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RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

NOTE 12—RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Compensation and Services Agreement

        Pursuant to the compensation and services agreement with Majestic Property Management Corp. ("Majestic"), the Company pays fees to Majestic and Majestic provides to the Company 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 with respect to mortgage financings and construction supervisory services. Majestic is wholly-owned by the Company's vice-chairman and certain of the Company's executive officers are officers of, and are compensated by, Majestic. The fee the Company pays Majestic is negotiated each year by Majestic and the Compensation and Audit Committees of the Company's Board of Directors, and is approved by such committees and the independent directors.

        In consideration for the services described above, the Company paid Majestic $2,673,000 in 2017, $2,504,000 in 2016 and $2,339,000 in 2015. Included in these fees are $1,154,000 in 2017, $1,057,000 in 2016 and $892,500 in 2015, of property management costs. The property management fee portion of the compensation and services agreement is 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 does not pay Majestic property management fees with respect to properties managed by third parties. 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 $216,000 in 2017, $196,000 in each of 2016 and 2015 for the Company's share of all direct office expenses, including rent, telephone, postage, computer services, internet usage and supplies. The Company does not pay any fees or expenses to Majestic for such services except for the fees described in this paragraph. In 2018, the fees paid to Majestic will remain the same as the 2017 fees (exclusive of the property management costs, which are calculated as described above).

        Executive officers and others providing services to the Company under the compensation and services agreement were awarded shares of restricted stock and RSUs under the Company's stock incentive plans (described in Note 13). The related expense charged to the Company's operations was $1,539,000, $1,480,000 and $1,245,000 in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

        The fees paid under the compensation and services agreement (except for the property management fees which are included in Real estate expenses) and the costs of the stock incentive plans are included in General and administrative expense on the consolidated statements of income for 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Joint Venture Partners and Affiliates

        During 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company paid an aggregate of $143,000, $185,000 and $198,000, respectively, to its joint venture partners or their affiliates (none of whom are officers, directors, or employees of the Company) of its consolidated joint ventures for property management and acquisition fees, which are included in Real estate expenses and Real estate acquisition costs on the consolidated statements of income.

        The Company's unconsolidated joint ventures paid management fees of $175,000, $176,000 and $409,000 to the other partner of the venture, which reduced Equity in earnings of unconsolidated joint ventures on the consolidated statements of income by $88,000, $88,000 and $205,000 during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In 2015, the Company received a $131,000 fee for obtaining the mortgage debt for the unconsolidated joint venture that acquired the Manahawkin, New Jersey property. 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 the investment.

        See Note 7 for information regarding the Company's purchase in October 2016, of MCB's 5% interest in a consolidated joint venture that owned a property in Deptford, New Jersey.

Other

        During 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company paid fees of (i) $276,000, $262,500 and $262,500, respectively, to the Company's chairman and (ii) $110,000, $105,000 and $105,000, respectively, to the Company's vice-chairman. There is no increase in the amounts to be paid to the Company's chairman and vice-chairman in 2018. These fees are included in General and administrative expense on the consolidated statements of income.

        At December 31, 2017 and 2016, Gould Investors L.P. ("Gould Investors"), owned 1,785,976 shares of the outstanding common stock of the Company, or approximately 9.5% and 9.8%, respectively. During 2015, Gould Investors purchased 81,211 shares of the Company's stock through the Company's dividend reinvestment plan, and did not purchase any such shares during 2017 and 2016.

        The Company obtains its property insurance in conjunction with Gould Investors and reimburses Gould Investors annually for the Company's insurance cost relating to its properties. Amounts reimbursed to Gould Investors were $790,000, $699,000 and $520,000 during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Included in Real estate expenses on the consolidated statements of income is insurance expense of $757,000, $645,000 and $339,000 during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The balance of the amounts reimbursed to Gould Investors represents prepaid insurance and is included in Other assets on the consolidated balance sheets.