IRT: Material agreement · Leadership change · Company disclosure

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement Agreement and Plan of Merger On September 8, 2026, Independence Realty Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation (“ IRT ”), Independence Realty Operating Partnership, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and a subsidiary of IRT (“ IRT OP ”), and Islanders OP Sub, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of IRT OP (“ IRT OP Merger Sub ”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “ Merger Agreement ”) with Centerspace, a North Dakota real estate investment trust (“ CSR ”), and Centerspace, LP, a North Dakota limited partnership and a subsidiary of CSR (“ CSR OP ”). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, following the date of the Merger Agreement and prior to the date the definitive Form S-4 and Joint Proxy Statement are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”), IRT will form a Delaware limited liability company (“ IRT Merger Sub ”) as a wholly owned subsidiary of IRT, and IRT Merger Sub will be added to the Merger Agreement as a party by joinder. The Merger Agreement provides that, among other things and on the terms and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth therein, (1) IRT Merger Sub will be merged with and into CSR (the “ Company Merger ”), with CSR surviving the Company Merger as a North Dakota real estate investment trust (the “ Surviving Company ”), and (2) immediately following the effective time of the Company Merger (the “ Company Merger Effective Time ”), IRT OP Merger Sub will be merged with and into CSR OP (the “ Partnership Merger ” and, together with the Company Merger, the “ Transactions ”), whereupon the separate existence of IRT OP Merger Sub will cease and CSR OP will be the surviving entity. Subject to certain conditions, a