Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

v3.22.4
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
TAX ABATEMENT AGREEMENTS
Pursuant to agreements with certain municipalities, the Company is required to make payments in lieu of property taxes (“PILOT”) on certain of its properties and has tax abatement agreements on other properties, as follows:
Pilot Payments
PILOT 2022 2021 2020
Property Name Location Asset Type Expiration Dates (Dollars in Thousands)
Port Imperial South 1/3 Garage (a) Weehawken, NJ Parking Garage 12/2020 $ —  $ —  $ 303 
BLVD 475 (Monaco) (b) Jersey City, NJ Multifamily 2/2021 —  443  1,811 
111 River Street (c) Hoboken, NJ Office 4/2022 —  1,470  1,470 
Harborside Plaza 4A (d) Jersey City, NJ Office 2/2022 —  1,057  1,062 
Harborside Plaza 5 (e) Jersey City, NJ Office 6/2022 —  4,324  4,415 
BLVD 401 (Marbella 2) (f) Jersey City, NJ Multifamily 4/2026 1,692  1,277  1,151 
RiverHouse 11 at Port Imperial (g) Weehawken, NJ Multifamily 7/2033 1,514  1,369  1,143 
Port Imperial 4/5 Hotel (h) Weehawken, NJ Hotel 12/2033 2,925  2,925  2,161 
RiverHouse 9 at Port Imperial (i) Weehawken, NJ Multifamily 6/2046 1,295  350  — 
Haus 25 (j) Jersey City, NJ Mixed-Use (i) 975  —  — 
The James (k) Park Ridge, NJ Multifamily 6/2051 318  —  — 
Total Pilot taxes $ 8,719  $ 13,215  $ 13,516 
(a)Taxes to be paid at 100 percent on the land value of the project only over five year period and allows for a phase in of real estate taxes on the building improvement value at zero percent in year one and 95 percent in years two through five.
(b)The annual PILOT is equal to ten percent of Gross Revenues, as defined.
(c)The property was disposed of in the first quarter of 2022.
(d)The annual PILOT is equal to two percent of Total Project Costs, as defined. The total Project Costs are $49.5 million.
(e)The annual PILOT is equal to two percent of Total Project Costs, as defined. The total Project Costs are $170.9 million.
(f)The annual PILOT is equal to ten percent of Gross Revenues for years 1-4, 12 percent for years 5-8 and 14 percent for years 9-10, as defined.
(g)The annual PILOT is equal to 12 percent of Gross Revenues for years 1-5, 13 percent for years 6-10 and 14 percent for years 11-15, as defined.
(h)The annual PILOT is equal to two percent of Total Project Costs, as defined.
(i)The annual PILOT is equal to 11 percent of Gross Revenues for years 1-10, 12.5 percent for years 11-18 and 14 percent for years 19-25, as defined.
(j)For a term of 25 years following substantial completion, which occured in the second quarter of 2022. The annual PILOT is equal to seven percent of Gross Revenues, as defined.
(k)For a term of 30 years following substantial completion which occurred in June 2021. The annual PILOT is equal to 10 percent of Gross Revenues for years 1-10, 11.5 percent for years 11-21 and 12.5 percent for years 22-30; as defined.
At the conclusion of the above-referenced agreements, it is expected that the properties will be assessed by the municipality and be subject to real estate taxes at the then prevailing rates.
LITIGATION
The Company is a defendant in litigation arising in the normal course of its business activities. Management does not believe that the ultimate resolution of these matters will have a materially adverse effect upon the Company’s financial condition taken as whole.
GROUND LEASE AGREEMENTS
Future minimum rental payments under the terms of all non-cancelable ground leases under which the Company is the lessee, as of December 31, 2022, are as follows (dollars in thousands):
As of December 31, 2022
Year Amount
2023 $ 192
2024 192
2025 199
2026 199
2027 200
2028 through 2101 31,664
Total lease payments 32,646
Less: imputed interest (29,418)
Total $ 3,228

As of December 31, 2021
Year Amount
2022 $ 1,695
2023 1,702
2024 1,721
2025 1,728
2026 1,728
2027 through 2101 151,253
Total lease payments 159,827
Less: imputed interest (136,141)
Total $ 23,686
Ground lease expense incurred by the Company for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 amounted to $0.9 million, $1.8 million and $1.6 million, respectively.
In accordance with ASU 2016-02 (Topic 842), the Company capitalized operating leases for two ground leases, which had a balance of $2.9 million at December 31, 2022. Such amount represents the net present value (“NPV”) of future payments detailed above. The incremental borrowing rate used to arrive at the NPV was 7.618 percent for the remaining ground lease term 82.58 years each. These rates were arrived at by adjusting the fixed rates of the Company’s mortgage debt with debt having terms approximating the remaining lease term of the Company’s ground leases and calculating notional rates for fully-collateralized loans.
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
In the first quarter of 2022, the Company announced a number of management changes. Effective January 12, 2022, the Company terminated the employment of its Chief Accounting Officer, Mr. Giovanni M. DeBari, and appointed Ms. Amanda Lombard in his place. In addition, the Company also disclosed that its Chief Financial Officer, David Smetana, would leave the Company at the end of 2022, and that Ms. Lombard would assume the role of CFO at his departure. Mr. Smetana subsequently decided to leave the Company effective March 31, 2022. Ms. Lombard serves as both principal financial officer and principal accounting officer.

In addition, on March 31, 2022, the Company terminated the employment of its Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Ricardo Cardoso effective April 1, 2022 and the employment of its Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Gary T. Wagner effective April 15, 2022. It has appointed Jeff Turkanis and Taryn Fielder to succeed each officer, respectively.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company’s total costs incurred relating to the management changes discussed above, including the severance and related costs for the departure of the Company’s former executive officers, as well as other terminated employees, amounted to $14.1 million, which was included in general and administrative expense.
OTHER
As of December 31, 2022, the Company has outstanding stay-on award agreements with 26 select employees, which provides them with the potential to receive compensation, in cash or Company stock at the employees’ option, contingent upon remaining with the Company in good standing until the occurrence of certain corporate transactions, which have not been identified. The total potential cost of such awards is currently estimated to be up to approximately $1.6 million, including the potential future issuance of up to 40,919 shares of the Company’s common stock. Such cash or stock awards would only be earned and payable if such transaction was identified and communicated to the employee within seven years of the agreement dates, all of which were signed in late 2020 and early 2021, and all other conditions were satisfied.