WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
Black Creek Diversified Property Fund Inc.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”,filer,” “accelerated filer”filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “smaller reporting“emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
There is no established market for the registrant’s shares of common stock. The registrant publishes a net asset value (“NAV”), based on procedures and methodologies established by its board of directors, with an NAV on June 30, 2017,2019, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, of $7.50$7.30 per share for each class of shares of its common stock. As of December 31, 2017,2019, the NAV was $7.41$7.49 per share for each of class of shares of its common stock.
Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K incorporates certain information by reference to the definitive proxy statement for the registrant’s 20172020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) no later than April 30, 2018.2020.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain statements that may be deemed to be “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.” Such forward-looking statements relate to, without limitation, our future capital expenditures, distributions, acquisitions and acquisitionsdispositions (including the amount and nature thereof), other developments and trends of the real estate industry, business strategies, and the expansion and growth of our operations. These statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by us in light of our experience and our perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “intend,” “project,” “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar words or terms. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Some of the risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:
the impact of macroeconomic trends, such as the unemployment rate and availability of credit, which may have a negative effect on the following, among other things:
the fundamentals of our business, including overall market occupancy, tenant space utilization, and rental rates;
the financial condition of our tenants, some of which are financial, legal and other professional firms, our lenders, and institutions that hold our cash balances and short-term investments, which may expose us to increased risks of breach or default by these parties; and
the value of our real estate assets, which may limit our ability to dispose of assets at attractive prices or obtain or maintain debt financing secured by our properties or on an unsecured basis;
general risks affecting the real estate industry (including, without limitation, the inability to enter into or renew leases, dependence on tenants’ financial condition, and competition from other developers, owners and operators of real estate);
our ability to effectively raise and deploy proceeds from our ongoing public offerings;
risks associated with the demand for liquidity under our share redemption program and our ability to meet such demand;
risks associated with the availability and terms of debt and equity financing and the use of debt to fund acquisitions and developments, including the risk associated with interest rates impacting the cost and/or availability of financing;
the business opportunities that may be presented to and pursued by us, changes in laws or regulations (including changes to laws governing the taxation of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”));
conflicts of interest arising out of our relationships with Black Creek Diversified Property Advisors Group LLC (the “Sponsor”), Black Creek Diversified Property Advisors LLC (the “Advisor”), and their affiliates;
the availability and cost of comprehensive insurance, including coverage for terrorist acts.
For further discussion of these and other factors, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.
Black Creek Diversified Property Fund Inc. is a net asset value (“NAV”)-based perpetual life REIT formed on April 11, 2005, as a Maryland corporation. We are primarily focused on investing in and operating a diverse portfolio of real property. As of December 31, 2017, we owned and managed a2019, our real estate portfolio that includedconsisted of 48 properties, which includes nine properties that are part of the DST Program (as defined below), totaling approximately 7.68.8 million square feet located in 1921 markets throughout the U.S., with 471 tenants. As used herein, the terms “DPF,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” refer to Black Creek Diversified Property Fund Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires.
We have operated and elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2006, and we intend to continue to operate in accordance with the requirements for qualification as a REIT. We utilize an Umbrella Partnership Real Estate Investment Trust (“UPREIT”) organizational structure to hold all or substantially all of our assets through Black Creek Diversified Property Operating Partnership LP (the “Operating Partnership”), a Delaware limited partnership, of which we are the sole general partner and a limited partner.
We rely on the Advisor, a related party, to manage our day-to-day activities and to implement our investment strategy pursuant to the terms of an advisory agreement, by and among us, the Operating Partnership, and the Advisor (the “Advisory Agreement”). The current term of the Advisory Agreement ends on JuneApril 30, 2018,2020, subject to renewal by our board of directors for an unlimited number of successive one-year periods. The Advisor performs its duties and responsibilities under the Advisory Agreement as a fiduciary of us and our stockholders.
As a NAV-based perpetual life REIT, we intend to conduct ongoing public primary offerings of our common stock on a perpetual basis. We also intend to conduct an ongoing distribution reinvestment plan offering for our stockholders to reinvest distributions in our shares. From time to time, we intend to file new registration statements on Form S-11 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to register additional shares of common stock so that we may continuously offer shares of common stock pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In 2017,During 2019, we raised $19.9$172.3 million of gross proceeds from the sale of common stock in our ongoing public primary offeringofferings and $23.3$20.6 million from the sale of common stock under our distribution reinvestment plan. See “Note 78 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for more information about our public offerings. Whenever we refer to our share classes in this Annual Report on Form 10-K with respect to dates prior to September 1, 2017, we are referring to our shares under our prior share structure, and whenever we refer to our share classes in this Annual Report on Form 10-K with respect to dates on or after September 1, 2017, we are referring to our shares under our new share structure. Refer to See “Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for detailed information regarding the restructuring of our outstanding share classes.
Additionally, we have a program to raise capital through private placement offerings by selling beneficial interests in specific Delaware statutory trusts holding real properties including properties currently indirectly owned by the Operating Partnership (the “DST Program”). These private placement offerings are exempt from registration requirements pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Under the DST Program, each private placement will offer interests in one or more real properties placed into one or more Delaware statutory trust(s) by the Operating Partnership or its affiliates.affiliates (“DST Properties”). DST Properties may be sourced from properties currently indirectly owned by the Operating Partnership or newly acquired properties. We anticipate that these interests may serve as replacement properties for investors seeking to complete like-kind exchange transactions under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), as amended. Similar to our prior private placement offerings, we expect that the DST Program will give us the opportunity to expand and diversify our capital raise strategies by offering what we believe to be an attractive and unique investment product for investors that may be seeking replacement properties to complete like-kind exchange transactions under Section 1031 of the Code.
realizing capital appreciation in our share price from active investment management and asset management; and
There is no assurance that we will attain our investment objectives. Our charter places numerous limitations on us with respect to the manner in which we may invest our funds. In most cases these limitations cannot be changed unless our charter is amended, with the approval of our stockholders.
We will continue to focus our investment activities on expanding a high-quality, diversified real estate portfolio throughout the U.S. Although we generally target investments in four primary property categories (office, retail, industrial and multifamily)multi-family), our charter and bylaws do not preclude us from investing in other types of commercial property, real estateestate-related debt, or real estate relatedestate-related equity securities.
We believe that the real estate market is cyclical, with demand for property types peaking at different times. Although we do not invest for the short term, we are active portfolio managers and will seek to take advantage of opportunities to acquire or dispose of assets strategically at different points in the cycle. One reason we focus on multiple property types and markets is to increase our ability to take advantage of these market cycles. We believe that the broader the opportunity set in which to invest our capital, the more selective we can be in choosing strategic and accretive investments, which we believe may result in attractive total returns for our stockholders. Seeing more of the overall real estate market also may allow us to be consistent and meaningful investors throughout different cycles. When we believe one sector is overvalued, we patiently wait and focus on another sector that we believe is overlooked.overlooked or has stronger fundamentals of relative value. We also believe that value generally is based on the investment’s ability to produce cash flow and not what the next buyer will pay at any point in time.flow. We generally focus on select, targeted markets that exhibit characteristics of being supply-constrained with strong demand from tenants seeking quality space.
Our near-term investment strategy is likely to prioritize new investments in the industrial and multifamilymulti-family sectors due to attractive fundamental conditions. We have been focused on selling certain non-strategic office and retail assets. Refer to “Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for detail regarding our disposition activity during 20172019 and 2016.2018. The disposition of these properties has helped us increase our current allocation to multi-family and industrial real estate assets and liquidity to pursue new investment opportunities. However, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in this investment strategy, including with respect to any particular asset class. We also intend to continue to hold an allocation of properties in the office and retail sectors. To a lesser extent we may invest in other types of real estate including, but not limited to, hospitality, medical offices, manufactured housing, student housing and unimproved land. We currently do not intendAdditionally, to provide diversification to our portfolio, we may continue to invest in thesereal estate-related debt, which will generally include mortgage loans secured by real estate, mezzanine debt and other typesrelated investments. While we are not currently investing in real estate securities, should we decide to invest in real estate securities, any such investments generally will focus on equity issued by public and private real estate companies and certain other securities, with the primary goal of real estate.such investments being the preservation of liquidity in support of our share redemption program.
We generally employ a long-term hold strategy for strategic investments within our portfolio of real estate assets. The majority of our current portfolio consists of primarily “core” or “core-plus” properties that have significant operating histories and are substantially leased whereby a significant portion of the total investment return is expected to be derived from current income. In addition, we have invested in a relatively smaller proportion of “value added” opportunities that have arisen in circumstances where we have determined that a property may be situationally undervalued or where re-development, re-leasing and/or improved asset management may increase cash flows, and where the total investment return is generally expected to have a relatively larger component derived from capital appreciation.
We use financial leverage to provide additional funds to support our investment activities. We calculate our leverage for reporting purposes as the outstanding principal balance of our total borrowings divided by the fair value of our real property and debt-related investments. For purposes of determining the fair value of our real property, we include the fair value of the properties that are part of the DST Program due to the master lease structure, including our purchase option. Based on this methodology, our leverage was 49.1%40.0% as of December 31, 2017,2019, as compared to 45.9%47.7% as of December 31, 2016.2018. There are other methods of calculating our overall leverage ratio that may differ from this methodology, such as the methodology used in determining our compliance with corporate borrowing covenants. Our current leverage target is between 40-60%. Although we will generally work to maintain the targeted leverage ratio over the near term, we may change our targeted leverage ratio from time to time. In addition, we may vary from our targettargeted leverage ratio from time to time, and there are no assurances that we will maintain the targeted range disclosed above or achieve any other leverage ratio that we may target in the future. Our board of directors may from time to time modify our borrowing policy in light of then-current economic conditions, the relative costs of debt and equity capital, the fair values of our properties, general conditions in the market for debt and equity securities, growth and acquisition opportunities or other factors. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Risks Associated with Debt Financing” for additional detail.
We face competition from various entities for investment opportunities in properties, including other REITs, pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds and companies, partnerships and developers. Many of these entities may have greater
We are dependent upon the ability of current tenants to pay their contractual rent amounts as the rents become due. As of December 31, 2017,2019, there was only one tenantwere no tenants that represented more than 10.0% of total annualized base rent and two tenantsonly one tenant that each represented more than 10.0% of total leased square feet. Our 10 largest tenants represented 33.7%28.4% and 44.1%31.6% of total annualized base rent and total leased square feet, respectively. We are not aware of any current tenants whose inability to pay their contractual rental amounts would have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. See Item 2, “Properties,” for further detail about tenant diversification.
We are subject to various conflicts of interest arising out of our relationship with the Advisor and other affiliates and related parties, including: conflicts related to the compensation arrangements among the Advisor, certain affiliates and related parties, and us; conflicts with respect to the allocation of the Advisor’s and its key personnel’s time; conflicts related to our potential acquisition of assets from affiliates of the Advisor; and conflicts with respect to the allocation of investment and leasing opportunities. As a result of our potential competition with these entities, certain investment and leasing opportunities that would otherwise be available to us may not in fact be available. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest,” for additional detail. The independent directors have an obligation to function on our behalf in all situations in which a conflict of interest may arise and have a fiduciary obligation to act on behalf of our stockholders.
Properties that we may acquire, and the properties underlying our investments, are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations. Under these laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner of real estate (including, in certain circumstances, a secured lender that succeeds to ownership or control of a property) may become liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum product releases at, on, under or in its property. These laws typically impose cleanup responsibility and liability without regard to whether the owner or control party knew of or was responsible for the release or presence of the hazardous or toxic substances. The costs of investigation, remediation or removal of these substances may be substantial and could exceed the value of the property. An owner or control party of a site may be subject to common law claims by third parties based on damages and costs resulting from environmental contamination emanating from a site. Certain environmental laws also impose liability in connection with the handling of or exposure to materials containing asbestos. These laws allow third parties to seek recovery from owners of properties for personal injuries associated with materials containing asbestos. Our operating costs and the values of these assets may be adversely affected by the obligation to pay for the cost of complying with existing environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, as well as the cost of complying with future legislation, and our income and ability to make distributions to our stockholders could be affected adversely by the existence of an environmental liability with respect to our properties. We will endeavor to ensure our properties are in compliance in all material respects with all federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations regarding hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum products.
We have no employees. Pursuant to the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Advisor assumes principal responsibility for managing our affairs and we compensate the Advisor for certain services.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTING IN SHARES OF OUR COMMON STOCK
There is no public trading market for the shares of our common stock and we do not anticipate that there will be a public trading market for our shares; therefore, our stockholders’ ability to dispose of their shares will likely be limited to redemption by us. If the stockholder does sell their shares to us, the stockholder may receive less than the price they paid.
There is no public market for the shares of our common stock and we currently have no obligation or plans to apply for listing on any public securities market. Therefore, redemption of the shares of our common stock by us will likely be the only way for the stockholders to dispose of their shares. We will redeem shares at a price equal to the transaction price on the last calendar day of the applicable month (which will generally be equal to our most recently disclosed monthly NAV per share), and not based on the price at which the stockholder initially purchased their shares. We may redeem the stockholder’s shares if they fail to maintain a minimum balance of $2,000 of shares, even if the stockholder’s failure to meet the minimum balance is caused solely by a decline in our NAV. Subject to limited exceptions, shares that have not been outstanding for at least one year will be redeemed at 95% of the transaction price, which will inure indirectly to the benefit of our remaining stockholders. As a result of this and the fact that our NAV will fluctuate, stockholders may receive less than the price they paid for their shares upon redemption by us pursuant to our share redemption program.
Our ability to redeem stockholder shares may be limited, and our board of directors may modify, suspend or terminate our share redemption program at any time.
We may redeem fewer shares than have been requested in any particular month to be redeemed under our share redemption program, or none at all, in our discretion at any time. We may redeem fewer shares due to lack of readily available funds because of adverse market conditions beyond our control, the need to maintain liquidity for our operations or because we have determined that investing in real property or other illiquid investments is a better use of our capital than redeeming our shares. In addition, the total amount of aggregate redemptions of Class E, Class T, Class S, Class D, and Class I shares (based on the price at which the shares are redeemed) will be limited during each calendar month to 2% of the aggregate NAV of all classes as of the last calendar day of the previous quarter and in each calendar quarter will be limited to 5% of the aggregate NAV of all classes of shares as of the last calendar day of the previous calendar quarter; provided, however, that every month and quarter each class of our common stock will be allocated capacity within such aggregate limit to allow stockholders in such class to either: (a) redeem shares (based on the price at which the shares are redeemed) equal to at least 2% of the aggregate NAV of
such share class as of the last calendar day of the previous quarter; or, if more limiting, (b) redeem shares (based on the price at which the shares are redeemed) over the course of a given quarter equal to at least 5% of the aggregate NAV of such share class as of the last calendar day of the previous quarter (collectively, referred to herein as the “2% and 5% limits”), which in the second and third months of a quarter could be less than 2% of the NAV of such share class and could even be zero. In addition, for both the aggregate and class-specific allocations described above, (i) provided that the share redemption program has been operating and not suspended for the first month of a given quarter and that all properly submitted redemption requests were satisfied, any unused capacity for that month will carry over to the second month and (ii) provided that the share redemption program has been operating and not suspended for the first two months of a given quarter and that all properly submitted redemption requests were satisfied, any unused capacity for those two months will carry over to the third month. In no event will such carry-over capacity permit the redemption of shares with aggregate value (based on the redemption price per share for the month the redemption is effected) in excess of 5% of the combined NAV of all classes of shares as of the last calendar day of the previous calendar quarter (provided that for these purposes redemptions may be measured on a net basis as described in the paragraph below).
We currently measure the foregoing redemption allocations and limitations based on net redemptions during a month or quarter, as applicable. The term “net redemptions” means, during the applicable period, the excess of our share redemptions (capital outflows) over the proceeds from the sale of our shares (capital inflows). With respect to future periods, our board of directors may choose whether the allocations and limitations will be applied to “gross redemptions,” i.e., without netting against capital inflows, rather than to net redemptions, which could limit the amount of shares redeemed in a given month or quarter despite our receiving a net capital inflow for that month or quarter.
The vast majority of our assets will consist of properties which cannot generally be readily liquidated on short notice without impacting our ability to realize full value upon their disposition. Therefore, we may not always have a sufficient amount of cash to immediately satisfy redemption requests. Our board of directors may modify, suspend or terminate our share redemption program. As a result, the stockholder’s ability to have their shares redeemed by us may be limited, and our shares should be considered as having only limited liquidity and at times may be illiquid. See Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities-ShareSecurities—Share Redemption Program and Other Redemptions” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our capacity to redeem shares may be further limited if we experience a concentration of investors.
The current limitations of our share redemption program are based, in part, on the number of outstanding shares. Thus, the ability of a single investor, or of a group of investors acting similarly, to redeem all of their shares may be limited if they own a large percentage of our shares. Similarly, if a single investor, or a group of investors acting in concert or independently, owns a large percentage of our shares, a significant redemption request by such investor or investors could significantly further limit our ability to satisfy redemption requests of other investors of such classes. Such concentrations could arise in a variety of circumstances, especially while we have relatively few outstanding Class T, Class S, Class D and Class I shares. For example, we could sell a large number of our shares to one or more institutional investors, either in a public offering or in a private placement. In addition, we may issue a significant number of our shares in connection with an acquisition of another company or a portfolio of properties to a single investor or a group of investors that may request redemption at similar times following the acquisition. As of December 31, 2017,2019, based on the NAV per share of $7.41$7.49 on that date, we had outstanding approximately $15.3$43.9 million in Class T shares, $0.5$154.3 million in Class S shares, $18.6$26.2 million in Class D shares, $252.4$327.7 million in Class I shares and $694.0$500.6 million in Class E shares.
Purchases and redemptions of our common shares will not be made based on the current NAV per share of our common stock.
The purchase and redemption price for shares of our common stock will generally be based on our most recently disclosed monthly NAV (subject to material changes) and will not be based on any public trading market. We generally expect our transaction price to be equal to our NAV as of a date approximately one month prior to the dates when share purchases and redemptions take place. For example, if the stockholders wish to subscribe for shares of our common stock in October, the subscription request must be received in good order at least five business days before November 1. Generally, the offering price would equal the NAV per share of the applicable class as of the last calendar day of September, plus applicable upfront selling commissions and dealer manager fees. If accepted, the stockholder subscription would be effective on the first calendar day of November. Conversely, if the stockholders wish to submit their shares for redemption in October, the redemption request and required documentation must be received in good order by 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the second to last business day of October. If accepted, the stockholdersstockholders’ shares would be redeemed as of the last calendar day of October and, generally, the redemption price would equal the NAV per share of the applicable class as of the last calendar day of September, subject to reduction for early redemption. In each of these cases, the NAV that is ultimately determined as of the last day of October may be higher or lower than the NAV as of the last day of September used for determining the transaction price. Therefore, the price at which the stockholders purchase shares may be higher than the current NAV per share at the time of sale and the price at which they redeem shares may be lower than the current NAV per share at the time of redemption.
Economic events that may cause our stockholders to request that we redeem their shares may materially adversely affect our cash flow and our results of operations and financial condition.
Economic events affecting the U.S. economy, such as the general negative performance of the real estate sector, could cause our stockholders to seek to sell their shares to us pursuant to our share redemption program at a time when such events are adversely affecting the performance of our assets. Even if we decide to satisfy all resulting redemption requests, our cash flow could be materially adversely affected. In addition, if we determine to sell assets to satisfy redemption requests, we may not be able to realize the return on such assets that we may have been able to achieve had we sold at a more favorable time, and our results of operations and financial condition, including, without limitation, breadth of our portfolio by property type and location, could be materially adversely affected.
A portion of the proceeds raised in our public offerings is expected to be used to satisfy redemption requests, and such portion of the proceeds may be substantial.
We currently expect to use a portion of the proceeds from our public offerings to satisfy redemption requests, in particular redemption requests from our Class E stockholders who comprise the majoritya significant portion of our stockholders, have generally held their shares for a number of years and have demonstrated significant demand for liquidity in recent years. We have redeemed or repurchased approximately $178.4$120.6 million of shares of our common stock forduring the year ended December 31, 2017.2019. Using the proceeds from our public offerings for redemptions will reduce the net proceeds available to retire debt or acquire additional properties, which may result in reduced liquidity and profitability or restrict our ability to grow our NAV.
We have experienced periods in the past in which redemption demand exceeded redemption capacity, and we could experience such situations again in the future.
We commenced our initial public offering in January 2006 and commenced operations later that year. At that time, we only offered Class E shares of common stock (referred to at that time simply as our shares of “common stock”), and our share redemption program for Class E stockholders (which was more restrictive than our current share redemption program) was subject to limitations that included a maximum number of redemptions during any calendar year of 5% of the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the prior calendar year. Beginning in the first quarter of 2009 through the third quarter of 2016, redemption requests from Class E stockholders exceeded the redemption limits set forth in the Class E share redemption
program and associated offering materials, and we conducted a number of self-tender offers to supplement this liquidity. As a result, we redeemed only a portion of the shares from investors who sought redemption during that period, either through the redemption program or self-tender offers, and the stockholders were required to resubmit redemption requests periodically in order to renew their requests to either have their shares redeemed pursuant to the share redemption program or purchased pursuant to a tender offer.
Although all properly submitted redemption requests and/or tenders in our self-tender offers have been satisfied beginning with the fourth quarter of 2016, in the future we could experience situations like that described above in which redemption demand exceeds capacity. Our current share redemption program has different limitations than our share redemption program did during that time, but it remains true that our ability to redeem the stockholder shares may be limited, and our board of directors may modify, suspend or terminate our share redemption program at any time. Furthermore, we may redeem fewer shares than have been requested in any particular month to be redeemed under our share redemption program, or none at all, in our discretion at any time. If a redemption request under our share redemption program is unsatisfied, it must be resubmitted after the start of the next month or quarter, or upon the recommencement of the share redemption program, as applicable.
Historical returns may be presented over limited timeframes and are inherently limited in their applicability to the future.
In our prospectus, in our annual report, and in other investor communications, we disclose certain historical NAV and total return information. This information may be presented on a class-by-class basis or on a weighted-average basis across all our classes. The information may go back one month, one quarter, or longer periods. While we believe this historical information is useful, investors should understand that any historical return presentation is inherently limited in its applicability to the future, for a variety of reasons. We may have performed better in certain past time periods than others, and we cannot predict the future performance of our company specifically or the broader economy and real estate markets more generally. Furthermore, from time to time we make changes to our portfolio, our investment focus, or structural aspects of our company that may make past returns less comparable. Over time, we have made changes to the fees and reimbursements we pay to the Advisor (in connection with managing our operations) and the dealer manager for our public offerings, Black Creek Capital Markets, LLC (the “Dealer Manager”), and participating broker-dealers (in connection with our public offerings). Our share classes have different upfront fees and different class-specific fees that make their returns different from those of other classes and from average returns that may be shown. In some cases, we have changed the names of our share classes and the fees that affect their returns. Over time, we have also made changes to the frequency with which, and the methodologies with which, we estimate the value of our shares.
In particular, it was not until July 2012 that we converted to a perpetual-life “NAV REIT” that offers multiple classes of shares, moved to a fee structure similar to what we have now, and began providing regular NAV computations and disclosures similar to those we provide now. For this reason, our historical return disclosures typically do not go further back than September 30, 2012, which is the first quarter-end date as an NAV REIT and which we refer to as our “NAV inception.” Nevertheless, investors should be aware that we commenced operations in the first quarter of 2006, and from 2006 to 2009 raised capital through the sale of Class E shares of common stock (referred to at that time simply as our shares of “common stock”) at a fixed price of $10.00 per share. Prior to NAV inception in 2012, we had a materially different structure both in terms of the commissions charged in connection with sales of shares and the fees and reimbursements we paid to the Advisor and the Dealer Manager. As a result of both this different structure and the effects of the financial crisis, the performance returns for individual Class E stockholders that acquired shares in our offerings from 2006 to 2009 is lower than those for our other stockholders.
Stockholders will not have the opportunity to evaluate future investments we will make with the proceeds raised in our public offerings prior to purchasing shares of our common stock.
We have not identified future investments that we will make with the proceeds of our public offerings. As a result, stockholders will not be able to evaluate the economic merits, transaction terms or other financial or operational data concerning our future investments prior to purchasing shares of our common stock. Stockholders must rely on the Advisor and our board of directors to implement our investment policies, to evaluate our investment opportunities and to structure the terms of our investments. Because the stockholders cannot evaluate all of the investments we will make in advance of purchasing shares of our common stock, this additional risk may hinder the stockholdersstockholders’ ability to achieve their own personal investment objectives related to portfolio diversification, risk-adjusted investment returns and other objectives.
We may raise significantly less than the maximum offering amount in our public offerings.
In our current public primary offering, we are offering on a continuous basis up to $750.0 million$3.0 billion of shares of our common stock. However, we may raise significantly less than this amount. Our ability to raise capital may be impacted by a variety of factors, including market demand, relative attractiveness of alternative investments, and the willingness of key distribution partners to continue to sell our shares on their respective platforms. The less capital we raise, the less capital we will have available to make investments in accordance with our investment strategy and policies, to provide liquidity to our stockholders and for general corporate purposes (which may include repayment of our debt or any other corporate purposes we deem appropriate).
Furthermore, the estimated use of proceeds figures presented in our offering prospectuses are estimates based on numerous assumptions. The actual percentage of net proceeds available to use will depend on a number of factors, including the amount of capital we raise and the actual offering costs. For example, if we raise less than the maximum offering amount, offered, we would expect the percentage of net offering proceeds available to us to be less (and may be substantially less) than the estimated use of proceeds figures presented in theour offering prospectuses because many offering costs are fixed and do not depend on the amount of capital raised in our public offerings.
Even if we are able to raise substantial funds in our public offerings, investors in our common stock are subject to the risk that our offering, business and operating plans may change.
Although we intend to operate as a perpetual-life REIT with an ongoing offering and share redemption program, this is not a requirement of our charter. Even if we are able to raise substantial funds in our public offerings, if circumstances change such that our board of directors believes it is in the best interest of our stockholders to terminate the offering or to terminate our share redemption program, we may do so without stockholder approval. Our board of directors may also change our investment objectives, borrowing policies or other corporate policies without stockholder approval. In addition, we may change the way our fees and expenses are incurred and allocated to different classes of stockholders if the tax rules applicable to REITs change such that we could do so without adverse tax consequences. Our board of directors may decide that certain significant transactions that require stockholder approval such as dissolution, merger into another entity, consolidation or the sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of our assets, are in the best interests of our stockholders. Holders of all classes of our common stock have equal voting rights with respect to such matters and will vote as a single group rather than on a class-by-class basis. Accordingly, investors in our common stock are subject to the risk that our offering, business and operating plans may change.
Valuations and appraisals of our properties, real estate-related assets and real estate-related liabilities are estimates of value and may not necessarily correspond to realizable value.
The valuation methodologies used to value our properties and certain real estate-related assets involve subjective judgments regarding such factors as comparable sales, rental revenue and operating expense data, known contingencies, the capitalization or discount rate, and projections of future rent and expenses based on appropriate analysis. As a result, valuations and appraisals of our properties, real estate-related assets and real estate-related liabilities are only estimates of current market value. Ultimate realization of the value of an asset or liability depends to a great extent on economic and other conditions beyond our control and the control of the Independent Valuation Firm (as defined below) and other parties involved in the valuation of our assets and liabilities. Further, these valuations may not necessarily represent the price at which an asset or
liability would sell, because market prices of assets and liabilities can only be determined by negotiation between a willing buyer and seller. Valuations used for determining our NAV also are generally made without consideration of the expenses that would be incurred by us in connection with disposing of assets and liabilities. Therefore, the valuations of our properties, our investments in real estate-related assets and our liabilities may not correspond to the timely realizable value upon a sale of those assets and liabilities. In addition to being a month old when share purchases and redemptions take place, our NAV does not currently represent enterprise value and may not accurately reflect the actual prices at which our assets could be liquidated on any given day, the value a third party would pay for all or substantially all of our shares, or the price that our shares would trade at on a national stock exchange. There will be no retroactive adjustment in the valuation of such assets or liabilities, the price of our shares of common stock, the price we paid to redeem shares of our common stock or NAV-based fees we paid to the Advisor and the Dealer Manager to the extent such valuations prove to not accurately reflect the true estimate of value and are not a precise measure of realizable value. Because the price the stockholders will pay for shares of our common stock in the offering, and the price at which their shares may be redeemed by us pursuant to our share redemption program, are generally based on our estimated NAV per share, the stockholders may pay more than realizable value or receive less than realizable value for their investment.
In order to disclose a monthly NAV, we are reliant on the parties that we engage for that purpose, in particular the Independent Valuation Firm and the appraisers that we hire to value and appraise our real estate portfolio.
In order to disclose a monthly NAV, our board of directors, including a majority of our independent directors, has adopted valuation procedures that contain a comprehensive set of methodologies to be used in connection with the calculation of our NAV and caused us to engage independent third parties such as the Independent Valuation Firm, to value our real estate portfolio on a monthly basis, and independent appraisal firms, to provide periodic appraisals with respect to our properties. We have also engaged a firm to act as the NAV Accountant and may engage other independent third parties or the Advisor to value other assets or liabilities. Although our board of directors, with the assistance of the Advisor, oversees all of these parties and the reasonableness of their work product, we will not independently verify our NAV or the components thereof, such as the appraised values of our properties. Our management’s assessment of the market values of our properties may also differ from the appraised values of our properties as determined by the Independent Valuation Firm. If the parties engaged by us to determine our monthly NAV are unable or unwilling to perform their obligations to us, our NAV could be inaccurate or unavailable, and we could decide to suspend our public offerings and our share redemption program.
Our NAV is not subject to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), will not be independently audited and will involve subjective judgments by the Independent Valuation Firm and other parties involved in valuing our assets and liabilities.
Our valuation procedures and our NAV are not subject to GAAP and will not be subject to independent audit. Our NAV may differ from equity (net assets) reflected on our audited financial statements, even if we are required to adopt a fair value basis of accounting for GAAP financial statement purposes. Additionally, we are dependent on the Advisor to be reasonably aware of material events specific to our properties (such as tenant disputes, damage, litigation and environmental issues) that may cause the value of a property to change materially and to promptly notify the Independent Valuation Firm so that the information may be reflected in our real estate portfolio valuation. In addition, the implementation and coordination of our valuation procedures include certain subjective judgments of the Advisor, such as whether the Independent Valuation Firm should be notified of events specific to our properties that could affect their valuations, as well as of the Independent Valuation Firm and other parties we engage, as to whether adjustments to asset and liability valuations are appropriate. Accordingly, the stockholders must rely entirely on our board of directors to adopt appropriate valuation procedures and on the Independent Valuation Firm and other parties we engage in order to arrive at our NAV, which may not correspond to realizable value upon a sale of our assets.
No rule or regulation requires that we calculate our NAV in a certain way, and our board of directors, including a majority of our independent directors, may adopt changes to the valuation procedures.
There are no existing rules or regulatory bodies that specifically govern the manner in which we calculate our NAV. As a result, it is important that stockholders pay particular attention to the specific methodologies and assumptions we use to calculate our NAV. Other public REITs may use different methodologies or assumptions to determine their NAV. In addition, each year our board of directors, including a majority of our independent directors, will review the appropriateness of our valuation procedures and may, at any time, adopt changes to the valuation procedures. For example, we do not currently include any enterprise value or real estate acquisition costs in our assets calculated for purposes of our NAV. If we acquire real property assets as a portfolio, we may pay a premium over the amount that we would pay for the assets individually. Our board of directors may change these or other aspects of our valuation procedures, which changes may have an adverse effect on our NAV and the price at which the stockholders may sell shares to us under our share redemption program. See Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Net Asset Value Per Share” and our valuation procedures attached as Exhibit 4.4 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more details regarding our valuation methodologies, assumptions and procedures.
Our NAV per share may suddenly change if the valuations of our properties materially change from prior valuations or the actual operating results materially differ from what we originally budgeted.valuations.
It is possible that the annual appraisals of our properties may not be spread evenly throughout the year and may differ from the most recent monthly valuation. As such, when these appraisals are reflected in our Independent Valuation Firm’s valuation of our real estate portfolio, there may be a sudden change in our NAV per share for each class of our common stock. Property valuation changes can occur for a variety of reasons, such as local real estate market conditions, the financial condition of our tenants, or lease expirations. For example, we regularly face lease expirations across our portfolio, and as we move further away from lease commencement toward the end of a lease term, the valuation of the underlying property will be expected to drop depending on the likelihood of a renewal or a new lease on similar terms. Such a valuation drop can be particularly significant when closer to a lease expiration, especially for single tenant buildings or where an individual tenant occupies a large portion of a building. We are at the greatest risk of these valuation changes during periods in which we have a large number of lease expirations as well as when the lease of a significant tenant is closer to expiration. Similarly, if a tenant will have an option in the future to purchase one of our properties from us at a price that is less than the current valuation of the property, then if the value of the property exceeds the option price, the valuation will be expected to decline and begin to approach the purchase price as the date of the option approaches. In addition, actual operating results could change unexpectedly. For example, if operating expenses suddenly increase or revenues decrease, such change may differ from what we originally budgeted, which mayin turn cause a sudden increase or decrease in the NAV per share amounts. We accrue estimated income and expenses on a monthly basis based on annual budgets as adjusted from time to time to reflect changes in the business throughout the year. On a periodic basis, we adjust the income and expense accruals we estimated to reflect the income and expenses actually earned and incurred. We will not retroactively adjust the NAV per share of each class for any adjustments. Therefore, because actual results from operations may be better or worse than what we previously budgeted, the adjustment to reflect actual operating results may cause the NAV per share for each class of our common stock to increase or decrease.
New acquisitions may be valued for purposes of our NAV at less than what we pay for them, which would dilute our NAV, or at more than what we pay for them, which would be accretive to our NAV.
Pursuant to our valuation procedures, the acquisition price of newly acquired properties will serve as our appraised value for the calendar year of acquisition, and thereafter will be part of the rotating appraisal cycle such that they are appraised at least every calendar year. This is true whether the acquisition is funded with cash, equity or a combination thereof. However, the Independent Valuation Firm always has the ability to adjust property valuations for purposes of our NAV from the most recent appraised value. Similarly, if the Independent Valuation Firm believes that the purchase price for a recent acquisition does not reflect the current value of the property, the Independent Valuation Firm has the ability to adjust the valuation for purposes of our NAV downwards immediately after acquisition. Even if the Independent Valuation Firm does not adjust the valuation downwards immediately following the acquisition, when we obtain an appraisal on the property, it may not appraise at a value equal to the purchase price. Accordingly, the value of a new acquisition as established under our NAV procedures could be less than what we pay for
it, which could negatively affect our NAV, or more than what we pay for it, which could positively affect our NAV. Large portfolio acquisitions, in particular, may require a “portfolio premium” to be paid by us in order to be a competitive bidder, and this “portfolio premium” may not be taken into consideration in calculating our NAV. In addition, acquisition expenses we incur in connection with new acquisitions will negatively impact our NAV. We may make acquisitions (with cash or equity) of any size without stockholder approval, and such acquisitions may be dilutive or accretive to our NAV.
The NAV per share that we publish may not necessarily reflect changes in our NAV that are not immediately quantifiable.
From time to time, we may experience events with respect to our investments that may have a material impact on our NAV. For example, and not by way of limitation, changes in governmental rules, regulations and fiscal policies, environmental legislation, acts of God, terrorism, social unrest, civil disturbances and major disturbances in financial markets may cause the value of a property to change materially. Similarly, negotiations, disputes and litigation that involve us and other parties may ultimately have a positive or negative impact on our NAV. The NAV per share of each class of our common stock as published for any given month may not reflect such extraordinary events to the extent that their financial impact is not immediately quantifiable. As a result, the NAV per share that we publish may not necessarily reflect changes in our NAV that are not immediately quantifiable, and the NAV per share of each class published after the announcement of a material event may differ significantly from our actual NAV per share for such class until such time as the financial impact is quantified and our NAV is appropriately adjusted in accordance with our valuation procedures. The resulting potential disparity in our NAV may inure to the benefit of redeeming stockholders or non-redeeming stockholders and new purchasers of our common stock, depending on whether our published NAV per share for such class is overstated or understated.
The realizable value of specific properties may change before the value is adjusted by the Independent Valuation Firm and reflected in the calculation of our NAV.
Our valuation procedures generally provide that the Independent Valuation Firm will adjust a real property’s valuation, as necessary, based on known events that have a material impact on the most recent value (adjustments for non-material events may also be made). We are dependent on the Advisor to be reasonably aware of material events specific to our properties (such as tenant disputes, damage, litigation and environmental issues, as well as positive events such as new lease agreements) that
may cause the value of a property to change materially and to promptly notify the Independent Valuation Firm so that the information may be reflected in our real estate portfolio valuation. Events may transpire that, for a period of time, are unknown to us or the Independent Valuation Firm that may affect the value of a property, and until such information becomes known and is processed, the value of such asset may differ from the value used to determine our NAV. In addition, although we may have information that suggests a change in value of a property may have occurred, there may be a delay in the resulting change in value being reflected in our NAV until such information is appropriately reviewed, verified and processed. For example, we may receive an unsolicited offer from an unrelated third party, to sell one of our assets at a price that is materially different than the price included in our NAV. Or, we may be aware of a new lease, lease expiry, or entering into a potential contract for capital expenditure. Where possible, adjustments generally are made based on events evidenced by proper final documentation. It is possible that an adjustment to the valuation of a property may occur prior to final documentation if the Independent Valuation Firm determines that events warrant adjustments to certain assumptions that materially affect value. However, to the extent that an event has not yet become final based on proper documentation, its impact on the value of the applicable property may not be reflected (or may be only partially reflected) in the calculation of our NAV.
Our NAV and the NAV of stockholder shares may be diluted in connection with our public offerings and future securities offerings.
In connection with our public offerings, we incur fees and expenses, which will decrease the amount of cash we have available for operations and new investments. In addition, because the prices of shares sold in our public offerings are based on our NAV, the offering may be dilutive if our NAV procedures do not fully capture the value of our shares and/or we do not utilize the proceeds accretively.
In the future we may conduct other offerings of common stock (whether existing or new classes), preferred stock, debt securities or of interests in the Operating Partnership. We may also amend the terms of our public offerings. We may structure or amend such offerings to attract institutional investors or other sources of capital. The costs of our public offering and future offerings may negatively impact our ability to pay distributions and stockholdersstockholders’ overall return.
InterestBecause we generally do not mark to market our property-level mortgages and corporate-level credit facilities that are intended to be held to maturity, or our associated interest rate changeshedges that are intended to be held to maturity, the realizable value of our company or our assets that are encumbered by debt may cause volatilitybe higher or lower than the value used in the calculation of our monthly NAV.
In accordance with our valuation procedures, our property-level mortgages and corporate-level credit facilities that are intended to be held to maturity, including those subject to interest rates hedges, are valued at par (i.e. at their respective outstanding balances). Because we generally useoften utilize interest rate hedges to stabilize interest payments (i.e. to fix all-in interest rates through interest rate swaps or to limit interest rate exposure through interest rate caps) on individual loans, each loan and associated
interest rate hedge are treated as one financial instrument, which is valued at par for property-level mortgages or corporate-level credit facilities that are intended to be held to maturity. As a result, the realizable value of our company or our assets that are encumbered by debt used in the calculation of our NAV may be higher or lower than the value that would be derived if such debt instruments were marked to market. For example, if we decide to sell one or more assets, we may re-classify those assets as held-for-sale, which could then have a positive or negative impact on our calculation of NAV to the extent any associated debt is definitively intended to be prepaid. In some cases such difference may be significant. As a further example, we estimate the fair value of our assets and liabilitiesdebt (inclusive of associated interest rate hedges) that was intended to determine our monthly NAV. Thebe held to maturity as of December 31, 2019 was $11.6 million higher than par for such debt in aggregate, meaning that if we used the fair value of certainour debt rather than par (and treated the associated hedge as part of the same financial instrument), our NAV would have been lower by approximately $11.6 million, or $0.08 per share, as of December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2019, we classified all of our assets and liabilities maydebt as intended to be very sensitiveheld to interest rate changes, such as fixed rate borrowings and interest rate hedges. As a result, changes in projected forward interest rates may cause volatility in our monthly NAV.maturity.
Stockholders do not have the benefit of an independent due diligence review in connection with our public offerings which increases the risk of their investment.
Because the Advisor and the Dealer Manager are related, investors do not have the benefit of an independent due diligence review and investigation of the type normally performed by an unrelated, independent underwriter in connection with a securities offering. In addition, DLA Piper LLP (US) has acted as counsel to us, the Advisor and the Dealer Manager in connection with our public offerings and, therefore, investors do not have the benefit of a due diligence review that might otherwise be performed by independent counsel. Under applicable legal ethics rules, DLA Piper LLP (US) may be precluded from representing us due to a conflict of interest between us and the Dealer Manager. If any situation arises in which our interests are in conflict with those of the Dealer Manager or its related parties, we would be required to retain additional counsel and may incur additional fees and expenses. The lack of an independent due diligence review and investigation increases the risk of stockholdersstockholders’ investment.
Our investors may be at a greater risk of loss than the Advisor and members of our management team.
We have taken certain actions to increase the stock ownership in our Company by our management team, the Advisor and our directors over the past couple of years, including the implementation of certain stock-based awards. As of February 26, 2018,December 31, 2019, the Advisor and members of our management team own approximately $9.8$7.0 million of stock or in stock-based awards (including unvested shares). While we have increased stock ownership over the last few years by management, the Advisor and our directors, theThe current level of ownership by management may be less than the management teams of other public real estate companies and, as a result, our investors may be at a greater risk of loss than the Advisor and other members of our management, especially as compared to these other companies in which stock ownership by management and directors may be significantly greater.
The availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders is uncertain.
Our board of directors intends to authorize a monthly distribution of a certain dollar amount per share of our common stock using monthly record dates. However, the payment of class-specific fees results in different amounts of distributions being paid with respect to each class of shares. In addition, we bear allthe expenses incurred in our operations which reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Distributions may also be negatively impacted by the failure to deploy our net proceeds on an expeditious basis, the inability to find suitable investments that are not dilutive to our distributions, the poor
performance of our investments (including vacancy or decline in rental rates), an increase in expenses for any reason (including expending funds for redemptions) and due to numerous other factors. Any request by the holders of our partnership interests in the Operating Partnership (“OP UnitsUnits”) to redeem some or all of their OP Units for cash may also impact the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors, in its discretion, may retain any portion of such funds for working capital. We cannot assure the stockholders that sufficient cash will be available to make distributions to our stockholders or that the amount of distributions will not either decrease or fail to increase over time. From time to time, we may adjust our distribution level and we may make such an adjustment at any time.
We have paid and may continue to pay distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, including, without limitation, the sale of assets, borrowings or offering proceeds, and we have no limits on the amounts we may pay from such sources.
Although ourOur total distributions duringdeclared for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 2016,were $55.3 million, $52.5 million and 2015$55.7 million, respectively, which includes $20.7 million, $19.1 million and $19.7 million, respectively, of distributions reinvested in our shares pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan. Our cash flow from operations for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 was $49.3 million, $67.5 million and $58.9 million, respectively. Accordingly, in certain years, total distributions were not fully funded by cash flow from operations. In such cases, the shortfalls were funded from proceeds from our distribution reinvestment plan or borrowings. In addition, for years in which total distributions were fully funded from our operations, in some cases our distributions were not fully funded from our operations for individual quarters. In such cases, the shortfalls were funded from proceeds from our distribution reinvestment plan or borrowings. In the future, we may continue to fund our monthly regular distributions from sources other sources. Ourthan cash flow from operations; however, our long-term strategy is to fund the payment of regular distributions to our stockholders entirely from our operations. However, ifIf we are
unsuccessful in investing the capital we raise infrom our public offerings or which is generated from the sale of existingdecide to invest our capital in lower yielding assets, on an effective and efficient basis that is accretive to our distribution level, we may be required to fund our distributions to our stockholders from a combination of our operationsoperating, investing and financing activities, which include net proceeds of our public offerings, dispositions and borrowings (including borrowings secured by our assets), or to reduce the level of our distributions. Using certain of these sources may result in a liability to us, which would require a future repayment. The use of these sources for distributions and the ultimate repayment of any liabilities incurred could adversely impact our ability to pay distributions in future periods, decrease the amount of cash we have available for new investments, repayment of debt, share redemptions and other corporate purposes, and potentially reduce stockholdersstockholders’ overall return and adversely impact and dilute the value of their investment in shares of our common stock. We may pay distributions from sources other than cash flow from operations, including, without limitation, the sale of assets, borrowings or offering proceeds. Our ability to pay distributions solely from cash flows from operations has been impacted by the expiration of certain large leases in our portfolio.portfolio and disposition of certain properties. All distributions result in a decrease to our NAV while cash flow generated from our operations results in an increase to NAV. We generally seek to fund our distributions solely from our cash flow from operations and as a result, any cash flow from operations in excess of our distributions results in a net increase to NAV.NAV (ignoring other factors). Conversely, if and when our distributions exceed our cash flow from operations, the net effect would result inbe and has been a decrease to NAV.NAV (ignoring other factors). We have not established a limit on the amount of our distributions that may be paid from any of these sources.
If we raise substantial offering proceeds in a short period of time, we may not be able to invest all of the net offering proceeds promptly, which may cause our distributions and the long-term returns to our investors to be lower than they otherwise would.
We could suffer from delays in locating suitable investments. The more money we raise in our public offerings, the more difficult it will be to invest the net offering proceeds promptly. Therefore, the large size of our public offerings increases the risk of delays in investing our net offering proceeds. Our reliance on the Advisor to locate suitable investments for us at times when the management of the Advisor is simultaneously seeking to locate suitable investments for other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor could also delay the investment of the proceeds of our public offerings. Delays we encounter in the selection, acquisition and development of income-producing properties would likely negatively affect our NAV, limit our ability to pay distributions to the stockholders and reduce their overall returns.
The performance component of the advisory fee is calculated on the basis of the overall investment return provided to holders of Fund Interests over a calendar year, so it may not be consistent with the return on stockholdersstockholders’ shares.
The performance component of the advisory fee is calculated on the basis of the overall investment return provided to holders of Fund Interests (as defined below) (i.e., our outstanding shares and OP Units held by third parties) in any calendar year such that the Sponsor or the Advisor, as applicable, will receive the lesser of (1) 12.5% of (a) the annual total return amount less (b) any loss carryforward, and (2) the amount equal to (x) the annual total return amount, less (y) any loss carryforward, less (z) the amount needed to achieve an annual total return amount equal to 5% of the NAV per Fund Interest at the beginning of such year (the “Hurdle Amount”). The foregoing calculations are calculated on a per Fund Interest basis and multiplied by the weighted-average Fund Interests outstanding during the year. The “annual total return amount” referred to above means all distributions paid or accrued per Fund Interest plus any change in NAV per Fund Interest since the end of the prior calendar year, adjusted to exclude the negative impact on annual total return resulting from our payment or obligation to pay, or distribute, as applicable, the performance component of the advisory fee as well as ongoing distribution fees (i.e., our ongoing class-specific fees). The “loss carryforward” referred to above will track any negative annual total return amounts from prior years and offset the positive annual total return amount for purposes of the calculation of the performance component of the advisory fee. The loss carryforward is zero as of the date of December 31, 2017.2019. Therefore, payment of the performance component of the advisory fee (1) is contingent upon the annual total return to the holders of Fund Interests exceeding the 5% return, (2) will vary in amount based on our actual performance and (3) cannot cause the overall return to the holders of Fund Interests for the year to be reduced below 5%.
Additionally, the Sponsor and the Advisor will provide us with a waiver of a portion of its fees generally equal to the amount of the performance component that would have been payable with respect to the Class E shares and the Series 1 Class E OP Units held by third parties until the NAV of such shares or units exceeds $10.00 per share or unit, the benefit of which will be shared among all holders of Fund Interests.
As a result, the performance component is not directly tied to the performance of the shares stockholders purchase, the class of shares purchased, or the time period during which the stockholders own their shares. The performance component may be payable to the Sponsor or the Advisor, as applicable, even if the NAV of stockholdersstockholders’ shares at the end of the calendar year is below their purchase price, and the thresholds at which increases in NAV count towards the overall return to the holders of Fund Interests are not based on stockholdersstockholders’ purchase price. Because of the class-specific allocations of the ongoing distribution fee, which differ among classes, we do not expect the overall return of each class of Fund Interests to ever be the same. However, if and when the performance component of the advisory fee is payable, the expense will be allocated among all holders of Fund Interests ratably according to the NAV of their units or shares, regardless of the different returns achieved by
different classes of Fund Interests during the year. Further, stockholders who redeem their shares during a given year may redeem their shares at a lower NAV per share as a result of an accrual for the estimated performance component of the advisory fee, even if no performance component is ultimately payable to the Advisor at the end of such calendar year. In addition, if the Advisor earns a performance component of the advisory fee, it will not be obligated to return any portion of advisory fees paid based on our subsequent performance.
Payment of fees and expenses to the Advisor and the Dealer Manager reduces the cash available for distribution and increases the risk that the stockholders will not be able to recover the amount of their investment in our shares.
The Advisor and the Dealer Manager perform services for us, including, among other things, the selection and acquisition of our investments, the management of our assets, the disposition of our assets, the financing of our assets and certain administrative services. We pay the Advisor and the Dealer Manager fees and expense reimbursements for these services, which will reduce the amount of cash available for further investments or distribution to our stockholders.
We are required to pay substantial compensation to the Advisor and its affiliates, which may be increased or decreased during our public offerings or future public offerings by a majority of our board of directors, including a majority of the independent directors.
Pursuant to our agreements with the Advisor and its affiliates, we are obligated to pay substantial compensation to the Advisor and its affiliates. Subject to limitations in our charter, the fees, compensation, income, expense reimbursements, interests and other payments that we are required to pay to the Advisor and its affiliates may increase or decrease during our public offerings or future offerings if such change is approved by a majority of our board of directors, including a majority of the independent directors. For example, we recently made substantial changes to our agreements with the Advisor and the Dealer Manager. These types of payments to the Advisor and its affiliates will decrease the amount of cash we have available for operations and new investments and could negatively impact our NAV, our ability to pay distributions and the stockholders overall return.
We are dependent upon the Advisor and its affiliates to conduct our operations and our public offerings; thus, adverse changes in their financial health or our relationship with them could cause our operations to suffer.
We are dependent upon the Advisor and its affiliates to conduct our operations and our public offerings. Thus, adverse changes to our relationship with, or the financial health of, the Advisor and its affiliates, including changes arising from litigation, could hinder their ability to successfully manage our operations and our portfolio of investments.
If we were to internalize our management or if another investment program, whether sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor or otherwise, conducts its own internalization transaction, we could incur significant costs and/or our business could be harmed.
At some point in the future, we may consider internalizing the functions performed for us by the Advisor, although we do not currently intend to do so. Any internalization transaction could result in significant payments to the owners of the Advisor, including in the form of our stock which could reduce the percentage ownership of our then existing stockholders and concentrate ownership in the owner of the Advisor. In addition, we rely on persons employed by the Advisor or its affiliates to manage our day-to-day operating and acquisition activities. If we were to effectuate an internalization of the Advisor, we may not be able to retain all of the employees of the Advisor or its affiliates or to maintain relationships with other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor. In addition, some of the employees of the Advisor or its affiliates may provide services to one or more other investment programs. These programs or third parties may decide to retain some or all of the key employees in the future. If this occurs, these programs could hire certain of the persons currently employed by the Advisor or its affiliates who are most familiar with our business and operations, thereby potentially adversely impacting our business.
We have broad authority to incur debt, and high debt levels could hinder our ability to make distributions and could decrease the value of the stockholdersstockholders’ investment in shares of our common stock.
Under our charter, we have a limitation on borrowing which precludes us from borrowing in excess of 300% of the value of our net assets, provided that we may exceed this limit if a higher level of borrowing is approved by a majority of our independent directors. High debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges, would result in higher debt service payments, could be accompanied by restrictive covenants and would generally make us more subject to the risks associated with leverage. These factors could limit the amount of cash we have available to distribute and could result in a decline in our NAV and in the value of the stockholdersstockholders’ investment in shares of our common stock.
We are dependent on our tenants for revenue and we are exposed to risks if we are unable to collect rent from our tenants.
Our revenues from property investments depend on the creditworthiness of our tenants and will be adversely affected by the loss of or default by significant lessees. Much of our tenant base is presently comprised of and is expected to continue to be comprised of non-rated and non-investment grade tenants. Lease payment defaults by tenants could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to you and could force us to find an alternative source of funding to pay any mortgage loan interest or principal, taxes, or other obligations relating to the property. In the event of a tenant default, we may also experience delays in
enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-leasing our property. If a lease is terminated, the value of the property may be immediately and negatively affected and we may be unable to lease the property for the rent previously received or at all or sell the property without incurring a loss. As of December 31, 2017, there was only one tenant that individually2019, no tenants represented more than 10.0% of total annualized base rent, and our 10 largest tenants represented 33.7%28.4% of total annualized base rent. We are not aware of any current tenants, including our largest tenant, whose inability to pay their contractual rental amounts would have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.
We are active portfolio managers and will incur transaction and transition costs each time that we acquire or dispose of an asset.
We believe that the real estate market is cyclical, with different demand for property types at different times. Although we do not invest for the short term, we are active portfolio managers and we will seek to take advantage of opportunities to acquire or dispose of assets presented to us by the real estate markets. Each time that we acquire or dispose of an asset, we incur associated transaction costs which may include, but are not limited to, broker fees, attorney fees, regulatory filings and taxes. In addition, each time that we sell an income-generating asset, our operating results will be negatively impacted unless and until we are able to reinvest the proceeds in an investment with an equal or greater yield, which we may be unable to do. Accordingly, in order for us to provide positive returns to our stockholders from active portfolio management, the benefits of active management must outweigh the associated transaction and transition costs. We may be unable to achieve this. These factors could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, NAV and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final regulation revising the definition of “fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) and the Code, which may affect the marketing of investments in our shares in the future.
On April 8, 2016, the Department of Labor issued a final regulation relating to the definition of a fiduciary under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code. The final regulation broadens the definition of fiduciary and is accompanied by new and revised prohibited transaction exemptions relating to investments by benefit plans subject to ERISA and accounts subject to the requirements of Code Section 4975. The final regulation became effective June 9, 2017, but the related exemptions are currently being implemented in accordance with the “impartial conduct standards” outlined in the exemptions. The final regulation and the accompanying exemptions are complex, implementation may be further delayed and the final regulation remains subject to potential further revision prior to implementation. This investment is being offered to plan fiduciaries, the beneficial owners of IRAs, and other entities that hold ERISA plan assets or that are subject to laws similar to ERISA or Code Section 4975 only under limited circumstances through the use of an independent fiduciary, and we, the Advisor, and our respective affiliates are not providing advice (fiduciary or otherwise) in connection with our public offerings. Plan fiduciaries and IRA owners are urged to consult with their own advisors regarding the final regulation. The final regulation could have a negative effect on the marketing of investments in our shares to such plans or accounts and our capital raising.
In order to maintain what we deem to be sufficient liquidity for our redemption program it may cause us to keep more of our assets in securities, cash, cash equivalents and other short-term investments than we would otherwise like which would affect returns.
In order to provide liquidity for share redemptions, we intend to, subject to any limitations and requirements relating to our intention to qualify as a REIT, maintain a number of sources of liquidity including (i) cash equivalents (e.g. money market funds), other short-term investments, U.S. government securities, agency securities and liquid real estate-related securities and (ii) one or more borrowing facilities. We may fund redemptions from any available source of funds, including operating cash flows, borrowings, proceeds from our public offerings and/or sales of our assets. This could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, NAV and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
RISKS RELATED TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The Advisor faces a conflict of interest because the fees it receives for services performed are based on our NAV, the procedures for which the Advisor will assist our board of directors in developing, overseeing, implementing and coordinating.
The Advisor assists our board of directors in developing, overseeing, implementing and coordinating our NAV procedures. It assists our Independent Valuation Firm in valuing our real property portfolio by providing the firm with property-level information, including (i) historical and projected operating revenues and expenses of the property; (ii) lease agreements on the property; and (iii) the revenues and expenses of the property. Our Independent Valuation Firm assumes and relies upon the accuracy and completeness of all such information, does not undertake any duty or responsibility to verify independently any of such information and relies upon us and the Advisor to advise if any material information previously provided becomes inaccurate or was required to be updated during the period of its review. In addition, the Advisor may have some discretion with respect to valuations of certain assets and liabilities, which could affect our NAV. Because the Advisor is paid fees for its services based on our NAV, the Advisor could be motivated to influence our NAV and NAV procedures such that they result in an NAV exceeding realizable value, due to the impact of higher valuations on the compensation to be received by the Advisor. If our NAV is calculated in a way that is not reflective of our actual NAV, then the purchase price of shares of our common stock on a given date may not accurately reflect the value of our portfolio, and the stockholdersstockholders’ shares may be worth less than the purchase price.
The Advisor’s fee may not create proper incentives or may induce the Advisor and its affiliates to make certain investments, including speculative investments, that increase the risk of our real estate portfolio.
The advisory fee we pay the Sponsor and the Advisor, as applicable, is made up of a fixed component and a performance component. We will pay the Advisor the fixed component regardless of the performance of our portfolio. The Advisor’s entitlement to the fixed component, which is not based upon performance metrics or goals, might reduce itsthe Advisor’s incentive to devote its time and effort to seeking investments that provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for our portfolio. We will be required to pay the Advisor the fixed component in a particular period despite experiencing a net loss or a decline in the value of our portfolio during that period. The performance component, which is based on our total distributions plus the change in NAV per share, may create an incentive for the Advisor to make riskier or more speculative investments on our behalf than it would otherwise make in the absence of such performance-based compensation. Because the fixed and performance components are based on our NAV, the Advisor also may be motivated to accelerate acquisitions in order to increase NAV or, similarly, delay or curtail dispositions of assets or share redemptions to maintain a higher NAV, which would, in each case, increase amounts payable to the Advisor.
The Advisor’s product specialists may recommend that we enter into transactionshave time constraints and other conflicts of interest due to relationships or affiliations they have with other entities, that have a relationship or affiliation with them, and our stockholders will not be able to assess the Advisor’s product specialists’ qualifications when deciding whether to make an investment in shares of our common stock.
The Advisor utilizes affiliated product specialists to assist in fulfilling its responsibilities to us. The strategic alliances between the Advisor and the product specialists provide, in accordance with industry standards, that the product specialists must adhere to a standard of care of commercial reasonableness when performing services on our behalf. The Advisor’s product specialists generally do not owe fiduciary duties to us and may have time constraints and other conflicts of interest due to relationships or affiliations they have with other entities. As a result, these product specialists may recommend that we enter into transactions with such entities, in which case we will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties. Our stockholders will not be able to assess the qualifications of the Advisor’s product specialists when deciding whether to make an investment in shares of our common stock. Therefore, our stockholders may not be able to determine whether the Advisor’s product specialists are sufficiently qualified or otherwise desirable to work with.
The Advisor’s management personnel and product specialists face conflicts of interest relating to time management and there can be no assurance that the Advisor’s management personnel and product specialists will devote adequate time to our business activities or that the Advisor will be able to hire adequate additional employees.
All of the Advisor’s management personnel, other employees, affiliates and related parties may also provide services to other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor. We are not able to estimate the amount of time that such management personnel and product specialists will devote to our business. As a result, certain of the Advisor’s management personnel and product specialists may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time between our business and their other activities which may include advising and managing various other real estate programs and ventures, which may be numerous and may change as programs are closed or new programs are formed. During times of significant activity in other programs and ventures, the time they devote to our business may decline and be less than we would require. There can be no assurance that the Advisor’s affiliates will devote adequate time to our business activities or that the Advisor will be able to hire adequate additional employees to perform the tasks currently being performed by the Advisor’s affiliates should the amount of time devoted to our business activities by such affiliates prove to be insufficient. Should the Advisor fail to allocate sufficient resources to perform
its responsibilities to us for any reason we may be unable to achieve our investment objectives or pay distributions to our stockholders.
The Advisor and its affiliates, including our officers and two of our directors, face conflicts of interest caused by compensation arrangements with us and other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor, which could result in actions that are not in our stockholders’ best interests.
Some of our executive officers, two of our directors and other key personnel are also officers, directors, managers, key personnel and/or holders of an ownership interest in the Advisor, the Dealer Manager and/or other entities related to the Sponsor. The Advisor and its affiliates receive substantial fees from us in return for their services and these fees could influence their advice to us. Among other matters, the compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to:
the continuation, renewal or enforcement of our agreements with the Advisor and its affiliates, including the Advisory Agreement and the agreement with the Dealer Manager;
recommendations to our board of directors with respect to developing, overseeing, implementing and coordinating our NAV procedures, or the decision to adjust the value of certain of our assets or liabilities if the Advisor is responsible for valuing them;
public offerings of equity by us, which may result in increased fees for the Advisor and other related parties;
competition for tenants from entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor that own properties in the same geographic area as us;
investments in assets subject to product specialist agreements with affiliates of the Advisor; and
investments through a joint venture or other co-ownership arrangements, which may result in increased fees for the Advisor.
Considerations relating to compensation to the Advisor and its affiliates from us and other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor could result in decisions that are not in our stockholders’ best interests, which could hurt our ability to pay our stockholders distributions or result in a decline in the value of our stockholders’ investment. Conflicts of interest such as those described above have contributed to stockholder litigation against certain other externally managed REITs that are not affiliated with us or the Sponsor.
When considering whether to recommend investments through a joint venture or other co-ownership arrangement, the fee arrangements between the Advisor and the proposed joint venture partner may incentivize the Advisor to recommend investing a greater proportion of our resources in joint venture investments than may be in our stockholders’ best interests.
When we invest in assets through joint ventures or other co-ownership arrangements, the Advisor may, directly or indirectly (including, without limitation, through us or our subsidiaries), receive fees from our joint venture partners and co-owners of our properties for the services the Advisor provides to them with respect to their proportionate interests. Fees received from joint venture entities or partners and paid, directly or indirectly (including without limitation, through us or our subsidiaries), to the Advisor may be more or less than similar fees that we pay to the Advisor pursuant to the Advisory Agreement. Because the
Advisor may receive fees from our joint venture partners and co-owners in connection with our joint venture or other co-ownership arrangements, the Advisor may be incentivized to recommend a higher level of investment through joint ventures than may otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
The time and resources that entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor devote to us may be diverted and we may face additional competition due to the fact that these entities are not prohibited from raising money for another entity that makes the same types of investments that we target.
Entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor are not prohibited from raising money for another investment entity that makes the same types of investments as those we target. As a result, the time and resources they could devote to us may be diverted. For example, the Dealer Manager is currently involved in other public offerings for other entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor. In addition, we may compete with any such investment entity for the same investors and investment opportunities. We may also co-invest with any such investment entity. Even though all such co-investments will be subject to approval by our independent directors, they could be on terms not as favorable to us as those we could achieve co-investing with an unrelated third party.
The Advisor may have conflicting fiduciary obligations if we acquire properties with an entity sponsored or advised by one of its affiliates or other related entities; as a result, in any such transaction we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The Advisor may cause us to acquire an interest in a property from, or through a joint venture with, an entity sponsored or advised by one of its affiliates or to dispose of an interest in a property to such an entity. In these circumstances, the Advisor will have a conflict of interest when fulfilling its fiduciary obligation to us. In any such transaction we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The fees we pay to entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor in connection with our public offerings of securities and in connection with the management of our investments were not determined on an arm’s-length basis, and therefore, we do not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The Advisor, the Dealer Manager and other of the Advisor’s affiliates have earned and will continue to earn fees, commissions and expense reimbursements from us. The fees, commissions and expense reimbursements paid and to be paid to the Advisor, the Dealer Manager and other of the Advisor’s affiliates for services they provided us in connection with past offerings and in connection with our current public offering were not determined on an arm’s-length basis. As a result, the fees have been determined without the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
We will compete with entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor, for whom affiliates of the Sponsor provide certain advisory or management services, for opportunities to acquire, lease, finance or sell investments, and for customers, which may have an adverse impact on our operations.
We will compete with entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor, whether existing or created in the future, as well as entities for whom affiliates of the Sponsor provide certain advisory or management services, for opportunities to acquire, lease, finance or sell certain types of properties. We may also buy, lease, finance or sell properties at the same time as these entities are buying, leasing, financing or selling properties. In this regard, there is a risk that we will purchase a property that provides lower returns to us than a property purchased by entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor and entities for whom affiliates of the Sponsor provide certain advisory or management services.
Certain entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor own and/or manage properties in geographical areas in which we expect to own properties. Therefore, our properties may compete for customers with other properties owned and/or managed by these entities. The Advisor may face conflicts of interest when evaluating customer leasing opportunities for our properties and other properties owned and/or managed by these entities and these conflicts of interest may have a negative impact on our ability to attract and retain customers. The Sponsor and the Advisor have implemented lease allocation guidelines to assist with the process of the allocation of leases when we and certain other entities to which affiliates of the Advisor are providing certain advisory services have potentially competing properties with respect to a particular customer. Pursuant to the lease allocation guidelines, if we have an opportunity to bid on a lease with a prospective customer and one or more of these other entities has a potentially competing property, then, under certain circumstances, we may not be permitted to bid on the opportunity and in other circumstances, we and the other entities will be permitted to participate in the bidding process. The lease allocation guidelines are overseen by a joint management committee consisting of our management committee and certain other management representatives associated with other entities to which affiliates of the Advisor are providing similar services.
Because affiliates of the Sponsor and the Advisor currently sponsor and in the future may advise other investment vehicles (each, an “Investment Vehicle”) with overlapping investment objectives, strategies and criteria, potential conflicts of interest may arise with respect to industrial real estate investment opportunities (“Industrial Investments”). In order to manage this potential conflict of interest, in allocating Industrial Investments among the Investment Vehicles, the Sponsor follows an
allocation policy (the “Allocation Policy”) which currently provides that if the Sponsor or one of its affiliates is awarded and controls an Industrial Investment that is suitable for more than one Investment Vehicle, based upon various Allocation Factors (as defined below), including without limitation availability of capital, portfolio objectives, diversification goals, target investment markets, return requirements, investment timing and the Investment Vehicle’s applicable approval discretion and timing, then the Industrial Investment will be allocated to Investment Vehicles on a rotational basis and will be offered to the Investment Vehicle at the top of the rotation list (that is, the Investment Vehicle that has gone the longest without being allocated an Industrial Investment). If an Investment Vehicle on the list declines the Industrial Investment, it will be rotated to the bottom of the rotation list. Exceptions may be made to the Allocation Policy for (x) transactions necessary to accommodate an exchange pursuant to Section 1031 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or (y) characteristics of a particular Industrial Investment or Investment Vehicle, such as adjacency to an existing asset, legal, regulatory or tax concerns or benefits, portfolio balancing or other Allocation Factors, which make the Industrial Investment more advantageous to one of the Investment Vehicles. In addition, the Sponsor may from time to time specify that it will not seek new allocations for more than one Investment Vehicle until certain minimum allocation levels are reached. “Allocation Factors” are those allocation factors that the Sponsor maintains and updates from time to time based on review by the Sponsor’s Head of Real Estate.
The Sponsor may from time to time grant to certain Investment Vehicles certain exclusivity, rotation or other priority (each, a “Special Priority”) with respect to Industrial Investments or other investment opportunities. The only currentlyCurrent existing Special Priority hasPriorities have been granted to IPT’s second build-to-core fundto: (i) Build-to-Core Industrial Partnership III LLC (“BTC II”III”), pursuant to which BTC IIIII will be presented with the followingone out of every three qualifying development Industrial Investments (subject to the terms and conditions of the BTC IIIII partnership agreement):
BTC II until such time as capital commitments thereunder have been fully committed; (ii) Black Creek Industrial Fund LP (“BCIF”) pursuant to which BCIF will have the first option to pursue all potential development investments prior to March 31, 2018, and thereafterbe presented one out of every three potential development investments.
The Special Priority grantedIndustrial Investments, one out of every five potential value-add Industrial Investments, and one out of every three potential core Industrial Investments (subject to terms and conditions of the BCIF partnership agreement) until such time as capital commitments accepted by BCIF on or prior to March 31, 2020 have been called or committed; and (iii) the Build-to-Core Industrial Partnership II LLC (“BTC II will terminate on the earlierPartnership”) pursuant to occur of certain events described inwhich the BTC II partnership agreement,Partnership will be presented one out of every three qualifying development Industrial Investments (subject to terms and conditions of the BTC II Partnership agreement) until such that it will terminate by or before May 2021.time as capital commitments thereunder have been fully committed. The Sponsor or its affiliates may grant additional Special Priorities in the future and from time to time. In addition, to the extent that a potential conflict of interest arises with respect to an investment opportunity other than an Industrial Investment, the Sponsor currently expects to manage the potential conflict of interest by allocating the investment in accordance with the principles of the Allocation Policy the Sponsor follows with respect to Industrial Investments.
The Sponsor may modify its overall allocation policies from time to time. Any changes to the Sponsor’s allocation policies will be timely reported to our Conflicts Resolution Committee. The Advisor will be required to provide information to our board of directors on a quarterly basis to enable our board of directors, including the independent directors, to determine whether such policies are being fairly applied.
We have purchased and may in the future purchase real estate assets from third parties who have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates or other related entities of the Sponsor; as a result, in any such transaction, we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
We have purchased and may in the future purchase assets from third parties that have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates of the Sponsor. Affiliates of the Sponsor who also perform or have performed services for such third parties may have had or have a conflict in representing our interests in these transactions on the one hand and in preserving or furthering their respective relationships with such third parties on the other hand. In any such transaction, we will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
RISKS RELATED TO ADVERSE CHANGES IN GENERAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
Changes in global economic and capital market conditions, including periods of generally deteriorating real estate industry fundamentals, may significantly affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
We are subject to risks generally incident to the ownership of real property, including changes in global, national, regional or local economic, demographic, political, real estate, or capital market conditions and other factors particular to the locations of our respective real property investments. We are unable to predict future changes in these market conditions. For example, an economic downturn or rise in interest rates could make it more difficult for us to lease properties or dispose of them. In addition, rising interest rates could make alternative interest bearing and other investments more attractive and, therefore, potentially lower the relative value of our existing real estate investments.
In addition, we believe the risks associated with our business are more severe during periods of economic slowdown or recession if these periods are accompanied by deteriorating fundamentals and declining values in the real estate industry.
Because all of our debt-related investments outstanding as of December 31, 20172019 and debt-related investments we may make in the future might consist of mortgages secured by real property, these same conditions could also adversely affect the underlying borrowers and collateral of assets that we own. Declining real estate values and deteriorating real estate fundamentals would also likely reduce the level of new mortgage loan originations, since borrowers often use increases in the value of their existing properties to support the purchase of, or investment in, additional properties. Furthermore, borrowers may not be able to pay principal and interest on such loans. Declining real estate values would also significantly increase the likelihood that we would incur losses on our debt investments in the event of a default because the value of our collateral may be insufficient to cover some or all of our basis in the investment.
For example, we recorded impairments of real properties, significant other-than-temporary impairment charges related to our real estate-related securities holdings, and provisions for losses on our debt-related investments as a result of such conditions that occurred during the last recession in the U.S. To the extent that there is a general economic slowdown or real estate fundamentals deteriorate, it maysuch factors could have a significant and adverse impact on our revenues, results from operations, financial condition, liquidity, overall business prospects and ultimately our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The recent global outbreak of COVID-19 (more commonly known as the Coronavirus) has disrupted economic markets and the prolonged economic impact is uncertain. Some economists and major investment banks have expressed concern that the continued spread of the virus globally could lead to a world-wide economic downturn. Customers and potential customers of the properties we own operate in industries which could be adversely affected by the disruption to business caused by the global outbreak of the Coronavirus. This could lead to impacts on our business similar to those described above. Many manufacturers of goods in China and other countries in Asia have seen a downturn in production due to the suspension of business and temporary closure of factories in an attempt to curb the spread of the illness. This may lead to a decline in imported goods from these countries, which may negatively impact the business of customers and potential customers of our properties. As the impact of the Coronavirus spreads to other parts of the world, similar impacts may occur with respect to affected countries.
Uncertainty and volatility in the credit markets could affect our ability to obtain debt financing on reasonable terms, or at all, which could reduce the number of properties we may be able to acquire and the amount of cash distributions we can make to our stockholders.
The U.S. and global credit markets have in the past experienced severe dislocations and liquidity disruptions, which caused volatility in the credit spreads on prospective debt financings and constrained the availability of debt financing due to the reluctance of lenders to offer financing at high leverage ratios. Similar conditions in the future could adversely impact our ability to access additional debt financing on reasonable terms or at all, which may adversely affect investment returns on future acquisitions or our ability to make acquisitions.
If mortgage debt or unsecured debt is unavailable on reasonable terms as a result of increased interest rates, increased credit spreads, decreased liquidity or other factors, we may not be able to finance the initial purchase of properties. In addition, when we incur mortgage
debt on properties,or unsecured debt, we run the risk of being unable to refinance such debt upon maturity, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms.
If interest rates are higher or other financing terms, such as principal amortization, the need for a corporate guaranty, or other terms are not as favorable when we refinance debt or issue new debt, our income could be reduced. To the extent we are unable to refinance debt on reasonable terms, at appropriate times or at all, we may be required to sell properties on terms that are not advantageous to us, or that could result in the foreclosure of such properties. If any of these events occur, our cash flow wouldcould be reduced. This, in turn, wouldcould reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders and may hinder our ability to raise more capital by issuing securities or borrowing more money.
Economic events that may cause our stockholders to request that we redeem their shares may materially adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to achieve our investment objectives.
Future economic events affecting the U.S. economy generally, or the real estate sector specifically, could cause our stockholders to seek to sell their shares to us pursuant to our share redemption program.program or holders of OP units to seek to redeem their OP Units. The redemptions of Class E, Class T, Class S, Class D, and Class I shares are subject to the 2% and 5% limits (as described above) (subject to potential carry-over capacity). Even if we are able to satisfy all resulting redemption requests, our cash flow could be materially adversely affected. In addition, if we determine to sell valuable assets to satisfy redemption requests, our ability to achieve our investment objectives, including, without limitation, diversification of our portfolio by property type and location, moderate financial leverage, conservative operating risk and an attractive level of current income, could be materially adversely affected.
Inflation or deflation may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Although neither inflation nor deflation has materially impacted our operations in the recent past, increased inflation could have an adverse impact on our floating ratefloating-rate mortgages, interest rates and general and administrative expenses, as these costs
could increase at a rate higher than our rental and other revenue. Inflation could also have an adverse effect on consumer spending which could impact our tenants’ sales and, in turn, our percentage rents, where applicable. Conversely, deflation could lead to downward pressure on rents and other sources of income.
The failure of any banking institution in which we deposit our funds could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Currently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) generally, only insures amounts up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank. A small proportion of our cash and cash equivalents, primarily those used to fund property-level working capital needs, are currently held in FDIC-insured bank accounts. The significant majority of our idle cash is currently invested in a combination of AAA-rated money market mutual funds, which in turn are primarily invested in short-term, high credit quality commercial paper, U.S. government funds and Treasury funds. To the extent that we have deposited funds with banking institutions, then if any of such institutions ultimately fail, we would lose the amount of our deposits over the then current FDIC insurance limit. The loss of our deposits could reduce the amount of cash we have available to distribute or invest and would likely result in a decline in the value of the stockholdersstockholders’ investment.
We intend to disclose funds from operations (“FFO”), a non-GAAP financial measure, in future communications with investors, including documents filed with the SEC. However, FFO is not equivalent to our net income or loss as determined under GAAP, and is not a complete measure of our financial position and results of operations.
We use, and we disclose to investors, FFO, which is considered a non-GAAP financial measure. For a discussion of FFO, including definitions, reconciliation to GAAP net income (loss), and its inherent limitations, see in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. FFO is not equivalent to our net income or loss as determined in accordance with GAAP. FFO and GAAP net income differ because FFO excludes gains or losses from sales of property and impairment of depreciable real estate, and adds back real estate-related depreciation and amortization.
No single measure can provide investors with sufficient information and investors should consider all of our disclosures as a whole in order to adequately understand our financial position, liquidity and results of operations. Because of the differences between FFO and GAAP net income or loss, FFO may not be an accurate indicator of our operating performance, especially during periods in which we are acquiring properties. In addition, FFO is not necessarily indicative of cash flow available to fund cash needs and investors should not consider FFO as an alternative to cash flows from operations or an indication of our liquidity, or indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Neither the SEC nor any other regulatory body has passed judgment on the acceptability of the adjustments that we use to calculate FFO. Also, because not all companies calculate this type of measure the same way, comparisons with other companies may not be meaningful.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR GENERAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND OUR CORPORATE STRUCTURE
A prolonged national or world-wide economic downturn or volatile capital market conditions could harm our operations, cash flows and financial condition and lower returns to our stockholders.
If disruptions in the capital and credit markets occur, they could adversely affect our ability to obtain loans, credit facilities, or other financing, or, when available, to obtain such financing on reasonable terms, which could negatively impact our ability to implement our investment strategy.
If these disruptions in the capital and credit markets should occur as a result of, among other factors, uncertainty, changing regulation, changes in trade agreements, reduced alternatives or additional failures of significant financial institutions, our access to liquidity could be significantly impacted. For example, customers and potential customers of our properties operate in industries including e-commerce, traditional retail, third-party logistics, warehousing and manufacturing, all of which may be adversely impacted by recently enacted and proposed changes to U.S. foreign trade policies, including tariffs and other impositions on imported goods, trade sanctions imposed on certain countries, the limitation on the importation of certain types of goods or of goods containing certain materials from other countries and other policies. Prolonged disruptions could result in us taking measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs could be arranged. Such measures could include deferring investments, reducing or eliminating the number of shares redeemed under our share redemption program and reducing or eliminating distributions we make to our stockholders.
We believe the risks associated with our business are more severe during periods of economic downturn if these periods are accompanied by declining values in real estate. For example, a prolonged economic downturn could negatively impact our property investments as a result of increased customer delinquencies and/or defaults under our leases, generally lower demand for rentable space, potential oversupply of rentable space leading to increased concessions, and/or tenant improvement expenditures, or reduced rental rates to maintain occupancies. Our operations could be negatively affected to a greater extent if an economic downturn occurs, is prolonged or becomes more severe, which could significantly harm our revenues, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, business prospects and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We depend on the Advisor and its key personnel; if any of such key personnel were to cease employment with the Advisor, our business could suffer.
Our ability to make distributions and achieve our investment objectives is dependent upon the performance of the Advisor in the acquisition, disposition and management of real properties and debt-related investments, the selection of tenants for our real properties, the determination of any financing arrangements and other factors. In addition, our success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of certain of the Advisor’s key personnel, including John A. Blumberg,Michael Blum, Rajat Dhanda, David M. Fazekas, Andrea L. Karp, Richard D. Kincaid, J. Michael Lynch, Dwight L. Merriman III, Lainie P. Minnick, Gregory M. Moran, James R. Mulvihill, Taylor M. Paul, Scott W. Recknor, Gary M. Reiff, M. Kirk Scott, Jeffrey W. Taylor, J.R. Wetzel, Joshua J. Widoff and Evan H. Zucker, each of whom would be difficult to replace. We currently do not have, nor do we expect to obtain key man life insurance on any of the Advisor’s key personnel. If the Advisor were to lose the benefit of the experience, efforts and abilities of one or more of these individuals, our operating results and NAV could suffer.
Our board of directors determines our major policies and operations, which increases the uncertainties faced by our stockholders.
Our board of directors determines our major policies, including our policies regarding acquisitions, dispositions, financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification, redemptions and distributions. Our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies without a vote of the stockholders. Under the Maryland General Corporation Law and our charter, our stockholders have a right to vote only on limited matters. Our board of directors’ broad discretion in setting policies and our stockholders’ inability to exert control over those policies increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face, especially if our board of directors and our stockholders disagree as to what course of action is in our stockholders’ best interests.
Our UPREIT structure may result in potential conflicts of interest with limited partners in the Operating Partnership whose interests may not be aligned with those of our stockholders.
Limited partners in the Operating Partnership have the right to vote on certain amendments to the agreement that governs the Operating Partnership, as well as on certain other matters. Persons holding such voting rights may exercise them in a manner that conflicts with our stockholders’ interests. As general partner of the Operating Partnership, we are obligated to act in a manner that is in the best interests of all partners of the Operating Partnership. Circumstances may arise in the future when the interests of limited partners in the Operating Partnership may conflict with the interests of our stockholders. These conflicts may be resolved in a manner the stockholders believe is not in their best interests.
We may assume unknown liabilities in connection with acquisitions which could result in unexpected liabilities and expenses.
In connection with an acquisition, we may receive certain assets or interests in certain assets subject to existing liabilities, some of which may be unknown to us at the time of the acquisition. Unknown liabilities might include liabilities for cleanup or remediation of undisclosed environmental conditions, claims of tenants, vendors or other persons dealing with the entities prior to thean acquisition (including those that had not been asserted or threatened prior to thean acquisition), tax liabilities, and accrued but unpaid liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business. If we acquire an entity, that entity may be subject to liabilities that become our responsibility upon acquisition of the entity. Our recourse with respect to such liabilities may be limited. Depending upon the amount or nature of such liabilities, our business, financial condition and results of operations, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and the NAV of our shares may be adversely affected.
Tax protection agreements could limit our ability to sell or otherwise dispose of property contributed to the Operating Partnership.
In connection with contributions of property to the Operating Partnership, the Operating Partnership may enter into a tax protection agreement with the contributor of such property that provides that if we dispose of any interest in the contributed property in a taxable transaction within a certain time period, subject to certain exceptions, we may be required to indemnify the contributor for its tax liabilities attributable to the built-in gain that exists with respect to such property interests, and the tax liabilities incurred as a result of such tax protection payment. Therefore, although it may be in our stockholders’ best interests that we sell the contributed property, it may be economically prohibitive for us to do so because of these obligations.
Tax protection agreements may require the Operating Partnership to maintain certain debt levels that otherwise would not be required to operate our business.
Under a tax protection agreement, the Operating Partnership may provide the contributor of property the opportunity to guarantee debt or enter into a deficit restoration obligation. If we fail to make such opportunities available, we may be required to deliver to such contributor a cash payment intended to approximate the contributor’s tax liability resulting from our failure to make such opportunities available to that contributor and the tax liabilities incurred as a result of such tax protection payment.
These obligations may require the Operating Partnership to maintain more or different indebtedness than we would otherwise require for our business.
Certain provisions in the partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership may delay or defer an unsolicited acquisition of us or a change of our control.
Provisions in the partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership may delay or defer an unsolicited acquisition of us or changes of our control. These provisions include, among others, redemption rights of qualifying parties and the rights of the limited partners to consent to transfers of the general partnership interest and mergers under specified circumstances. These provisions could discourage third parties from making proposals involving an unsolicited acquisition of us or a change of our control, although some stockholders might consider such proposals, if made, desirable.
The Operating Partnership’s private placements of beneficial interests in specific Delaware statutory trusts under itsour DST Program could subject us to liabilities from litigation or otherwise.
On March 2, 2016, we, through the Operating Partnership, initiated a program to raise capital in private placements exempt from registration under Section 506(b) of the Securities Act through the sale of beneficial interests in specific Delaware statutory trusts (a “DST”) holding real properties, including properties currently indirectly owned by the Operating Partnership. These interests may serve as replacement properties for investors seeking to complete like-kind exchange transactions under Section 1031 of the Code. All of the interests sold to investors pursuant to such private placements will be leased-back by the Operating Partnership or a wholly owned subsidiary thereof, as applicable, and fully guaranteed by the Operating Partnership, although there can be no assurance that the Operating Partnership can or will fulfill these guarantee obligations. Additionally, the Operating Partnership will be given a fair market value purchase option giving it the right, but not the obligation, to acquire these DSTthe interests in the Delaware statutory trust from the investors at a later time in exchange for OP Units. Investors who acquired interests pursuant to such private placements may have done so with an expectation that the Operating Partnership would exercise its purchase option or werebeen seeking certain tax benefits that depend on the interpretation of, and compliance with, federal and state income tax laws and regulations. As the general partner of the Operating Partnership, we may become subject to liability, from litigation or otherwise, as a result of such transactions, including in the event an investor fails to qualify for any desired tax benefits.
The Operating Partnership’s private placements of beneficial interests in specific Delaware statutory trusts under itsour DST Program will not shield us from risks related to the performance of the real properties held through such structures.
Pursuant to the DST Program, the Operating Partnership intends to place certain of its existing real properties and/or acquire new properties to place into DSTsspecific Delaware statutory trusts and then sell interests, via its taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”), in such trusts to third-party investors. We will hold long-term leasehold interests in the property pursuant to master leases that are fully guaranteed by the Operating Partnership, while the third-party investors indirectly hold in most cases,some or all of the interests in the real estate. There can be no assurance that the Operating Partnership can or will fulfill these guarantee obligations. Although we will hold a fair market value purchase option to reacquire the real estate through a purchase of interests in the Delaware statutory trust, the purchase price will be based on the then-current fair market value of the third-party investor’s interest in the real estate, which will be greatly impacted by the rental terms fixed by the long-term master lease. TheUnder the lease, effectively fixes our costs to subleasewe are responsible for subleasing the property to occupying tenants until the earlier of the expiration of the master lease or our exercise of the fair market value option, whilewhich means that we bear the risk that the underlying cash flow from the property and all capital expenditures may be less than the master lease payments.payments at such time. Therefore, even though we will no longer own the underlying real estate, because of the fixed terms of the long-term master lease guaranteed by the Operating Partnership, negative performance by the underlying properties could affect cash available for distributions to our stockholders and will likely have an adverse effect on our results of operations and NAV.
We may own beneficial interests in trusts owning real property that will be subject to the agreements under our DST Program, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, relative to if the DST Program agreements did not exist.
In connection with the launch of our DST Program, we may own beneficial interests in trusts owning real property that are subject to the terms of the agreements provided by our DST Program. The DST Program agreements may limit our ability to encumber, lease or dispose of our beneficial interests. Such agreements could affect our ability to turn our beneficial interests into cash and could affect cash available for distributions to our stockholders. The DST Program agreements and in some cases the financing documents, used in connection with the DST Program could also impair our ability to take actions that would otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders and, therefore, may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and NAV, relative to if the DST Program agreements did not exist.
Properties that are placed into the DST Program and later reacquired may be less liquid than other assets, which could impair our ability to utilize cash proceeds from sales of such properties for other purposes such as paying down debt, distributions, or additional investments.
Properties that are placed into the DST Program may later be reacquired through exercise of the option granted to our Operating Partnership. In such cases, the investors who become limited partners in the Operating Partnership will generally remain tied to the original DST Program asset in terms of basis and built-in-gain. As a result, if the original DST Program asset is subsequently sold, unless we effectuate a like-kind exchange under Section 1031 of the Code, then tax will be triggered on
the original DST Program investors’ built-in-gain. Although we are not contractually obligated to do so, we have generally sought to execute 1031 exchanges in such situations rather than trigger gain. Any replacement property acquired in connection with a 1031 exchange will similarly be tied to the original DST Program investors with similar considerations if such replacement property ever is sold. As a result of these factors, placing properties into the DST Program may limit our ability to access liquidity from such properties or replacement properties through sale without triggering taxes due to the built-in-gain tied to original DST Program investors. Such reduced liquidity could impair our ability to utilize cash proceeds from sales for other purposes such as paying down debt, paying distributions, paying redemptions or making additional investments.
Cash redemptions to holders of OP Units will reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders or to honor their redemption requests under our share redemption program.
The holders of OP Units (other than us) generally have the right to cause the Operating Partnership to redeem all or a portion of their OP Units for, at our sole discretion, shares of our common stock, cash, or a combination of both. Our election to redeem
OP Units for cash may reduce funds available for distribution to our stockholders or to honor our stockholders’ redemption requests under our share redemption program.
Maryland law and our organizational documents limit our stockholders’ right to bring claims against our officers and directors.
Maryland law provides that a director will not have any liability as a director so long as he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she 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. In addition, our charter provides that, subject to the applicable limitations set forth therein or under Maryland law, no director or officer will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages. Our charter also provides that we will generally indemnify our directors, our officers, the Advisor and its affiliates for losses they may incur by reason of their service in those capacities unless their act or omission was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and was committed in bad faith or was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty, they actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services or, in the case of any criminal proceeding, they had reasonable cause to believe the act or omission was unlawful. Moreover, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our independent directors and executive officers. As a result, we and our stockholders have more limited rights against these persons than might otherwise exist under common law. In addition, we are obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by these persons in some cases. However, our charter does provide that we may not indemnify our directors, the Advisor and its affiliates for any liability or loss suffered by them unless they have determined that the course of conduct that caused the loss or liability was in our best interests, they were acting on our behalf or performing services for us, the liability or loss was not the result of negligence or misconduct by our non-independent directors, the Advisor and its affiliates or gross negligence or willful misconduct by our independent directors, and the indemnification is recoverable only out of our net assets and not from the stockholders.
StockholdersOur bylaws designate the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders with respect to our company, our directors, our officers or our employees (we note we currently have no employees). This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage meritorious claims from being asserted against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We adopted this provision because we believe it makes it less likely that we will be forced to incur the expense of defending duplicative actions in multiple forums and less likely that plaintiffs’ attorneys will be able to employ such litigation to coerce us into otherwise unjustified settlements, and we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this provision is remote, as the General Assembly of Maryland has specifically amended the Maryland General Corporation Law to authorize the adoption of such provisions
Stockholders’ interest will be diluted if we or the Operating Partnership issue additional securities.
Existing stockholders and new investors purchasing shares of common stock in our public offerings do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Under our charter, we have authority to issue a total of 2.7 billion shares of capital stock. Of the total number of shares of capital stock authorized (a) 2.5 billion shares are designated as common stock, 500.0 million of which are classified as Class E shares, 500.0 million of which are classified as Class T shares, 500.0 million of which are classified as Class S shares, 500.0 million of which are classified as Class D shares and 500.0 million of which are classified as Class I shares and (b) 200.0 million shares are designated as preferred stock. Our board of directors may amend
our charter to increase the aggregate number of authorized shares of capital stock or the number of authorized shares of capital stock of any class or series without stockholder approval. We intend to operate as a perpetual-life REIT, and investors purchasing shares in our companypublic offerings will likely experience dilution of their equity investment in us as a result of our ongoing offerings, including the distribution reinvestment plan. Investors will also experience dilution if we issue securities in one or more private offerings, issue equity compensation pursuant to our equity incentive plans, issue shares to the Advisor in lieu of cash payments or reimbursements under the Advisory Agreement, or redeem OP Units for shares of common stock. In addition, we may in the future cause the Operating Partnership to issue a substantial number of additional OP Units in order to raise capital in relation to the DST Program or otherwise, acquire properties, consummate a merger, business combination or another significant transaction or to pay the Advisor in lieu of cash payments. OP Units may generally be converted into shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders. Ultimately, any additional issuance by us of equity securities or by the Operating Partnership of OP Units will dilute stockholdersstockholders’ indirect interest in the Operating Partnership, through which we own all of our interests in our investments.
We may issue preferred stock or new classes of OP Units, which issuance could adversely affect those stockholders who purchased shares of our common stock in our public offerings.
If we ever created and issued preferred stock or one or more new classes of OP Units with a distribution preference over common stock, payment of any distribution preferences on outstanding preferred stock or OP Units would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our common stock. Further, holders of preferred stock are normally entitled and holders of new classes of OP Units could be entitled to receive a preference payment in the event 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. Holders of preferred stock or new classes of OP Units could be given other preferential rights, such as preferential redemption rights or preferential tax protection agreements, that could reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our common stock or otherwise negatively affect our common stockholders. In addition, under certain circumstances, the issuance of preferred stock, a new class of OP Units, or a separate class or series of common stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage:
a merger, offer or proxy contest;
the assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities;
the removal of incumbent management; and/or
liquidity options that otherwise may be available.
We are not limited to making acquisitions with cash or borrowings.
We are not limited to making acquisitions with cash or borrowings. We may also make investments through either public or private offerings of equity securities from us or the Operating Partnership, and we may do so when attractive acquisition opportunities are available. We are not limited in the number or size of investments we may make with equity issuances, and we may effect a merger, business combination or another significant transaction through equity issuances. Such issuances may be comprised of existing classes of shares of our common stock or OP Units in the Operating Partnership, new classes of shares of our common stock or OP Units in the Operating Partnership with preferential terms compared to those of our existing investors (such as preferred stock, preferred OP Units, or contractual obligations to provide protection from adverse tax consequences), or tenancy-in-common interests. We and the Operating Partnership may, with the approval of a majority of our independent directors, agree to pay additional fees to the Advisor, the Dealer Manager and their affiliates in connection with any such transactions, which may negatively affect the NAV of stockholdersstockholders’ shares, our ability to pay distributions and the stockholdersstockholders’ overall return.
The limit on the percentage of shares of our common stock that any person may own may discourage a takeover or business combination that may have benefited our stockholders.
Our charter restricts the direct or indirect ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% of the value of our then outstanding capital stock (which includes common stock and any preferred stock we may issue) and no more than 9.8% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our then outstanding common stock. This restriction may discourage a change of control of us and may deter individuals or entities from making tender offers for shares of our common stock on terms that might be financially attractive to stockholders or which may cause a change in our management. This ownership restriction may also prohibit business combinations that would have otherwise been approved by our board of directors and our stockholders. In addition to deterring potential transactions that may be favorable to our stockholders, these provisions may also decrease our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares of our common stock.
Although we are not currently afforded the full protection of the Maryland General Corporation Law relating to deterring or defending hostile takeovers, our board of directors could opt into these provisions of Maryland law in the future, which may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and may prevent our stockholders from receiving a premium price for their stock in connection with a business combination.
Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and certain interested stockholders or affiliates of interested stockholders 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. Also under Maryland law, control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent approved by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquirer, an officer of the corporation or an employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation are excluded from the vote on whether to accord voting rights to the control shares. Should our board of directors opt into these provisions of Maryland law, it may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. Similarly, provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the Maryland General Corporation Law could provide similar anti-takeover protection.
Our charter includes a provision regarding tender offers that may discourage a stockholder from launching a tender offer for our shares.
Our charter provides that any person making a tender offer that is not otherwise subject to Regulation 14D of the Exchange Act, including any “mini-tender” offer, must comply with most of the provisions of Regulation 14D of the Exchange Act, including the notice and disclosure requirements. In addition, the offeror must provide us notice of such tender offer at least 10 business days before initiating the tender offer. If the offeror does not comply with the provisions set forth above, we will have the right to redeem that offeror’s shares, if any, and any shares acquired in such tender offer. In addition, the non-complying offeror will be responsible for all of our expenses in connection with that offeror’s noncompliance. This provision of our charter may discourage a stockholder from initiating a tender offer for our shares.
We depend on our relationships with lenders, joint venture partners, and property managers to conduct our business. If we fail to honor any of our contractual obligations, there could be a material and adverse impact on our ability to raise capital or manage our portfolio.
If we are viewed as developing underperforming properties, suffer sustained losses on our investments, default on a significant level of loans or experience significant foreclosure of our properties, our reputation could be damaged. Damage to our reputation could make it more difficult to successfully develop or acquire properties in the future and to continue to grow and expand our relationships with our lenders, joint venture partners, tenants and third-party management clients, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, NAV, results of operations and ability to make distributions.
Our business could suffer in the event the Advisor, the Dealer Manager, our transfer agent or any other party that provides us with services essential to our operations experiences system failures or other cyber incidents or a deficiency in cybersecurity.
The Advisor, the Dealer Manager, our transfer agent and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations are vulnerable to service interruptions or damages from any number of sources, including computer viruses, malware, unauthorized access, energy blackouts, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication failures. Any system failure or accident that causes interruptions in our operations could result in a material disruption to our business. A cyber incident is considered to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information resources. More specifically, a cyber incident is an intentional attack or an unintentional event that may include, but is not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data, steal assets or misappropriate Company funds and/or confidential information, including, for example, confidential information regarding our stockholders. As reliance on technology in our industry has increased, so have the risks posed to our systems, both internal and those we have outsourced. In addition, the risk of cyber incidents has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Cyber incidents may be carried out by third parties or insiders, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, using techniques that range from highly sophisticated efforts to more traditional intelligence gathering and social engineering aimed at obtaining information or funds. The remediation costs and lost revenues experienced by a victim of a cyber incident may be significant and significant resources may be required to repair system damage, protect against the threat of future security breaches or to alleviate problems, including reputational harm, loss of revenues and litigation, caused by any breaches. If personal information such as social security numbers of our stockholders is stolen, our stockholders may be more likely to be victims of identity theft and other crimes. There also may be liability for any stolen assets or misappropriated Company funds or confidential information. Any material adverse effect experienced by the Advisor, the Dealer Manager, our transfer agent and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations could, in turn, have an adverse impact on us.
The termination or replacement of the Advisor could trigger a repayment event under our mortgage loans for some of our properties and the credit agreement governing any line of credit or other form of unsecured debt that we obtain.
Lenders for certain of our properties may request provisions in the mortgage loan documentation that would make the termination or replacement of the Advisor an event requiring the immediate repayment of the full outstanding balance of the loan. Similarly, under any line of credit or other form of unsecured debt such as term loans that we currently have, or we may obtain in the future, the termination or replacement of the Advisor could trigger repayment of outstanding amounts under the credit agreement governing that line of credit.credit or other form of unsecured debt. If a debt repayment event occurs, with respect to any of our properties, our results of operations, ability to pay distributions and financial condition may be adversely affected.
The success of our public offerings is dependent, in part, on the ability of the Dealer Manager to retain key employees and to successfully build and maintain a network of licensed broker-dealers.
The success of our public offerings and our ability to implement our business strategy is dependent upon the ability of the Dealer Manager to retain key employees and to build and maintain a network of licensed securities broker-dealers and other agents. If the Dealer Manager is unable to retain qualified employees or build and maintain a sufficient network of participating broker-dealers to distribute shares in our public offerings, we may not be able to raise adequate proceeds through our public offerings to implement our investment strategy. In addition, the Dealer Manager currently serves and may serve as dealer manager for other issuers. As a result, the Dealer Manager may experience conflicts of interest in allocating its time between our public offerings and such other issuers, which could adversely affect our ability to raise adequate proceeds through our public offerings and implement our investment strategy. Further, the participating broker-dealers retained by the Dealer Manager may have numerous competing investment products, some with similar or identical investment strategies and areas of focus as us, which they may elect to emphasize to their retail clients.
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTMENTS IN REAL PROPERTY
Real properties are illiquid investments, and we may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions or sell a property if or when we decide to do so.
Real properties are illiquid investments and we may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. In addition, the real estate market is affected by many factors, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand, that are beyond our control. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any real 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 real property. We may acquire real properties that are subject to contractual “lock-out” provisions that could restrict our ability to dispose of the real property for a period of time. In addition, U.S. federal tax laws that impose a 100% excise tax on gains from sales of dealer property by a REIT (generally, property held for sale, rather
than investment) could limit our ability to sell properties and may affect our ability to sell properties without adversely affecting returns to our stockholders. These restrictions could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We may also be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure stockholders that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements.
In acquiring a real property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that real 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 real property. Our real properties may also be subject to resale restrictions. All of these provisions would restrict our ability to sell a property.
We are dependent on tenants for revenue, and our inability to lease our real properties or to collect rent from our tenants may adversely affect our results of operations, NAV and returns to our stockholders.
Our revenues from our real property investments are dependent on our ability to lease our real properties and the creditworthiness of our tenants and would be adversely affected by the loss of or default by one or more significant lessees. Furthermore, certain of our assets may utilize leases with payments directly related to tenant sales, where some or all of the amount of rent that we charge a tenant is calculated as a percentage of such tenant’s revenues over a fixed period of time, and a reduction in sales can reduce the amount of the lease payments required to be made to us by tenants leasing space in such assets. The success of those real properties depends on the financial stability of the respective tenants. The financial results of our tenants can depend on several factors, including but not limited to the general business environment, interest rates, inflation, the availability of credit, taxation and overall consumer confidence.
In addition, our ability to increase our revenues and operating income partially depends on steady growth of demand for the products and services offered by the tenants located in the assets that we own and manage. A drop in demand, as a result of a slowdown in the U.S. and global economy or otherwise, could result in a reduction in tenant performance and consequently, adversely affect our results of operations, NAV and returns to our stockholders. Inflation could also have an adverse effect on
consumer spending which could impact our tenants’ sales and, in turn, our percentage rents, where applicable. Conversely, deflation could lead to downward pressure on rents and other sources of income.
If indicators of impairment exist in any of our real properties, for example, we experience negative operating trends such as prolonged vacancies or operating losses, we may not recover some or all of our investment. Refer to “Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for historical information regarding our impairments.
Lease payment defaults by tenants could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to our stockholders and could force us to find an alternative source of funds to make mortgage payments on any mortgage loans.loans or payments due under our unsecured credit facilities. In the event of a tenant default, we may also experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-leasing our real property. If a lease is terminated, we may be unable to lease the real property for the rent previously received or sell the real property without incurring a loss.
If the market for commercial real estate experiences increased vacancy rates, particularly in certain large metropolitan areas, it could result in lower revenues for us.
In the relatively recent past, decade, there have been global economic downturns that negatively impacted the commercial real estate market in the U.S., particularly in certain large metropolitan areas, and resulted in, among other things, increased tenant defaults under leases, generally lower demand for rentable space, and an oversupply of rentable space, all of which could lead to increased concessions, tenant improvement expenditures or reduced rental rates to maintain occupancies. We believe that the risks associated with our business could be more severe if the economy deteriorates again or if commercial real estate values decline. Our revenues will decline and our NAV and ability to pay distributions will be negatively impacted if our commercial properties experience higher vacancy rates or decline in value.
A real property that incurs a vacancy could be difficult to sell or re-lease.
A real property may incur a vacancy either by the continued default of a tenant under its lease or the expiration of the lease. In addition, certain of the real properties we acquire may have some vacancies at the time of closing. Certain other real properties may be specifically suited to the particular needs of a tenant and such real property may become vacant. Certain of our leases with retail tenants contain provisions giving the particular tenant the exclusive right to sell particular types of merchandise or provide specific types of services within the particular retail center. These provisions may limit the number and types of prospective tenants interested in leasing space in a particular retail property. Therefore, we may have difficulty obtaining a new tenant for any vacant space we have in our real properties. In certain cases, we may need to offer free rent or other concessions to attract tenants. If the vacancy continues for a long period of time, we would suffer reduced revenues, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and NAV, and result in lower cash distributions to our stockholders. In addition, the resale value of the real property could be diminished because the market value may depend principally upon the value of the leases of such real property.
Adverse economic and other conditions in the regions where our assets are located may have a significant adverse impact on our financial results.
A deterioration of general economic or other relevant conditions, changes in governmental laws and regulations, acts of nature, demographics or other factors in any of the states or the geographic region in which our assets are located could result in the loss of a tenant, a decrease in the demand for our properties and a decrease in our revenues from those markets, which in turn may have a disproportionate and material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, some of our investments are located in areas that are more susceptible to natural disasters, and therefore, our tenants and properties are particularly susceptible to revenue loss, cost increase or damage caused by earthquakes or other severe weather conditions or natural disasters. Any significant loss due to a natural disaster may not be covered by insurance and may lead to an increase in the cost of insurance and expenses for our tenants, or could limit the future availability of such insurance, which could limit our tenants’ ability to satisfy their obligations to us.
In addition, our results of operations depend substantially on our ability to lease the areasspaces available in the assets that we own as well as the price at which we lease such space. Adverse conditions in the regions and specific markets where we operate may reduce our ability to lease our properties, reduce occupancy levels, restrict our ability to increase lease prices and force us to lower lease prices and/or offer tenant incentives. Should our assets fail to generate sufficient revenues for us to meet our obligations, our financial condition and results of operations, as well as our NAV and ability to make distributions or repay debt, could be adversely affected.
Properties that have significant vacancies, especially value-add or other types of discounted real estate assets, may experience delays in leasing up or could be difficult to sell, which could diminish our return on these properties and the return on the stockholdersstockholders’ investment.
Our investments in value-add properties or other types of discounted properties may have significant vacancies at the time of acquisition.acquisition and/or thereafter. If vacancies continue for a prolonged period of time beyond the expected lease-up stage that we anticipate will follow any redevelopment or repositioning efforts, we may suffer reduced revenues, resulting in less cash available for distributions to our stockholders. In certain cases, we may need to offer free rent or other concessions to attract tenants. In addition, the resale value of the property could be diminished because the market value of a particular property depends principally upon the value of the cash flow generated by the leases associated with that property. Such a reduction on the resale value of a property could also reduce our NAV and the overall return on the stockholdersstockholders’ investment.
Changes in supply of or demand for similar real properties in a particular area may increase the price of real property assets we seek to purchase or adversely affect the value of the real property assets that we own.
The real estate industry is subject to market forces and we are unable to predict certain market changes including changes in supply of or demand for similar real properties in a particular area. For example, if demand for the types of real property assets in which we seek to invest were to sharply increase or supply of those assets were to sharply decrease, the prices ofto acquire those assets could rise significantly. Any potential purchase of an overpriced asset could decrease our rate of return on these investments and result in lower operating results and overall returns to our stockholders. Likewise, a sharp increase in supply could adversely affect leasing rates and occupancy, which could lower operating results, our NAV and overall returns to our stockholders.
Actions of our joint venture partners could adversely impact our performance.
We have entered into and may continue to enter into joint ventures with third parties, including entities that are affiliated with the Advisor or entities sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor. We may be a general partner, but also could be a limited partner. Such venture may give substantial discretionary authority to a third party general partner or to an affiliate of the Advisor or Sponsor as general partner. We have purchased and developed and may also continue to purchase and develop properties in joint ventures or in partnerships, co-tenancies or other co-ownership arrangements with the sellers of the properties, affiliates of the sellers, developers or other persons. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present with a direct investment in real estate, including, for example:
the possibility that our venture partner, co-tenant or partner in an investment might become bankrupt or otherwise be unable to meet its capital contribution obligations;
that such venture partner, co-tenant 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;
that such venture partner, co-tenant or partner may be in a position to take action contrary to our instructions or requests or contrary to our policies or objectives;
that actions by such venture partner, co-tenant or partner could adversely affect our reputation, negatively impacting our ability to conduct business; or
that such venture partner, co-tenant or partner has legal or other effective control over the asset, partnership or venture.
Actions by a joint venture partner or co-tenant might have the result of subjecting the property to liabilities in excess of those contemplated and may have the effect of reducing our stockholders’ returns.
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 and decrease potential returns to our stockholders. In the event that a venture partner has a right of first refusal to buy out the other partner, it may be unable to finance such a buy-out at that time. It may also be difficult for us to sell our interest in any such joint venture or partnership or as a co-tenant in a particular property. In addition, to the extent that our venture partner or co-tenant is an affiliate of the Advisor or an entity sponsored or advised by affiliates of the Sponsor, certain conflicts of interest will exist.
We compete with numerous other parties or entities for real property investments and tenants, and we may not compete successfully.
We compete with numerous other persons or entities seeking to buy real property assets or to attract tenants to real properties we already own, which may have a negative impact on our ability to acquire real property assets or attract tenants on favorable terms, if at all, and the returns on our real property assets. These persons or entities may have greater experience and financial strength than us. For example, our competitors may be willing to offer space at rental rates below our rates, causing us to lose existing or potential tenants and pressuring us to reduce our rental rates to retain existing tenants or convince new tenants to lease space at our properties. Similarly, the opening of new competing assets near the assets that we own may hinder our ability
to renew our existing leases or to lease to new tenants, because the proximity of new competitors may divert existing or new tenants to such competitors. In addition, if market rental rates decline during the term of an existing lease, we may be unable to renew or find a new tenant without lowering the rental rate. Each of these factors could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, NAV and ability to repay debt and pay distributions to our stockholders.
Delays in the selection, acquisition, development and construction of real properties or debt investments may have adverse effects on portfolio diversification, results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
Delays we encounter in selecting, acquiring and developing additional real properties or debt investments could adversely affect our stockholders’ returns. The uncertain state of the real estate markets in recent years and the resulting incentives of lenders and sellers to retain their investments had previously led to generally lower transaction volume in the broader real estate market and for us, in part due to pricing and valuation uncertainties. It is possible that such disruptions and uncertainties may reoccur. Alternatively, increased competition for high quality investments may also limit our ability to make incremental accretive investments in real properties and debt investments. These factors may continue to have a negative effect on our stockholders’ returns, and may also hinder our ability to reach our portfolio diversification objectives.
In addition, where properties are acquired prior to the start of construction or during the early stages of construction, it will typically take several months to complete construction and rent available space. Therefore, we may not receive any income from these properties for a significant period of time following acquisition, and distributions to our stockholders could suffer. Delays in the completion of construction could give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases for space at a newly developed project. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders prior to completion of construction. Each of those factors could result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. In addition, we will be subject to normal lease-up risks relating to newly constructed projects. Furthermore, the price we agree to for a real property will be based on our projections of rental income and expenses and estimates of the fair market value of the real property upon completion of construction. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property.
We may be unable to achieve our diversification goals or to realize benefits from diversification.
Our objective is to build a high-quality, diversified real estate portfolio. Although there can be no assurance that we will achieve this objective, we intend to diversify our portfolio by key portfolio attributes including, but not limited to, (i) property type, (ii) target market, with consideration given to geographic concentrations, (iii) average lease terms and portfolio occupancy expectations, (iv) tenant concentrations, including credit and exposure to particular businesses or industries and (v) debt profile with the goal of maximizing flexibility while seeking to minimize cost and mitigate the risks associated with changes in interest rates and debt maturities. However, we may not successfully implement our diversification strategy. For example, although we may target investments in four primary property categories of office, industrial, retail and multifamily, we currently do not own any multifamily investments and industrial holdings make up less than 5% of our portfolio as of December 31, 2017. Even if we do fully achieve our diversification goals, it is possible our diversified portfolio will not perform as well as a portfolio that is concentrated in a particular type of real estate.
We may alter our exposure to various property categories and we may not always own properties in each category.
We may target investments in four primary property categories of office, industrial, retail and multifamily.multi-family. Although we aim to diversify our real estate portfolio by owning properties in each of these categories, we may not always have significant holdings, or any holdings at all, in each category. For example, we currently have no multifamily investmentsour multi-family and industrial holdings make up less than 5%investments represent approximately 14.2% and 11.0%, respectively, of our portfolio (based on fair value) as of December 31, 2017.2019. We may elect to increase or decrease our holdings in each category at any time and we may change our target property categories at any time. If we decrease or eliminate our holdings in any property category or cease to target any of the four property categories our real estate portfolio will be less diversified and we may not realize the benefits of diversification.
We are subject to the risk that, with respect to assets that we have acquired and may acquire based on growth potential, such growth potential is not realized.
From 20152017 to 2017,2019, we disposed of approximately $985.3$832.9 million of properties and we acquired approximately $448.5$492.3 million of properties. The properties that we sold were generally higher-yielding than the new properties we acquired, although we believe the acquired assets exhibit greater potential for future revenue growth. We believe that market conditions may cause us to continue to explore in certain markets the disposition of higher-yielding assets and in certain target markets the acquisition of assets that may generate lower initial yields but with greater growth potential. Although there can be no assurance that we will continue to pursue this strategy or be successful in its execution, for some period of time this may mean that higher-yielding assets are sold from our portfolio in exchange for assets that initially may produce lower current income but which we believe willmay generate increased income over time through increased tenant demand andand/or rental rate growth in order to generate long termlong-term growth in NAV. With respect to such assets, we are subject to the risk that the expected growth potential is not realized. This may result from a variety of factors, including but not limited to unanticipated changes in local market conditions or increased competition for similar properties in the same market. Acquiring properties that do not realize their expected growth potential, or properties that take longer than expected to realize their growth potential, would likely negatively affect our NAV, limit our ability to pay distributions to stockholders and reduce their overall returns.
Our real properties are subject to property and other taxes that may increase in the future, which could adversely affect our cash flow.
Our real properties are subject to real and personal property and other taxes that may increase as tax rates change and as the properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. Certain of our leases provide that the property taxes, or increases therein, are charged to the lessees as an expense related to the real properties that they occupy while other leases will generally provide that we are responsible for such taxes. In any case, as the owner of the properties, we are ultimately responsible for payment of the taxes to the applicable governmental authorities. If property taxes increase, our tenants may be unable to make the required tax payments, ultimately requiring us to pay the taxes even if otherwise stated under the terms of the lease. If we fail to pay any such taxes, the applicable taxing authorities may place a lien on the property and the property may be subject to a tax sale. In addition, we will generally be responsible for property taxes related to any vacant space.
Potential changes to the U.S. tax laws could have a significant negative impact on our business operations, financial condition and earnings.
U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs and other corporations and the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended at any time, potentially with retroactive effect. Future legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT or adversely affect our stockholders.
We are subject to litigation that could adversely affect our results of operations.
We are a defendant from time to time in lawsuits and/or regulatory proceedings relating to our business. Unfavorable outcomes resulting from such lawsuits and/or regulatory proceedings could adversely impact our business, financial condition, NAV or results of operations.
Uninsured losses or premiums for insurance coverage relating to real property may adversely affect our returns.
There are types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments. Risks associated with potential acts of terrorism could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders sometimes require commercial property owners to purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. These policies may not be available at a reasonable cost, if at all, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our real properties. In such instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. Changes in the cost or availability of insurance could expose us to uninsured property or casualty losses. In the event that any of our real properties incurs a property or casualty loss that is not fully covered by insurance, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss. In addition, we could be held liable for indemnifying possible victims of an
accident. We cannot assure our stockholders that funding will be available to us for the repair or reconstruction of damaged real property in the future or for liability payments to accident victims.
The real estate industry is subject to extensive regulation, which may result in higher expenses or other negative consequences that could adversely affect us.
Our activities are subject to federal, state and municipal laws, and to regulations, authorizations and license requirements with respect to, among other things, zoning, environmental protection and historical heritage, all of which may affect our business. We may be required to obtain licenses and permits with different governmental authorities in order to acquire and manage our assets.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) which generally took effect in 2011, contains a sweeping overhaul of the regulation of U.S. financial institutions and financial markets. Key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act require extensive rulemaking by the SEC and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, some of which remains ongoing. Thus, the full impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on our business cannot be fully assessed until all final implementing rules and regulations are promulgated.
Various rules currently in effect under the Dodd-Frank Act may have a significant impact on our business, including, without limitation, provisions of the legislation that increase regulation of and disclosure requirements related to investment advisors, swap transactions and hedging policies, corporate governance and executive compensation, investor protection and enforcement provisions, and asset-backed securities. In February 2017, the U.S. President ordered the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to review certain existing rules and regulations, such as those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act; however, the implications of that review are not yet known and none of the rules and regulations promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act have been modified or rescinded as of the date of this report.
For example, but not by way of limitation, the Dodd-Frank Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder provides for significantly increased regulation of the derivatives markets and transactions that affect our interest rate hedging activities, including: (i) regulatory reporting; (ii) subject to limited exemptions, mandated clearing through central counterparties and execution on regulated exchanges or execution facilities; and (iii) margin and collateral requirements. While the full impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on our interest rate hedging activities cannot be fully assessed until all final implementing rules and regulations are promulgated, theThe foregoing requirements may affect our ability to enter into hedging or other risk management transactions, may increase our costs in entering into such transactions, and/or may result in us entering into such transactions on less favorable terms than prior to the Dodd-Frank Act. For example, subject to an exception for “end-users” of swaps upon which we and our subsidiaries generally rely, we may be required to clear certain interest rate hedging transactions by submitting them to a derivatives-clearingderivatives clearing organization. To the extent we are required to clear any such transactions, we will be required to, among other things, post
margin in connection with such transactions. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events may have an adverse effect on our business and our stockholders’ return.
In addition, public authorities may enact new and more stringent standards, or interpret existing laws and regulations in a more restrictive manner, which may force companies in the real estate industry, including us, to spend funds to comply with these new rules. Any such action on the part of public authorities may adversely affect the value of our stockholders’ investments.
In the event of noncompliance with such laws, regulations, licenses and authorizations, we may face the payment of fines, project shutdowns, cancellation of licenses, and revocation of authorizations, in addition to other civil and criminal penalties.
Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations related to environmental protection and human health and safety may be high.
All real property and the operations conducted on the real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on tenants, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on such real property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. Third parties may also sue the owner or operator of a site for damages based on personal injury, natural resources or property damage or other costs, including investigation and clean-up costs resulting from the environmental contamination. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such real property as collateral for future borrowings. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which real property may be used or businesses may be operated. A property owner who violates environmental laws may be subject to sanctions, which may be enforced by government agencies or, in certain circumstances, private parties. Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing
laws may require us to incur material expenditures. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Our tenants’ operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our real properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our real properties. In addition, there are various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply, and which may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. In connection with the acquisition and ownership of our real properties, we may be exposed to such costs in connection with such regulations. The cost of defending against environmental claims, of any damages or fines we must pay, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements or of remediating any contaminated real property could materially and adversely affect our business, lower the value of our assets or results of operations and, consequently, lower our NAV and the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Environmental laws in the U.S. also require that owners or operators of buildings containing asbestos properly manage and maintain the asbestos, adequately inform or train those who may come into contact with asbestos and undertake special precautions, including removal or other abatement, in the event that asbestos is disturbed during building renovation or demolition. These laws may impose fines and penalties on building owners or operators who fail to comply with these requirements and may allow third parties to seek recovery from owners or operators for personal injury associated with exposure to asbestos. Some of our properties may contain asbestos-containing building materials.
From time to time, we may acquire properties, or interests in properties, with known adverse environmental conditions where we believe that the environmental liabilities associated with these conditions are quantifiable and that the acquisition will yield a superioran appropriate risk-adjusted return. In such an instance, we will underwrite the costs of environmental investigation, clean-up and monitoring into the cost. Further, in connection with property dispositions, we may agree to remain responsible for, and to bear the cost of, remediating or monitoring certain environmental conditions on the properties.
Generally, our properties are subject to a Phase I or similar environmental assessment by independent environmental consultants prior to or in connection with our acquisition of such properties. Phase I assessments are intended to discover and evaluate information regarding the environmental condition of the surveyed property and surrounding properties. Phase I assessments generally include a historical review, a public records review, an investigation of the surveyed site and surrounding properties and preparation and issuance of a written report, but do not include soil sampling or subsurface investigations and typically do not include an asbestos survey. We cannot give any assurance that an environmental liability that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations taken as a whole, will not currently exist at the time of acquisition or may not arise in the future, with respect to any of our properties. Material environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns may arise after an environmental assessment has been completed. Moreover, there can be no assurance that future laws, ordinances or regulations will not impose any material environmental liability, or
that the then current environmental condition of our properties will not be affected by tenants, by the condition of land or operations in the vicinity of such properties (such as releases from underground storage tanks), or by third parties unrelated to us.
The sale and disposition of real properties carry certain litigation risks at the property level that may reduce our profitability and the return on stockholder investment.
The acquisition, ownership and disposition of real properties carry certain specific litigation risks. Litigation may be commenced with respect to a property acquired by us in relation to activities that took place prior to our acquisition of such property. In addition, at the time of disposition of an individual property, a potential buyer may claim that it should have been afforded the opportunity to purchase the asset or alternatively that such potential buyer should be awarded due diligence expenses incurred or statutory damages for misrepresentation relating to disclosure made, if such buyer is passed over in favor of another as part of our efforts to maximize sale proceeds. Similarly, successful buyers may later sue us under various damage theories, including those sounding in tort, for losses associated with latent defects or other problems not uncovered in due diligence.
The costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Amendment Act may reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Investment in real properties may also be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, or the “Disabilities Act” and the Fair Housing Amendment Act, as amended, or the “Fair Housing Act.” Under the Disabilities Act, all places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The Disabilities Act has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. The Disabilities Act’s requirements could require us to remove access barriers and our failure to comply with the act’s requirements could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties or, in some cases, an award of damages. The Fair Housing Act requires multifamilymulti-family dwellings first occupied after March 13, 1991 to comply with design and construction requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. We will attempt to acquire properties that comply with these acts or place the
burden on the seller or other third party, such as a tenant, to ensure compliance with these acts. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to acquire properties or allocate responsibilities in this manner. Any monies we use to comply with or defend lawsuits related to the Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Act will reduce our NAV and the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We may not have funding for future tenant improvements, which may adversely affect the value of our assets, our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
When a tenant at one of our real properties does not renew its lease or otherwise vacates its space in one of our buildings, it is likely that, in order to attract one or more new tenants, we will be required to expend substantial funds to construct new tenant improvements in the vacated space. We expect to invest the net proceeds from our offering in real estate-related investments, and we do not anticipate that we will maintain permanent working capital reserves. We do not currently have an identified funding source to provide funds that may be required in the future for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments in order to attract new tenants. If we do not establish sufficient reserves for working capital or obtain adequate financing to supply necessary funds for capital improvements or similar expenses, we may be required to defer necessary or desirable improvements to our real properties. If we defer such improvements, the applicable real properties may decline in value, and it may be more difficult for us to attract or retain tenants to such real properties or the amount of rent we can charge at such real properties may decrease. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will have any sources of funding available to us for the repair or reconstruction of damaged real property in the future.
Lease agreements may have specific provisions that create risks to our business and may adversely affect us.
Our lease agreements are regulated by local, municipal, state and federal laws, which may grant certain rights to tenants, such as the compulsory renewal of their lease by filing lease renewal actions when certain legal conditions are met. A lease renewal action may represent two principal risks for us: (i) if we plan to vacate a given unit in order to change or adapt an asset’s mix of tenants, the tenant could remain in that unit by filing a lease renewal action and interfere with our strategy; and (ii) if we desire to increase the lease price for a specific unit, this increase may need to be approved in the course of a lease renewal action, and the final value could be decided at the discretion of a judge. We would then be subject to the court’s interpretation and decision, and could be forced to accept an even lower price for the lease of the unit. The compulsory renewal of our lease agreements and/or the judicial review of our lease prices may adversely affect our cash flow and our operating results.
Certain of our lease agreements may not be “triple net leases,” under which the lessee undertakes to pay all the expenses of maintaining the leased property, including insurance, taxes, utilities and repairs. We will be exposed to higher maintenance, tax and property management expenses with respect to all of our leases that are not “triple net.”
Operating expenses, such as expenses for fuel, utilities, labor, building materials and insurance are not fixed and may increase in the future. There is no guarantee that we will be able to pass such increases on to our tenants. To the extent such increases cannot be passed on to our tenants, any such increases would cause our cash flow, NAV and operating results to decrease.
A change in U.S. accounting standards regarding operating leases may make the leasing of our properties less attractive to our potential tenants, which could reduce overall demand for our leasing services.
Under current authoritative accounting guidance for leases, a lease is classified by a tenant as a capital lease if the significant risks and rewards of ownership are considered to reside with the tenant. Under capital lease accounting, both the leased asset and liability are reflected on the tenant’s balance sheet. If the terms of the lease do not meet the criteria for a capital lease, the lease is considered an operating lease and no leased asset or contractual lease obligation is recorded on the tenant’s balance sheet. Under the current accounting standards for leases, the entry into an operating lease with respect to real property can appear to enhance a tenant’s reported financial condition or results of operations in comparison to the tenant’s direct ownership of the property.
In order to address concerns raised by the SEC regarding the transparency of contractual lease obligations under the existing accounting standards for operating leases, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-02 (as defined in “Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements”) on February 25, 2016, which substantially changes the current lease accounting standards, primarily by eliminating the concept of operating lease accounting. As a result, a lease asset and obligation will be recorded on the tenant’s balance sheet for all lease arrangements with terms greater than twelve months. In addition, ASU 2016-02 will impact the method in which contractual lease payments will be recorded. In order to mitigate the effect of the new lease accounting standards, tenants may seek to negotiate certain terms within new lease arrangements or modify terms in existing lease arrangements, such as shorter lease terms, which would generally have less impact on their balance sheets. Also, tenants may reassess their lease-versus-buy strategies. This could result in a greater renewal risk, a delay in investing our offering proceeds, or shorter lease terms, all of which may negatively impact our operations and our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders. The new leasing standard isbecame effective on January 1, 2019, with early adoption permitted.
2019.
We depend on the availability of public utilities and services, especially for water and electric power. Any reduction, interruption or cancellation of these services may adversely affect us.
Public utilities, especially those that provide water and electric power, are fundamental for the sound operation of our assets. The delayed delivery or any material reduction or prolonged interruption of these services could allow certain tenants to terminate their leases or result in an increase in our costs, as we may be forced to use backup generators, which also could be insufficient to fully operate our facilities and could result in our inability to provide services. Accordingly, any interruption or limitation in the provision of these essential services may adversely affect us.
Acquiring or attempting to acquire multiple properties in a single transaction may adversely affect our operations.
From time to time, we may acquire multiple properties in a single transaction. Portfolio acquisitions typically 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 may also result in us owning investments in geographically dispersed markets, placing additional demands on the Advisor in managing 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 also may be required to accumulate a large amount of cash to fund such acquisitions. We would expect the returns that we earn on such cash to be less than the returns on investments in real property. Therefore, acquiring multiple properties in a single transaction may reduce the overall yield on our portfolio.
In the event we obtain options to acquire properties, we may lose the amount paid for such options whether or not the underlying property is purchased.
We may obtain options to acquire certain properties. The amount paid for an option, if any, is normally surrendered if the property is not purchased and may or may not be credited against the purchase price if the property is purchased. Any unreturned option payments will reduce the amount of cash available for further investments or distributions to our stockholders.
We will rely on property managers to operate our properties and leasing agents to lease vacancies in our properties.
The Advisor intends to hire property managers to manage our properties and leasing agents to lease vacancies in our properties. The property managers will have significant decision-making authority with respect to the management of our properties. Our ability to direct and control how our properties are managed on a day-to-day basis may be limited because we will engage third parties to perform this function. Thus, the success of our business may depend in large part on the ability of our property managers to manage the day-to-day operations and the ability of our leasing agents to lease vacancies in our properties. Any adversity experienced by, or problems in our relationship with, our property managers or leasing agents could adversely impact the operation and profitability of our properties.
Our properties may be leased at below-market rates under long-term leases.
We may seek to negotiate longer-term leases to reduce the cash flow volatility associated with lease rollovers, in particular when contractual rent increases are included. In addition, where appropriate, we may seek leases that provide for operating expenses, or expense increases to be paid by the tenants. These leases may allow tenants to renew the lease with pre-defined rate increases. If we do not accurately judge the potential for increases in market rental rates or expenses, we may set the rental
rates (or expense reimbursements) of these long-term leases at levels such that even after contractual rental increases, the resulting rental rates (or net revenues to us) are less than then-current market rental rates. Further, we may be unable to terminate those leases or adjust the rent or expense reimbursements to then-prevailing market rates. As a result, our income and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than if we did not enter into long-term leases.
Retail properties depend on anchor tenants to attract shoppers and could be adversely affected by the loss of a key anchor tenant.
Retail properties, like other properties, are subject to the risk that tenants may be unable to make their lease payments or may decline to extend a lease upon its expiration. A lease termination by a tenant that occupies a large area of a retail center (commonly referred to as an anchor tenant) could impact leases of other tenants. Other tenants may be entitled to modify the terms of their existing leases (or terminate their leases) in the event of a lease termination by an anchor tenant, or the closure of the business of an anchor tenant that leaves its space vacant even if the anchor tenant continues to pay rent. Any such modifications, conditions or terminations could be unfavorable to us as the property owner and could decrease rents or expense recoveries. Additionally, major tenant closures may result in decreased customer traffic, which could lead to decreased sales at other stores. In the event of default by a tenant or anchor store, we may experience delays and costs in enforcing our rights as landlord to recover amounts due to us under the terms of our agreements with those parties.
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTMENTS IN REAL ESTATE-RELATED DEBT AND SECURITIES
The mortgage loans in which we invest will be subject to the risk of delinquency, foreclosure and loss, which could result in losses to us.
Commercial mortgage loans are secured by commercial property and are subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure and risks of loss. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by a property typically is dependent primarily upon the successful operation of such property rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Net operating income of an income-producing property can be affected by, among other things: tenant mix, success of tenant businesses, property management decisions, property location and condition, competition from comparable types of properties, changes in laws that increase operating expenses or limit rents that may be charged, any need to address environmental contamination at the property, the occurrence of any uninsured casualty at the property, changes in national, regional or local economic conditions and/or specific industry segments, current and potential future capital markets uncertainty, declines in regional or local real estate values, declines in regional or local rental or occupancy rates, increases in interest rates, real estate tax rates and other operating expenses, changes in governmental rules, regulations and fiscal policies, including environmental legislation, acts of God, terrorism, social unrest and civil disturbances.
In the event of any default under a mortgage loan held directly by us, we will bear a risk of loss of principal to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the principal and accrued interest of the mortgage loan, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow from operations, and results from operations and limit amounts available for distribution to our stockholders. In the event of the bankruptcy of a mortgage loan borrower, the mortgage loan to such borrower will be deemed to be secured only to the extent of the value of the underlying collateral at the time of bankruptcy (as determined by the bankruptcy court), and the lien securing the mortgage loan will be subject to the avoidance powers of the bankruptcy trustee or debtor-in-possession to the extent the lien is unenforceable under state law. Foreclosure of a mortgage loan can be an expensive and lengthy process, which could have a substantial adverse effect on our anticipated return on the foreclosed mortgage loan. In addition, if we foreclose on a particular property, we could become, as owner of the property, subject to liabilities associated with such property, including liabilities related to taxes and environmental matters.
The mezzanine loans and B-notes in which we invest involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income-producing real properties.
We may invest in mezzanine loans and B-notes that substantially take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying real property or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of either the entity owning the real property or the entity that owns the interest in the entity owning the real property. These types of investments involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage loans secured by income-producing real property because the investment may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender. 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 mezzanine loan or B-note in whole or in part. In addition, there may be significant delays and costs associated with the process of foreclosing on collateral securing or supporting these investments. If a borrower defaults on our mezzanine loan, B-note or debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our mezzanine loan or B-note will be satisfied only after the senior debt. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our investment. In addition, mezzanine loans or B-notes may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the real property and increasing the risk of loss of principal. Further, even if we are successful in foreclosing on the equity
interests serving as collateral for our mezzanine loans or B-notes, such foreclosure will result in us inheriting all of the liabilities of the underlying mortgage borrower, including the senior mortgage on the applicable property. This may result in both increased costs to us and a negative impact on our overall debt covenants and occupancy levels. In many cases a significant restructuring of the senior mortgage may be required in order for us to be willing to retain longer term ownership of the property. If we are unsuccessful in restructuring the underlying mortgage debt in these scenarios, the mortgage lender ultimately may foreclose on the property causing us to lose any remaining investment.
A portion of our debt-related investments may be considered illiquid, and we may not be able to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions.
Certain of the debt-related investments that we have purchased or may purchase in the future in connection with privately negotiated transactions are not or may not be registered under the relevant securities laws, resulting in a prohibition against their transfer, sale, pledge or other disposition except in a transaction that is exempt from the registration requirements of, or is otherwise effected in accordance with, those laws. As a result, our ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions may be limited. In addition, due to current credit market conditions, certain of our registered securities may not be as liquid as when originally purchased.
Bridge loans may involve a greater risk of loss than conventional mortgage loans.
We may provide bridge loans secured by first lien mortgages on properties to borrowers who are typically seeking short-term capital to be used in an acquisition, development or refinancing of real estate. The borrower may have identified an undervalued asset that has been undermanaged or is located in a recovering market. If the market in which the asset is located fails to recover according to the borrower’s projections, or if the borrower fails to improve the quality of the asset’s management or the value of the asset, the borrower may not receive a sufficient return on the asset to satisfy the bridge loan, and we may not recover some or all of our investment.
In addition, owners usually borrow funds under a conventional mortgage loan to repay a bridge loan. We may, therefore, be dependent on a borrower’s ability to obtain permanent financing to repay our bridge loan, which could depend on market conditions and other factors. Bridge loans, like other loans secured directly or indirectly by property, are subject to risks of borrower defaults, bankruptcies, fraud, losses and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance. In the event of any default under bridge loans held by us, we bear the risk of loss of principal and nonpayment of interest and fees to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the mortgage collateral and the principal amount of the bridge loan. Any such losses with respect to our investments in bridge loans could have an adverse effect on our NAV, results of operations and financial condition.
Interest rate and related risks may cause the value of our real estate-related securities investments to be reduced.
Interest rate risk isincludes the risk that fixed-income securities such as preferred and debt securities, and to a lesser extent dividend paying common stocks, will decline in value because of changes in market interest rates. Generally, when market interest rates rise, the market value of such securities will decline, and vice versa. In addition, during periods of rising interest rates, the average life of certain types of securities may be extended because of slower than expected principal payments. This may lockresult in a below-market interest rate, an increase in the security’s duration, and reducea reduction in the value of the security. This is known as extension risk. During periods of declining interest rates, an issuer may be able to exercise an option to prepay principal earlier than scheduled, which is generally known as call or prepayment risk. If this occurs, we may be forced to reinvest in lower yielding securities. This is known as reinvestment risk. Preferred and debt securities frequently have call features that allow the issuer to repurchase the security prior to its stated maturity. An issuer may redeem an obligation if the issuer can refinance the debt at a lower cost due to declining interest rates or an improvement in the credit standing of the issuer. To the extent we invest in real estate-related securities going forward, these risks may reduce the value of such investments.
Investments in real estate-related securities are subject to specific risks relating to the particular issuer of the securities and may be subject to the general risks of investing in subordinated real estate-related securities.
We may invest in real estate-related common equity, preferred equity and debt securities of both publicly traded and private real estate companies. Investments in real estate-related securities will involve special risks relating to the particular issuer of the securities, including the financial condition and business outlook of the issuer. Issuers of real estate-related securities generally invest in real estate or real estate-related assets and are subject to the inherent risks associated with real estate-related debt investments discussed in this section Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Real estate-related securities may be unsecured and subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. As a result, investments in real estate-related securities are subject to risks of (i) limited liquidity in the secondary trading market, (ii) substantial market price volatility, (iii) subordination to the prior claims of banks and other senior lenders to the issuer and preferred equity holders, (iv) the operation of mandatory sinking fund or call/redemption provisions during periods of declining interest rates that could cause the issuer to reinvest redemption proceeds in lower yielding assets, (v) the possibility that earnings of the
issuer may be insufficient to meet its debt service and distribution obligations and (vi) the declining creditworthiness and potential for insolvency of the issuer during periods of rising interest rates and economic downturn. These risks may adversely affect the value of outstanding real estate-related securities and the ability of the issuers thereof to pay dividends.
We may make investments in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, which will be subject to currency rate exposure and risks associated with the uncertainty of foreign laws and markets.
Some of our real estate-related securities investments may be denominated in foreign currencies, and therefore, we expect to have currency risk exposure to any such foreign currencies. A change in foreign currency exchange rates may have an adverse impact on returns on our non-U.S. dollar denominated investments. Although we may hedge our foreign currency risk subject to the REIT income qualification tests, we may not be able to do so successfully and may incur losses on these investments as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. To the extent that we invest in non-U.S. dollar denominated securities, in addition to risks inherent in the investment in securities generally discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we will also be subject to risks associated with the uncertainty of foreign laws and markets including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, political and economic instability in certain geographic locations, difficulties in managing international operations, currency exchange controls, potentially adverse tax consequences, additional accounting and control expenses and the administrative burden of complying with a wide variety of foreign laws.
Investments in real estate-related debt securities are subject to risks including various creditor risks and early redemption features which may materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
The debt securities and other interests in which we may invest may include secured or unsecured debt at various levels of an issuer’s capital structure. The debt securities in which we may invest may not be protected by financial covenants or limitations upon additional indebtedness, may be illiquid or have limited liquidity, and may not be rated by a credit rating agency. Debt securities are also subject to other creditor risks, including (i) the possible invalidation of an investment transaction as a “fraudulent conveyance” under relevant creditors’ rights laws, (ii) so-called lender liability claims by the issuer of the obligation and (iii) environmental liabilities that may arise with respect to collateral securing the obligations. Our investments may be subject to early redemption features, refinancing options, pre-paymentprepayment options or similar provisions which, in each case, could result in the issuer repaying the principal on an obligation held by us earlier than expected, resulting in a lower return to us than anticipated or reinvesting in a new obligation at a lower return to us.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH DEBT FINANCING
We incur mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks, and could hinder our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We have financed and may continue to finance a portion of the purchase price of certain of our investments by borrowing funds. As of December 31, 2017,2019, our leverage ratio is approximately 49.1%40.0% of the fair value of our real property and debt-related investments (determined in accordance with our valuation procedures) inclusive of property and entity-level debt. Our current leverage target is between 40-60%. Although we will generally workseek to maintain the targeted leverage ratio over the near term, we may change our targeted leverage ratio from time to time. In addition, we may vary from our target leverage ratio from time to time, and there are no assurances that we will maintain the targeted range disclosed above or achieve any other leverage ratio that we may target in the future. Our board of directors may from time to time modify our borrowing policy in light of then-current economic conditions, the relative costs of debt and equity capital, the fair values of our properties, general conditions in the market for debt and equity securities, growth and acquisition opportunities or other factors.
Under our charter, we have a limitation on borrowing that precludes us from borrowing in excess of 300% of the value of our net assets unless approved by a majority of the independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report along with justification for the excess. Net assets for purposes of this calculation are defined to be our total assets (other than intangibles), valued at cost prior to deducting depreciation or other non-cash reserves, less total liabilities. Generally speaking, the preceding calculation is expected to approximate 75% of the aggregate cost of our real property assets and debt-related investments before non-cash reserves and depreciation. In addition, we have incurred and may continue to incur mortgage debt secured by some or all of our real properties to obtain funds to acquire additional real properties or for working capital. We may also borrow funds to satisfy the REIT tax qualification requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to our stockholders. Furthermore, we may borrow funds if we otherwise deem it necessary or advisable to ensure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes.
High debt levels would generally cause us to incur higher interest charges, and could result in higher debt service payments and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from a property and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt on that property, then the amount available for distributions to our stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss of a property since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure action. In that case, we could lose the property securing the loan that is in default or be forced to sell the property at an inopportune time, thus reducing the value of our investments. For tax purposes, a
foreclosure on any of our properties will 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 will recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but we would not receive any cash proceeds. We and the Operating Partnership have historically given certain full, partial or limited guarantees, and may continue to give full, partial or limited guarantees in the future, to lenders of mortgage debt on behalf of the entities that own our properties. When we give a guarantee on behalf of an entity that owns one of our properties, we are responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity. If any mortgage contains cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. If any of our properties are foreclosed upon due to a default, our NAV, liquidity and ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders willmay be adversely affected.
Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt service payments and therefore adversely impact our operating results.
We currently utilize a significant amountAs of December 31, 2019, our variable rate debt financing.represented approximately 35.4% of our total debt. To the extent we do not have derivative instruments to hedge exposure to changes in interest rates and/or do not have fixed rate debt, increases in interest rates would increase our interest costs, which would reduce our cash flows and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. IfIn addition, from time to time we may finance or refinance our investments, or obtain new interest rate hedges in a rising interest rate environment. Accordingly, increases in interest rates could increase our interest and/or hedging expense, which could have an adverse effect on our cash flow from operating activities and our ability to make distributions. In addition, if rising interest rates cause us to need additional capital to repay existing debt during periods of rising
interest rates,indebtedness in accordance with its terms or otherwise, we could be requiredmay need to liquidate one or more of our real property or debt-related investments at times whichthat may not permit realization of the maximum return on suchthese investments.
Our derivative instruments used to hedge against interest rate fluctuations may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates and could reduce the overall returns on our investments.
We utilize derivative instruments to hedge exposure to changes in interest rates on certain of our loans secured by our real properties, but no hedging strategy can protect us completely. We may use derivative instruments, such as forward starting swaps, to hedge interest rate risks associated with debt incurrences that we anticipate may occur. However, if we fail to accurately forecast such debt incurrences we will be subject to interest rate risk without successfully hedging the underlying transaction. Furthermore, the use of derivative instruments may cause us to forgo the benefits of otherwise favorable fluctuations in interest rates, since derivative instruments may prevent us from realizing the full benefits of lower borrowing costcosts in an environment of declining interest rates.
In addition, derivative instruments may not mitigate all of the risk associated with fluctuations in borrowing costs. Derivative instruments are generally used to hedge fluctuations in benchmark interest rates, such as London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and U.S. treasury security-based interest rates. However, there are other components of borrowing costs that may comprise the “spread” that lenders apply to the benchmark interest rates. The “spread” that lenders apply to benchmark interest rates when making loans may fluctuate from time to time. Fluctuations in the “spread” may be attributable to volatility in the credit markets or borrower-specific credit risk. When we enter into derivative instruments in anticipation of certain debt incurrences, such derivative instruments do not mitigate the risks of fluctuations in “spread” which could exacerbate the risks described above.
We cannot assure our stockholders that our hedging strategy and the derivatives that we use will adequately offset all of our risk related to interest rate volatility or that our hedging of these risks will not result in losses. These derivative instruments may also generate income that may not be treated as qualifying REIT income for purposes of the 75% or 95% REIT income tests. See “Note 4 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for additional discussion regarding our derivative instruments and the related impact on our results of operations.
We assume the credit risk of our counterparties with respect to derivative transactions.
We may enter into derivative contracts for risk management purposes to hedge our exposure to cash flow variability caused by changing interest rates on our future variable rate real estate loans receivable and variable rate notes payable. These derivative contracts generally are entered into with bank counterparties and are not traded on an organized exchange or guaranteed by a central clearing organization. We would therefore assume the credit risk that our counterparties will fail to make periodic payments when due under these contracts or become insolvent. If a counterparty fails to make a required payment, becomes the subject of a bankruptcy case, or otherwise defaults under the applicable contract, we would have the right to terminate all outstanding derivative transactions with that counterparty and settle them based on their net market value or replacement cost. In such an event, we may be required to make a termination payment to the counterparty, or we may have the right to collect a termination payment from such counterparty. We assume the credit risk that the counterparty will not be able to make any termination payment owing to us. We may not receive any collateral from a counterparty, or we may receive collateral that is insufficient to satisfy the counterparty’s obligation to make a termination payment. Default by a counterparty may result in the loss of unrealized profits and may force us to enter into a replacement transaction at the then current market price.
We assume the risk that our derivative counterparty may terminate transactions early.
If we fail to make a required payment or otherwise default under the terms of a derivative contract, the counterparty would have the right to terminate all outstanding derivative transactions between us and that counterparty and settle them based on their net market value or replacement cost. In certain circumstances, the counterparty may have the right to terminate derivative transactions early even if we are not defaulting. If our derivative transactions are terminated early, it may not be possible for us to replace those transactions with another counterparty, on as favorable terms or at all.
We may be required to collateralize our derivative transactions.
We may be required to secure our obligations to our counterparties under our derivative contracts by pledging collateral to our counterparties. That collateral may be in the form of cash, securities or other assets. If we default under a derivative contract with a counterparty, or if a counterparty otherwise terminates one or more derivative contracts early, that counterparty may apply such collateral toward our obligation to make a termination payment to the counterparty. If we have pledged securities or other assets, the counterparty may liquidate those assets in order to satisfy our obligations. If we are required to post cash or securities as collateral, such cash or securities will not be available for use in our business. Cash or securities pledged to counterparties may be repledged by counterparties and may not be held in segregated accounts. Therefore, in the event of a counterparty insolvency, we may not be entitled to recover some or all collateral pledged to that counterparty, which could result in losses and have an adverse effect on our operations.
We may default on our derivative obligations if we default on the indebtedness underlying such obligations.
We have agreements with certain of our derivative counterparties that contain a provision where we could be declared in default on our derivative obligations if repayment of the underlying indebtedness is accelerated by the lender due to our default on the indebtedness. We also have agreements with certain other derivative counterparties that contain a provision whereby if we default on any of our indebtedness held by the Operating Partnership, including default where repayment of the indebtedness has not been accelerated by the lender, then we could also be declared in default on our derivative obligations. If we are declared in default under the terms of a derivative contract, the counterparty would have the right to terminate all outstanding derivative transactions between us and that counterparty and settle them based on their net market value or replacement cost.
We have entered into loan agreements that contain restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When providing financing, a lender typically imposes restrictions on us that may affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Our loan agreements include restrictions, covenants, customary market carve-outs and/or guarantees by us. Certain financial covenants include tests of our general liquidity and debt servicing capability as well as certain collateral specific performance and valuation ratios. In addition, our loan agreements may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgageleverage the property, discontinue insurance coverage or replace the advisorAdvisor as the Advisor.our advisor. Further, our loan agreements may limit our ability to replace our property managers or terminate certain operating or lease agreements related to the property. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment objectives and make distributions to our stockholders. There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with these covenants in the future, or that if we violate a covenant the lender would be willing to provide a waiver of such covenant. Violation of these covenants could result in the acceleration of maturities under the default provisions of our loan agreements. As of December 31, 2017,2019, we were in compliance with allour financial covenants.
We assume the risk that our credit facility lenders may not honor their commitments to us.
We may enter into credit facility arrangements with lenders pursuant to which, subject to certain conditions, they commit to lend us money, provide us with letters of credit or provide other financial services to us. If we fail to comply with the covenants in such arrangements, the lenders could declare us in default, accelerate the maturities of our borrowings and refuse to make loans or provide other financial services to us. Or, if a lender becomes unable or unwilling to honor its commitments to us, we may not receive the loans and other financial services for which we negotiated. In such a situation, a replacement lender may be difficult or impossible to find quickly or at all. If we are unable to receive loans and other financial services, our liquidity and business could be negatively impacted.
We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, financing arrangements involving balloon payment obligations, which may adversely affect our ability to refinance or sell properties on favorable terms, and to make distributions to our stockholders.
Most of our current mortgage financing arrangements require us to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity. Our ability to make a balloon payment at maturity will be uncertain and may depend upon our ability to obtain additional financing or our ability to sell thea particular property. At the time the balloon payment is due, we may or may not be able to refinance the balloon payment on terms as favorable as the original loan or to sell thea particular property at a price sufficient to make the balloon
payment. The effect of a refinancing or sale could affect the rate of return to our stockholders and the projected time of disposition of our assets. In an environment of increasing mortgageinterest rates, if we place mortgage debt on properties or obtain corporate debt, we run the risk of being unable to refinance such debt if mortgageinterest rates are higher at the time a balloon payment is due. In addition, payments of principal and interest made to service our debts, including balloon payments, may leave us with insufficient cash to pay the distributions that we are required to pay to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
Risks related to variable-rate indebtedness could increase the amount of our debt payments and therefore negatively impact our operating results.
Our debt may be subject to the fluctuation of market interest rates such as LIBOR, and other benchmark rates. Should such interest rates increase, our variable rate debt service payments may also increase, reducing cash available for distributions. Furthermore, if we need to refinance existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times given the property may not support the same level of loan proceeds, which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments. Additionally, as it relates to any real estate assets that we may own, an increase in interest rates may negatively impact activity in the consumer market and reduce consumer purchases, which could adversely affect us.
Furthermore, U.S. and international regulators and law enforcement agencies have conducted investigations into a number of rates or indices which are deemed to be “reference rates.” Actions by such regulators and law enforcement agencies may result in changes to the manner in which certain reference rates are determined, their discontinuance, or the establishment of alternative reference rates. In particular, on July 27, 2017, the Chief Executive of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), which regulates LIBOR, stated that it is the FCA’s intention that it will no longer be necessary to persuade or compel banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. Such statement indicates that the continuation of LIBOR on the current basis cannot and will not be guaranteed after 2021. As a result, it is possible that LIBOR will be discontinued or modified by 2021.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, is recommending replacing U.S.-dollar LIBOR with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), a new index calculated by short-term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities. Although there have been a few issuances utilizing SOFR or the Sterling Over Night Index Average, an alternative reference rate that is based on transactions, it is unknown whether these alternative reference rates will attain market acceptance as replacements for LIBOR.
At this time, it is not possible to predict the effect that these developments, any discontinuance, modification or other reforms to LIBOR or any other reference rate, or the establishment of SOFR or other alternative reference rates may have on LIBOR or other benchmarks. The use of alternative reference rates or other reforms could cause the interest rates for our floating rate indebtedness to be materially higher than expected, which could impact our results of operations, cash flows and the market value of our debt-related investments.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR TAXATION AS A REIT
Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our operations and our ability to make distributions.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we lose our REIT status. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer be deductible in computing our taxable income and we would no longer be required to make distributions. To the extent that distributions had been made in anticipation of our qualifying as a REIT, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable corporate income tax. In addition, although we intend to operate in a manner as to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause our board of directors to recommend that we revoke our REIT election.
Failure of the Operating Partnership to be taxable as a partnership could cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT and we could suffer other adverse tax consequences.
We believe that the Operating Partnership will continue to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partnership and not as an association or as a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation. If the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) were successfully to determine that the Operating Partnership was properly treated as a corporation, the Operating Partnership would be required to pay U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates on its net income, its partners would be treated as stockholders of the Operating Partnership and distributions to partners would constitute distributions that would not be deductible in computing the Operating Partnership’s taxable income. In addition, we could fail to qualify as a REIT, with the resulting consequences described above.
To continue to qualify as a REIT, we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may result in us distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations.
To maintain the favorable tax treatment accorded to REITs, we normally will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our real estate investment trustREIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for distributions paid and by excluding net capital gains. We are subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed taxable income and net capital gain and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (i) 85% of our ordinary income, (ii) 95% of our capital gain net income and (iii) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on acquisitions of properties and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds or sell assets to fund these distributions. Additionally, it is possible that we might not always be able to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid corporate income taxation on the earnings that we distribute.
From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our net income, as defined by GAAP, or differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash may occur. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds on unfavorable terms, sell investments at disadvantageous prices or distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to grow, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
Recharacterization of sale-leaseback transactions may cause us to lose our REIT status.
We may purchase real properties and lease them back to the sellers of such properties. If we were to attempt to structure a sale-leaseback transaction such that the lease would be characterized as a “true lease” that would allow us to be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we cannot assure our stockholders that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”)IRS will not challenge such characterization. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for U.S. federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT qualification “asset tests” or the “income tests” and, consequently, lose our REIT status effective with the year of recharacterization. Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated, which might also cause us to fail to meet the distribution requirement for a taxable year.
Our stockholders may have current tax liability on distributions if our stockholders elect to reinvest in shares of our common stock.
Even if our stockholders participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, our stockholders will be deemed to have received, and for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in shares of our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. As a result, our stockholders that are not tax-exempt entities may have to use funds from other sources to pay their tax liability on the value of the common stock received.
Distributions payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates that apply to other corporate distributions.
The current maximum U.S. federal income tax rate for distributions payable by corporations to domestic stockholders that are individuals, trusts or estates is 20% (plus a 3.8% “Medicare tax” surcharge)surcharge, if applicable). Distributions payable by REITs, however, generally are taxed at the ordinary income tax rate applicable to the individual recipient, rather than the maximum 20% income tax rate.rate, subject to certain applicable deductions and holding periods. The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate distributions could cause investors who are individuals to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay distributions, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including our common stock.
If we were considered to have actually or constructively paid a “preferential dividend” to certain of our stockholders, our status as a REIT could be adversely affected.
For taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2014, in order for distributions to be counted as satisfying the annual distribution requirement for REITs, and to provide us with a REIT-level tax deduction, the distributions must not have been “preferential dividends.” A dividend is not a preferential dividend if the distribution is (1) pro rata among all outstanding shares within a particular class, and (2) in accordance with the preferences among different classes of shares as set forth in our organizational documents. For the taxable year that began on January 1, 2015 and all futuresubsequent taxable years, so long as we continue to be a “publicly offered REIT” (i.e., a REIT which is required to file annual and periodic reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act), the preferential dividend rule will not apply to us.
In certain circumstances, we may be subject to federal and state income taxes as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We may be subject to taxes on our income or property even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including those described below:
In order to qualify as a REIT, we are required to distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction or net capital gain) to our stockholders. If we satisfy the distribution requirement but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to corporate income tax on the undistributed income.
We will be required to pay a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which the distributions we make to our stockholders in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from previous years.
If we have net income from the sale of foreclosure property that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business or other non-qualifying income from foreclosure property, we will be required to pay a tax on that income at the highest corporate income tax rate.
Any gain we recognize on the sale of a property, other than foreclosure property, that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, wouldcould be subject to the 100% “prohibited transaction” tax unless the sale qualified for a statutory safe harbor that requires, among other things, a two yeartwo-year holding period.period for the production of income.
Our board of directors is authorized to revoke our REIT election without stockholder approval, which may cause adverse consequences to our stockholders.
Our charter authorizes our board of directors to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is not in our best interest to qualify as a REIT. In this event, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate income tax rates on our taxable income and we would no longer be required to distribute most of our net income to our stockholders, which may cause a reduction in the total return to our stockholders.
Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income.
Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our common stock nor gain from the sale of common stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:
part of the income and gain recognized by certain qualified employee pension trusts with respect to our common stock may be treated as unrelated business taxable income if shares of our common stock are predominately held by qualified employee pension trusts, we are required to rely on a special look-through rule for purposes of meeting one of the REIT share ownership tests, and we are not operated in a manner to avoid treatment of such income or gain as unrelated business taxable income;
part of the income and gain recognized by a tax-exempt investor with respect to our common stock would constitute unrelated business taxable income if the investor incurs debt in order to acquire the common stock; and
part or all of the income or gain recognized with respect to our common stock by social clubs, voluntary employee benefit associations, supplemental unemployment benefit trusts and qualified group legal services plans that are exempt from U.S. federal income taxation under Sections 501(c)(7), (9), (17) or (20) of the Code may be treated as unrelated business taxable income.
The stock ownership limit imposed by the Code for REITs and our charter may restrict our business combination opportunities and stockholders may be restricted from acquiring or transferring certain amounts of our capital stock.
To maintain our status as a REIT under the Code, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year after our first year in which we qualify as a REIT. Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take the actions that are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless an exemption is granted by our board of directors, no person (as defined to include entities) may own more than 9.8% in value of our capital stock or more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of our common stock following the completion of our public offerings. In addition, our charter will generally prohibit beneficial or constructive ownership of shares of our capital stock by any person who owns, actually or constructively, an interest in any of our tenants that would cause us to own, actually or constructively, more than a 9.9% interest in any of our tenants. Our board of directors may grant an exemption in its sole discretion, subject to such conditions, representations and undertakings as it may determine. These ownership limitations in our charter are common in REIT charters and are intended, among other purposes, to assist us in complying with the tax law requirements and to minimize administrative burdens. However, these ownership limits might also delay or prevent a transaction or a change in our control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in transactions, including certain methods of syndicating and securitizing mortgage loans, that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, but including mortgage loans that are held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We might be subject to this tax if we were to syndicate, dispose of or securitize loans in a manner that was treated as a sale of the loans for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, to avoid the prohibited transactions tax, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of loans at the REIT level and may limit the structures we utilize for our securitization transactions, even though the sales or structures otherwise might be beneficial to us.
In addition, the Code provides a safe harbor that, if met, allows us to avoid being treated as engaged in a prohibited transaction. In order to meet the safe harbor, (i) we must have held the property for at least 2two years (and, in the case of property which consists of land or improvements not acquired through foreclosure, we must have held the property for 2two years for the production of rental income), (ii) we must not have made aggregate expenditures includible in the basis of the property during the 2-yeartwo-year period preceding the date of sale that exceed 30% of the net selling price of the property, and (iii) during the taxable year the property is disposed of, we must not have made more than 7seven property sales or, alternatively, the aggregate adjusted basis or fair market value of all the properties sold by us during the taxable year must not exceed 10% of the aggregate adjusted basis or 10% of the fair market value, respectively, of all our assets as of the beginning of the taxable year (with the 10% thresholds increased to 20% in certain circumstances). If the 7-saleseven-sale limitation in (iii) above is not satisfied, substantially all of the marketing and development expenditures with respect to the property must be made through an independent contractor from whom we do not derive or receive any income (or, in certain circumstances, by a taxable REIT subsidiary). We will endeavor to avoid engaging in prohibited transactions or we will attempt to comply with the safe harbor provisions. There is no assurance, however, that we will not engage in prohibited transactions.
Recharacterization of transactions under the Operating Partnership’s private placements could result in a 100% tax on income from prohibited transactions, which would diminish our cash distributions to our stockholders.
The IRS could recharacterize transactions under the Operating Partnership’s private placements such that the Operating Partnership could be treated as the bona fide owner, for tax purposes, of properties acquired and resold by the entity established to facilitate the transaction. Such recharacterization could result in the income realized on these transactions by the Operating Partnership being treated as gain on the sale of property that is held as inventory or otherwise held primarily for the sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. In such event, such gain could constitute income from a prohibited transaction and might be subject to a 100% tax. If this occurs, our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.
Legislative or regulatory action could adversely affect investors.
In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made to the U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to investments in REITs and similar entities. Additional changes to tax laws are likely to continue to occur in the future, and we cannot assure our stockholders that any such changes will not adversely affect the taxation of a stockholder. Any such changes could have an adverse effect on an investment in shares of our common stock. Although REITs generally receive bettermore favorable 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 corporation. Our charter provides our board of directors with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election 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 cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interest of our stockholders.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for taxation of individuals and corporations, was signed into law by the President on December 22, 2017.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for taxation of individuals and corporations. In the case of individuals, the tax brackets were adjusted, the top federal income rate was reduced to 37%, special rules reduce taxation of certain income earned through pass-through entities and reduce the top effective rate applicable to ordinary dividends from REITs to 29.6% (through a 20% deduction for ordinary REIT dividends received that are not “capital gain dividends” or “qualified dividend income,” subject to complex limitations)limitations and potentially (pending IRS guidance) a minimum 45-day holding period with respect to shares of our common stock) and various deductions were eliminated or limited, including limiting the deduction for state and local taxes to $10,000 per year. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and apply only to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026. The top corporate income tax rate was reduced to 21%. There are only minor changes to the REIT rules (other than the 20% deduction applicable to individuals for ordinary REIT dividends received). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes numerous other large and small changes to the tax rules that do not affect REITs directly but may affect our shareholders and may indirectly affect us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act amended the rules for accrual of income so that income is taken into account no later than when it is taken into account on applicable financial statements, even if financial statements take such income into account before it would accrue under the original issue discount rules, market discount rules or other rules in the Internal Revenue Code. Such rule may cause us to recognize income before receiving any corresponding receipt of cash, which may make it more likely that we could be required to borrow funds or take other action to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements for the taxable year in which such income is recognized, although the precise application of this rule is unclear at this time. For taxable years after December 31, 2017, our business interest deductions may be limited to 30% of our adjusted taxable income (plus business interest income). This limitation does not apply to an “electing real property trade or business.” We have not yet determined the consequences of this election or whether our subsidiaries are eligible for such election. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the limit for individual’s mortgage interest expense to interest on $750,000 of mortgages and does not permit deduction of interest on home equity loans (after grandfathering all existing mortgages). Such change and the reduction in deductions for state and local taxes (including property taxes) may potentially (and negatively) affect the markets in which we may invest.
Stockholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors with respect to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and any other regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on investment in our common stock.
Recharacterization of transactions under the Operating Partnership’s private placements could result in a 100% tax on income from prohibited transactions, which would diminish our cash distributions to our stockholders.
The Internal Revenue Service could recharacterize transactions under the Operating Partnership’s private placements such that the Operating Partnership could be treated as the bona fide owner, for tax purposes, of properties acquired and resold by the entity established to facilitate the transaction. Such recharacterization could result in the income realized on these transactions by the Operating Partnership being treated as gain on the sale of property that is held as inventory or otherwise held primarily for the sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. In such event, such gain could constitute income from a prohibited transaction and might be subject to a 100% tax. If this occurs, our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.
Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our continued qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to qualify as a REIT depends in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence, including in cases where we own an equity interest in an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
ForeignCertain foreign investors may be subject to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (“FIRPTA”) on the sale of common shares if we are unable to qualify as a “domestically controlled qualified investment entity.”
A foreign person (subject to certain exceptions) disposing of a U.S. real property interest, including shares of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to a tax, known as FIRPTA, on the gain recognized on the disposition. FIRPTA does not apply, however, to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is a “domestically controlled qualified investment entity” (as defined in sectionSection 897(h)(4)(B) of the Code). A domestically controlled qualified investment entity includes a REIT in which, at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of its shares is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. holders. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will qualify as a domestically controlled qualified investment entity. If we were to fail to so qualify, gain realized by a foreign investor on a sale of our common stock would potentially be subject to FIRPTA unless our common stock was traded on an established securities market and the foreign investor did not at any time during a specified testing period directly or indirectly own more than 10% of the value
of our outstanding common stock. Regardless of our status as a domestically controlled qualified investment entity, capital gain distributions attributable to a disposition of a U.S. real property interest will generally be subject to tax under FIRPTA in the hands of non-U.S. investors.investors (unless an exception to FIRPTA applies to such investor).
Compliance with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To qualify as a REIT, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of our assets must consist of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investments in securities (other than qualified real estate assets and government securities) generally cannot include more than 10% of the voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer unless we and such issuer jointly elect for such issuer to be treated as a “taxable REIT subsidiary” under the Code. Additionally, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 25%20% of the value of our assets may be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries (20%(25% in certain taxable years beginning afterbefore December 31, 2017). If we fail to comply with these requirements, we must dispose of a portion of our assets within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter in order to avoid losing our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. In order to satisfy these requirements, we may be forced to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
The failure of a mezzanine loan to qualify as a real estate asset could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT.
The IRS has provided a safe harbor for mezzanine loans but not rules of substantive law. Pursuant to the safe harbor, if a mezzanine loan meets certain requirements, it will be treated by the IRS as a real estate asset for purposes of the REIT asset tests, and interest derived from the mezzanine loan will be treated as qualifying mortgage interest for purposes of the REIT 75% income test. We may acquire mezzanine loans that do not meet all of the requirements of this safe harbor. In the event we own a mezzanine loan that does not meet the safe harbor, the IRS could challenge such loan’s treatment as a real estate asset for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests and, if such a challenge were sustained, we could fail to qualify as a REIT.
We may enter into certain hedging transactions which may have a potential impact on our REIT status.
From time to time, we may enter into hedging transactions with respect to one or more of our assets or liabilities. Our hedging activities may include entering into interest rate and/or foreign currency swaps, caps, and floors, options to purchase these items, and futures and forward contracts. Income and gain from “hedging transactions” that we enter into to hedge indebtedness incurred or to be incurred to acquire or carry real estate assets and that are clearly and timely identified as such will be excluded from both the numerator and the denominator for purposes of the gross income and asset tests that apply to REITs. Moreover, any income from a transaction entered into primarily to manage risk of currency fluctuations with respect to any item of income that would be qualifying REIT income under the REIT gross income tests, and any gain from the unwinding of any such transaction, does not constitute gross income for purposes of the REIT annual gross income tests. To the extent that we do not properly identify such transactions as hedges or we hedge with other types of financial instruments, or hedge other types of indebtedness, the income from those transactions may not be treated as qualifying income for purposes of the REIT gross income tests, and might also give rise to an asset that does not qualify for purposes of the REIT asset tests.
INVESTMENT COMPANY RISKS
Avoiding registration as an investment company imposes limits on our operations, and failure to avoid registration reduces the value of the stockholdersstockholders’ investment.
We conduct our operations so as not to become regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended which we refer to as the(the “Investment Company Act.”Act”). To do so, we will have to continue to monitor the value of our securities in comparison with the value of our other assets and make sure that the value of our securities does not exceed 40% of the value of all of our assets on an unconsolidated basis. As a result, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may be unable to purchase securities we would otherwise want to purchase.
If we were obligated to register as an investment company, we would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act that impose, 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 increase our operating expenses.
Registration with the SEC as an investment company would be costly, would subject our company to a host of complex regulations and would divert the attention of management from the conduct of our business.
Further, if it were established that we were an unregistered investment company, there would be a risk that we would be subject to monetary penalties and injunctive relief in an action brought by the SEC, that we would be unable to enforce contracts with third parties and that third parties could seek to obtain rescission of transactions undertaken during the period it was established that we were an unregistered investment company. Any such results would be likely to have a material adverse effect on us.
RETIREMENT PLAN RISKS
If the stockholders fail to meet the fiduciary and other standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) or the Code as a result of an investment in our stock, stockholders could be subject to criminal and civil penalties.
There are special considerations that apply to employee benefit plans subject to ERISA (such as profit-sharing, section 401(k) or pension plans) and other retirement plans or accounts subject to Section 4975 of the Code (such as an IRA) that are investing in our shares. If the stockholders are investing the assets of such a plan or account in our common stock, stockholders should satisfy themselves that:
stockholder investment is consistent with their fiduciary and other obligations under ERISA and the Code;
stockholder investment is made in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the plan or IRA, including the plan’s or account’s investment policy;
stockholder investment satisfies the prudence and diversification requirements of Sections 404(a)(1)(B) and 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA and other applicable provisions of ERISA and the Code;
stockholder investment in our shares, for which no trading market may exist, is consistent with the liquidity needs of the plan or IRA;
stockholder investment will not produce an unacceptable amount of “unrelated business taxable income” for the plan or IRA;
stockholder will be able to comply with the requirements under ERISA and the Code to value the assets of the plan or IRA annually; and
stockholder investment will not constitute a prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code.
With respect to the annual valuation requirements described above, we expect to provide an estimated value of our net assets per share annually to those fiduciaries (including IRA trustees and custodians) who request it. Although this estimate will be based upon determinations of the NAV of our shares in accordance with our valuation procedures, no assurance can be given that such estimated value will satisfy the applicable annual valuation requirements under ERISA and the Code. The Department of Labor or the Internal Revenue ServiceIRS may determine that a plan fiduciary or a fiduciary acting for an IRA is required to take further steps to determine the value of our common shares. In the absence of an appropriate determination of value, a plan fiduciary or a fiduciary acting for an IRA may be subject to damages, penalties or other sanctions.
Failure to satisfy the fiduciary standards of conduct and other applicable requirements of ERISA and the Code may result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties, and can subject the fiduciary to claims for damages or for equitable remedies, including liability for investment losses. In addition, if an investment in our shares constitutes a prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code, the fiduciary or IRA owner who authorized or directed the investment may be subject to the imposition of excise taxes with respect to the amount invested. Additionally, the investment transaction may have to be undone.reversed. In the case of a prohibited transaction involving an IRA owner, the IRA may be disqualified as a tax-exempt account and all of the assets of the IRA may be deemed distributed and subjected to tax. ERISA plan fiduciaries and IRA owners should consult with counsel before making an investment in our shares.
If our assets are deemed to be plan assets, the Advisor and we may be exposed to liabilities under Title I of ERISA and the Code.
In some circumstances where an ERISA plan holds an interest in an entity, the assets of the entity are deemed to be ERISA plan assets unless an exception applies. This is known as the “look-through rule.” Under those circumstances, the obligations and other responsibilities of plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and plan administrators, and of parties in interest and disqualified persons, under Title I of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code, as applicable, may be applicable, and there may be liability under these and other provisions of ERISA and the Code. We believe that our assets should not be treated as plan assets because the shares should qualify as “publicly-offered securities” that are exempt from the look-through rules under applicable Treasury Regulations. We note, however, that because certain limitations are imposed upon the transferability of shares so that we may qualify as a REIT, and perhaps for other reasons, it is possible that this exemption may not apply. If that is the case, and if the Advisor or we are exposed to liability under ERISA or the Code or we are required to alter our operations to comply with ERISA or the Code, our performance and results of operations could be adversely affected. Prior to making an investment in us, stockholders should consult with their legal and other advisors concerning the impact of ERISA and the Code on stockholder investment and our performance.
We do not intend to provide investment advice to any potential investor for a fee. However, we, the Advisor, and our respective affiliates receive certain fees and other consideration disclosed herein in connection with an investment. If it were determined we provided an investor in an employee pension benefit plan subject to ERISA, such as a profit sharing, Section 401(k) or
pension plan, or of any other retirement plan or account subject to Section 4975 of the Code, such as an IRA, or any entity that includes such assets (each a “Benefit Plan”) with investment advice for a fee, or if our assets are not exempt from the look-through rules, it could give rise to a determination that we constitute an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA.ERISA and/or that our fee arrangements or operations are in violation of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code. Such a determination could give rise to claims that our fee arrangements constitute non-exempt prohibited transactions under ERISA or the Code and/or claims that we have breached a fiduciary duty to a Benefit Plan investor. Adverse determinations with respect to ERISA fiduciary status or non-exempt prohibited transactions could result in significant civil penalties and excise taxes.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
As of December 31, 2017, we owned and managed a2019, our real estate portfolio that includedconsisted of 48 properties, which includes nine properties that are part of the DST Program, totaling approximately 7.68.8 million square feet located in 1921 markets throughout the U.S., with 471 tenants, Refer to “Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and was 87.0% leased with a weighted-average remaining lease term of approximately 5.2 years, based on annualized base rent, and 5.1 years, based on leased square footage.
During 2017, we sold to third parties 10 properties aggregating approximately 1.8 million square feetSupplementary Data” for total gross sales proceeds of $269.1 million.additional detail regarding the DST Program. Additionally, during 2017, we acquired two properties comprising 0.3 million square feet for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $40.7 million. Referrefer to “Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements” in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further detail onrelating to our disposition2019 acquisition and acquisitiondisposition activity. Unless otherwise indicated, the term “fair value” of our real estate investments as used herein refers to the fair value as determined pursuant to our valuation procedures.
As used herein, the term “commercial” refers to our office, retail and industrial properties or tenants, as applicable.
Portfolio OverviewOverview. We currently operate in four reportable segments: office, retail, multi-family, and Market Diversification. Asindustrial. The following table summarizes our real estate portfolio by segment as of December 31, 2017, the average effective annual rent of our total real estate portfolio (calculated by dividing total annualized base rent, which includes the impact of any contractual tenant concessions (cash basis), by total occupied square footage) was approximately $20.39 per square foot. 2019:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
($ and square feet in thousands, except for per square foot data) | | Number of Markets (1) | | Number of Properties | | Rentable Square Feet | | % of Total Rentable Square Feet | | Average Effective Annual Base Rent per Square Foot (2) | | % Leased | | Aggregate Fair Value | | % of Aggregate Fair Value |
Office properties | | 8 | | 9 | | 2,054 |
| | 23.3 | % | | $ | 32.47 |
| | 84.6 | % | | $ | 727,450 |
| | 34.2 | % |
Retail properties | | 7 | | 26 | | 2,942 |
| | 33.4 |
| | 19.12 |
| | 93.9 |
| | 866,400 |
| | 40.6 |
|
Multi-family properties | | 3 | | 3 | | 886 |
| | 10.1 |
| | 25.38 |
| | 92.2 |
| | 301,850 |
| | 14.2 |
|
Industrial properties | | 9 | | 10 | | 2,915 |
| | 33.2 |
| | 4.82 |
| | 100.0 |
| | 234,450 |
| | 11.0 |
|
Total real estate portfolio | | 21 | | 48 | | 8,797 |
| | 100.0 | % | | $ | 17.48 |
| | 93.6 | % | | $ | 2,130,150 |
| | 100.0 | % |
| |
(1) | Reflects the number of unique markets by segment and in total. As such, the total number of markets does not equal the sum of the number of markets by segment as certain segments are located in the same market. |
| |
(2) | Amount calculated as total annualized base rent, which includes the impact of any contractual tenant concessions (cash basis) per the terms of the lease, divided by total lease square footage as of December 31, 2019. |
Market Diversification. The following table summarizes certain operating metrics of our real estate portfolio by market and by segment as of December 31, 2017:2019: | | ($ and square feet in thousands) | | Number of Properties | | Investment in Real Estate Properties | | % of Gross Investment Amount | | Rentable Square Feet | | % of Total Rentable Square Feet | | % Leased (1) | | Number of Properties | | Investment in Real Estate Properties | | % of Gross Investment Amount | | Rentable Square Feet | | % of Total Rentable Square Feet | | % Leased (1) |
Office properties: | | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Metro New York | | 1 | | $ | 232,848 |
| | 11.6 | % | | 594 |
| | 7.8 | % | | 66.9 | % | | 1 | | $ | 243,144 |
| | 11.7 | % | | 594 |
| | 6.7 | % | | 79.6 | % |
Austin | | 3 | | 157,049 |
| | 7.7 |
| | 585 |
| | 7.7 |
| | 93.6 |
| |
East Bay | | 1 | | 152,963 |
| | 7.5 |
| | 417 |
| | 5.5 |
| | 17.5 |
| |
San Francisco | | 1 | | 125,171 |
| | 6.2 |
| | 263 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 81.9 |
| |
Denver | | 1 | | 83,867 |
| | 4.1 |
| | 262 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 78.9 |
| |
Denver, CO | | | 1 | | 87,886 |
| | 4.3 |
| | 262 |
| | 3.0 |
| | 77.1 |
|
South Florida | | 2 | | 81,769 |
| | 4.0 |
| | 363 |
| | 4.8 |
| | 80.5 |
| | 2 | | 85,682 |
| | 4.2 |
| | 363 |
| | 4.1 |
| | 75.1 |
|
Austin, TX | | | 1 | | 75,328 |
| | 3.7 |
| | 273 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 98.8 |
|
Washington, DC | | 1 | | 71,292 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 126 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 99.1 |
| | 1 | | 72,044 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 126 |
| | 1.4 |
| | 99.1 |
|
Princeton | | 1 | | 51,375 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 167 |
| | 2.2 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
Philadelphia | | 1 | | 47,311 |
| | 2.3 |
| | 174 |
| | 2.3 |
| | 90.9 |
| |
Dallas | | 1 | | 38,872 |
| | 1.9 |
| | 155 |
| | 2.1 |
| | 93.4 |
| |
Minneapolis/St Paul | | 1 | | 29,528 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 107 |
| | 1.4 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
Fayetteville | | 1 | | 12,468 |
| | 0.6 |
| | 61 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
Philadelphia, PA | | | 1 | | 48,450 |
| | 2.4 |
| | 174 |
| | 2.0 |
| | 80.7 |
|
Dallas, TX | | | 1 | | 41,026 |
| | 2.0 |
| | 155 |
| | 1.8 |
| | 95.5 |
|
Minneapolis/St Paul, MN | | | 1 | | 29,528 |
| | 1.4 |
| | 107 |
| | 1.2 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Total office properties | | 15 | | 1,084,513 |
| | 53.4 |
| | 3,274 |
| | 43.3 |
| | 76.2 |
| | 9 | | 683,088 |
| | 33.2 |
| | 2,054 |
| | 23.3 |
| | 84.6 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Retail properties: | | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
Greater Boston | | 22 | | 510,458 |
| | 25.2 |
| | 2,074 |
| | 27.4 |
| | 94.2 |
| | 19 | | 493,908 |
| | 24.0 |
| | 1,872 |
| | 21.3 |
| | 91.8 |
|
South Florida | | 2 | | 106,769 |
| | 5.3 |
| | 206 |
| | 2.7 |
| | 94.7 |
| | 2 | | 108,009 |
| | 5.2 |
| | 206 |
| | 2.3 |
| | 97.3 |
|
Washington, DC | | 1 | | 62,867 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 233 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 100.0 |
| | 1 | | 63,174 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 233 |
| | 2.6 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Metro New York | | 1 | | 59,188 |
| | 2.9 |
| | 224 |
| | 3.0 |
| | 93.9 |
| | 1 | | 63,174 |
| | 3.1 |
| | 226 |
| | 2.6 |
| | 93.9 |
|
Raleigh | | 1 | | 45,839 |
| | 2.3 |
| | 143 |
| | 1.9 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
Tulsa | | 1 | | 34,068 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 101 |
| | 1.3 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
San Antonio | | 1 | | 32,572 |
| | 1.6 |
| | 161 |
| | 2.1 |
| | 88.7 |
| |
Jacksonville | | 1 | | 20,237 |
| | 1.0 |
| | 73 |
| | 1.0 |
| | 48.0 |
| |
Raleigh, NC | | | 1 | | 43,067 |
| | 2.1 |
| | 130 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 100.0 |
|
San Antonio, TX | | | 1 | | 39,188 |
| | 1.9 |
| | 174 |
| | 2.0 |
| | 99.3 |
|
Tulsa, OK | | | 1 | | 34,290 |
| | 1.7 |
| | 101 |
| | 1.1 |
| | 94.7 |
|
Total retail properties | | 30 | | 871,998 |
| | 43.1 |
| | 3,215 |
| | 42.5 |
| | 93.8 |
| | 26 | | 844,810 |
| | 41.1 |
| | 2,942 |
| | 33.4 |
| | 93.9 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Multi-family properties: | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Atlanta, GA | | | 1 | | 117,170 |
| | 5.7 |
| | 356 |
| | 4.0 |
| | 95.5 |
|
Washington, DC | | | 1 | | 95,818 |
| | 4.7 |
| | 288 |
| | 3.3 |
| | 92.8 |
|
Orlando, FL | | | 1 | | 84,549 |
| | 4.1 |
| | 242 |
| | 2.8 |
| | 86.5 |
|
Total multi-family properties (985 units) | | | 3 | | 297,537 |
| | 14.5 |
| | 886 |
| | 10.1 |
| | 92.2 |
|
Industrial properties: | | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|
Indianapolis, IN | | | 1 | | 44,156 |
| | 2.1 |
| | 621 |
| | 7.1 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Houston, TX | | | 1 | | 39,061 |
| | 1.9 |
| | 352 |
| | 4.0 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Central Kentucky | | 1 | | 30,840 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 727 |
| | 9.6 |
| | 100.0 |
| | 1 | | 30,979 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 727 |
| | 8.3 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Las Vegas | | 1 | | 24,656 |
| | 1.2 |
| | 248 |
| | 3.3 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
East Bay | | 1 | | 16,899 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 96 |
| | 1.3 |
| | 100.0 |
| |
San Antonio, TX | | | 2 | | 30,634 |
| | 1.5 |
| | 372 |
| | 4.2 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Las Vegas, NV | | | 1 | | 24,671 |
| | 1.2 |
| | 248 |
| | 2.8 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Philadelphia, PA | | | 1 | | 18,886 |
| | 0.9 |
| | 171 |
| | 1.9 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Cincinnati | | | 1 | | 18,759 |
| | 0.9 |
| | 218 |
| | 2.5 |
| | 100.0 |
|
East Bay, CA | | | 1 | | 16,201 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 96 |
| | 1.1 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Chicago, IL | | | 1 | | 8,568 |
| | 0.4 |
| | 110 |
| | 1.3 |
| | 100.0 |
|
Total industrial properties | | 3 | | 72,395 |
| | 3.5 |
| | 1,071 |
| | 14.2 |
| | 100.0 |
| | 10 | | 231,915 |
| | 11.2 |
| | 2,915 |
| | 33.2 |
| | 100.0 |
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Total real estate portfolio | | 48 | | $ | 2,028,906 |
| | 100.0 | % | | 7,560 |
| | 100.0 | % | | 87.0 | % | | 48 | | $ | 2,057,350 |
| | 100.0 | % | | 8,797 |
| | 100.0 | % | | 93.6 | % |