Organization

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, a Maryland corporation, together with its subsidiaries (collectively, the “General Partner”), is a fully-integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”). The General Partner controls Mack-Cali Realty, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, together with its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Operating Partnership”), as its sole general partner and owned a 90.4 percent and 89.8 percent common unit interest in the Operating Partnership as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The General Partner’s business is the ownership of interests in and operation of the Operating Partnership and all of the General Partner’s expenses are incurred for the benefit of the Operating Partnership. The General Partner is reimbursed by the Operating Partnership for all expenses it incurs relating to the ownership and operation of the Operating Partnership.

The Operating Partnership conducts the business of providing leasing, management, acquisition, development and tenant-related services for its General Partner. The Operating Partnership, through its operating divisions and subsidiaries, including the Mack-Cali property-owning partnerships and limited liability companies, is the entity through which all of the General Partner’s operations are conducted. Unless stated otherwise or the context requires, the “Company” refers to the General Partner and its subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries.

As of December 31, 2019, the Company owned or had interests in 71 properties (the “Properties”). The Properties are comprised of 42 office buildings totaling approximately 10.7 million square feet and leased to approximately 400 tenants (which include two buildings aggregating approximately 0.2 million square feet owned by unconsolidated joint ventures in which the Company has investment interests), 21 multi-family properties totaling 6,524 apartment units (which include seven properties aggregating 2,611 apartment units owned by unconsolidated joint ventures in which the Company has investment interests), four parking/retail properties totaling approximately 108,000 square feet (which include two buildings aggregating 81,700 square feet owned by unconsolidated joint ventures in which the Company has investment interests), three hotels containing 723 rooms (one of which is owned by an unconsolidated joint venture in which the Company has an investment interest) and a parcel of land leased to a third party. The Properties are located in four states in the Northeast, plus the District of Columbia.

Following the General Partner’s 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Board of Directors of the General Partner (the “Board”) formed a Shareholder Value Committee comprised of four independent directors to review the Company’s strategic direction and make a recommendation to the full Board. On December 19, 2019, the Company announced that, based on the recommendations of the Shareholder Value Committee, the Board had determined to sell the Company’s entire suburban New Jersey office portfolio totaling approximately 6.6 million square feet (collectively, the “Suburban Office Portfolio”).  As the decision to sell the Suburban Office Portfolio represented a strategic shift in the Company’s operations, the portfolio’s results are being classified as discontinued operations for all periods presented herein. See Note 7: Discontinued Operations.

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include all accounts of the Company, its majority-owned and/or controlled subsidiaries, which consist principally of the Operating Partnership and variable interest entities for which the Company has determined itself to be the primary beneficiary, if any. See Note 2: Significant Accounting Policies – Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures, for the Company’s treatment of unconsolidated joint venture interests. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810, Consolidation, provides guidance on the identification of entities for which control is achieved through means other than voting rights (“variable interest entities” or “VIEs”) and the determination of which business enterprise, if any, should consolidate the VIEs. Generally, the consideration of whether an entity is a VIE applies when either: (1) the equity investors (if any) lack (i) the ability to make decisions about the entity's activities through voting or similar rights, (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (iii) the right to receive the expected residual returns of the entity; (2) the equity investment at risk is insufficient to finance that entity’s activities without additional subordinated financial support; or (3) the equity investors have voting rights that are not proportionate to their economic interests and substantially all of the activities of the entity involve or are conducted on behalf of an investor with a disproportionately small voting interest. The Company consolidates VIEs in which it is considered to be the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is defined by the entity having both of the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct the activities that, when taken together, most significantly impact the variable interest entity’s performance: and (2) the obligation to absorb losses and right to receive the returns from the VIE that would be significant to the VIE.

On January 1, 2016, the Company adopted accounting guidance under ASC 810, Consolidation, modifying the analysis it must perform to determine whether it should consolidate certain types of legal entities. The guidance does not amend the existing disclosure requirements for variable interest entities or voting interest model entities. The guidance, however, modified the requirements to qualify under the voting interest model. Under the revised guidance, the Operating Partnership will be a variable interest entity of the parent company, Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. As the Operating Partnership is already consolidated in the balance sheets of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, the identification of this entity as a variable interest entity has no impact on the consolidated financial statements of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation. There were no other legal entities qualifying under the scope of the revised guidance that were consolidated as a result of the adoption.

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company’s investments in consolidated real estate joint ventures, which are variable interest entities in which the Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary, other than Roseland Residential, L.P. (See Note 3: Rockpoint Transaction), have total real estate assets of $503.1 million and $480.4 million, respectively, mortgages of $283.7 million and $241.5 million, respectively, and other liabilities of $18.9 million and $23 million, respectively.

The financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates and assumptions are based on management’s historical experience that are believed to be reasonable at the time. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, the determination of estimates requires the exercise of judgment. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period amounts in order to conform with current period presentation, primarily related to classification of certain properties as discontinued operations.