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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2013
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES [Text Block] | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Legal Proceedings The Company is involved from time to time in litigation on various matters, including disputes with tenants and disputes arising out of agreements to purchase or sell properties. Given the nature of the Company’s business activities, these lawsuits are considered routine to the conduct of its business. The result of any particular lawsuit cannot be predicted, because of the very nature of litigation, the litigation process and its adversarial nature, and the jury system. The Company does not expect that the liabilities, if any, that may ultimately result from such legal actions will have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows of the Company. Environmental As an owner of real estate, the Company is subject to various environmental laws of federal, state, and local governments. The Company’s compliance with existing laws has not had a material adverse effect on its financial condition and results of operations, and the Company does not believe it will have a material adverse effect in the future. However, the Company cannot predict the impact of unforeseen environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations on its current Properties or on properties that the Company may acquire. Ground Rent Future minimum rental payments under the terms of all non-cancelable ground leases under which the Company is the lessee are expensed on a straight-line basis regardless of when payments are due. The Company’s ground leases have remaining lease terms ranging from 16 to 90 years. Minimum future rental payments on non-cancelable leases at March 31, 2013 are as follows (in thousands):
2013 (nine months remaining) | $ | 1,364 |
2014 | 1,818 |
2015 | 1,818 |
2016 | 1,909 |
2017 | 1,909 |
Thereafter | 288,297 |
One of the land leases for a property provides for contingent rent participation by the lessor in certain capital transactions and net operating cash flows of the property after certain returns are achieved by the Company. Such amounts, if any, will be reflected as contingent rent when incurred. The leases also provide for payment by the Company of certain operating costs relating to the land, primarily real estate taxes. The above schedule of future minimum rental payments does not include any contingent rent amounts or any reimbursed expenses. The Company acquired ground tenancy rights under a long term ground lease agreement related to its acquisition of 3020 Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 12, 2011. The annual rental payments under this ground lease is equal to a percentage of the NOI generated by the property. The Company has not included the amounts in the table above since such amounts are not fixed or determinable. The Company also acquired ground tenancy rights under a long term ground lease agreement through its acquisition of Three Logan Square on August 5, 2010. The annual rental payment under this ground lease is ten dollars through August 2022 which is when the initial term of the ground lease is scheduled to end. After the initial term, the Company has the option to renew the lease until 2091. The Company also has the option to purchase the land at fair market value after providing a written notice to the owner. The annual rental payment after 2022 will be adjusted at the lower of $3.0 million or the prevailing market rent at that time until 2030. Subsequent to 2030, the annual rental payment will be adjusted at the lower of $4.0 million or the prevailing market rent at the time until 2042 and at fair market value until 2091. The Company believes that based on conditions as of the date the Company acquired its rights under the lease (August 5, 2010), the lease will reset to market after the initial term. Using the estimated fair market rent as of the date of the acquisition over the extended term of the ground lease (assuming the purchase option is not exercised), the future payments will aggregate to $27.4 million. The Company has not included the amounts in the table above since such amounts are not fixed or determinable. Please see Note 18 for further information regarding this ground lease. Other Commitments or Contingencies As part of the Company’s September 2004 acquisition of a portfolio of properties from The Rubenstein Company (which the Company refers to as the "TRC acquisition"), the Company acquired its interest in Two Logan Square, a 708,844 square foot office building in Philadelphia, primarily through its ownership of a second and third mortgage secured by this property. This property is consolidated, as the borrower is a variable interest entity and the Company, through its ownership of the second and third mortgages, is the primary beneficiary. The Company currently does not expect to take title to Two Logan Square until, at the earliest, September 2019. If the Company takes fee title to Two Logan Square upon a foreclosure of its mortgage, the Company has agreed to pay an unaffiliated third party that holds a residual interest in the fee owner of this property an amount equal to $2.9 million. On the TRC acquisition date, the Company recorded a liability of $0.7 million and this amount will accrete up to $2.9 million through September 2019. As of March 31, 2013, the Company had a balance of $1.5 million for this liability in its consolidated balance sheet. The Company was audited by the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) for its 2004 tax year. The audit concerned the tax treatment of the TRC acquisition in September 2004 in which the Company acquired a portfolio of properties through the acquisition of a limited partnership. On December 17, 2010, the Company received notice that the IRS proposed an adjustment to the allocation of recourse liabilities allocated to the contributor of the properties. The Company appealed the proposed adjustment and expects to enter into a settlement agreement with the IRS which will not result in a material tax liability for the Company. Assuming that the settlement agreement is finalized as expected, the contributor of partnership interests in the 2004 transaction has agreed not to assert a claim against the Company under the tax protection agreement entered into as part of the transaction. As part of the Company’s 2006 merger with Prentiss Properties Trust ("Prentiss"), the 2004 TRC acquisition and several of our other transactions, the Company agreed not to sell certain of the properties it acquired in transactions that would trigger taxable income to the former owners. In the case of the TRC acquisition, the Company agreed not to sell acquired properties in non-exempt transactions for periods up to 15 years from the date of the TRC acquisition as follows at March 31, 2013: One Rodney Square and 130/150/170 Radnor Financial Center (January, 2015); and One Logan Square, Two Logan Square and Radnor Corporate Center (January, 2020). In the Prentiss acquisition, the Company assumed the obligation of Prentiss not to sell Concord Airport Plaza before March, 2018. The Company’s agreements generally provide that it may dispose of the subject properties only in transactions that qualify as tax-free exchanges under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code or in other tax deferred transactions. If the Company were to sell a restricted property before expiration of the restricted period in a non-exempt transaction, the Company may be required to make significant payments to the parties who sold the applicable property on account of tax liabilities attributed to them. As part of the Company’s acquisition of properties from time to time in tax-deferred transactions, the Company has agreed to provide certain of the prior owners of the acquired properties with the right to guarantee the Company’s indebtedness. If the Company were to seek to repay the indebtedness guaranteed by the prior owner before the expiration of the applicable agreement, the Company would be required to provide the prior owner an opportunity to guaranty qualifying replacement debt. These debt maintenance agreements may limit the Company’s ability to refinance indebtedness on terms favorable to the Company. The Company invests in its properties and regularly incurs capital expenditures in the ordinary course to maintain the properties. The Company believes that such expenditures enhance its competitiveness. The Company also enters into construction, utility and service contracts in the ordinary course of business which may extend beyond one year. These contracts typically provide for cancellation with insignificant or no cancellation penalties. During 2008, in connection with the development of the IRS Philadelphia Campus and the Cira South Garage, the Company entered into a historic tax credit and a new market tax credit arrangement, respectively. The Company is required to be in compliance with various laws, regulations and contractual provisions that apply to its historic and new market tax credit arrangements. Non-compliance with applicable requirements could result in projected tax benefits not being realized and require a refund to USB or reduction of investor capital contributions, which are reported as deferred income in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet, until such time as its obligation to deliver tax benefits is relieved. The compliance periods for the tax credit arrangements run through 2015. The Company does not anticipate that any material refunds or reductions of investor capital contributions will be required in connection with these arrangements.

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