approximately 10 years, as of late 2025.

You're investing in more than just buildings; you're backing the infrastructure that keeps critical government functions running, and honestly, that's a powerful moat in the real estate investment trust (REIT) space.

Easterly Government Properties' Core Purpose

The company's purpose goes beyond simply collecting rent; it's about being a reliable partner to agencies whose work is vital to national security and public service. This is the cultural DNA that drives their strategic decisions, like the planned $167 million in wholly owned acquisitions for 2025.

Official mission statement

Easterly Government Properties' mission is simple and direct, as stated by management: to deliver essential real estate that keeps government moving and our nation secure.

This mission is supported by a disciplined, three-part growth strategy, which acts as the core values driving capital allocation:

• Grow Core Funds From Operations (Core FFO) by 2% to 3% annually.
• Increase same-store performance by diversifying into state, local, and high-credit government adjacent tenancy.
• Execute on development opportunities to enhance weighted average lease terms and building age.

To be fair, this focus on stability and growth is why management narrowed its full-year 2025 Core FFO per share guidance to a tight range of $2.98 to $3.02.

Vision statement

The vision is to build an enduring portfolio that is synonymous with stability and essential service, delivering consistent, compounding growth over time. This means actively managing the balance sheet, like targeting a lower medium-term cash leverage goal of 6x, down from a historical range of 7x to 8x.

The company is defintely pushing for strategic expansion, aiming for up to 30% of its portfolio to be in state and local leases, moving beyond its primary focus on the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). That's a smart hedge against any single-tenant concentration risk.

You can see how this strategy plays out in the numbers: Q3 2025 net income was $1.2 million on total revenues of $86.2 million, showing that the model, while stable, is also generating solid cash flow.

Easterly Government Properties slogan/tagline

While the company doesn't use a catchy, consumer-facing jingle, their operational tagline is embedded in their purpose:

• Delivering essential real estate to keep government moving.

It's not flashy, but it's precise. If you want to dive deeper into who is buying into this stability, check out Exploring Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) How It Works

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) operates as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, and manages Class A commercial properties, generating nearly all its revenue by leasing these facilities to the U.S. Government and its adjacent partners.

The company essentially acts as the government's long-term landlord, providing mission-critical real estate-like federal courthouses, FBI field offices, and Veterans Affairs clinics-under long-term, non-cancelable leases that provide a highly stable and predictable cash flow stream.

Easterly Government Properties' Product/Service Portfolio

The company's portfolio is built on providing specialized, high-quality facilities that are essential for the tenant agency's core function, a strategy that insulates its cash flows from typical commercial real estate volatility.

Easterly Government Properties' Operational Framework

The operational process is centered on a disciplined, three-part underwriting analysis for every potential acquisition or development, ensuring the asset is deeply integrated into the tenant's mission. Here's the quick math: the company's portfolio occupancy remains near historical highs at 97% as of September 30, 2025, which shows their focus works.

• Underwrite Tenancy: Focus on agencies with an enduring need for the real estate, such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the U.S. Judiciary, whose missions are agnostic to political cycles.
• Evaluate Mission Criticality: Confirm the building's function is critical to the tenant's operation. For example, a specialized lab or a secure federal courthouse is harder to relocate than a general office.
• Assess Building Quality: Acquire or develop Class A, young facilities-often build-to-suit or renovated-to-suit-with a weighted average age of 16.3 years as of mid-2025, which meets the government's need to move out of its older, less-efficient buildings.
• Capital Allocation: The company is targeting between $50 million and $100 million of gross development-related investment in 2025, alongside a goal of $50 million in wholly-owned acquisitions, to drive future earnings.

To be fair, the recent 1-for-2.5 reverse stock split and a dividend adjustment were deliberate moves to strengthen the balance sheet, lowering the payout ratio to free up capital for this acquisition and development growth.

Easterly Government Properties' Strategic Advantages

The company's market success is rooted in the unique nature of its primary customer, the U.S. Government, which translates into a highly defensive business model, defintely a key advantage in uncertain economic times.

• Superior Credit Profile: The U.S. Government is an investment-grade tenant, meaning the risk of default on rent payments is practically zero, providing cash flow visibility that few other REITs can match.
• Long-Term, Non-Cancelable Leases: The portfolio's weighted average remaining lease term is approximately 10 years as of September 30, 2025, with over 95% of lease income in 'firm term,' which means the government cannot cancel the lease early.
• Predictable Earnings Growth: Management is guiding for full-year 2025 Core Funds From Operations (Core FFO) per share in the range of $2.98 to $3.02, reflecting a commitment to deliver 2% to 3% annual Core FFO growth.
• Favorable Government Policy Tailwinds: The government is shifting its strategy to lease versus own, driven by an estimated $80 billion in deferred maintenance on its owned portfolio and a need for modern, technologically capable facilities, which creates a massive pipeline for Easterly Government Properties.

The total revenue for the 2025 fiscal year is projected to be around $315.94 million, underlining the scale of their operations within this niche. If you want a deeper dive into the numbers, you should check out Breaking Down Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Finance: Track DEA's Core FFO growth against the $2.98 to $3.02 guidance range through Q4 2025 earnings.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) How It Makes Money

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) makes money almost exclusively by acquiring, developing, and managing high-quality, Class A commercial properties that are leased to U.S. Government agencies. This is a pure-play real estate investment trust (REIT) model, meaning revenue is primarily generated from the predictable, long-term rental income of its properties. The U.S. Government is defintely the most creditworthy tenant you can find.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

The company's revenue engine is remarkably focused, driven by its niche in mission-critical government facilities. As of the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2025, the total revenue stood at approximately $327.31 million. The vast majority of this comes from a single, highly stable source.

The 'Increasing' trend for the primary stream comes from a combination of contractual rent escalations built into the long-term leases and the expansion of the portfolio through strategic acquisitions and development projects, like the new laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida.

Business Economics

The core economic fundamental for Easterly Government Properties is the superior credit quality and stability of its tenant: the U.S. Government. This is the bedrock of the entire business model, allowing for lower volatility and more predictable cash flows than most other commercial real estate sectors.

• Lease Structure: The portfolio operates under long-term, triple-net leases, where the tenant (the government) pays for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. This structure minimizes the company's operating expenses and shields its cash flow from unexpected property costs.
• Lease Term Stability: As of Q3 2025, the weighted average lease term was approximately 10 years, providing a long runway of guaranteed cash flow. This stability is what allows the company to manage its debt load effectively.
• Occupancy Rate: Portfolio occupancy remains exceptionally high at 97% as of the third quarter of 2025. High occupancy is a direct result of leasing to mission-critical government agencies that rarely relocate.
• Pricing Strategy: Rents are generally determined by market rates for Class A facilities and include fixed annual escalators, typically in the 1% to 2% range, which ensures a slow but steady growth in top-line revenue that outpaces inflation for property-level expenses.

Here's the quick math on the stability: with 97% occupancy and a 10-year average lease term, you have a decade of highly secure income streams. That's a powerful defense against a volatile economy.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc.'s Financial Performance

The company's financial health is best measured by Funds From Operations (FFO), which is the standard profitability metric for a REIT. The Q3 2025 results show consistent performance, aligning with management's growth strategy.

• Core FFO Guidance: Management narrowed its full-year 2025 Core FFO per share guidance to a range of $2.98 to $3.02. Using the midpoint of $3.00 per share, this reflects the company's stated goal of 2% to 3% annual Core FFO growth.
• Quarterly Performance: For Q3 2025, Core FFO was $35.6 million, or $0.76 per share, which met analyst expectations. Net income for the quarter was a modest $1.2 million, as is common for REITs due to depreciation charges.
• Cash Flow and Dividends: Cash Available for Distribution (CAD) was $29.3 million in Q3 2025. This figure is a better indicator of dividend safety, and the Board approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.45 per common share.
• Leverage: The balance sheet shows leverage is still a focus. As of Q3 2025, the Net Debt to total enterprise value was 59.9%. The Adjusted Net Debt to annualized quarterly pro forma EBITDA ratio was 7.2x, but management is targeting a medium-term cash leverage goal of 6x, showing a clear path for debt reduction.

What this estimate hides is the potential impact of rising interest rates on that 7.2x leverage ratio, which remains a key risk to monitor. For a deeper dive into the risks and opportunities, you should read Breaking Down Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Finance: Track the progress of the leverage reduction toward the 6x target in the next two quarterly reports.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Market Position & Future Outlook

Easterly Government Properties is positioned as a defensive growth play, leveraging its specialized focus on mission-critical U.S. government facilities to deliver stable, long-term cash flows. The company is actively executing a strategy to diversify its tenant base and reduce its leverage, with a 2025 Core FFO per share guidance narrowed to a range of $2.98 to $3.02, reflecting a solid 3% growth at the midpoint over the prior year.

Competitive Landscape

In the niche of government-leased real estate, competition is less about volume and more about the quality of the tenant (the U.S. Government) and the mission-critical nature of the asset. Here's a look at the relative market presence, using market capitalization as a proxy for size in this specialized sector as of November 2025.

Opportunities & Challenges

The firm is moving to capture growth outside its traditional federal base while navigating a high-interest-rate environment that pressures its balance sheet. You need to watch the execution of the diversification plan and the progress on debt reduction.

Industry Position

Easterly Government Properties holds a strong position as a pure-play REIT in the non-defense federal government leasing space, which is a highly specialized and fragmented market. Its core competitive advantage is the credit quality of its tenant-the U.S. Government-which is defintely a gold standard for lease stability.

The strategic shift to acquire and develop mission-critical facilities, such as the new lab for the FDA, is smart. This focus on essential, non-commodity real estate means high occupancy, which was 97% as of Q3 2025. Still, the company is smaller than its defense-focused peer, COPT Defense Properties, which has a market cap over three times larger. The key to future performance is lowering the debt load to its medium-term target of 6x cash leverage, which will improve its cost of capital and support the planned portfolio expansion. You can read more about the investor base and why they are drawn to this model here: Exploring Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

• Maintain an average lease term of approximately 10 years, providing exceptional revenue visibility.
• Targeting 2% to 3% annual Core FFO growth through renewals and development.
• The firm's smaller size allows for quicker, more focused execution on niche acquisition and development opportunities.

Here's the quick math on debt: reducing the leverage ratio from its current level down to 6x will free up significant capital for acquisitions and development, or just make the dividend more sustainable. Finance: track quarterly Net Debt/EBITDA progress by year-end.