Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
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x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018
Commission File No. 001-34995
Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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MARYLAND | 27-1712193 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
3284 Northside Parkway NW, Suite 150, Atlanta, GA 30327
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (770) 818-4100
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of each class | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share | NYSE |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Title of each class
Series A Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share
Warrant to Purchase Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
Series M Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No x
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in PART III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).
Large accelerated filer ¨ Accelerated filer x Non-accelerated filer ¨ Smaller reporting company ¨ Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the filer has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(A) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes ¨ No x
The aggregate market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 29, 2018, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $663,613,344 based on the closing price of the common stock on the NYSE on such date. The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Common Stock, as of February 22, 2019 was 42,901,894.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Certain information to be included in the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement, to be filed not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the registrant's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is incorporated by reference into PART III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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| TABLE OF CONTENTS | |
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| FINANCIAL INFORMATION | Page No. |
PART I | |
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1. | | | |
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1A. | | | |
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1B. | | | |
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2. | | | |
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3. | | | |
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4. | | | |
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PART II | |
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5. | | | |
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6. | | | |
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7. | | | |
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7A. | | | |
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8. | | | |
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9. | | | |
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9A. | | | |
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9B. | | Other Information | 79 |
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PART III | |
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10. | | | |
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11. | | Executive Compensation | 79 |
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12. | | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters | 79 |
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13. | | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | 79 |
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14. | | Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 80 |
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PART IV | |
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15. | | | |
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16. | | | |
PART I
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in each forward-looking statement. Certain factors that might cause such a difference are discussed in this report, including in the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should also review the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of various risks that could adversely affect us. Unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, references to the "Company", "we", "our" or "us" refers to Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc., a Maryland corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Preferred Apartment Communities Operating Partnership, L.P., or our Operating Partnership.
Development of the Company
Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. was formed as a Maryland corporation on September 18, 2009 and has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, effective with its tax year ended December 31, 2011. The Company was formed primarily to own and operate multifamily properties and, to a lesser extent, own and operate student housing properties, grocery anchored shopping centers and strategically located, well leased class A office buildings, all in select targeted markets throughout the United States. As part of our business strategy, we may enter into forward purchase contracts or purchase options for to-be-built multifamily communities and we may make real estate related loans, provide deposit arrangements, or provide performance assurances, as may be necessary or appropriate, in connection with the development of multifamily communities. As a secondary strategy, we may acquire or originate senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in multifamily properties, membership or partnership interests in multifamily properties and other multifamily related assets and invest a portion of our assets in other real estate related investments, including other income-producing property types, senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in other income-producing property types, membership or partnership interests in other income-producing property types as determined by our manager as appropriate for us.
Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the Operating Partnership. The Company controls the Operating Partnership through its sole general partnership interest and has and plans to continue to conduct substantially all its business through the Operating Partnership. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company held an approximate 97.5% weighted average ownership percentage in the Operating Partnership.
Pursuant to the First Amendment to the Fifth Amended and Restated Management Agreement, which was effective January 1, 2016, we replaced the acquisition fee owed to the Manager in connection with acquiring real property with a loan coordination fee that was payable in relation to the amount of new debt financed or outstanding debt assumed secured directly by any of our owned real estate asset or the additional amount of any supplemental financing secured directly any of our owned real estate assets. In addition, the First Amendment to the Fifth Amended and Restated Management Agreement changes the name of the fee paid on loans originated by the Company from an "acquisition fee" to a "loan coordination fee."
As of July 1, 2017, the Manager reduced the loan coordination fee from 1.6% to 0.6% of the amount of assumed, new incremental or refinanced debt which leverages acquired real estate assets. In addition, the Manager reinstated a 1% acquisition fee charged on the cost of acquired real estate assets, which had historically been charged prior to its replacement effective January 1, 2016 by the 1.6% loan coordination fee. These changes were put in place to reflect a shift in the efforts of the Manager in property acquisitions.
As referred to herein, the Sixth Amended and Restated Management Agreement, as it may be amended, effective as of June 3, 2016, among the Company, our Operating Partnership and our Manager is referred to as the Management Agreement. We have no employees of our own; our Manager provides all managerial and administrative personnel to us pursuant to the Management Agreement. We also pay asset management fees, general and administrative expense fees, property management fees, construction management fees, leasing fees related to the management of our real estate portfolio (which may be waived solely at our discretion and recognized at a later date upon certain conditions), and disposition fees on the sale of a real estate asset. In addition, our Manager has no obligation to provide our board of directors with prior notice of a proposed investment transaction, but leaves intact our Manager’s obligation to notify the board of directors within 30 days following completion of an investment transaction.
Both our Manager and our Operating Partnership are related parties to us.
At December 31, 2018, our portfolio of current and potential real estate assets consisted of:
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| | Owned as of December 31, 2018 | | Potential additions from real estate loan investment portfolio (1) (2) | | Potential total | |
| Multifamily communities: | | | | | | |
| Properties | 32 |
| | 10 |
| | 42 |
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| Units | 9,768 |
| | 3,047 |
| | 12,815 |
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| Grocery-anchored shopping centers: | | | | | | |
| Properties | 45 |
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| | 45 |
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| Gross leasable area (square feet) | 4,730,695 |
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| | 4,730,695 |
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| Student housing properties: | | | | | | |
| Properties | 7 |
| | 2 |
| | 9 |
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| Units | 1,679 |
| | 423 |
| | 2,102 |
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| Beds | 5,208 |
| | 1,359 |
| | 6,567 |
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| Office buildings: | | | | | | |
| Properties | 7 |
| | 1 |
| | 8 |
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| Rentable square feet | 2,578,000 |
| | 187,000 |
| | 2,765,000 |
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| (1) We evaluate each project individually and we make no assurance that we will acquire any of the underlying properties from our real estate loan investment portfolio. |
| (2) The Company has terminated various purchase option agreements in exchange for termination fees. These properties are excluded from the potential additions from our real estate loan investment portfolio. |
We completed our initial public offering, or the IPO, on April 5, 2011. Our common stock, par value $.01 per share, or our Common Stock, is traded on the NYSE exchange under the symbol "APTS."
Investment Strategy
We seek to maximize returns for our stockholders by employing efficient management techniques to grow income and create asset value. Our investment strategies may include, without limitation, the following:
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• | Acquiring Class “A” multifamily assets in performing and stable markets throughout the United States; these properties, we believe, will generate sustainable and growing cash flow from operations sufficient to allow us to cover the dividends that we expect to declare and pay and which we believe will have the potential for capital appreciation. These multifamily assets will generally be located in metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, with at least one million people which we expect will generate job growth and where we believe new multifamily development of comparable properties is able to be absorbed at attractive rental rates. |
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• | Acquiring Class “A” multifamily assets that are intended to be financed with longer-term, assumable, fixed-rate debt typically provided by FHA/HUD programs. |
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• | Acquiring Class “A” multifamily assets that present an opportunity to implement a value-add program whereby the properties can be upgraded or improved physically to better take advantage of the market. |
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• | Acquiring grocery-anchored shopping centers, typically anchored by one of the market-dominant grocers in that particular market. |
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• | Acquiring leading Class “A” office properties in high-growth markets across the U.S. |
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• | Acquiring Class “A” student housing properties at major universities around the United States. These assets will be located proximate to campuses with demonstrated track records of occupancy and rental rates. The universities served by these assets should generally be larger institutions with stated policies of increased enrollment and market trends that indicate new development is being or should be absorbed at attractive rental rates. |
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• | Originating real estate investment loans secured by interests in multifamily communities, membership or partnership interests in multifamily communities, other multifamily related assets, student housing properties, grocery-anchored shopping centers and office properties. |
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• | It is our policy to acquire any of our target assets primarily for income, and only secondarily for possible capital gain. As part of our business strategy, we may enter into forward purchase contracts or purchase options for to-be-built multifamily communities and we may make real estate related loans, provide deposit arrangements, or provide performance assurances, as may be necessary or appropriate, in connection with the construction of multifamily communities and other properties. |
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• | We also may invest in real estate related debt, including, but not limited to, newly or previously originated first mortgage loans on multifamily properties that meet our investment criteria, which are performing or non-performing, newly or previously originated real estate related loans on multifamily properties that meet our investment criteria (second or subsequent mortgages), which are performing or non-performing, and tranches of securitized loans (pools of collateralized mortgaged-backed securities) on multifamily properties that meet our investment criteria, which are performing or non-performing. In connection with our investments in real estate related debt, we may negotiate the inclusion of exclusive purchase options on the to-be-developed properties. These purchase options may include a fixed purchase price set at the time we enter into the loan, or a purchase price which is calculated as a certain discount from market capitalization rates at the date of exercise of such purchase option. Certain of the purchase options we hold may be settled by cash payments to us in the event we elect not to acquire the underlying property. |
Any asset acquisitions from affiliated third parties have been, and will continue to be, subject to approval by our conflicts committee comprised solely of independent directors. Our Manager's investment committee will periodically review our investment portfolio and its compliance with our investment guidelines and policies, and provide our board of directors an investment report at the end of each quarter in conjunction with its review of our quarterly results. Our investment guidelines, the assets in our portfolio, the decision to utilize leverage, and the appropriate levels of leverage are periodically reviewed by our board of directors as part of their oversight of our Manager. Our board of directors may amend or revise our investment guidelines without a vote of the stockholders.
Financing Strategy
We intend to finance the acquisition of investments using various sources of capital, as described in the section entitled “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Included in this discussion are details regarding (i) our offering of $1.5 billion Units, consisting of one share of series A redeemable preferred stock, or Series A Preferred Stock, and one warrant exercisable into 20 shares of Common Stock, or Series A Units, (ii) our offering of up to $150 million of Common Stock pursuant to our "at the market" offering, or the 2016 ATM Offering, which commenced with the first settlement in August 2016, and (iii) our offering of 500,000 shares of our series m preferred stock, or mShares, pursuant to our mShares Offering. Our mShares Offering was declared effective on December 2, 2016 and our offering of 1,500,000 Series A Units, or our $1.5 Billion Unit Offering, was declared effective on February 14, 2017. The Series A Preferred Stock and our mShares are collectively referred to as our Preferred Stock.
We intend to utilize leverage in making our investments. The number of different investments we will acquire will be affected by numerous factors, including the amount of funds available to us. By operating on a leveraged basis, we will have more funds available for our investments. This will allow us to make more investments than would otherwise be possible, resulting in a larger and more diversified portfolio. See the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information about the risks related to operating on a leveraged basis.
We generally intend to target leverage levels (secured and unsecured) between 50% and 65% of the fair market value of our tangible assets (including our real estate assets, real estate loans, notes receivable, accounts receivable and cash and cash equivalents) on a portfolio basis. As of December 31, 2018, our outstanding debt (both secured and unsecured) was approximately 52.4% of the value of our tangible assets on a portfolio basis based on our estimates of fair market value at December 31, 2018. Neither our charter nor our by-laws contain any limitation on the amount of leverage we may use. Our investment guidelines, which can be amended by our board without stockholder approval, limit our borrowings (secured and unsecured) to 75% of the cost of our tangible assets at the time of any new borrowing. These targets, however, will not apply to individual real estate assets or investments. The amount of leverage we will place on particular investments will depend on our Manager's assessment of a variety of factors which may include the anticipated liquidity and price volatility of the assets in our investment portfolio, the potential for losses and extension risk in the portfolio, the availability and cost of financing the asset, our opinion of the creditworthiness of our financing counterparties, the health of the U.S. economy and the health of the commercial real estate market in general. In addition, factors such as our outlook on interest rates, changes in the yield curve slope, the level and volatility of
interest rates and their associated credit spreads, the underlying collateral of our assets and our outlook on credit spreads relative to our outlook on interest rate and economic performance could all impact our decision and strategy for financing the target assets. At the date of acquisition of each asset, we anticipate that the investment cost for such asset will be substantially similar to its fair market value. However, subsequent events, including changes in the fair market value of our assets, could result in our exceeding these limits. Finally, we intend to acquire all our properties through separate single purpose entities and intend to finance each of these properties using debt financing techniques for that property alone, without any cross-collateralization to our other properties or any guarantees by us or our Operating Partnership. We have an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, or Credit Facility, with Key Bank, N.A., or Key Bank. The Credit Facility provides for our $200.0 million revolving credit facility, or the Revolving Line of Credit. Other than with regard to our Credit Facility, as of December 31, 2018, we held no debt at the Company or operating partnership levels, had no cross-collateralization of our real estate mortgages, and had no contingent liabilities at the Company or operating partnership levels with regard to our secured mortgage debt on our properties.
Leverage may be obtained from a variety of sources, including the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), commercial banks, credit companies, the Federal Housing Administration ("FHA"), a unit of the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), insurance companies, pension funds, endowments, financial services companies and other institutions who wish to provide debt financing for our assets.
Our secured and unsecured aggregate borrowings are intended by us to be reasonable in relation to our net assets and will be reviewed by our board of directors at least quarterly. In determining whether our borrowings are reasonable in relation to our net assets, we expect that our board of directors will consider many factors, including the lending standards of government-sponsored enterprises, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other companies for loans in connection with the financing of multifamily properties, the leverage ratios of publicly traded and non-traded REITs with similar investment strategies, whether we have positive leverage (in that, the board of directors will compare the capitalization rates of our properties to the interest rates on the indebtedness of such properties) and general market and economic conditions. There is no limitation on the amount that we may borrow for any single investment or the number of mortgages that may be placed on any one property.
Branding Strategy
Our Manager has branded, and intends to brand, all apartment communities owned by us as “A Preferred Apartment Community” which we believe signifies outstanding brand and management standards, and has obtained all rights to the trademarks, including federal registration of the trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to secure such brand in connection with such branding. We believe these campaigns will enhance each individual property's presence in relation to other properties within that marketplace.
On September 17, 2010, we entered into a trademark license and assignment agreement pursuant to which we granted an exclusive, worldwide, fully-paid, royalty-free license of all our trademarks to our Manager and agreed to assign all of our trademarks to our Manager upon the applications related to our trademarks being successfully converted to use based applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Pursuant to this agreement, in March 2012, we assigned these trademarks to our Manager and concurrently entered into a royalty-free license agreement for these trademarks with us as licensee. Similarly, in March 2012, our Manager entered into a royalty-free license agreement with us as licensee with respect to all other intellectual property of the Manager. The license agreements will terminate automatically upon termination of the Management Agreement, or upon a material breach of a license agreement that remains uncured for more than 30 days after receipt of notice of such breach. Following such termination, we will be required to enter into a new arrangement with our Manager in order to continue our rights to use our Manager's intellectual property. There can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into such arrangements on terms acceptable to us.
Environmental Regulation
We are subject to regulation at the federal, state and municipal levels and are at risk for potential liability should conditions at our properties or our actions or inaction result in damage to the environment or to persons or properties. These conditions could include the potential presence or growth of mold, potential leaks from current or former underground or above-ground storage tanks, breakage or leaks from sewer lines and risks pertaining to the management or disposal of wastes and chemicals. We could be liable for the potential costs of compliance, property damage, restoration and other costs which could occur without regard to our fault or knowledge of such conditions.
In the course of acquiring and owning real estate assets, we typically engage an independent environmental consulting firm to perform a phase I environmental assessment (and if appropriate, a phase II assessment) to identify and mitigate these risks as part of our due diligence process. We believe these assessment reports provide a reasonable basis for discovery of potential adverse environmental conditions prior to acquisition. If any potential environmental risks or conditions are discovered during
our due diligence process, the potential costs of remediation are assessed carefully and factored into the cost of acquisition, assuming the identified risks and factors are deemed to be manageable and reasonable. Some risks or conditions may be identified that are significant enough to cause us to abandon the possibility of acquiring a given property. As of December 31, 2018, we have no knowledge of any material claims made or pending against us with regard to environmental matters for which we could be found liable, nor are we aware of any potential hazards to the environment related to any of our properties which could reasonably be expected to result in a material loss.
Competition
The multifamily housing industry is highly fragmented and we compete for residents with a large number of other quality apartment communities in our target markets which are owned by public and private companies, including other REITs, many of which are larger and have more resources than our Company. The number of competitive multifamily properties in a particular market could adversely affect our ability to lease our multifamily communities, as well as the rents we are able to charge. In addition, other forms of residential properties, including single family housing and town homes, provide housing alternatives to potential residents of quality apartment communities. The factors on which we focus to compete for residents in our multifamily communities include our high level of resident service, the quality of our apartment communities (including our landscaping and amenity offerings), and the desirability of our locations. Resident leases at our apartment communities are priced competitively based on levels of supply and demand within our target markets and we believe our communities offer a compelling value to prospective residents.
Similarly, competition for tenants and acquisition of existing centers in the grocery-anchored shopping center sector in our target markets is considerable, consisting of public and private companies, pension funds, high net worth individuals and family offices. In addition, a significant competitor in this sector are some of the grocery anchors themselves as they acquire land and build their own stores or acquire the entire center where they are the anchor. We are faced with the challenge of maintaining high occupancy rates with a financially stable tenant base. In order to attract quality prospective tenants and retain current tenants upon expiration of their leases, we focus on improving the design and visibility of our centers, building strong relationships with our tenants, and reducing excess operating costs and increasing tenant satisfaction through proactive asset and property management. We target acquisitions in markets with solid surrounding demographics, quality underlying real estate locations, and centers where our asset management approach can provide an environment conducive to creating sales productivity for our tenants.
We compete with other primarily institutional-quality owners and investors in the business of acquiring, investing to develop, leasing and operating office properties. We leverage relationships, track record, and the high quality of our physical assets and locations to compete successfully. Additional principal factors of competition are the leasing terms (including rental rates and concessions or allowances offered) and the terms of any other investment activity such as real estate loan investments in new development. Additionally, our ability to compete depends upon, among other factors, trends of the national and local economies, investment alternatives, financial condition and operating results of current and prospective tenants, availability and cost of capital, construction and renovation costs, taxes, utilities, governmental regulations, legislation and population trends.
Available Information
The Company makes available all reports which are filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after such material has been filed with, or furnished to, the SEC for viewing or download free of charge at the Company's website: www.pacapts.com. You may obtain information concerning the operation of the SEC's Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains a website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements and information statements, and other information, which you may obtain free of charge.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating us and our business. Our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face, but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that, as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we deem immaterial also may harm our business. This “Risk Factors” section contains references to our “capital stock” and to our “stockholders.” Unless expressly stated otherwise, the references to our “capital stock” represent our common stock and any class or series of our preferred stock, while the references to our “stockholders” represent holders of our common stock and any class or series of our preferred stock. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the references to our Preferred Stock refer to both our mShares and our Series A Preferred Stock.
Risks Related to an Investment in Our Company
Our ability to grow the Company and execute our business strategy may be impaired if we are unable to secure adequate financing.
Our ability to grow the Company and execute our business strategy depends on our access to an appropriate blend of debt financing, including unsecured lines of credit and other forms of secured and unsecured debt, and equity financing, including common and preferred equity. At December 31, 2018, we had letters of intent in place to refinance mortgage debt on our Lenox Village Town Center and Retreat at Lenox properties and to renew/extend our Credit Facility. Recently, domestic and international financial markets have experienced unusual volatility and uncertainty. Debt or equity financing may not be available in sufficient amounts, on favorable terms or at all. Returns on our assets and our ability to make acquisitions could be adversely affected by our inability to secure financing on reasonable terms, if at all. Additionally, if we issue additional equity securities to finance our investments instead of incurring debt (through our $1.5 Billion Unit Offering, offerings through our registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-211178), or the Shelf Registration Statement, our 2016 ATM Offering, our mShares Offering, or other offerings), the interests of our existing stockholders could be diluted.
Distributions paid from sources other than our net cash provided by operating activities, particularly from proceeds of any offerings of our securities, will result in us having fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and other real estate-related investments, which may adversely affect our ability to fund future distributions with net cash provided by operating activities and may adversely affect our stockholders' overall return.
We have paid distributions from sources other than from net cash provided by operating activities. If we do not generate sufficient net cash provided by operating activities and other sources, such as from borrowings, the sale of additional securities, advances from our Manager, our Manager's deferral, suspension and/or waiver of its fees and expense reimbursements, to fund distributions, we may use the proceeds from any offering of our securities. Moreover, our board of directors may change our distribution policy, in its sole discretion, at any time, except for distributions on our Preferred Stock, which would require approval by a supermajority vote of our Common stockholders. Distributions made from offering proceeds may be a return of capital to stockholders, from which we will have already paid offering expenses in connection with the related offering. We have not established any limit on the amount of proceeds from our securities offerings that may be used to fund distributions, except that, in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law, we may not make distributions that would: (1) cause us to be unable to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business; (2) cause our total assets to be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus senior liquidation preferences, if any; or (3) jeopardize our ability to qualify as a REIT.
If we fund distributions from the proceeds of an offering of our securities, we will have less funds available for acquiring properties or real estate-related investments. As a result, the return our stockholders realize on their investment may be reduced. Funding distributions from borrowings could restrict the amount we can borrow for investments, which may affect our profitability. Funding distributions with the sale of assets or the proceeds of an offering of our securities may affect our ability to generate net cash provided by operating activities. Funding distributions from the sale of our securities could dilute the interest of our common stockholders if we sell shares of our Common Stock or securities convertible or exercisable into shares of our Common Stock to third party investors. Payment of distributions from the mentioned sources could restrict our ability to generate sufficient net cash provided by operating activities, affect our profitability and/or affect the distributions payable to our stockholders upon a liquidity event, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on our stockholders.
We may suffer from delays in locating suitable investments, which could adversely affect the return on our stockholders' investment.
Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to make distributions to our stockholders is dependent upon our Manager's performance in the acquisition of, and arranging of financing for, investments, as well as our property managers' performance in the selection of residents and tenants and the negotiation of leases and our Manager's performance in the selection of retail tenants and the negotiation of leases. The current market for properties that meet our investment objectives is highly competitive, as is the leasing market for such properties. The more proceeds we raise in current and future offerings of our securities, the greater our challenge will be to invest all the net offering proceeds on attractive terms. Our stockholders will not have the opportunity to evaluate the terms of transactions or other economic or financial data concerning our investments. Our stockholders must rely entirely on the oversight of our board of directors, the management ability of our Manager and the performance of our Manager and property managers. We cannot be sure that our Manager will be successful in obtaining suitable investments on financially attractive terms.
Additionally, as a public company, we are subject to ongoing reporting requirements under the Exchange Act. Pursuant to the Exchange Act, we may be required to file with the SEC financial statements of properties we acquire and investments we make in real estate-related assets. To the extent any required financial statements are not available or cannot be obtained, we may not be able to acquire the investment. As a result, we may be unable to acquire certain properties or real estate-related assets that otherwise would be a suitable investment. We could suffer delays in our investment acquisitions due to these reporting requirements.
Furthermore, if we acquire properties prior to, during, or upon completion of construction, it will typically take several months following completion of construction to lease available space. Therefore, our stockholders could experience delays in the receipt of distributions attributable to those particular properties.
Delays we encounter in the selection and acquisition of investments could adversely affect our stockholders' returns. In addition, if we are unable to invest the proceeds of any offering of our securities in real properties and real estate-related assets in a timely manner, we will hold the proceeds of those offerings in an interest-bearing account, invest the proceeds in short-term, investment-grade investments or pay down our Credit Facility, which generate lower returns than we anticipate with our target assets, or, ultimately, liquidate. In such an event, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the returns to our stockholders would be adversely affected.
The cash distributions our stockholders receive may be less frequent or lower in amount than our stockholders expect.
Our board of directors will determine the amount and timing of distributions. In making this determination, our directors will consider all relevant factors, including the amount of cash available for distribution, capital expenditure and reserve requirements and general operational requirements. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will continue to generate sufficient available cash flow to fund distributions nor can we assure our stockholders that sufficient cash will be available to make distributions to our stockholders. As we are a growing company, it is more difficult for us to predict the amount of distributions our stockholders may receive and we may be unable to pay, maintain or increase distributions over time. Our inability to acquire properties or real estate-related investments may have a negative effect on our ability to generate sufficient cash flow from operations to pay distributions.
Further, if the aggregate amount of our distributions in any given year exceeds our earnings and profits (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes), the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the excess amount will be either (i) a return of capital or (ii) a gain from the sale or exchange of property to the extent that a stockholder's tax basis in our Common Stock equals or is reduced to zero as the result of our current or prior year distributions.
Upon the sale of any individual property, holders of our Preferred Stock do not have a priority over holders of our Common Stock regarding return of capital.
Holders of our Preferred Stock do not have a right to receive a return of capital prior to holders of our Common Stock upon the individual sale of a property. Depending on the price at which such property is sold, it is possible that holders of our Common Stock will receive a return of capital prior to the holders of our Preferred Stock, provided that any accrued but unpaid dividends have been paid in full to holders of Preferred Stock. It is also possible that holders of our Common Stock will receive additional distributions from the sale of a property (in excess of their capital attributable to the asset sold) before the holders of Preferred Stock receive a return of their capital.
Our stockholders' percentage of ownership may become diluted if we issue new shares of stock or other securities, and issuances of additional preferred stock or other securities by us may further subordinate the rights of the holders of our Common Stock.
We may make redemptions of Series A Preferred Stock or mShares in shares of our Common Stock. Although the number of redemptions are unknown, the number of shares to be issued in connection with such redemptions will fluctuate based on the price of our Common Stock. Any sales or perceived sales in the public market of shares of our Common Stock issued upon such redemptions could adversely affect the prevailing market prices of shares of our Common Stock. The issuance of Common Stock upon such redemptions or from the exercise of outstanding Warrants also would have the effect of reducing our net income per share. In addition, the existence of Preferred Stock may encourage short selling by market participants because redemptions could depress the market price of our Common Stock.
Our board of directors is authorized, without stockholder approval, to cause us to issue additional shares of our Preferred Stock or to raise capital through the issuance of additional preferred stock (including equity or debt securities convertible into preferred stock or our Common Stock), options, warrants and other rights, on such terms and for such consideration as our board of directors in its sole discretion may determine subject to the rules of NYSE. Any such issuance could result in dilution of the
equity of our stockholders. Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, authorize us to issue Common Stock or other equity or debt securities (a) to persons from whom we purchase multifamily communities, as part or all of the purchase price of the community, or (b) to our Manager in lieu of cash payments required under the Management Agreement or other contract or obligation. Our board of directors, in its sole discretion, may determine the value of any Common Stock or other equity or debt securities issued in consideration of multifamily communities acquired or services provided, or to be provided, to us.
Our charter also authorizes our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to designate and issue one or more classes or series of preferred stock in addition to the Preferred Stock (including equity or debt securities convertible into preferred stock) and to set or change the voting, conversion or other rights, preferences, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions and qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption of each class or series of shares so issued. If any additional preferred stock is publicly offered, the terms and conditions of such preferred stock (including any equity or debt securities convertible into preferred stock) will be set forth in a registration statement registering the issuance of such preferred stock or equity or debt securities convertible into preferred stock. Because our board of directors has the power to establish the preferences and rights of each class or series of preferred stock, it may afford the holders of any series or class of preferred stock preferences, powers and rights senior to the rights of holders of our Common Stock or the Preferred Stock. If we ever create and issue additional preferred stock or equity or debt securities convertible into Preferred Stock with a distribution preference over our Common Stock or the Preferred Stock, payment of any distribution preferences of such new outstanding preferred stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our Common Stock and our Preferred Stock. Further, holders of preferred stock are normally entitled to receive a preference payment if we liquidate, dissolve, or wind up before any payment is made to our common stockholders, likely reducing the amount common stockholders would otherwise receive upon such an occurrence. In addition, under certain circumstances, the issuance of additional preferred stock may delay, prevent, render more difficult or tend to discourage a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest, the assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities, or the removal of incumbent management.
Stockholders have no rights to buy additional shares of stock or other securities if we issue new shares of stock or other securities. We may issue common stock, convertible debt, preferred stock or warrants pursuant to a subsequent public offering or a private placement, or to sellers of properties we directly or indirectly acquire instead of, or in addition to, cash consideration. Stockholders who do not participate in any future stock issuances will experience dilution in the percentage of the issued and outstanding stock they own. In addition, depending on the terms and pricing of any additional offerings and the value of our investments, our stockholders also may experience dilution in the book value and fair market value of, and the amount of distributions paid on, their shares of our Common Stock or Preferred Stock.
Our internal control over financial reporting is effective only at the reasonable assurance level, and undetected errors could adversely affect our reputation, results of operations and stock price.
The accuracy of our financial reporting depends on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements and may not prevent or detect misstatements because of its inherent limitations. These limitations include the possibility of human error, inadequacy or circumvention of internal controls and fraud. If we do not attain and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or implement controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of our financial statements, we could be unable to file accurate financial reports on a timely basis, and our reputation, results of operations and stock price could be materially adversely affected.
Breaches of our data security could materially harm our business and reputation.
Information security risks have generally increased in recent years due to the rise in new technologies and the increased sophistication and activities of perpetrators of cyber attacks around the world. We collect and retain certain personal information provided by our residents and tenants. In addition, we engage third party service providers that may have access to such personally identifiable information in connection with providing necessary information technology and security and other business services to us. While we have implemented a variety of security measures to protect the confidentiality of this information and periodically review and improve our security measures, there can be no assurance that we will be able to prevent unauthorized access to this information. Any breach of our data security measures and loss of this information may result in legal liability and costs (including damages and penalties), as well as damage to our reputation, that could materially and adversely affect our business and financial performance, and require significant management attention and resources to remedy the damages and penalties that result.
The properties we operate may not produce the cash flow required to meet our REIT minimum distribution requirements, and we may decide to borrow funds to satisfy such requirements, which could adversely affect our overall financial performance.
We may decide to borrow funds in order to meet the REIT minimum distribution requirements even if our management believes that the then prevailing market conditions generally are not favorable for such borrowings or that such borrowings would not be advisable in the absence of certain tax considerations. If we borrow money to meet the REIT minimum distribution requirement or for other working capital needs, our expenses will increase, our net income will be reduced by the amount of interest we pay on the money we borrow and we will be obligated to repay the money we borrow from future earnings or by selling assets, any or all of which may decrease future distributions to our stockholders.
To maintain our status as a REIT, we may be forced to forego otherwise attractive opportunities, which may delay or hinder our ability to meet our investment objectives and may reduce our stockholders' overall return.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must satisfy certain tests on an ongoing basis concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature of our assets and the amounts we distribute to our stockholders. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at times when it would be more advantageous to reinvest cash in our business or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits and the value of our stockholders' investment.
There is no public market for our Preferred Stock or Warrants and we do not expect one to develop.
There is no public market for our Preferred Stock or Warrants, and we currently have no plan to list these securities on a securities exchange or to include these shares for quotation on any national securities market. We cannot assure our stockholders as to the liquidity of any trading market that may develop for our Preferred Stock or Warrants. Additionally, our charter contains restrictions on the ownership and transfer of our securities, and these restrictions may inhibit the ability to sell the Preferred Stock or Warrants promptly or at all. Furthermore, the Warrants will expire four years from the date of issuance. If a holder is able to sell the Preferred Stock or Warrants, they may only be able to sell them at a substantial discount from the price paid. Accordingly, our stockholders may be required to bear the financial risk of their investment in the shares of Preferred Stock indefinitely.
We will be required to terminate the mShares Offering and the $1.5 Billion Unit Offering if our Common Stock is no longer listed on the NYSE or another national securities exchange.
The classes of Preferred Stock are a "covered security" under the Securities Act and therefore are not subject to registration in the various states in which they may be sold due to their seniority to our Common Stock, which is listed on the NYSE. If our Common Stock is no longer listed on the NYSE or another appropriate exchange, we will be required to register the offering of our Units and mShares in any state in which we subsequently offer the Units and mShares. This would require the termination of the $1.5 Billion Unit offering and the mShares Offering and could result in our raising an amount of gross proceeds that is substantially less than the amount of the gross proceeds we expect to raise if the maximum offering is sold. This would reduce our ability to purchase additional properties and limit the diversification of our portfolio.
The Warrants in our $1.5 Billion Unit Offering are not "covered securities" under the Securities Act. The Warrants are subject to state registration in those states that do not have any exemption for securities convertible into a listed security and the offering must be declared effective in order to sell the Warrants in these states.
Our ability to redeem shares of Preferred Stock for cash may be limited by Maryland law.
Under Maryland law, a corporation may redeem stock as long as, after giving effect to the redemption, the corporation is able to pay its debts as they become due in the usual course (the equity solvency test) and its total assets exceed its total liabilities (the balance sheet solvency test). The Company may redeem its shares of Preferred Stock in its choice of either cash or Common Stock, at its sole discretion. If the Company is insolvent at any time when a redemption of shares of Preferred Stock is required to be made, the Company may not be able to effect such redemption for cash.
The Preferred Stock are senior securities, and rank senior to our Common Stock with respect to dividends and payments upon liquidation.
The rights of the holders of shares of our Preferred Stock rank senior to the rights of the holders of shares of our Common Stock as to dividends and payments upon liquidation. Unless full cumulative dividends on our shares of Preferred Stock for all past dividend periods have been declared and paid (or set apart for payment), we will not declare or pay dividends with respect
to any shares of our Common Stock for any period. Upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our Company, the holders of shares of our Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a liquidation preference of $1,000 per share, or the Stated Value, plus all accrued but unpaid dividends, prior and in preference to any distribution to the holders of shares of our Common Stock or any other class of our equity securities.
The Preferred Stock will be subordinate in right of payment to any corporate level debt that we incur in the future, therefore our stockholders' interests could be diluted by the issuance of additional preferred stock, and by other transactions.
The Preferred Stock will be subordinate in right of payment to any corporate level debt that we incur in the future. Future debt we incur may include restrictions on our ability to pay dividends on our Preferred Stock. The issuance of additional preferred stock on a parity with or senior to the Preferred Stock would dilute the interests of the holders of the Preferred Stock, and any issuance of preferred stock senior to the Preferred Stock or of additional indebtedness could affect our ability to pay dividends on, redeem or pay the liquidation preference on the Preferred Stock. While the terms of the Preferred Stock limit our ability to issue shares of a class or series of preferred stock senior in ranking to the Preferred Stock, such terms do not restrict our ability to authorize or issue shares of a class or series of preferred stock with rights to distributions or upon liquidation that are on parity with the Preferred Stock or to incur additional indebtedness. The articles supplementary of the Preferred Stock do not contain any provision affording the holders of the Preferred Stock protection in the event of a highly leveraged or other transaction, including a merger or the sale, lease or conveyance of all or substantially all of our assets or business, that might adversely affect the holders of the Preferred Stock.
We will be able to call our shares of Preferred Stock for redemption under certain circumstances without our stockholders' consent.
We will have the ability to call the outstanding shares of Preferred Stock after ten years following the date of original issuance of such shares of Preferred Stock. At that time, we will have the right to redeem, at our option, the outstanding shares of Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at 100% of the Stated Value, plus any accrued and unpaid dividends. We have the right, in our sole discretion, to pay the redemption price in cash or in equal value of our Common Stock, based upon the volume weighted average price of our Common Stock for the 20 trading days prior to the redemption.
Risks Related to Our Organization, Structure and Management
We are dependent upon our Manager and its affiliates to conduct our operations, and therefore, any adverse changes in the financial health of our Manager or its affiliates, or our relationship with any of them, could hinder our operating performance and the return on our stockholders' investment.
We are an externally advised REIT, which means that our Manager provides our management team and support personnel and administers our day-to-day business operations. We are dependent on our Manager and its affiliates to manage our operations and acquire and manage our portfolio of real estate assets. Our Manager will make all decisions with respect to the management of our Company, subject to the oversight of our board of directors. Our Manager will depend upon the fees and other compensation that it will receive from us in connection with the purchase, management and sale of our investments to conduct its operations, as well as a line of credit we extended to our manager that is secured by fees we owe them. Any adverse changes in the financial condition of, or our relationship with our Manager or its affiliates could hinder their ability to successfully manage our operations and our portfolio of investments.
Our success is dependent on the performance of our Manager.
We rely on the management ability of our Manager, subject to the oversight and approval of our board of directors. Accordingly, if our Manager suffers or is distracted by adverse financial or operational problems in connection with its operations or operations unrelated to us, our Manager may be unable to allocate time and/or resources to our operations. If our Manager is unable to allocate sufficient resources to oversee and perform our operations for any reason, we may be unable to achieve our investment objectives or to pay distributions to our stockholders.
If our Manager loses or is unable to retain or replace key personnel, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be hindered, which could adversely affect our ability to make distributions and the value of our stockholders' investment.
Our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of certain of our executive officers and other key personnel of our Manager. In particular, we depend on the skills and expertise of Daniel M. DuPree, our Chief Executive Officer,
and Leonard A. Silverstein, our President and Chief Operating Officer. Neither we nor our Manager have an employment agreement with any of our or its key personnel, including Mr. DuPree and Mr. Silverstein, and we cannot guarantee that all, or any, of such personnel, will remain affiliated with us or our Manager. If any of our key personnel were to cease their affiliation with our Manager, our operating results could suffer. Our Manager maintains key person life insurance that would provide our Manager with proceeds in the event of the death or disability of Mr. Silverstein and Joel T. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of New Market Properties.
We believe our future success depends upon our Manager's ability to hire and retain highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, and we cannot assure our stockholders that our Manager will be successful in attracting and retaining such skilled personnel. If our Manager loses or is unable to obtain the services of key personnel, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of our stockholders' investment in our Company may decline.
Furthermore, our Manager may retain independent contractors to provide various services for us, including administrative services, transfer agent services and professional services. Such contractors may have no fiduciary duty to our Manager or us and may not perform as expected or desired. Any such services provided by independent contractors will be paid for by us as an operating expense.
Payment of fees and cost reimbursements to our Manager and its affiliates and third parties will reduce cash available for investment and payment of distributions.
Our Manager and its affiliates and third parties will perform services for us in connection with, among other things, the offer and sale of our securities, including the performance of legal, accounting and financial reporting in connection therewith, the selection and acquisition of our investments; the management and leasing of our properties; the servicing of our mortgage, bridge, real estate or other loans; the administration of our other investments and the disposition of our assets. They will be paid substantial fees and cost reimbursements for these services. These fees and reimbursements will reduce the amount of cash available for investment or distributions to our stockholders.
If our Manager or its affiliates waive certain fees due to them, our results of operations and distributions may be artificially high.
From time to time, our Manager and/or its affiliates has agreed, and may agree in the future to waive all or a portion of the acquisition, asset management or other fees, compensation or incentives due to them, pay general administrative expenses or otherwise supplement stockholder returns in order to increase the amount of cash available to make distributions to stockholders. If our Manager and/or its affiliates choose to no longer waive or defer such fees, compensation and incentives or to cease paying general administrative expenses or supplementing stockholder returns, our results of operations will be lower than in previous periods and our stockholders' return on their investment in our Company could be negatively affected.
The Maryland General Corporation Law prohibits certain business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us to be acquired.
Under the Maryland General Corporation Law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an “interested stockholder” or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. An interested stockholder is defined as: (i) any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding voting stock of the corporation; or (ii) an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding voting stock of the corporation.
A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which the person otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. However, in approving a transaction, the board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board.
After the expiration of the five-year period described above, any business combination between the Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder must generally be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:
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• | 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of the then outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation; and |
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• | two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation, other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected, or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder. |
These super-majority vote requirements do not apply if the corporation's common stockholders receive a minimum price, as defined under the Maryland General Corporation Law, for their shares in the form of cash or other consideration in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares. The Maryland General Corporation Law also permits various exemptions from these provisions, including business combinations that are exempted by the board of directors before the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Pursuant to the statute, our board of directors has adopted a resolution exempting any business combination with our Manager or any of its affiliates. Consequently, the five-year prohibition and the super-majority vote requirements will not apply to business combinations between us and our Manager or any of its affiliates. As a result, our Manager or any of its affiliates may be able to enter into business combinations with us that may not be in the best interest of our stockholders, without compliance with the super-majority vote requirements and the other provisions of the statute. The business combination statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer.
Stockholders have limited control over changes in our policies and operations.
Our board of directors determines our major policies, including with regard to financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions. Our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies without a vote of the stockholders. Holders of our Preferred Stock have limited to no voting rights. Under our charter and the Maryland General Corporation Law, holders of our Common Stock generally have a right to vote only on the following matters:
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• | the election or removal of directors; |
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• | the amendment of our charter, except that our board of directors may amend our charter without stockholder approval to: |
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◦ | change the name or other designation or the par value of any class or series of stock and the aggregate par value of our stock; |
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◦ | increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock that we have the authority to issue; |
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◦ | increase or decrease the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we have the authority to issue; and |
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◦ | effect certain reverse stock splits; |
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• | our liquidation and dissolution; and |
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• | our being a party to a merger, consolidation, sale or other disposition of all or substantially all our assets or statutory share exchange. |
All other matters are subject to the discretion of our board of directors.
Our authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock and Preferred Stock may prevent a change in our control.
Our charter authorizes us to issue additional authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock or preferred stock, without stockholder approval, up to 415,066,666 shares. In addition, our board of directors may, without stockholder approval, amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of our stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue and classify or reclassify any unissued shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock and set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board of directors may establish a class or series of common stock or preferred stock that could delay or prevent a merger, third party tender offer or similar transaction or a change in incumbent management that might involve a premium price for our securities or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Because of our holding company structure, we depend on our Operating Partnership subsidiary and its subsidiaries for cash flow and we will be structurally subordinated in right of payment to the obligations of such Operating Partnership subsidiary and its subsidiaries.
We are a holding company with no business operations of our own. Our only significant asset is and will be the general and limited partnership interests in our Operating Partnership. We conduct, and intend to conduct, all our business operations through our Operating Partnership. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations is distributions from our Operating
Partnership and its subsidiaries of their net earnings and cash flows. We cannot assure our stockholders that our Operating Partnership or its subsidiaries will be able to, or be permitted to, make distributions to us that will enable us to make distributions to our stockholders from cash flows from operations. Each of our Operating Partnership's subsidiaries is or will be a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from such entities. In addition, because we are a holding company, your claims as stockholders will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations of our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries will be able to satisfy your claims as stockholders only after all our and our Operating Partnership's and its subsidiaries' liabilities and obligations have been paid in full.
Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover on claims against our directors and officers are limited, which could reduce our stockholders, and our recovery against them if they negligently cause us to incur losses.
The Maryland General Corporation Law provides that a director has no liability in such capacity if he performs his duties in good faith, in a manner he reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. A director who performs his or her duties in accordance with the foregoing standards should not be liable to us or any other person for failure to discharge his or her obligations as a director.
In addition, our charter provides that our directors and officers will not be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages unless the director or officer actually received an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services, or is adjudged to be liable to us or our stockholders based on a finding that his or her action, or failure to act, was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and was material to the cause of action adjudicated in the proceeding. Our charter also requires us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, to indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to any individual who is a present or former director or officer and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity or any individual who, while a director or officer and at our request, serves or has served as a director, officer, partner, trustee, member or manager of another corporation, real estate investment trust, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. With the approval of our board of directors, we may provide such indemnification and advance for expenses to any individual who served a predecessor of the Company in any of the capacities described above and any employee or agent of the Company or a predecessor of the Company, including our Manager and its affiliates.
We also are permitted to purchase and we currently maintain insurance or provide similar protection on behalf of any directors, officers, employees and agents, including our Manager and its affiliates, against any liability asserted which was incurred in any such capacity with us or arising out of such status. This may result in us having to expend significant funds, which will reduce the available cash for distribution to our stockholders.
If we internalize our management functions, the holders of our previously outstanding Common Stock could be diluted, and we could incur other significant costs associated with internalizing and being self-managed.
In the future, our board of directors may consider internalizing the functions performed for us by our Manager by acquiring our Manager's assets. The method by which we could internalize these functions could take many forms. There is no assurance that internalizing our management functions will be beneficial to us and our stockholders. Such an acquisition could also result in dilution of our stockholders if common stock or securities convertible into common stock are issued in the internalization and could reduce earnings per share and funds from operations attributable to common stockholders and unitholders, or FFO, as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, or NAREIT. For example, we may not realize the perceived benefits or we may not be able to properly integrate a new staff of managers and employees or we may not be able to effectively replicate the services provided previously by our Manager or its affiliates. Internalization transactions involving the acquisition of managers affiliated with entity sponsors have also, in some cases, been the subject of litigation. Even if these claims are without merit, we could be forced to spend significant amounts of time and money defending claims which would reduce the amount of time and funds available for us to invest in properties or other investments and to pay distributions. All these factors could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions.
Our stockholders' investment returns may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
We are not registered, and do not intend to register ourselves or any of our subsidiaries, as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. If we become obligated to register the company or any of our subsidiaries as an investment company, the registered entity would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act imposing, among other things, limitations on capital structure, restrictions on specified investments, prohibitions on transactions with affiliates and compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations that would significantly change our operations.
We intend to conduct our operations, directly and through wholly owned and majority owned subsidiaries, so that we and each of our subsidiaries are exempt from registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, a company is not deemed to be an “investment company” if it neither is, nor holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, nor proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act, a company is not deemed to be an “investment company” if it neither is engaged, nor proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and does not own or propose to acquire “investment securities” having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis.
We believe that we and most, if not all, of our wholly owned and majority owned subsidiaries will not be considered investment companies under either Section 3(a)(1)(A) or Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. If we or any of our wholly owned or majority owned subsidiaries would ever inadvertently fall within one of the definitions of “investment company,” we intend to rely on the exception provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. Under Section 3(c)(5)(C), the SEC staff generally requires a company to maintain at least 55% of its assets directly in qualifying assets and at least 80% of qualifying assets in a broader category of real estate related assets to qualify for this exception. Mortgage-related securities may or may not constitute qualifying assets, depending on the characteristics of the mortgage-related securities, including the rights that we have with respect to the underlying loans. The Company's ownership of mortgage-related securities, therefore, is limited by provisions of the Investment Company Act and SEC staff interpretations.
The method we use to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action positions taken by the SEC staff in the past. These no-action positions were issued in accordance with factual situations that may be substantially different from the factual situations we may face, and a number of these no-action positions were issued more than 20 years ago. No assurance can be given that the SEC staff will concur with our classification of our assets. In addition, the SEC staff may, in the future, issue further guidance that may require us to re-classify our assets for purposes of qualifying for an exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act. If we are required to re-classify our assets, we may no longer be in compliance with the exclusion from the definition of an “investment company” provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.
A change in the value of any of our assets could cause us or one or more of our wholly owned or majority owned subsidiaries to fall within the definition of “investment company” and negatively affect our ability to maintain our exemption from regulation under the Investment Company Act. To avoid being required to register us or any of our subsidiaries as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets we would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we may have to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise have acquired or may have to forgo opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire and would be important to our investment strategy.
As part of our Manager's obligations under the Management Agreement, our Manager will agree to refrain from taking any action which, in its sole judgment made in good faith, would subject us to regulation under the Investment Company Act. Failure to maintain an exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act would require us to significantly restructure our business plan. For example, because affiliate transactions are generally prohibited under the Investment Company Act, we would not be able to enter into transactions with any of our affiliates if we are required to register as an investment company, and we may be required to terminate our Management Agreement and any other agreements with affiliates, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to operate our business and pay distributions. If we were required to register us as an investment company but failed to do so, we would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and criminal and civil actions could be brought against us. In addition, our contracts would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of us and liquidate our business.
Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest
Our Manager, our executive officers and their affiliates may face competing demands relating to their time, and if inadequate time is devoted to our business, our stockholders' investment may be negatively impacted.
We rely on our executive officers and the executive officers and employees of our Manager and its affiliates for the day-to-day operation of our business. These persons also conduct or may conduct in the future day-to-day operations of other programs and entities sponsored by or affiliated with our Manager. Because these persons have or may have such interests in other real estate programs and engage in other business activities, they may experience conflicts of interest in allocating their time and resources among our business and these other activities. The amount of time that our Manager and its affiliates spend on our business will vary from time to time and is expected to be greater while we are raising money and acquiring investments. During times of intense activity in other programs and ventures, they may devote less time and fewer resources to our business than are necessary or appropriate to manage our business. We expect that as our real estate activities expand, our Manager will attempt to hire additional employees who would devote substantially all their time to our business. There is no assurance that our Manager will devote adequate time to our business. If our Manager or any of its respective affiliates suffers or is distracted by adverse financial or operational problems in connection with its operations unrelated to us, it may allocate less time and resources to our operations. If any of the foregoing events occur, the returns on our investments, our ability to make distributions to stockholders and the value of our stockholders' investment may suffer.
Our Manager, our executive officers and their affiliates may face conflicts of interest, and these conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, which could negatively impact our stockholders' investment.
Our executive officers and the employees of our Manager and its respective affiliates on whom we rely could make substantial profits as a result of investment opportunities allocated to entities other than us. As a result, these individuals could pursue transactions that may not be in our best interest, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and our stockholders' investment. Our Manager and its affiliates may be engaged in other activities that could result in potential conflicts of interest with the services that they provide to us.
Our Manager and its affiliates will receive substantial fees from us, which could result in our Manager and its affiliates taking actions that are not necessarily in the best interest of our stockholders.
Our Manager and its affiliates will receive substantial fees from us, including an asset management fee based on the total value of our assets, and its affiliates will receive fees based on our revenues, which, in each case, could incent our Manager to use higher levels of leverage to finance investments or accumulate assets to increase fees than would otherwise be in our best interests. These fees could influence our Manager's advice to us, as well as the judgment of the affiliates of our Manager who serve as our officers and directors. Therefore, considerations relating to their compensation from other programs could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders, which could hurt our income and, as a result, our ability to make distributions to stockholders and/or lead to a decline in the value of our stockholders' investment.
Properties acquired from affiliates of our Manager may be at a price higher than we would pay if the transaction were the result of arm's-length negotiations.
The prices we pay to affiliates of our Manager for our properties may be equal to the prices paid by them, plus the costs incurred by them relating to the acquisition and financing of the properties, or if the price to us is in excess of such cost, substantial justification for such excess may exist and such excess may be reasonable and consistent with current market conditions as determined by independent members of the conflicts committee of our board of directors. Substantial justification for a higher price could result from improvements to a property by the affiliate of our Manager or increases in market value of the property during the period of time the property is owned by the affiliate as evidenced by an appraisal of the property. In the event we were to acquire properties from one of our affiliates, our proposed purchase prices will be based upon fair market values determined in good faith by our Manager, utilizing, for example, independent appraisals and competitive bidding if the assets are marketed to the public, with any actual or perceived conflicts of interest approved by independent members of the conflicts committee of our board of directors. These prices may not be the subject of arm's-length negotiations, which could mean that the acquisitions may be on terms less favorable to us than those negotiated in an arm's-length transaction. When acquiring properties from our Manager and its affiliates, we may pay more for particular properties than we would have in an arm's-length transaction, which would reduce our cash available for other investments or distribution to our stockholders.
We may purchase real properties from persons with whom affiliates of our Manager have prior business relationships, which may impact the purchase terms, and as a result, affect our stockholders' investment.
If we purchase properties from third parties who have sold, or may sell, properties to our Manager or its affiliates, our Manager may experience a conflict between our current interests and its interest in preserving any ongoing business relationship with these sellers. As a result of this conflict, the terms of any transaction between us and such third parties may not reflect the terms that we could receive in the market on an arm's-length basis. If the terms we receive in a transaction are less favorable to us, our results from operations may be adversely affected.
The absence of arm's-length bargaining may mean that our agreements may not be as favorable to our stockholders as they otherwise could have been.
Any existing or future agreements between us and our Manager or any of its respective affiliates were not and will not be reached through arm's-length negotiations. Thus, such agreements may require us to pay more than we would if we were using unaffiliated third parties. The Management Agreement, the operating partnership agreement of our Operating Partnership and the terms of the compensation to our Manager and its affiliates or distributions to our Manager were not arrived at through arm's-length negotiations. The terms of the Management Agreement, the operating partnership agreement of our Operating Partnership and similar agreements may not solely reflect our stockholders' best interest and may be overly favorable to the other party to such agreements including in terms of the substantial compensation to be paid to or the potential substantial distributions to these parties under these agreements.
Our Manager and its affiliates receive fees and other compensation based upon our investments, which may impact operating decisions, and as a result, affect our stockholders' investment.
Daniel M. DuPree is our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors and the Chief Executive Officer of our Manager. Leonard A. Silverstein is the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the board of directors and the President and Chief Operating Officer of our Manager. As a result, Mr. DuPree and Mr. Silverstein have a direct interest in all fees paid to our Manager and are in a position to make decisions about our investments in ways that could maximize fees payable to our Manager and its affiliates. Some compensation is payable to our Manager whether or not there is cash available to make distributions to our stockholders. To the extent this occurs, our Manager and its affiliates benefit from us retaining ownership and leveraging our assets, while our stockholders may be better served by the sale or disposition of, or lack of leverage on, the assets. For example, because asset management fees payable to our Manager are based on total assets under management, including assets purchased using debt, our Manager may have an incentive to incur a high level of leverage in order to increase the total amount of assets under management. In addition, our Manager's ability to receive fees and reimbursements depends on our revenues from continued investment in real properties and real estate-related investments. Therefore, the interest of our Manager and its affiliates in receiving fees may conflict with the interest of our stockholders in earning a return on an investment in our Common Stock or Preferred Stock.
If we invest in joint ventures, the objectives of our partners may conflict with our objectives.
In accordance with our acquisition strategies, we may make investments in joint ventures or other partnership arrangements between us and affiliates of our Manager or with unaffiliated third parties. We also may purchase properties in partnerships, co-tenancies or other co-ownership arrangements. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present when acquiring real estate directly, including, for example:
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• | joint venturers may share certain approval rights over major decisions; |
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• | a co-venturer, co-owner or partner may at any time have economic or business interests or goals which are or which become inconsistent with our business interests or goals, including inconsistent goals relating to the sale of properties held in the joint venture or the timing of termination or liquidation of the joint venture; |
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• | a co-venturer, co-owner or partner in an investment might become insolvent or bankrupt; |
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• | we may incur liabilities as a result of an action taken by our co-venturer, co-owner or partner; |
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• | a co-venturer, co-owner or partner may be in a position to take action contrary to our instructions or requests or contrary to our policies or objectives, including our policy with respect to qualifying and maintaining our qualification as a REIT; |
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• | disputes between us and our joint venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and directors from focusing their time and effort on our business and result in subjecting the properties owned by the applicable joint venture to additional risk; or |
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• | under certain joint venture arrangements, neither venture partner may have the power to control the venture, and an impasse could be reached which might have a negative influence on the joint venture. |
These events could result in, among other things, exposing us to liabilities of the joint venture in excess of our proportionate share of these liabilities. The partition rights of each owner in a jointly owned property could reduce the value of each portion of the divided property. Moreover, there is an additional risk neither co-venturer will have the power to control the venture, and under certain circumstances, an impasse could be reached regarding matters pertaining to the co-ownership arrangement, which might have a negative influence on the joint venture and decrease potential returns to our stockholders. In addition, the fiduciary obligation that our Manager or our board of directors may owe to our partner in an affiliated transaction may make it more difficult for us to enforce our rights.
If we have a right of first refusal or buy/sell right to buy out a co-venturer, co-owner or partner, we may be unable to finance such a buy-out if it becomes exercisable or we may be required to purchase such interest at a time when it would not otherwise be in our best interest to do so. If our interest is subject to a buy/sell right, we may not have sufficient cash, available borrowing capacity or other capital resources to allow us to elect to purchase an interest of a co-venturer subject to the buy/sell right, in which case we may be forced to sell our interest as the result of the exercise of such right when we would otherwise prefer to keep our interest. Finally, we may not be able to sell our interest in a joint venture if we desire to exit the venture.
Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate
Our real estate-related investments will be subject to the risks typically associated with real estate, which may have a material effect on our stockholders' investment.
Our loans held for investment generally will be directly or indirectly secured by a lien on real property, or the equity interests in an entity that owns real property, that, upon the occurrence of a default on the loan, could result in our acquiring ownership of the property. We will not know whether the values of the properties ultimately securing our loans will remain at or above the levels existing on the dates of origination of those loans. If the values of the underlying properties decline, our risk will increase because of the lower value of the security associated with such loans. In this manner, real estate values could impact the values of our loan investments. Any investments in mortgage-related securities, collateralized debt obligations and other real estate-related investments (including potential investments in real property) may be similarly affected by real estate property values. Therefore, our investments will be subject to the risks typically associated with real estate.
The value of real estate may be adversely affected by a number of risks, including:
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• | natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and sea rise; |
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• | acts of war or terrorism, including the consequences of terrorist attacks, such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001; |
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• | adverse changes in national and local economic and real estate conditions; |
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• | an oversupply of (or a reduction in demand for) space in the areas where particular properties are located and the attractiveness of particular properties to prospective residents or tenants; |
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• | changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance therewith and the potential for liability under applicable laws; |
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• | costs of complying with applicable environmental requirements and remediation and liabilities associated with environmental conditions affecting real properties; and |
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• | the potential for uninsured or underinsured property losses. |
The value of each property is affected significantly by its ability to generate cash flow and net income, which in turn depends on the amount of rental or other income that can be generated net of expenses required to be incurred with respect to the property. Many expenditures associated with properties (such as operating expenses and capital expenditures) cannot be reduced when there is a reduction in income from the properties. These factors may have a material adverse effect on the ability of the borrowers to pay their loans, as well as on the value that we can realize from assets we own or acquire.
Natural disasters could significantly reduce the value of our properties and our stockholders' investment.
Natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and floods could significantly reduce the value of our properties. While we will attempt to obtain adequate insurance coverage for natural disasters, insurance may be too expensive, may have significant deductibles, or may not properly compensate us for the long-term loss in value that a property may suffer if the area around it suffers a significant natural disaster. As a result, we may not be compensated for the loss in value. Any diminution
in the value of our properties or properties underlying an investment that is not fully reimbursed will reduce our profitability and adversely affect the value of our stockholders' investment.
We face possible risks associated with the physical effects of climate change.
The physical effects of climate change could have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations and business, particularly our properties along the East Coast and in Texas. To the extent climate change causes changes in weather patterns, our markets could experience increases in storm intensity and rising sea-levels. Over time, these conditions could result in declining demand for apartments or our inability to operate the affected properties at all. Climate change may also have indirect effects on our business by increasing the cost of (or making unavailable) property insurance on terms we find acceptable. There can be no assurance that climate change will not have a material adverse effect on our properties, operations or business.
We may suffer losses that are not covered by insurance.
If we suffer losses that are not covered by insurance or that are in excess of insurance coverage, we could lose invested capital and anticipated profits. We intend to obtain comprehensive insurance for our properties, including casualty, liability, fire, extended coverage and rental loss customarily, that is of the type obtained for similar properties and in amounts which our Manager determines are sufficient to cover reasonably foreseeable losses, and with policy specifications and insured limits that we believe are adequate and appropriate under the circumstances. Material losses may occur in excess of insurance proceeds with respect to any property as insurance proceeds may not provide sufficient resources to fund the losses. However, there are types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as losses due to acts of war, earthquakes, floods, wind, pollution, environmental matters or terrorism which are either uninsurable, not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to material limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments.
Because of our inability to obtain specialized coverage at rates that correspond to our perceived level of risk, we may not obtain insurance for acts of terrorism. We will continue to evaluate the availability and cost of additional insurance coverage from the insurance market. If we decide in the future to purchase insurance for terrorism, the cost could have a negative impact on our results of operations. If an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occurs on a property, we could lose our capital invested in the property, as well as the anticipated future revenues from the property and, in the case of debt that is recourse to us, would remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the property. Any loss of this nature would adversely affect us. Although we intend to adequately insure our properties, we can offer no assurance that we will successfully do so.
Compliance with the governmental laws, regulations and covenants that are applicable to our properties, including permit, license and zoning requirements, may adversely affect our ability to make future acquisitions or renovations, result in significant costs or delays and adversely affect our growth strategy.
Our properties are subject to various covenants and local laws and regulatory requirements, including permitting and licensing requirements. Local regulations, including municipal or local ordinances, zoning restrictions and restrictive covenants (some of which may be imposed by community developers), may restrict the use of our properties and may require us to obtain approval from local officials or community standards organizations at any time with respect to our properties, including prior to acquiring a property or when undertaking renovations of any of our existing properties. Among other things, these restrictions may relate to fire and safety, seismic, asbestos-containing materials abatement or management or hazardous material abatement requirements. We cannot assure our stockholders that existing regulatory policies will not adversely affect us or the timing or cost of any future acquisitions or renovations, or that additional regulations will not be adopted that would increase such delays or result in additional costs. Our growth strategy may be materially and adversely affected by our ability to obtain permits, licenses and zoning approvals. Our failure to obtain such permits, licenses and zoning approvals could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Compliance or failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or other safety regulations and requirements could result in substantial costs.
The Americans with Disabilities Act generally requires that public buildings, including “public accommodations," be made accessible to disabled persons. Noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines by the federal government or the award of damages to private litigants. If, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we are required to make substantial alterations and capital expenditures in one or more of our properties or in properties we acquire, including the removal of access barriers, it could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations, as well as the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Our properties are subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, such as state and local fire and life safety requirements. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we could incur fines or private damage awards. We do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether compliance with future requirements will require significant unanticipated expenditures that will affect our cash flow and results of operations.
Rising expenses could reduce cash flow and funds available for future acquisitions, which may materially affect cash available for distributions.
Our real estate assets may be subject to increases in tax rates, assessed property values, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs and maintenance, administrative and other expenses. Some of the leases on our properties may require the resident or tenant to pay all or a portion of utility costs; however, significant utility costs are borne by us. Such increased expenses could adversely affect funds available for future acquisitions or cash available for distributions.
Failure to generate sufficient cash flows from operations may reduce distributions to stockholders.
We intend to rely primarily on our cash flow from operations to make distributions to our stockholders. The cash flow from equity investments in our real estate assets depends on the amount of revenue generated and expenses incurred in operating our assets. The revenue generated and expenses incurred in operating our assets depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control. For instance, rents from our properties may not increase as expected or the real estate-related investments we purchase may not generate the anticipated returns. If our investments do not generate revenue sufficient to meet our operating expenses, debt service and capital expenditures, our cash flows and ability to make distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.
If we purchase assets at a time when the real estate market is experiencing substantial influxes of capital investment and competition for properties, the real estate we purchase may not appreciate or may decrease in value.
The real estate market may experience substantial influxes of capital from investors. This substantial flow of capital, combined with significant competition for the acquisition of real estate, may result in inflated purchase prices for such assets and compression of capitalization rates. To the extent we purchase real estate in such an environment, we are subject to the risk that, if the real estate market subsequently ceases to attract the same level of capital investment, or if the number of companies seeking to acquire such assets decreases, our returns will be lower and the value of our assets may not appreciate or may decrease significantly below the amount we paid for such assets.
We may be unable to sell a property if or when we decide to do so, which could adversely impact our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
In connection with the acquisition of a property, we may agree on restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. Even absent such restrictions, the real estate market is affected by many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and supply and demand. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property or real estate-related asset. If we are unable to sell a property or real estate-related asset when we determine to do so, it could have a significant adverse effect on our cash flow and results of operations. As a result, we may not have funds to make distributions to our stockholders.
We may have difficulty selling real estate investments, and our ability to distribute all or a portion of the net proceeds from such sale to our stockholders may be limited.
Real estate investments are relatively illiquid, and as a result, we will have a limited ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. We also will have a limited ability to sell assets in order to fund working capital and similar capital needs. When we sell any of our properties, we may not realize a gain on such sale. We may elect not to distribute any proceeds from the sale of properties to our stockholders and we may use such proceeds to:
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• | purchase additional properties; |
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• | buy out the interests of any co-venturers or other partners in any joint venture in which we are a party; |
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• | create working capital reserves; or |
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• | make repairs, maintenance, tenant improvements or other capital improvements or expenditures to our remaining properties. |
We may not make a profit if we sell a property, which could adversely impact our ability to make cash distributions to our stockholders.
The prices that we can obtain when we determine to sell a property will depend on many factors that are presently unknown, including the property's operating performance, tax treatment of real estate investments, demographic trends in the area and available financing. There is a risk that we will not recover all or a portion of our investment in a property. Accordingly, our stockholders' ability to recover all or any portion of their investment under such circumstances will depend on the amount of funds so realized and claims to be satisfied therefrom.
Our ability to sell our properties also may be limited by our need to avoid a 100% penalty tax that is imposed on gain recognized by a REIT from the sale of property characterized as dealer property. In order to ensure that we avoid such characterization we may be required to hold our properties for a minimum period of time and comply with certain other requirements in the Code, or possibly hold some properties through taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRSs, that must pay full corporate-level income taxes.
We may incur foreseen or unforeseen liabilities in connection with properties we acquire.
Our anticipated acquisition activities are subject to many risks. We may acquire properties that are subject to liabilities or that have problems relating to their environmental condition, state of title, physical condition or compliance with zoning laws, building codes or other legal requirements. In each case, our acquisition may be without any, or with only limited, recourse with respect to unknown liabilities or conditions. As a result, if any liability were asserted against us relating to those properties or entities, or if any adverse condition existed with respect to the properties or entities, we might have to pay substantial sums to settle or cure it, which could adversely affect our cash flow and operating results. However, some of these liabilities may be covered by insurance. In addition, we typically perform customary due diligence regarding each property or entity we acquire. We also attempt to obtain appropriate representations and undertakings (including, where appropriate, indemnification) from the sellers of the properties or entities we acquire, although it is possible that the sellers may not have the resources to satisfy any applicable undertakings or indemnification obligations if a claim is made. Unknown liabilities to third parties with respect to properties or entities acquired might include, without limitation:
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• | liabilities for property damage and remediation of undisclosed environmental contamination; |
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• | claims by residents or other persons dealing with the former owners of the properties; |
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• | liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business; and |
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• | claims for indemnification by general partners, directors, officers and others indemnified by the former owners of the properties. |
Such liabilities could cause losses that adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The costs of compliance with environmental laws and regulations and other governmental laws and regulations may adversely affect our income and the cash available for any distributions.
All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to certain federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Such federal laws might include: the National Environmental Policy Act; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; the Federal
Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act; and the Hazard Communication Act. These laws and regulations generally govern wastewater discharges, air emissions, the regulation and removal of underground and above-ground storage tanks, the use, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of solid and hazardous materials, and the remediation of contamination, including of off-site third party owned disposal sites. As is the case with community and neighborhood shopping centers, some of our centers had on-site dry cleaning and/or on-site gasoline retail facilities and these prior uses could potentially increase our environmental liability exposure. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on residents, owners or operators for the costs of investigation or remediation of contaminated properties, regardless of fault or the legality of the original disposal. In addition, the presence of certain regulated substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell or rent the property or to use the property as collateral for future borrowing.
Indoor air quality issues, including the presence of mold, have been highlighted in the media and the industry is seeing claims from lessees rising. Due to the recent increase in the prevalence of mold claims and given that the law relating to the regulation of mold is unsettled and subject to change, we could incur losses from claims relating to the presence of, or exposure to, mold or other microbial organisms, particularly if we are unable to maintain adequate insurance to cover such losses. We also may incur unexpected expenses relating to the abatement of mold on properties that we acquire.
Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require material expenditures by us. We cannot assure our stockholders that future laws, ordinances or regulations will not impose any material environmental liability, or that the current environmental condition of our properties will not be affected by the activities of residents, existing conditions of the land, operations in the vicinity of the properties, or the activities of unrelated third parties. In addition, there are various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could result in fines and/or damages, suspension of personnel of our Manager and/or other sanctions.
Discovery of previously undetected environmentally hazardous conditions may adversely affect our operating results.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or regulated substances on, under, in or about such property. The costs of investigation, removal or remediation of such substances could be substantial. Those laws may impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of the substances.
Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated, and compliance with those restrictions may require substantial expenditures. Environmental laws provide for sanctions in the event of noncompliance and may be enforced by governmental agencies or, in certain circumstances, by private parties. Certain environmental laws and common law principles govern the presence, maintenance, removal and disposal of certain building materials, including mold, asbestos and lead-based paint.
The cost of defending against such claims of liability, of compliance with environmental requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims could materially adversely affect our business, assets or results of operations and, consequently, the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
We cannot assure our stockholders that properties which we acquire will not have any material environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns. Accordingly, we have no way of determining at this time the magnitude of any potential liability to which we may be subject arising out of environmental conditions or violations with respect to the properties we may purchase.
We may be unable to secure funds for future capital improvements, which could adversely impact our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When residents or tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, in order to attract replacement residents or tenants, we may be required to expend funds for capital improvements to the vacated apartment units or leased spaces and common areas. In addition, we may require substantial funds to renovate a property in order to sell it, upgrade it or reposition it in the market. If we have insufficient capital reserves, we will have to obtain financing from other sources. We typically establish capital reserves in an amount we, in our discretion, believe is necessary. A lender also may require escrow of capital reserves separately maintained from any reserves we establish. If these reserves or any reserves otherwise established are designated for other uses or are insufficient to meet our cash needs, we may have to obtain financing from either affiliated or unaffiliated sources to fund our cash requirements. We cannot assure our stockholders that sufficient financing will be available or, if available, will be available on economically feasible terms or on terms acceptable to us. Moreover, certain reserves required by lenders may be
designated for specific uses and may not be available for capital purposes such as future capital improvements. Additional borrowing will increase our interest expense; therefore, our financial condition and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected.
We may not have control over costs arising from rehabilitation of properties.
We may elect to acquire properties which require rehabilitation. In particular, we have acquired, and may continue to acquire, “affordable” properties that we will rehabilitate and convert to market rate properties. Consequently, we may retain independent general contractors to perform the actual physical rehabilitation work and will be subject to risks in connection with a contractor's ability to control the rehabilitation costs, the timing of completion of rehabilitation, and a contractor's ability to build and rehabilitate in conformity with plans and specifications.
The profitability of our acquisitions is uncertain.
We intend to acquire properties selectively. Acquisition of properties entails risks that investments will fail to perform in accordance with expectations. In undertaking these acquisitions, we will incur certain risks, including the expenditure of funds on, and the devotion of management's time to, transactions that may not come to fruition. Additional risks inherent in acquisitions include risks that the properties will not achieve anticipated occupancy levels and that estimates of the costs of improvements to bring an acquired property up to our standards may prove inaccurate.
Competition with third parties in acquiring properties and other assets may reduce our profitability and the returns to our stockholders.
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, including individuals, corporations, bank and insurance company investment accounts, other REITs, real estate limited partnerships and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities. Many of these entities have significant financial and other resources, including operating experience, allowing them to compete effectively with us. Competitors with substantially greater financial resources than us may be able to accept more risk than we can effectively manage. In addition, those competitors that are not REITs may be at an advantage to the extent they can utilize working capital to finance projects, while we (and our competitors that are REITs) will be required by the annual distribution provisions under the Code to distribute significant amounts of cash from operations to our stockholders.
Some or all of our properties have incurred, and will incur, vacancies, which may result in reduced revenue and resale value, a reduction in cash available for distribution and a diminished return to our stockholders.
Our properties have incurred, and will incur, vacancies. If vacancies of a significant level continue for a long period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in lower cash distributions to our stockholders. In addition, the resale value of the property could be diminished because the market value of a particular property will depend principally upon the value of the leases of such property.
We may rely significantly on repayment guarantors of our real estate loan investments and, therefore, could be subject to credit concentration that makes us more susceptible to adverse events with respect to such guarantors.
The repayment of amounts owed to us under certain of our real estate loan investments may be partially guaranteed by the principals of the borrowers. If it were necessary to enforce a guaranty of completion or a guaranty of repayment, our rights under such enforcement are limited by rights held by the senior lender pursuant to intercreditor agreements we have in place. Therefore, the failure to perform by the borrowers and such guarantors is likely to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to geographic concentrations that make us more susceptible to adverse events with respect to certain geographic areas.
We are subject to geographic concentrations, the carrying values of which are as follows as of December 31, 2018:
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| Carrying value of real estate assets and real estate related loans, in millions: | | Percentage |
| | | |
Florida | $ | 933.7 |
| | 25.0 | % |
Georgia | 921.2 |
| | 24.7 | % |
North Carolina | 514.7 |
| | 13.8 | % |
Texas | 513.5 |
| | 13.7 | % |
Alabama | 176.7 |
| | 4.7 | % |
Virginia | 171.9 |
| | 4.6 | % |
Tennessee | 157.7 |
| | 4.2 | % |
California | 94.9 |
| | 2.5 | % |
South Carolina | 80.0 |
| | 2.2 | % |
Arizona | 47.8 |
| | 1.3 | % |
Kansas | 41.3 |
| | 1.1 | % |
Pennsylvania | 40.8 |
| | 1.1 | % |
Kentucky | 34.6 |
| | 0.9 | % |
Mississippi | 6.1 |
| | 0.2 | % |
| | | |
Total | $ | 3,734.9 |
| | 100.0 | % |
Any economic downturn or other adverse condition in one or more of these states, or in any other state in which we may have a significant concentration in the future, could result in a material reduction of our cash flows or material losses to us.
Failure to succeed in new markets or sectors may have adverse consequences on our performance.
We may make acquisitions outside of our existing market areas if appropriate opportunities arise. Our Manager's or any of its affiliates' historical experience in their existing markets does not ensure that we will be able to operate successfully in new markets, should we choose to enter them. We may be exposed to a variety of risks if we choose to enter new markets, including an inability to accurately evaluate local market conditions, to identify appropriate acquisition opportunities, to hire and retain key personnel, and a lack of familiarity with local governmental and permitting procedures. In addition, we may abandon opportunities to enter new markets that we have begun to explore for any reason and may, as a result, fail to recover expenses already incurred.
Acquiring or attempting to acquire multiple properties in a single transaction may adversely affect our operations.
We are likely to acquire multiple properties in a single transaction. Such portfolio acquisitions are more complex and expensive than single-property acquisitions, and the risk that a multiple-property acquisition does not close may be greater than in a single-property acquisition. Portfolio acquisitions also may result in us owning investments in geographically dispersed markets, placing additional demands on our ability to manage the properties in the portfolio. In addition, a seller may require that
a group of properties be purchased as a package even though we may not want to purchase one or more properties in the portfolio. In these situations, if we are unable to identify another person or entity to acquire the unwanted properties, we may be required to operate, or attempt to dispose of, these properties. We may be required to accumulate a large amount of cash in order to acquire multiple properties in a single transaction. We would expect that the returns that we can earn on such cash will be less than the ultimate returns on real property, and therefore, accumulating such cash could reduce our funds available for distributions. Any of the foregoing events may have an adverse effect on our operations.
Our revenue and net income may vary significantly from one period to another due to investments in opportunity-oriented properties and portfolio acquisitions, which could increase the variability of our cash available for distributions.
We may make investments in opportunity-oriented properties in various phases of development, redevelopment or repositioning and portfolio acquisitions, which may cause our revenues and net income to fluctuate significantly from one period
to another. Projects do not produce revenue while in development or redevelopment. During any period when our projects in development or redevelopment or those with significant capital requirements increase without a corresponding increase in stable revenue-producing properties, our revenues and net income likely will decrease. Many factors may have a negative impact on the level of revenues or net income produced by our portfolio of investments, including higher than expected construction costs, failure to complete projects on a timely basis, failure of the properties to perform at expected levels upon completion of development or redevelopment, and increased borrowings necessary to fund higher than expected construction or other costs related to the project. Further, our net income and stockholders' equity could be negatively affected during periods with large portfolio acquisitions, which generally require large cash outlays and may require the incurrence of additional financing. Any such reduction in our revenues and net income during such periods could cause a resulting decrease in our cash available for distributions during the same periods.
We may obtain properties with lock-out provisions, or agree to such provisions in connection with obtaining financing, which may prohibit us from selling a property, or may require us to maintain specified debt levels for a period of years on some properties.
We may agree to obtain certain properties from contributors who contribute their direct or indirect interest in such properties to our Operating Partnership in exchange for operating partnership units and agree to restrictions on sales or refinancing, called “lock-out” provisions, that are intended to preserve favorable tax treatment for the contributors of such properties and otherwise agree to provide the indemnities to contributions. Additionally, we may agree to lock-out provisions in connection with obtaining financing for the acquisition of properties. Furthermore, we may agree to make a certain amount of debt available for these contributors to guarantee in order to preserve their favorable tax treatment. Lock-out provisions and the consequences of related tax indemnities could materially restrict us from selling, conveying, transferring otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the interest in these properties in a taxable transaction or from refinancing properties. This would affect our ability to turn our investments into cash and thus affect cash available to make distributions to our stockholders. Lock-out provisions could impair our ability to take actions during the lock-out period that would otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders, and therefore, might have an adverse impact on the value of our Common Stock. In particular, lock-out provisions could preclude us from participating in major transactions that could result in a disposition of our assets or a change in control even though that disposition or change in control might be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Risks Associated with Debt Financing
We have significant debt, which could have important adverse consequences.
As of December 31, 2018, we had outstanding debt of approximately $2.4 billion. This indebtedness could have important consequences, including:
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• | if a property is mortgaged to secure payment of indebtedness, and if we are unable to meet our mortgage obligations, we could sustain a loss as a result of foreclosure on the mortgaged property; |
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• | our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions is increased; and |
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• | our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in business and industry conditions is limited. |
The mortgages on our properties subject to secured debt, our Revolving Credit Facility and our Interim Term Loan contain customary restrictions, requirements and other limitations, as well as certain financial and operating covenants, including maintenance of certain financial ratios. Maintaining compliance with these provisions could limit our financial flexibility. A default in these provisions, if uncured, could require us to repay the indebtedness before the scheduled maturity date, which could adversely affect our liquidity and increase our financing costs.
We may be unable to renew, repay, or refinance our outstanding debt.
We are subject to the risk that indebtedness on our properties or our unsecured indebtedness will not be renewed, repaid, or refinanced when due or the terms of any renewal or refinancing will not be as favorable as the existing terms of such indebtedness. If we are unable to refinance our indebtedness on acceptable terms, or at all, we might be forced to dispose of one or more of the properties on disadvantageous terms, which might result in losses to us. Such losses could have a material adverse effect on us and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and pay amounts due on our debt. Furthermore, if a property is mortgaged to secure payment of indebtedness and we are unable to meet mortgage payments, the mortgagee could foreclose on the property, appoint a receiver and exercise rights under an assignment of rents and leases, or pursue other remedies, all with a consequent loss of our revenues and asset value. Foreclosures could also create taxable income without accompanying cash proceeds, thereby hindering our ability to meet the REIT distribution requirements of the Code.
We plan to incur additional mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks. We intend to acquire properties subject to existing financing or by borrowing new funds. In addition, we may incur or increase our mortgage debt by obtaining loans secured by selected, or by all of our, real properties to obtain funds to acquire additional real properties and/or make capital improvements to properties. We also may borrow funds, if necessary, to satisfy the requirement that we generally distribute to stockholders as dividends at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income (excluding net capital gain), or otherwise as is necessary or advisable to assure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT.
We intend to incur mortgage debt on a particular property only if we believe the property's projected cash flow is sufficient to service the mortgage debt. However, if there is a shortfall in cash flow requiring us to use cash from other sources to make the mortgage payments on the property, then the amount available for distributions to stockholders may be affected. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss since defaults on indebtedness secured by properties may result in foreclosure actions initiated by lenders and our loss of the property securing the loan which is in default. For tax purposes, a foreclosure of any of our properties would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but would not receive any cash proceeds. We may, in some circumstances, give a guaranty on behalf of an entity that owns one or more of our properties. In these cases, we will be responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity. If any mortgages contain cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, there is a risk that more than one property may be affected by a default.
Any mortgage debt which we place on properties may contain clauses providing for prepayment penalties. If a lender invokes these penalties upon the sale of a property or the prepayment of a mortgage on a property, the cost to us to sell the property could increase substantially, and may even be prohibitive. This could lead to a reduction in our income, which would reduce cash available for distribution to stockholders and may prevent us from borrowing more money.
We may incur additional indebtedness, which may harm our financial position and cash flow and potentially impact our ability to pay dividends on the Preferred Stock and our Common Stock.
Our governing documents do not have limitations on the amount of leverage we may use. We may incur additional indebtedness and become more highly leveraged, which could harm our financial position and potentially limit our cash available to pay dividends due to debt covenant restrictions and/or resulting lower amounts of cash from operating activities. As a result, we may not have sufficient funds remaining to satisfy our dividend obligations relating to our Preferred Stock and our Common Stock if we incur additional indebtedness.
Interest-only indebtedness may increase our risk of default and ultimately may reduce our funds available for distributions to our stockholders.
We also may finance our property acquisitions using interest-only mortgage indebtedness for all or a portion of the term. During the interest-only period, the amount of each scheduled payment will be less than that of a traditional amortizing mortgage loan. The principal balance of the mortgage loan will not be reduced (except in the case of prepayments) because there are no scheduled monthly payments of principal during this period. After the interest-only period, we will be required either to make scheduled payments of amortized principal and interest or to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity. These required principal or balloon payments will increase the amount of our scheduled payments and may increase our risk of default under the related mortgage loan. If the mortgage loan has an adjustable interest rate, the amount of our scheduled payments also may increase at a time of rising interest rates. Increased payments and substantial principal or balloon maturity payments or prepayment penalties will reduce the funds available for distribution to our stockholders because cash otherwise available for distribution will be required to pay principal and interest associated with these mortgage loans. While our intention and practice has been to place interest rate caps on our floating rate mortgages, these caps will be at rates above current rates.
We may change our operational policies (including our investment guidelines, strategies and policies and the targeted assets in which we invest) with the approval of our board of directors but without stockholder consent or notice at any time, which may adversely affect the market value of our Common Stock, our results of operations and cash flows and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.
Our board of directors determines our operational policies and may amend or revise our policies (including our policies with respect to the targeted assets in which we invest, dispositions, growth, operations, indebtedness, capitalization and dividends) or approve transactions that deviate from these policies at any time, without a vote of, or notice to, our stockholders. We may change our investment guidelines and our strategy at any time with the approval of our board of directors, but without the consent
of, or notice to, our stockholders, which could result in us making investments that are different in type from, and possibly riskier than, the investments we currently invest in.
If mortgage debt is unavailable at reasonable rates, it may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance properties, which could reduce the number of properties we can acquire, our cash flows from operations and the amount of cash distributions we can make.
If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, we likely will have to reduce the number of properties we can purchase, and the return on the properties we do purchase may be lower. If we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance the properties when the debt becomes due or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when we refinance the properties, our income could be reduced. As such, we may find it difficult, costly or impossible to refinance indebtedness which is maturing. If any of these events occur, our interest cost would increase as a result, which would reduce our cash flow. This, in turn, could reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders and may hinder our ability to raise capital by issuing more stock or borrowing more money. If we are unable to refinance maturing indebtedness with respect to a particular property and are unable to pay the same, then the lender may foreclose on such property.
Financial and real estate market disruptions could adversely affect the multifamily property sector's ability to obtain financing from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which could adversely impact us.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and HUD/FHA are major sources of financing for the multifamily sector and both have historically experienced losses due to credit-related expenses, securities impairments and fair value losses. If new U.S. government regulations (i) heighten these agencies' underwriting standards, (ii) adversely affect interest rates, or (iii) reduce the amount of capital they can make available to the multifamily sector, it could reduce or remove entirely a vital resource for multifamily financing. Any potential reduction in loans, guarantees and credit-enhancement arrangements from these agencies could jeopardize the effectiveness of the multifamily sector's available financing and decrease the amount of available liquidity and credit that could be used to acquire and diversify our portfolio of multifamily assets.
Volatility in and regulation of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market has limited and may continue to impact the pricing of secured debt.
A lack of volume in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market could result in the following adverse effects on our incurrence of secured debt, which could have a materially negative impact on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow and cash available for distribution, including:
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• | the general availability of loan proceeds/originators: |
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• | reduced loan to value ratios and resulting borrower proceeds; and |
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• | higher amortization and reserve requirements. |
The Company could be negatively impacted by the condition of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and by changes in government support for multi-family housing.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a major source of financing for multifamily real estate in the United States. The Company utilizes loan programs sponsored by these entities as a key source of capital to finance its growth and its operations. In September 2008, the U.S. government assumed control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and placed both companies into a government conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In December 2009, the U.S. Treasury increased its financial support for these conservatorships. In February 2011, the Obama administration released its blueprint for winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for reforming the system of housing finance. In June 2013, a bipartisan group of senators proposed an overhaul of the housing finance system which would wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within five years; in August 2013, President Obama announced his support for this legislation. This legislation was ultimately abandoned. Any decision or action by the U.S. government to eliminate or downscale Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or to reduce government support for multifamily housing more generally may adversely affect interest rates, capital availability, development of multifamily communities and the value of multifamily residential real estate and, as a result, may adversely affect the Company and its growth and operations.
High levels of debt or increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our loan payments, which could reduce the cash available for distribution to stockholders.
As mentioned above, we incur and expect to continue to incur debt. Higher debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges, would result in higher debt service payments and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. Interest we pay could reduce cash available for distribution to stockholders. Additionally, if we incur variable rate debt, increases in interest rates would increase our interest costs, which would reduce our cash flow and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. If we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments in properties at times which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments and could result in a loss.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
In providing financing to us, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our ability to incur additional debt, make certain investments, reduce liquidity below certain levels, make distributions to our stockholders and otherwise affect our distribution and operating policies. In general, we expect our loan agreements to restrict our ability to encumber or otherwise transfer our interest in the respective property without the prior consent of the lender. Such loan documents may contain other negative covenants that may limit our ability to discontinue insurance coverage, replace our Manager or impose other limitations. Any such restriction or limitation may have an adverse effect on our operations and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Further, such restrictions could make it difficult for us to satisfy the requirements necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
Risks Related to Our Real Estate-Related Investments
Our investments in, or originations of, senior debt or subordinate debt and our investments in membership or partnership interests in entities that own real estate assets will be subject to the specific risks relating to the particular company and to the general risks of investing in real estate-related loans and securities, which may result in significant losses.
We may invest in, or originate, senior debt or subordinate debt and invest in membership or partnership interests in entities that own real estate assets. These investments will involve special risks relating to the particular company, including its financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, business and prospects. In particular, the debt securities may not be collateralized and also may be subordinated to the entity's other obligations. We are likely to invest in debt securities of companies that are not rated or are rated non-investment grade by one or more rating agencies. Investments that are not rated or are rated non-investment grade have a higher risk of default than investment grade rated assets and therefore may result in losses to us. We have not adopted any limit on such investments.
These investments also will subject us to the risks inherent with real estate investments referred to previously, including the risks described with respect to multifamily and retail properties and other real estate-related investments and similar risks, including:
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• | risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss in the event thereof; |
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• | the dependence upon the successful operation of, and net income from, real property; |
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• | risks generally incident to interests in real property; and |
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• | risks specific to the type and use of a particular property |
These risks may adversely affect the value of our investments in entities that own real estate assets and the ability of our borrowers thereof to make principal and interest payments in a timely manner, or at all, and could result in significant losses.
Our real estate loan assets will involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income-producing properties.
We may originate (in connection with a forward purchase or option to purchase contract or otherwise) or acquire real estate loans in entities that own or are developing multifamily properties or other real estate-related investments which take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying property or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of either the entity owning the property or a pledge of the ownership interests of the entity that owns the interest in the entity owning the property. These types of assets involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage lending secured by income-producing real property because the loan may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender and because it is in second position and there may not be adequate equity in the property. In the event of a bankruptcy of the entity
providing the pledge of its ownership interests as security, we may not have full recourse to the assets of such entity, or the assets of the entity may not be sufficient to satisfy our real estate loan. If a borrower defaults on our real estate loan or debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our real estate loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt. We may be unable to enforce guaranties of payment and/or performance given as security for some real estate loans. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our initial expenditure. Our real estate loans partially finance the construction of real estate projects and so involve additional risks inherent in the construction process, such as adherence to budgets and construction schedules. In addition, subordinate loans may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the property and increasing the risk of loss of principal. Significant losses related to our real estate loans would result in operating losses for us and may limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Risks Related to our Investments in Multifamily Communities
Economic conditions may adversely affect the multifamily real estate market and our income.
A multifamily property's income and value may be adversely affected by international, national and regional economic conditions. Currently, the U.S. real estate market is enjoying relatively strong performance with generally positive conditions in most sectors. International markets are experiencing increased levels of volatility due to a combination of many factors, including decreased economic growth, especially in China, limited access to credit markets and volatility in the equity markets both domestically and internationally. If such conditions persist, the real estate industry may experience a significant decline in business caused by a reduction in overall renters. The current economy and improved unemployment rates also may also deteriorate due to these and other economic factors. If the economy domestically or abroad does experience a meaningful downturn it could have an adverse effect on our operations if they cause the residents occupying the multifamily properties we acquire to cease making rent payments to us.
In addition, local real estate conditions such as an oversupply of properties or a reduction in demand for properties, availability of "for sale" properties, competition from other similar properties, our ability to provide adequate maintenance, insurance and management services, increased operating costs (including real estate taxes), the attractiveness and location of the property and changes in market rental rates may adversely affect a property's income and value. The continued rise in energy costs and other property-level expenses could result in higher operating costs, which may adversely affect our results from operations. In addition, local conditions in the markets in which we own or intend to own properties may significantly affect occupancy or rental rates at such properties. The risks that may adversely affect conditions in those markets include: layoffs, business closings, relocations of significant local employers and other events negatively impacting local employment rates and the local economy; an oversupply of, or a lack of demand for, apartments; a decline in household formation; the inability or unwillingness of residents to pay rent increases; and rent control, rent stabilization and other housing laws, which could prevent us from raising rents.
We cannot predict if the current strength in the multifamily real estate market will continue. Therefore, to the extent that there are adverse economic conditions in the multifamily market, such conditions could result in a reduction of our income and cash available for distributions and thus affect the amount of distributions we can make to our stockholders.
We must comply with the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, or the FHAA, and failure to comply may affect cash available for distributions.
We must comply with the FHAA, which requires that apartment communities first occupied after March 13, 1991 be accessible to handicapped residents and visitors. Compliance with the FHAA could require removal of structural barriers to handicapped access in a community, including the interiors of apartment units covered under the FHAA. Recently there has been heightened scrutiny of multifamily housing communities for compliance with the requirements of the FHAA and the ADA and an increasing number of substantial enforcement actions and private lawsuits have been brought against apartment communities to ensure compliance with these requirements. Noncompliance with the FHAA could result in the imposition of fines, awards of damages to private litigants, payment of attorneys' fees and other costs to plaintiffs, substantial litigation costs and substantial costs of remediation.
Short-term apartment leases expose us to the effects of declining market rents, which could adversely impact our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We expect that most of our apartment leases will be for terms of thirteen months or less. Because these leases generally permit the residents to leave at the end of the lease term without any penalty, our rental revenues may be impacted by declines in market rents more quickly than if our leases were for longer terms.
We will face competition from other apartment communities and the affordability and accessibility of single-family homes, which may limit our profitability and the returns to our stockholders.
The multifamily apartment industry is highly competitive. This competition could reduce occupancy levels and revenues at our multifamily communities, which would adversely affect our operations. Our competitors include those in other apartment communities both in the immediate vicinity where our multifamily communities will be located and the broader geographic market. Such competition also may result in overbuilding of apartment communities, causing an increase in the number of apartment units available and potentially decreasing our occupancy and apartment rental rates. We also may be required to expend substantial sums to attract new residents. The resale value of the property could be diminished because the market value of a particular property will depend principally upon the value of the leases of such property. In addition, increases in operating costs due to inflation may not be offset by increased apartment rental rates. Further, costs associated with real estate investment, such as utilities and maintenance costs, generally are not reduced when circumstances cause a reduction in income from the investment. These events would cause a significant decrease in cash flow and could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to our stockholders.
Furthermore, apartment communities we acquire most likely compete, or will compete, with numerous housing alternatives in attracting residents, including single- and multi-family homes available to rent or purchase. Competitive housing in a particular area and the increasing affordability of single- and multi-family homes available to rent or buy caused by declining mortgage interest rates and government programs to promote home ownership could adversely affect our ability to retain our residents, lease apartment units and increase or maintain rental rates. The foregoing factors may encourage potential renters to purchase residences rather than renting an apartment, thereby causing a decline in the pool of available renters for our properties.
Risks Related to our Investments in Student Housing Properties
We face significant competition from university-owned collegiate housing and from other private collegiate housing communities located within close proximity to universities.
Many students prefer on-campus housing to off-campus housing because of the closer physical proximity to campus and the integration of on-campus facilities into the academic community. Universities can generally avoid real estate taxes and borrow funds at lower interest rates, while we and other private-sector operators pay full real estate tax rates and incur higher borrowing costs. Consequently, universities often can offer more convenient and/or less expensive collegiate housing than we can, which can adversely affect our occupancy and rental rates.
We also compete with other national and regional owner-operators of off-campus collegiate housing in a number of markets as well as with smaller local owner-operators. There are a number of purpose-built collegiate housing properties that compete directly with us located near or in the same general vicinity of many of our collegiate housing communities. Such competing collegiate housing communities may be newer than our collegiate housing communities, be located closer to campus, charge less rent, possess more attractive amenities, or offer more services, shorter lease terms or more flexible leases. The construction of competing properties or decreases in rents in competing properties could adversely affect our rental income.
We believe that a number of large national companies may be potential entrants in the collegiate housing business. In some cases, these potential competitors possess substantially greater financial and marketing resources than we do. The entry of one or more of these companies into the collegiate housing market could increase competition for residents and for the acquisition, development and management of other collegiate housing communities.
Our results of operations are subject to the following risks inherent in the collegiate housing industry: leasing cycles, concentrated lease-up period, seasonal cash flows and increased risk of student defaults during the summer months.
We generally lease our properties under 12 month leases, but we may also lease for terms of nine months or less. As a result, all of our properties must be entirely re-leased each year, exposing us to increased leasing risk. We may not be able to re-lease our properties on similar terms, if we are able to re-lease our properties at all. The terms of renewal or re-lease (including the cost of required renovations) may be less favorable to us than the prior lease. If we are unable to re-lease all or a substantial portion of our properties, or if the rental rates upon such re-leasing are significantly lower than expected rates, our cash flows from operations and our ability to make distributions to stockholders and service indebtedness could be adversely affected.
In addition, we are subject to increased leasing risk on properties that we acquire that we have not previously managed due to our lack of experience leasing those properties and unfamiliarity with their leasing cycles. Collegiate housing communities are typically leased during a leasing season that begins in October and ends in August of the following year. We are therefore
highly dependent on the effectiveness of our marketing and leasing efforts and personnel during this season. Prior to the commencement of each new lease period, mostly during the first two weeks of August but also during September at some communities and during the summer months for the on-campus properties leased by semester, we prepare the units for new incoming residents. Other than revenue generated by in-place leases for returning residents, we do not generally recognize lease revenue during this period referred to as “Turn” as we have no leases in place. In addition, during Turn, we incur significant expenses preparing our units for occupancy, which we recognize immediately. This lease Turn period results in seasonality in our operating results during the second and third quarter of each year. As a result, we may experience significantly reduced cash flows during the summer months at properties leased for terms shorter than 12 months.
In addition, students may be more likely to default on their rental payments during the summer months. Although we typically require a parent to guarantee the student’s lease, we may have to spend considerable effort and expense in pursuing payment upon a defaulted lease, and our efforts may not be successful.
We rely on our relationships with universities, and changes in university personnel, policies and/or reputation could adversely affect our operating results.
In some cases, we rely on our relationships with universities for referrals of prospective residents or for mailing lists of prospective residents and their parents. The failure to maintain good relationships with personnel at these universities could therefore have a material adverse effect on us. If universities refuse to make their lists of prospective student-residents and their parents available to us or increase the costs of these lists, the increased costs or failure to obtain such lists could also have a material adverse effect on us.
In addition, we may be adversely affected by a change in university admission policies. For example, if a university reduces the number of student admissions, the demand for our properties may be reduced, and our occupancy rates may decline. In addition, universities may institute a policy that a certain class of students, such as freshmen, must live in a university-owned facility, which would also reduce the demand for our properties. While we will engage in marketing efforts to compensate for such policy changes, we may not be able to effect such marketing efforts prior to the commencement of the annual lease-up period or at all.
It is also important that the universities from which our communities draw residents maintain good reputations and are able to attract the desired number of incoming students. Any degradation in a university’s reputation could inhibit its ability to attract students and reduce the demand for our communities.
Risks Related to our Grocery-Anchored Shopping Center Investments
Downturns in the retail industry likely will have a direct adverse impact on our grocery-anchored revenues and cash flow.
Our retail properties currently owned and planned for acquisition consist primarily of grocery-anchored shopping centers. Our retail performance therefore is generally linked to economic conditions in the market for retail space. The market for retail space could be adversely affected by any of the following:
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• | weakness in the national, regional and local economies, and declines in consumer confidence which could adversely impact consumer spending and retail sales and in turn tenant demand for space and could lead to increased store closings; |
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• | changes in market rental rates; |
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• | changes in demographics (including the number of households and average household income) surrounding our shopping centers; |
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• | adverse financial conditions for grocery anchors and other retail, service, medical or restaurant tenants; |
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• | continued consolidation in the retail and grocery sector; |
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• | excess amount of retail space in our markets; |
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• | reduction in the demand by tenants to occupy our shopping centers as a result of reduced consumer demand for certain retail formats; |
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• | increased diversification of product offerings by grocery anchors can lead to increased competition, declining same store sales and store closings; |
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• | increase in e-commerce and alternative distribution channels may negatively affect out tenant sales or decrease the square footage our tenants require and could lead to margin pressure on our grocery anchors, which could lead to store closures; |
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• | the impact of an increase in energy costs on consumers and its consequential effect on the number of shopping visits to our centers; and |
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• | consequences of any armed conflict involving, or terrorist attack against, the United States. |
To the extent that any of these conditions occur, they are likely to impact market rents for retail space, occupancy in our retail properties, our ability to sell, acquire or develop retail properties, and our cash available for distributions to stockholders.
Competition may impede our ability to renew leases or re-let spaces as leases expire, which could harm our business and operating results.
We face competition from similar centers and other types of shopping venues within our market areas that may affect our ability to renew leases or re-let space as leases expire at our grocery-anchored shopping centers. Certain national retail chain bankruptcies and resulting store closings/lease disaffirmations have generally resulted in increased available retail space which, in turn, has resulted in increased competitive pressure to renew tenant leases upon expiration and to find new retail tenants for vacant space at such properties. In addition, any new competitive retail properties that are developed within the market areas of our existing grocery-anchored shopping centers may result in increased competition for customer traffic and creditworthy retail tenants. Increased competition for retail tenants may require us to make tenant and/or capital improvements to retail properties beyond those that we would otherwise have planned to make. Any unbudgeted tenant and/or capital improvements we undertake may reduce cash that would otherwise be available for distributions to our stockholders. Ultimately, if we are unable to renew leases or re-let space as retail leases expire or renew or re-let such spaces at lower rental rates, our business and operations could be negatively impacted.
Loss of revenues from significant tenants and our in-line tenants could reduce distributions to our stockholders.
For our currently owned and planned acquisitions of grocery-anchored shopping centers, we derive or will derive significant revenues from anchor tenants such as Publix, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Sprouts, BJ's Wholesale Club and The Fresh Market, in addition to our in-line tenants.
Distributions to our stockholders could be adversely affected by the loss of revenues in the event our tenants:
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• | become bankrupt or insolvent; |
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• | experience a downturn in their business; |
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• | materially default on their leases; |
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• | do not renew their leases as they expire; or |
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• | renew at lower rental rates. |
Vacated anchor space, including space owned by the anchor, can also reduce rental revenues generated by the shopping center because of the loss of the departed anchor tenant's customer drawing power. The closing of one or more anchor stores at a center or occupancy falling below a certain percentage could adversely affect the financial performance of the center, adversely affect the operations of other tenants and result in lease terminations by, or reductions in rent from, other tenants whose leases may permit such actions.
We may be unable to collect balances due from retail tenants in bankruptcy.
Although minimum rent is supported by lease contracts of varying term, retail tenants who file bankruptcy have the legal right to reject any or all of their leases and close related stores. In the event that a retail tenant with a significant number of leases in our shopping centers files bankruptcy and rejects its leases, we could experience a significant reduction in our retail revenues and may not be able to collect all pre-petition amounts owed by that party.
Our Common Area Maintenance (“CAM”) contributions may not allow us to recover the majority of our operating expenses from retail tenants.
CAM costs typically include allocable energy costs, repairs, maintenance and capital improvements to common areas, janitorial services, administrative, property and liability insurance costs and security costs. The amount of CAM charges we bill to our retail tenants may not allow us to recover or pass on all these operating expenses to tenants, which may reduce operating cash flow from our retail properties.
Operating expenses may remain constant or increase even if occupancy and income at our centers may decrease, negatively affecting our financial performance.
Costs associated with our operations, such as real estate and personal property taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments, generally are not reduced even as occupancy or rental rates decrease, tenants fail to pay base and additional rent or other circumstances cause a reduction in income from the center. As a result, our financial performance, cash flow from operations from the center and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected. In addition, inflation could result in increased operating costs for us and our tenants, which may adversely affect our financial performance and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Increased competition to traditional grocery chains from new market participants, Amazon, online supermarket retailers and food delivery services could adversely affect our grocery-anchored revenues and cash flow.
As a result of consumers' growing desire to shop online, traditional grocery chains are subject to increasing competition from new market participants and food retailers who have incorporated the Internet as a direct-to-consumer channel and Internet-only retailers that sell grocery products. Additionally, online food delivery services are increasingly competing with traditional grocery chains in the food sales market. Competition from these new market participants and selling channels could negatively impact traditional grocery chains, which could adversely affect our grocery-anchored revenues and cash flow. In addition, changing dynamics in the food sales space could result in increased competition, declining same-store sales and store closings in the retail and grocery sector.
Risks Related to our Office Building Investments
Our performance is subject to risks associated with our office properties and the office property industry.
Our economic performance from our office properties is subject to the risk that if our office properties do not generate revenues sufficient to meet our operating expenses, including debt service and capital expenditures, our cash flow and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected. The following factors, among others, may adversely affect the income generated by our properties:
• downturns in the national, regional and local economic conditions (particularly increases in unemployment);
• competition from other office properties;
• local real estate market conditions, such as oversupply or reduction in demand for office space;
• vacancies, changes in market rental rates and the need to periodically repair, renovate and re-let office space;
• changes in space utilization by our office tenants due to technology, economic conditions and business culture;
• increased operating costs, including insurance expense, utilities, real estate taxes, state and local taxes and heightened
security costs; and
• declines in the financial condition of our office tenants and our ability to collect rents from our office tenants.
We face considerable competition in the office leasing market and may be unable to renew existing office leases or re-let office space on terms similar to the existing leases, or we may expend significant capital in our efforts to re-let office space, which may adversely affect our operating results.
Every year, we compete with a number of other developers, owners, and operators of office and office-oriented properties to renew office leases with our existing tenants and to attract new office tenants. To the extent that we are able to renew office leases that are scheduled to expire in the short-term or re-let such office space to new tenants, heightened competition resulting from adverse market conditions may require us to utilize rent concessions and tenant improvements to a greater extent than we historically have. In addition, competition for credit worthy office tenants is intense and we may have difficulty competing with competitors, especially those who have purchased office properties at discounted prices allowing them to offer office space at reduced rental rates.
If our competitors offer office accommodations at rental rates below current market rates or below the rental rates we currently charge our tenants, we may lose potential tenants, and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we currently charge in order to retain tenants upon expiration of their existing office leases. Even if our tenants renew their leases or we are able to re-let the office space, the terms and other costs of renewal or re-letting, including the cost of required renovations, increased tenant improvement allowances, leasing commissions, declining rental rates, and other potential concessions, may be less favorable than the terms of our current leases and could require significant capital expenditures. If we are unable to renew office leases or re-let office space in a reasonable time, or if rental rates decline or tenant improvement, leasing commissions, or
other costs increase, our financial condition, cash flows, ability to pay distributions to our stockholders, and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be adversely affected.
We face potential adverse effects from major office tenants’ bankruptcies or insolvencies.
The bankruptcy or insolvency of a major office tenant may adversely affect the income produced by our office properties. Our office tenants could file for bankruptcy protection or become insolvent in the future. We cannot evict an office tenant solely because of its bankruptcy. On the other hand, a bankrupt office tenant may reject and terminate its lease with us. In such case, our claim against the bankrupt office tenant for unpaid and future rent would be subject to a statutory cap that might be substantially less than the remaining rent actually owed under the office lease, and, even so, our claim for unpaid rent would likely not be paid in full. This shortfall could adversely affect our cash flow and results of operations.
In order to maintain and/or increase the quality of our office properties and successfully compete against other office properties, we regularly must spend money to maintain, repair, renovate and improve our office properties, which could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
If our office properties are not as attractive to customers due to physical condition as office properties owned by our competitors, we could lose customers or suffer lower rental rates. As a result, we may from time to time be required to make significant capital expenditures to maintain or enhance the competitiveness of our office properties. There can be no assurances that any such expenditures would result in higher occupancy or higher rental rates or deter existing customers from relocating to office properties owned by our competitors.
Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations
If we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we will be subjected to tax on our income and the amount of distributions we make to our stockholders will be less.
We elected to be taxed as a REIT, commencing with our tax year ended December 31, 2011. A REIT generally is not taxed at the corporate level on income and gains it distributes to its stockholders on a timely basis.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year:
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• | we would not be allowed to deduct our distributions to our stockholders when computing our taxable income; |
| |
• | we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at the corporate rate and possibly increased state and local taxes; |
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• | we could be disqualified from being taxed as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost, unless entitled to relief under certain statutory provisions; |
| |
• | we would have less cash to make distributions to our stockholders; and |
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• | we might be required to borrow additional funds or sell some of our assets in order to pay corporate tax obligations we may incur as a result of our disqualification. |
Although we intend to operate in a manner intended to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that we may inadvertently terminate our REIT election or that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause our board of directors to determine to revoke our REIT election. Even if we qualify as a REIT, we expect to incur some taxes, such as state and local taxes, taxes imposed on certain subsidiaries and potential U.S. federal excise taxes.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability, reduce our operating
flexibility and reduce the market price of our Common Stock.
In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to REITs. Additional changes to the tax laws are likely to continue to occur. Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a regular corporation. As a result, our charter provides our board of directors with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate the REIT election we have made and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board of directors has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only effect such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interest of our stockholders.
Certain of our business activities are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax.
For so long as we continue to qualify as a REIT, our ability to dispose of property during the first few years following acquisition may be restricted to a substantial extent as a result of our REIT qualification. Under applicable provisions of the Code regarding prohibited transactions by REITs, while we qualify as a REIT and provided we do not satisfy a safe harbor available under the Code, we will be subject to a 100% penalty tax on the net income from the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) that we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Whether property is inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. We intend to avoid the 100% prohibited transaction tax by (1) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a taxable REIT subsidiary (but such taxable REIT subsidiary will incur corporate rate income taxes with respect to any income or gain recognized by it), (2) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or through any subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction or (3) structuring certain dispositions of our properties to comply with the requirements of the prohibited transaction safe harbor available under the Code for properties that, among other requirements, have been held for at least two years. Despite our present intention, no assurance can be given that any particular property we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.
If the Operating Partnership fails to maintain its status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, its income may be subject to taxation and we would cease to qualify as a REIT.
We intend to maintain the status of the Operating Partnership as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of the Operating Partnership as a partnership for such purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that the Operating Partnership could make to us. This also would result in our losing REIT status, and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our own income, and would substantially reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the yield to our stockholders. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which the Operating Partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership and is not otherwise disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to the Operating Partnership. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT qualification.
Our investments in certain debt instruments may cause us to recognize income for U.S. federal income tax purposes even though no cash payments have been received on the debt instruments, and certain modifications of such debt by us could cause the modified debt to not qualify as a good REIT asset, thereby jeopardizing our REIT qualification.
Our taxable income may substantially exceed our net income as determined based on GAAP, or differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash may occur. For example, we may acquire assets, including debt securities requiring us to accrue original issue discount, or OID, or recognize market discount income, that generate taxable income in excess of economic income or in advance of the corresponding cash flow from the assets. In addition, if a borrower with respect to a particular debt instrument encounters financial difficulty rendering it unable to pay stated interest as due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income. We may also be required under the terms of the indebtedness that we incur to use cash received from interest payments to make principal payment on that indebtedness, with the effect that we will recognize income but will not have a corresponding amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
As a result of the foregoing, we may generate less cash flow than taxable income in a particular year and find it difficult or impossible to meet the REIT distribution requirements in certain circumstances. In such circumstances, we may be required to (1) sell assets in adverse market conditions, (2) borrow on unfavorable terms, (3) distribute amounts that would otherwise be used for future acquisitions or used to repay debt, or (4) make a taxable distribution of our shares of Common Stock as part of a distribution in which stockholders may elect to receive shares of Common Stock or (subject to a limit measured as a percentage of the total distribution) cash, in order to comply with the REIT distribution requirements.
The failure of a subordinate loan to qualify as a real estate asset could adversely affect our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
In general, in order for a loan to be treated as a qualifying real estate asset producing qualifying income for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests, the loan must be secured by real property. We may originate (in connection with a forward purchase or option to purchase contract) or acquire subordinate loans that are not directly secured by real property but instead secured by equity interests in a partnership or limited liability company that directly or indirectly owns real property. In Revenue Procedure 2003-65, the IRS provided a safe harbor pursuant to which a subordinate loan that is not secured by real estate would, if it meets each of the requirements contained in the Revenue Procedure, be treated by the IRS as a qualifying real estate asset. Although the Revenue Procedure provides a safe harbor on which taxpayers may rely, it does not prescribe rules of substantive tax law and in many cases it may not be possible for us to meet all the requirements of the safe harbor. We cannot provide assurance that any subordinate loan in which we invest would be treated as a qualifying asset producing qualifying income for REIT qualification purposes. If any such loan fails either the REIT income or asset tests, we may be disqualified as a REIT.
Furthermore, if we participate in any appreciation in value of real property securing a mortgage loan and the IRS characterizes such “shared appreciation mortgage” as equity rather than debt, for example, because of a large interest in cash flow of the borrower, we may be required to recognize income, gains and other items with respect to the real property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This could affect our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
The share ownership restrictions of the Code for REITs and the 9.8% share ownership limit in our charter may inhibit market activity in our shares of stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.
In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code, may not own, actually or constructively, more than 50% in value of our issued and outstanding shares of stock at any time during the last half of each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity actually or constructively owns our shares of stock under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our shares of stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year for each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. To help insure that we meet these tests, among other purposes, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of our shares of stock.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT while we so qualify. Unless exempted by our board of directors, for so long as we qualify as a REIT, our charter prohibits, among other limitations on ownership and transfer of shares of our stock, any person from beneficially or constructively owning (applying certain attribution rules under the Code) more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock or more than 9.8% (in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of our shares of stock. Our board of directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of 9.8% of the value of our outstanding shares would result in the termination of our qualification as a REIT. These restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply, however, if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance with the restrictions is no longer required in order for us to continue to so qualify as a REIT.
These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Certain Employee Benefit Plan Risks
If you fail to meet the fiduciary and other standards under ERISA or the Code as a result of an investment in our stock, you could be subject to liability and penalties.
Special considerations apply to the purchase or holding of securities by employee benefit plans subject to the fiduciary rules of Title I of ERISA (“ERISA Plans”), including pension or profit sharing plans and entities that hold assets of such ERISA Plans, and plans and accounts that are not subject to ERISA, but are subject to the prohibited transaction rules of Section 4975 of the Code, including IRAs, Keogh Plans, and medical savings accounts (collectively, we refer to ERISA Plans and plans subject to Section 4975 of the Code as “Benefit Plans”). If you are investing the assets of any Benefit Plan, you should satisfy yourself that:
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• | your investment is consistent with your fiduciary obligations under ERISA and the Code; |
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• | your investment is made in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the Benefit Plan, including the Benefit Plan’s investment policy; |
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• | your investment satisfies the prudence and diversification requirements of Sections 404(a)(1)(B) and 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA, if applicable, and other applicable provisions of ERISA and the Code; |
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• | in making such investment decision, you have considered the effect the investment will have on the liquidity of the Benefit Plan and whether or not the investment will produce UBTI for the Benefit Plan; |
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• | you will be able to value the assets of the Benefit Plan annually in accordance with any applicable ERISA or Code requirements and applicable provisions of the Benefit Plan; and |
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• | your investment will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code. |
Fiduciaries may be held personally liable under ERISA for losses as a result of failure to satisfy the fiduciary standards of conduct and other applicable requirements of ERISA. In addition, if an investment in, or holding of, our securities constitutes a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code, the fiduciary of the plan who authorized or directed the investment may be subject to imposition of excise taxes with respect to the amount invested and an IRA investing in the stock may lose its tax exempt status.
Plans that are not subject to ERISA or the prohibited transactions of the Code, such as government plans or church plans, may be subject to similar requirements under state law. Such plans should satisfy themselves that the investment satisfies applicable law. We have not, and will not, evaluate whether an investment in, or holding of, our securities is suitable for any particular plan.
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Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments |
None.
Multifamily Communities
At December 31, 2018, we were the owner of the following 32 properties within our multifamily communities segment: |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Property | | Location | | Year constructed | | Number of Units | | Average Unit Size (sq. ft.) | | Average Rent per Unit (1) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Summit Crossing | | Atlanta, GA | | 2007 | | 345 |
| | 1,034 |
| | 1,162 |
|
Summit Crossing II | | Atlanta, GA | | 2013 | | 140 |
| | 1,100 |
| | 1,271 |
|
The Reserve at Summit Crossing | | Atlanta, GA | | 2017 | | 172 |
| | 1,002 |
| | 1,353 |
|
Vineyards | | Houston, TX | | 2003 | | 369 |
| | 1,122 |
| | 1,177 |
|
Aster at Lely Resort | | Naples, FL | | 2015 | | 308 |
| | 1,071 |
| | 1,486 |
|
CityPark View Property: | | | | | | | | | | |
CityPark View | | Charlotte, NC | | 2014 | | 284 |
| | 948 |
| | 1,113 |
|
CityPark View South | | Charlotte, NC | | 2017 | | 200 |
| | 1,005 |
| | — |
|
Avenues at Cypress | | Houston, TX | | 2014 | | 240 |
| | 1,170 |
| | 1,450 |
|
Venue at Lakewood Ranch | | Sarasota, FL | | 2015 | | 237 |
| | 1,001 |
| | 1,570 |
|
Avenues at Creekside | | San Antonio, TX | | 2014 | | 395 |
| | 974 |
| | 1,156 |
|
Citi Lakes | | Orlando, FL | | 2014 | | 346 |
| | 984 |
| | 1,425 |
|
Avenues at Northpointe | | Houston, TX | | 2013 | | 280 |
| | 1,167 |
| | 1,380 |
|
Lenox Village Property: | | | | | | | | | | |
Lenox Village | | Nashville, TN | | 2009 | | 273 |
| | 906 |
| | 1,248 |
|
Regent at Lenox Village | | Nashville, TN | | 2009 | | 18 |
| | 1,072 |
| | 1,264 |
|
Retreat at Lenox Village | | Nashville, TN | | 2015 | | 183 |
| | 773 |
| | 1,181 |
|
Stone Creek | | Houston, TX | | 2009 | | 246 |
| | 852 |
| | 1,098 |
|
Overton Rise | | Atlanta, GA | | 2015 | | 294 |
| | 1,018 |
| | 1,553 |
|
Village at Baldwin Park | | Orlando, FL | | 2008 | | 528 |
| | 1,069 |
| | 1,677 |
|
Crosstown Walk Property: | | | | | | | | | | |
Crosstown Walk | | Tampa, FL | | 2014 | | 342 |
| | 981 |
| | 1,306 |
|
Overlook at Crosstown Walk | | Tampa, FL | | 2016 | | 180 |
| | 986 |
| | 1,391 |
|
525 Avalon Park | | Orlando, FL | | 2008 | | 487 |
| | 1,394 |
| | 1,460 |
|
Sorrel | | Jacksonville, FL | | 2015 | | 290 |
| | 1,048 |
| | 1,284 |
|
Retreat at Greystone | | Birmingham, AL | | 2015 | | 312 |
| | 1,100 |
| | 1,248 |
|
Broadstone At Citrus Village | | Tampa, FL | | 2011 | | 296 |
| | 980 |
| | 1,293 |
|
Founders Village | | Williamsburg, VA | | 2014 | | 247 |
| | 1,070 |
| | 1,388 |
|
Claiborne Crossing | | Louisville, KY | | 2014 | | 242 |
| | 1,204 |
| | 1,349 |
|
Luxe at Lakewood Ranch | | Sarasota, FL | | 2016 | | 280 |
| | 1,105 |
| | 1,498 |
|
Adara Overland Park | | Kansas City, KS | | 2016 | | 260 |
| | 1,116 |
| | 1,346 |
|
Aldridge at Town Village | | Atlanta, GA | | 2016 | | 300 |
| | 969 |
| | 1,347 |
|
Colony at Centerpointe | | Richmond, VA | | 2016 | | 255 |
| | 1,149 |
| | 1,382 |
|
City Vista (2) | | Pittsburgh, PA | | 2014 | | 272 |
| | 1,023 |
| | 1,368 |
|
Lux at Sorrel | | Jacksonville, FL | | 2017 | | 265 |
| | 1,025 |
| | 1,392 |
|
Green Park | | Atlanta, GA | | 2017 | | 310 |
| | 985 |
| | 1,467 |
|
Lodge at Hidden River | | Tampa, FL | | 2017 | | 300 |
| | 980 |
| | — |
|
Vestavia Reserve | | Birmingham, AL | | 2016 | | 272 |
| | 1,113 |
| | — |
|
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | 9,768 |
| | | | |
|
(1) Data is only presented for stabilized properties owned by us for at least three months. | | |
(2) We own approximately 96% of the joint venture that controls the City Vista multifamily community. | | |
Student Housing Communities
At December 31, 2018, we were the owner of the following seven properties within our student housing communities segment:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Property | | Location | | University | | Year constructed/renovated | | Number of Units | | Number of beds | | Average Unit Size (sq. ft.) | | Average Rent per Bed (1) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
North by Northwest | | Tallahassee, FL | | Florida State University | | 2012 | | 219 |
| | 679 |
| | 1,250 |
| | $ | 729 |
|
SoL | | Tempe, AZ | | Arizona State University | | 2010 | | 224 |
| | 639 |
| | 1,296 |
| | $ | 694 |
|
Stadium Village (2) | | Atlanta, GA | | Kennesaw State University | | 2015 | | 198 |
| | 792 |
| | 1,466 |
| | $ | 718 |
|
Ursa (2) | | Waco, TX | | Baylor University | | 2017 | | 250 |
| | 840 |
| | 1,634 |
| | n/a |
|
The Tradition | | College Station, TX | | Texas A&M University | | 2017 | | 427 |
| | 808 |
| | 549 |
| | n/a |
|
The Retreat at Orlando | | Orlando, FL | | University of Central Florida | | 2014 | | 221 |
| | 894 |
| | 2,036 |
| | n/a |
|
The Bloc | | Lubbock, TX | | Texas Tech University | | 2017 | | 140 |
| | 556 |
| | 1,394 |
| | n/a |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | 1,679 |
| | 5,208 |
| | | | |
|
(1) Data only presented for stabilized student housing communities. | | |
(2) We own approximately 99% of the joint venture that controls the Stadium Village and Ursa student housing properties. | | |
Our communities are equipped with an array of amenities believed to be sufficient to position Preferred Apartment Communities as attractive residential rental options within each local market. Such amenities can include, but are not limited to, one or more swimming pools, a clubhouse with a business center, tennis courts and laundry facilities. Unit-specific amenities can include high-end appliances, tile kitchen backsplashes, washer and dryers or washer and dryer hookups and ceiling fans. Resident lease terms are generally twelve months in duration.
New Market Properties
At December 31, 2018, we were the sole owner of the following 45 grocery-anchored shopping centers, which comprise our New Market Properties segment:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Property name | | Location | | Year built | | GLA (1) | | Percent leased (2) | | Grocery anchor tenant |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Castleberry-Southard | | Atlanta, GA | | 2006 | | 80,018 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
Cherokee Plaza | | Atlanta, GA | | 1958 | | 102,864 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Kroger |
Governors Towne Square | | Atlanta, GA | | 2004 | | 68,658 |
| | 95.9 | % | | Publix |
Lakeland Plaza | | Atlanta, GA | | 1990 | | 301,711 |
| | 95.1 | % | | Sprouts |
Powder Springs | | Atlanta, GA | | 1999 | | 77,853 |
| | 96.9 | % | | Publix |
Rockbridge Village | | Atlanta, GA | | 2005 | | 102,432 |
| | 94.2 | % | | Kroger |
Roswell Wieuca Shopping Center | | Atlanta, GA | | 2007 | | 74,370 |
| | 96.6 | % | | The Fresh Market |
Royal Lakes Marketplace | | Atlanta, GA | | 2008 | | 119,493 |
| | 88.4 | % | | Kroger |
Sandy Plains Exchange | | Atlanta, GA | | 1997 | | 72,784 |
| | 93.2 | % | | Publix |
Summit Point | | Atlanta, GA | | 2004 | | 111,970 |
| | 86.9 | % | | Publix |
Thompson Bridge Commons | | Atlanta, GA | | 2001 | | 92,587 |
| | 96.1 | % | | Kroger |
Wade Green Village | | Atlanta, GA | | 1993 | | 74,978 |
| | 93.2 | % | | Publix |
Woodmont Village | | Atlanta, GA | | 2002 | | 85,639 |
| | 94.6 | % | | Kroger |
Woodstock Crossing | | Atlanta, GA | | 1994 | | 66,122 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Kroger |
East Gate Shopping Center | | Augusta, GA | | 1995 | | 75,716 |
| | 92.2 | % | | Publix |
Fury's Ferry | | Augusta, GA | | 1996 | | 70,458 |
| | 98.0 | % | | Publix |
Parkway Centre | | Columbus, GA | | 1999 | | 53,088 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
Spring Hill Plaza | | Nashville, TN | | 2005 | | 61,570 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
Parkway Town Centre | | Nashville, TN | | 2005 | | 65,587 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
The Market at Salem Cove | | Nashville, TN | | 2010 | | 62,356 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
The Market at Victory Village | | Nashville, TN | | 2007 | | 71,300 |
| | 98.5 | % | | Publix |
Greensboro Village | | Nashville, TN | | 2005 | | 70,203 |
| | 98.3 | % | | Publix |
The Overlook at Hamilton Place | | Chattanooga, TN | | 1992 | | 213,095 |
| | 100.0 | % | | The Fresh Market |
Shoppes of Parkland | | Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL | | 2000 | | 145,720 |
| | 98.4 | % | | BJ's Wholesale Club |
Barclay Crossing | | Tampa, FL | | 1998 | | 54,958 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
Deltona Landings | | Orlando, FL | | 1999 | | 59,966 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
University Palms | | Orlando, FL | | 1993 | | 99,172 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Publix |
Conway Plaza | | Orlando, FL | | 1966 | | 117,705 |
| | 98.0 | % | | Publix |
Crossroads Market | | Naples, FL | | 1993 | | 126,895 |
| | 98.9 | % | | Publix |
Neapolitan Way | | Naples, FL | | 1985 | | 137,580 |
| | 91.6 | % | | Publix |
Champions Village | | Houston, TX | | 1973 | | 383,346 |
| | 78.7 | % | | Randalls |
Kingwood Glen | | Houston, TX | | 1998 | | 103,397 |
| | 97.9 | % | | Kroger |
Independence Square | | Dallas, TX | | 1977 | | 140,218 |
| | 83.0 | % | | Tom Thumb |
Oak Park Village | | San Antonio, TX | | 1970 | | 64,855 |
| | 100.0 | % | | H.E.B. |
Sweetgrass Corner | | Charleston, SC | | 1999 | | 89,124 |
| | 96.2 | % | | Bi-Lo |
Irmo Station | | Columbia, SC | | 1980 | | 99,384 |
| | 95.3 | % | | Kroger |
Anderson Central | | Greenville Spartanburg, SC | | 1999 | | 223,211 |
| | 96.1 | % | | Walmart |
Fairview Market | | Greenville Spartanburg, SC | | 1998 | | 53,888 |
| | 73.5 | % | | Aldi |
Rosewood Shopping Center | | Columbia, SC | | 2002 | | 36,887 |
| | 90.2 | % | | Publix |
Brawley Commons | | Charlotte, NC | | 1997 | | 122,028 |
| | 97.4 | % | | Publix |
West Town Market | | Charlotte, NC | | 2004 | | 67,883 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Harris Teeter |
Heritage Station | | Raleigh, NC | | 2004 | | 72,946 |
| | 100.0 | % | | Harris Teeter |
Maynard Crossing | | Raleigh, NC | | 1996 | | 122,781 |
| | 97.4 | % | | Harris Teeter |
Southgate Village | | Birmingham, AL | | 1988 | | 75,092 |
| | 98.0 | % | | Publix |
Hollymead Town Center | | Charlottesville, VA | | 2005 | | 158,807 |
| | 89.8 | % | | Harris Teeter |
| | | | | | | | | | |
Grand total/weighted average | | | | | | 4,730,695 |
| | 94.3 | % | | |
(1) Gross leasable area, or GLA, represents the total amount of property square footage that can be leased to tenants. The total excludes approximately 47,600 square feet of ground floor retail GLA in the Regent at Lenox Village property.
(2) Percent leased represents the percentage of GLA that is leased, including noncancelable lease agreements that have been signed but which have not yet commenced.
Our retail leases have original lease terms which generally range from three to seven years for spaces under 5,000 square feet and from 10 to 20 years for spaces over 10,000 square feet. Anchor leases generally contain renewal options for one or more additional periods whereas in-line tenant leases may or may not have renewal options. With the exception of anchor leases, the leases generally contain contractual increases in base rent rates over the lease term and the base rent rates for renewal periods are generally based upon the rental rate for the primary term, which may be adjusted for inflation or market conditions. Anchor leases generally do not contain contractual increases in base rent rates over the lease term and the renewal periods. Our leases generally provide for the payment of fixed monthly rentals and may also provide for the payment of additional rent based upon a percentage of the tenant’s gross sales above a certain threshold level (“percentage rent”). Our leases also generally include tenant reimbursements for common area expenses, insurance, and real estate taxes. Utilities are generally paid by tenants either directly through separate meters or through payment of tenant reimbursements. The foregoing general description of the characteristics of the leases in our centers is not intended to describe all leases and material variations in lease terms may exist.
Our grocery anchor tenants comprised 50.5% of our portfolio GLA at December 31, 2018. Our small in-line tenants generally consist of retail, consumer services, healthcare providers, and restaurants; none of our small in-line tenants individually constitute more than 1.0% of our portfolio GLA as of December 31, 2018. The following table summarizes our grocery anchor tenants by GLA as of December 31, 2018:
|
| | | | | |
Grocery Anchor Tenant | | GLA | | % of GLA within retail portfolio |
Publix | | 1,039,959 |
| | 22.0% |
Kroger | | 518,194 |
| | 11.0% |
Harris Teeter | | 222,523 |
| | 4.7% |
Wal-Mart | | 183,211 |
| | 3.9% |
BJ's Wholesale Club | | 108,532 |
| | 2.3% |
Randall's | | 61,604 |
| | 1.3% |
Bi-Lo | | 59,824 |
| | 1.3% |
H.E.B | | 54,844 |
| | 1.2% |
Tom Thumb | | 43,600 |
| | 0.9% |
The Fresh Market | | 43,321 |
| | 0.9% |
Sprouts | | 29,855 |
| | 0.6% |
Aldi | | 23,622 |
| | 0.5% |
| | | | |
Total | | 2,389,089 |
| | |
The following table summarizes New Market Properties' contractual lease expirations for the next ten years and thereafter, assuming no tenants exercise their renewal options:
|
| | | | | | | | |
| New Market Properties Segment |
| Number of leases | | Leased GLA | | Percent of leased GLA |
| | | | | |
Month to month | 7 |
| | 14,638 |
| | 0.3 | % |
2019 | 94 |
| | 424,978 |
| | 9.5 | % |
2020 | 131 |
| | 554,319 |
| | 12.4 | % |
2021 | 135 |
| | 623,682 |
| | 14.0 | % |
2022 | 109 |
| | 354,688 |
| | 8.0 | % |
2023 | 104 |
| | 397,395 |
| | 8.9 | % |
2024 | 43 |
| | 772,547 |
| | 17.3 | % |
2025 | 28 |
| | 491,917 |
| | 11.0 | % |
2026 | 12 |
| | 145,520 |
| | 3.3 | % |
2027 | 19 |
| | 121,651 |
| | 2.7 | % |
2028 | 19 |
| | 245,115 |
| | 5.5 | % |
2029+ | 16 |
| | 311,516 |
| | 7.1 | % |
| | | | | |
Total | 717 |
| | 4,457,966 |
| | 100.0 | % |
Preferred Office Properties
At December 31, 2018, we were the sole owner of the following seven office properties, which comprise our Preferred Office Properties segment:
|
| | | | | | | | |
Property Name | | Location | | GLA | | Percent leased |
Three Ravinia | | Atlanta, GA | | 814,000 |
| | 91 | % |
150 Fayetteville | | Raleigh, NC | | 560,000 |
| | 89 | % |
Capitol Towers | | Charlotte, NC | | 479,000 |
| | 95 | % |
Westridge at La Cantera | | San Antonio, TX | | 258,000 |
| | 100 | % |
Armour Yards | | Atlanta, GA | | 187,000 |
| | 95 | % |
Brookwood Center | | Birmingham, AL | | 169,000 |
| | 100 | % |
Galleria 75 | | Atlanta, GA | | 111,000 |
| | 94 | % |
| | | | | | |
| | | | 2,578,000 |
| | 93 | % |
Our office building leases have original lease terms which generally range from 5 to 15 years and generally contain contractual, annual base rental rate escalations ranging from 2% to 3%. These leases may be structured as “gross” where the tenant’s base rental rate is all inclusive and there is no additional obligation to reimburse building operating expenses, “net” or “NNN” where in addition to base rent the tenant is also responsible for its pro rata share of reimbursable building operating expenses, or “modified gross” where in addition to base rent the tenant is also responsible for its pro rata share of reimbursable building operating expense increases over a base year amount (typically calculated as the actual reimbursable operating expenses in year one of the original lease term).
As of December 31, 2018, our significant tenants within our Preferred Office Properties segment consisted of:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | Rentable square footage | | Percent of Annual Base Rent | | Annual Base Rent (in thousands) |
InterContinental Hotels Group | 520,000 |
| | 18.9 | % | | $ | 11,822 |
|
Albemarle | 162,000 |
| | 9.1 | % | | 5,706 |
|
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company | 183,000 |
| | 5.3 | % | | 3,311 |
|
United Services Automobile Association | 129,000 |
| | 4.9 | % | | 3,042 |
|
Harland Clarke Corporation | 129,000 |
| | 4.6 | % | | 2,881 |
|
| | | | | | | |
| 1,123,000 |
| | 42.8 | % | | $ | 26,762 |
|
The following table summarizes contractual lease expirations within our Preferred Office Properties segment for the next ten years and thereafter, assuming no tenants exercise their renewal options:
|
| | | | | | |
Preferred Office Properties segment |
| | | | Percent of |
Year of lease expiration | | Rented square | | rented |
| feet | | square feet |
2019 | | 83,000 |
| | 3.5 | % |
2020 | | 62,000 |
| | 2.6 | % |
2021 | | 245,000 |
| | 10.3 | % |
2022 | | 65,000 |
| | 2.7 | % |
2023 | | 107,000 |
| | 4.5 | % |
2024 | | 204,000 |
| | 8.6 | % |
2025 | | 137,000 |
| | 5.8 | % |
2026 | | 165,000 |
| | 7.0 | % |
2027 | | 267,000 |
| | 11.2 | % |
2028 | | 213,000 |
| | 9.0 | % |
2029+ | | 827,000 |
| | 34.8 | % |
| | | | |
Total | | 2,375,000 |
| | 100.0 | % |
Details regarding the mortgage debt on our properties may be found in the consolidated financial statements within this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our corporate headquarters is located at 3284 Northside Parkway NW, Suite 150, Atlanta, Georgia 30327.
Neither we nor our subsidiaries nor, to our knowledge, our Manager is currently subject to any legal proceedings that we or our Manager consider to be material. To our knowledge, none of our communities are currently subject to any legal proceeding that we consider material.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
| |
Item 5. | Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
Market Information
Our Common Stock (symbol "APTS") has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since July 17, 2015.
As of December 31, 2018, there were approximately 26,000 holders of record of our Common Stock. This total excludes an unknown number of holders of 7.2 million shares of Common Stock in street name at non-responding brokerage firms.
Dividends
We have declared and subsequently paid cash dividends on shares of our Common Stock for each quarter since our IPO in 2011. Since we have elected to be taxed as a REIT effective with our tax year ended December 31, 2011, we are required to, and intend to, distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP and determined without regard for the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains) to maintain such status. Dividends are declared with the action and approval of our board of directors and any future distributions are made at our board of director's discretion. Our dividend paying capacity is primarily dependent upon cash generated from our multifamily communities, grocery-anchored shopping centers and office properties, interest income on our real estate loans and cash needs for capital expenditures, both foreseen and unforeseen, among other factors. Risks inherent in our ability to pay dividends are further described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Stockholder Return Performance Graph
The following stock performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filings under the Exchange Act, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate it by reference into such filing.
The chart above presents comparative investment results of a hypothetical initial investment of $1,000 on January 1, 2014 in: (i) our Common Stock, ticker symbol "APTS;" (ii) the MSCI U. S. REIT Index, an index of equity REIT constituent companies that derive the majority of their revenue from real estate rental activities; and (iii) the S&P 500 Index. The total return results assume automatic reinvestment of dividends and no transaction costs.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Value of initial investment on: | | |
| | | | 1/1/2014 | | 12/31/2014 | | 12/31/2015 | | 12/31/2016 |
| | 12/31/2017 |
| | 12/31/2018 |
|
APTS Common Stock | | $ | 1,000 |
| | $ | 1,223 |
| | $ | 1,782 |
| | $ | 2,155 |
| | $ | 3,099 |
| | $ | 2,290 |
|
MSCI U. S. REIT Index | | $ | 1,000 |
| | $ | 1,304 |
| | $ | 1,337 |
| | $ | 1,452 |
| | $ | 1,525 |
| | $ | 1,456 |
|
S&P 500 | | $ | 1,000 |
| | $ | 1,114 |
| | $ | 1,106 |
| | $ | 1,211 |
| | $ | 1,446 |
| | $ | 1,356 |
|
Sales of Unregistered Securities
There were no previously unreported sales of unregistered securities by the Company during the fiscal year ended 2018.
| |
Item 6. | Selected Financial Data |
The following table sets forth selected financial and operating data on a historical basis and should be read in conjunction with the section entitled “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, |
(In thousands, except per-share data and preferred stock par values) | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 |
Total revenues | $ | 397,271 |
| | $ | 294,005 |
| | $ | 200,119 |
| | $ | 109,306 |
| | $ | 56,536 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Net income (loss) | $ | 44,538 |
| | $ | 28,667 |
| | $ | (9,843 | ) | | $ | (2,426 | ) | | $ | 2,127 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Net loss per share of Common Stock | | | | | | | | | |
available to common stockholders, | | | | | | | | | |
basic and diluted | $ | (1.08 | ) | | $ | (1.13 | ) | | $ | (2.11 | ) | | $ | (0.95 | ) | | $ | (0.31 | ) |
| | | | | | | | | |
Weighted average number of shares of Common | | | | | | |
Stock outstanding, basic and diluted | 40,032 |
| | 31,926 |
| | 23,969 |
| | 22,183 |
| | 17,399 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Cash dividends declared per share of Common Stock | $ | 1.02 |
| | $ | 0.94 |
| | $ | 0.8175 |
| | $ | 0.7275 |
| | $ | 0.655 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Total assets | $ | 4,410,958 |
| | $ | 3,252,370 |
| | $ | 2,420,833 |
| | $ | 1,295,529 |
| | $ | 691,383 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Long term debt | $ | 2,339,752 |
| | $ | 1,812,049 |
| | $ | 1,327,878 |
| | $ | 696,945 |
| | $ | 354,419 |
|
Revolving credit facility | $ | 57,000 |
| | $ | 41,800 |
| | $ | 127,500 |
| | $ | 34,500 |
| | $ | 24,500 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Total liabilities | $ | 2,801,573 |
| | $ | 1,971,604 |
| | $ | 1,535,571 |
| | $ | 770,075 |
| | $ | 399,801 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Preferred Stock (par value outstanding) | $ | 16,518 |
| | $ | 12,373 |
| | $ | 9,144 |
| | $ | 4,830 |
| | $ | 1,928 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Total equity | $ | 1,609,385 |
| | $ | 1,280,766 |
| | $ | 885,261 |
| | $ | 525,454 |
| | $ | 291,582 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Cash flows provided by (used in): | | | | | | | | | |
Operating activities | $ | 145,381 |
| | $ | 86,289 |
| | $ | 61,661 |
| | $ | 35,221 |
| | $ | 15,436 |
|
Investing activities | $ | (881,805 | ) | | $ | (727,177 | ) | | $ | (1,126,584 | ) | | $ | (533,510 | ) | | $ | (356,424 | ) |
Financing activities | $ | 751,102 |
| | $ | 646,185 |
| | $ | 1,074,804 |
| | $ | 497,615 |
| | $ | 334,921 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
Funds from operations ("FFO")(1) | $ | 57,773 |
| | $ | 43,344 |
| | $ | 22,386 |
| | $ | 16,702 |
| |