Driven by solid operations and interest savings from our recent bond financing, first quarter FFO per share, as adjusted for comparability, of $0.56 met the high end of guidance and is 10% higher than the first quarter results in 2020.
Additionally, NOI from real estate operations in the quarter was up 6% from a year ago.
And AFFO increased an impressive 26%.
First quarter leasing results were solid, totaling 258,000 square feet, and second quarter leasing is off to a blistering start.
In April, we've completed 662,000 square feet of renewals and vacancy leasing, eclipsing first quarter volume by 2.5 times.
Development leasing in the quarter totaled 11,000 square feet.
However, we're in advanced negotiations on nearly 900,000 square feet that should close in the coming months.
The $600 million 10-year issuance has a 2.75% coupon and was the strongest debt financing in the company's history.
The improved outlook for same-property cash NOI and interest savings from the bond refinancing are driving the $0.03 increase in the midpoint of 2021 guidance for FFO per share as adjusted for comparability, which at the midpoint implies 4.7% growth over the elevated 2020 results.
First quarter total leasing of 258,000 square feet included 154,000 square feet of renewals.
Renewal economics were in line with expectations, with cash rents rolling down 2.2%, annual escalations averaging 2.6% and leasing capital being only $1.93 per square foot per year of term.
This month, we renewed 596,000 square feet of expiring leases, achieving an 88% renewal rate.
Cash rents on April renewals rolled up 0.5% and carried an average lease term of 4.8 years.
To date, we have completed 750,000 square feet of renewal leasing with a 77% retention rate and average lease term -- or an average term of 4.5 years and cash rents rolling flat.
Based on our renewal achievement to date, we are increasing our full year retention guidance to a new range of 70% to 75%.
We completed 93,000 square feet of vacancy leasing in the quarter and 66,000 square feet in April, bringing our total to 159,000 square feet, and our leasing activity ratio remains strong.
One lease to highlight from the quarter was a 2-floor 55,000 square foot lease at 6721 Columbia Gateway with Rekor Systems, a provider of real-time technology to enable AI-driven decisions.
Recall that the nonrenewal of that building's anchor tenant a year ago left it 20% leased.
This property is now 80% leased with strong demand for the remaining availability.
In April, we completed a 7,000 square foot expansion with IntelliGenesis, a cybersecurity defense contractor at 6950 Columbia Gateway, bringing that 2020 redevelopment to 100% leased.
Development leasing in the quarter was light at 11,000 square feet at Redstone Gateway.
So far in the second quarter, we have 265,000 square feet of development leasing out for signature, and are in advanced negotiations for another 610,000 square feet.
We are tracking up to 2.1 million square feet of development opportunities, and are confident we will meet or exceed our one million square foot development leasing goal.
During the quarter, we placed 7100 Redstone Gateway into service.
Our pipeline of active developments totals 1.4 million square feet that are 85% leased.
During the remainder of the year, we expect to place 739,000 square feet of these projects into service, bringing our total for the year to 785,000 square feet.
Regarding DC-6, our discussions with the 11.25-megawatt customer continue to progress.
First quarter FFO per share as adjusted for comparability of $0.56 met the high end of guidance, driven primarily by operations and interest savings from the recent bond refinancing.
Our original plan and guidance for 2021 assumed a $450 million bond issuance to repay or refinance some higher coupon debt.
On March 3, we launched a new 10-year offering at initial price talk on credit spreads of 175 basis points.
The offering was 8 times oversubscribed with an order book that totaled close to $3.5 billion.
Strong demand from many high-quality investors allowed us to upsize the offering to $600 million and significantly drive down the credit spread.
The deal priced at 140 basis points over the 10-year treasury, resulting in a 2.75% coupon and a 1% discount.
We used the proceeds to retire two higher-cost issuances, blocking in annual interest savings of $7 million.
Based on current negotiations, we expect several positive leasing outcomes that increase our forecast of same-property cash NOI from our original midpoint of negative 1% to a new range that is flat at the midpoint.
Our increased midpoint of full year FFO guidance of $2.22 implies 4.7% growth over the elevated 2020 results and 4.8% compound growth from 2019.

Summary:
Driven by solid operations and interest savings from our recent bond financing, first quarter FFO per share, as adjusted for comparability, of $0.56 met the high end of guidance and is 10% higher than the first quarter results in 2020.
The improved outlook for same-property cash NOI and interest savings from the bond refinancing are driving the $0.03 increase in the midpoint of 2021 guidance for FFO per share as adjusted for comparability, which at the midpoint implies 4.7% growth over the elevated 2020 results.
First quarter FFO per share as adjusted for comparability of $0.56 met the high end of guidance, driven primarily by operations and interest savings from the recent bond refinancing.
Our increased midpoint of full year FFO guidance of $2.22 implies 4.7% growth over the elevated 2020 results and 4.8% compound growth from 2019.