COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
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Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES PILOT 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 as follows:
(a)The annual PILOT is equal to 10 percent percent of Gross Revenues for years 1-4, 12 percent for years 5-8 and 14 percent for years 9-10, as defined.
(b)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.
(c)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.
(d)The annual PILOT is equal to seven percent of Gross Revenues, as defined, for a term of 25 years.
(e)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.
In 2024, the Company identified potential contingent liabilities related to reverse real estate tax appeals for certain previously-sold land parcels located in Jersey City, NJ. In accordance with ASC 450, the Company evaluated the estimability and probability of these potential obligations and recorded a contingent liability of $2.1 million, inclusive of associated legal costs, in Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets. The ultimate resolution of these matters may result in recognition of amounts different from the accrued amount, and the timing of the ultimate resolution of these contingent liabilities is uncertain. The Company will continue to monitor developments and adjust the estimated liability as new information becomes available.
On April 23, 2025, the Company was named as a defendant in a case brought by the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey alleging antitrust violations by RealPage, Inc., a seller of revenue management software and owners and/or operators of multifamily housing, including us, which utilize this software. Although we have not been served with a copy of the complaint, we understand from media reports that the complaint alleges collusion among the defendants to fix rents in violation of the Sherman Act, the New Jersey Antitrust Act, and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. We believe this
lawsuit is without merit and we intend to vigorously defend against it. As this proceeding is in the early stages, it is not possible for the Company to predict the outcome nor is it possible to estimate the amount of loss, if any, which may be associated with an adverse decision in any of this matter.
OFFICE AND GROUND LEASE AGREEMENTS
Future minimum rental payments under the terms of all non-cancelable office and ground leases under which the Company is the lessee, as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, are as follows (dollars in thousands):
Office and ground lease expenses incurred by the Company amounted to $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024.
The Company had capitalized operating leases for one office and two ground leases, which had balances of $3.0 million and $1.9 million, respectively, at March 31, 2025. Such amounts represent the net present value (“NPV”) of future payments detailed above. The one office and two ground leases used incremental borrowing rates of 6.0 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, to arrive at the NPV and have weighted average remaining lease terms of 3.0 years and 76.4 years, respectively. 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 office and ground leases and calculating notional rates for fully-collateralized loans.
OTHER
During the first quarter of 2024, the Company determined that the applicable conditions required to earn the stay-on award agreements with 20 employees were satisfied, and as a result, the corresponding cash and stock awards were deemed
earned and payable. The total cost of such awards was approximately $2.6 million, including the issuance of 42,095 shares of the Company’s common stock, of which $1.3 million was recorded in each General and administrative and Property management expenses, on the Company's Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three months ended March 31, 2024.
As of March 31, 2025, the Company had outstanding letters of credits totaling $3.7 million issued in connection with
insurance requirements and for environmental financial assurance, collateralized by the available balance on the 2024
Credit Agreement.
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