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RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

NOTE 10—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

        At December 31, 2015 and 2014, Gould Investors L.P. ("Gould"), a related party, owned 1,785,976 and 1,704,765 shares of the outstanding common stock of the Company, or approximately 10.6% and 10.5%, respectively. During 2015 and 2014, Gould purchased 81,211 and 106,761 shares, respectively, of the Company's stock through the Company's dividend reinvestment plan, and in 2014, Gould purchased 700 shares of the Company's stock in the open market.

        Pursuant to the compensation and services agreement the Company entered into in 2007 with Majestic Property Management Corp. ("Majestic"), a company wholly-owned by the Company's Vice Chairman and in which certain of the Company's executive officers are officers and from which they receive compensation, the Company pays an annual fee to Majestic and Majestic provides the Company with the services of all affiliated executive, administrative, legal, accounting, clerical and property management personnel, as well as property acquisition, sale and lease consulting and brokerage services, consulting services in respect to mortgage financings and construction supervisory services. The Company does not incur any fees or expenses for such services except for the annual fees described below.

        In consideration for providing to the Company the services described above, the Company, pursuant to the compensation and services agreement, paid Majestic a fee of $2,339,000 in 2015, $2,669,000 in 2014 and $2,725,000 in 2013. Effective July 1, 2014, certain employees of affiliated companies performing services pursuant to the compensation and services agreement are paid directly by the Company for services performed on the Company's behalf. Accordingly, the 2015 and 2014 fees were reduced to give effect to this adjustment. In 2015, $892,500, in 2014, $850,000, and in 2013, $600,000, of property management costs included in these fees was allocated to real estate expenses. Majestic credits against the fees due to it under the compensation and services agreement any management or other fees received by it from any joint venture in which the Company is a joint venture partner. The compensation and services agreement also provides for an additional payment to Majestic of $196,000 in 2015, $186,000 in 2014 and $175,000 in 2013 for the Company's share of all direct office expenses, including rent, telephone, postage, computer services, internet usage and supplies. The fee the Company pays Majestic is negotiated each year by the Company and Majestic, and is approved by the Company's audit committee and independent directors.

        Effective January 1, 2016, the property management fee portion of the compensation and services agreement will be paid based on 1.5% and 2.0% of the rental payments (including tenant reimbursements) actually received by the Company from net lease tenants and operating lease tenants, respectively. The Company will not pay Majestic property management fees with respect to properties managed by third parties.

        Executive officers and others providing services under the compensation and services agreement were awarded shares of restricted stock and restricted stock units under the Company's stock incentive plans (described in Note 11). The costs of the plans charged to the Company's operations applicable to the executive officers and others providing services under the compensation and services agreement amounted to $1,245,000, $1,045,000 and $867,000 in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

        In addition to its share of rent included in the payment to Majestic of $196,000 in 2015, $186,000 in 2014 and $175,000 in 2013, the Company leased additional space in the same building, and paid a subsidiary of Gould, an annual rent of $7,000 in 2015, $42,000 in 2014, and $41,000 in 2013. In February 2015, the Gould subsidiary sold this building to an unrelated party and all subsequent lease payments have been made to the purchaser.

        The Company also paid fees of $262,500 and $105,000 in 2015, and $250,000 and $100,000 in each of 2014 and 2013, to the Company's chairman and vice-chairman, respectively.

        Except for $892,500 in 2015, $850,000 in 2014 and $600,000 in 2013 of real estate expenses described above, the fees paid under the compensation and services agreement, the costs of the stock incentive plans, the rent expense and the chairman and vice-chairman fees are included in General and administrative expense in the Company's consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

        The Company obtains its property insurance in conjunction with Gould and reimburses Gould annually for the Company's insurance cost related to its properties. Amounts reimbursed to Gould were $520,000, $400,000 and $359,000 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Included in real estate expenses in the Company's consolidated statements of income is insurance expense of $339,000, $250,000 and $178,000 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

        During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company received a $131,000 financing fee for obtaining the mortgage debt for the unconsolidated joint venture that acquired the Manahawkin, New Jersey property (see Note 6). Fifty percent of this income is included in Other income on the consolidated statement of income and the balance is recorded as a reduction to Investment in unconsolidated joint ventures on the consolidated balance sheet. The joint venture also paid fees aggregating $409,000 to the other partners of the venture, of which $205,000 reduced Equity in earnings of unconsolidated joint ventures on the consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2015.

        During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, the Company paid an aggregate of $198,000, $262,000 and $107,000, respectively, to its joint venture partners or their affiliates for property management and acquisition fees, of which $117,000 was included in Land and building on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 and the balance was included in Real estate expenses and Real estate acquisition costs on the consolidated statements of income.