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VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES  
VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES

NOTE 5 – VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES

Variable Interest Entity – Ground Lease

The Company determined it has a variable interest through its ground lease at its Beachwood, Ohio property (the “Vue Apartments”) and the owner/operator is a VIE because its equity investment at risk is insufficient to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support. The Company further determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of this VIE because the Company does not have power over the activities that most significantly impact the owner/operator’s economic performance and therefore, does not consolidate this VIE for financial statement purposes. Accordingly, the Company accounts for this investment as land and the revenues from the ground lease as Rental income, net. The ground lease provides for rent which can be deferred and paid based on the operating performance of the property; therefore, this rent is recognized as rental income when the operating performance is achieved and the rent is received. No ground lease rental income has been collected since October 2020 other than the proceeds from the settlement of the Proceedings (as defined below).

As of March 31, 2023, the VIE’s maximum exposure to loss was $16,791,000 which represented the carrying amount of the land. In purchasing the property in 2016, the owner/operator obtained a mortgage for $67,444,000 from a third party which, together with the Company’s purchase of the land, provided substantially all of the funds to acquire the multi-family property. The Company provided its land as collateral for the owner/operator’s mortgage loan; accordingly, the land position is subordinated to the mortgage. The mortgage balance was $64,500,000 as of March 31, 2023.

Pursuant to the ground lease, as amended in November 2020, the Company agreed, in its discretion, to fund 78% of (i) any operating expense shortfalls at the property and (ii) any capital expenditures required at the property. The Company funded $697,000 during the year ended December 31, 2022 and $447,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2023. These amounts are included as part of the carrying amount of the land.

The Company’s ground lease tenant was a plaintiff/claimant in various legal proceedings (the “Proceedings”) against, among others, the developer of such apartment complex alleging, among other things, that the buildings’ construction was flawed. The Proceedings were settled in the quarter ended December 31, 2022 and although the Company was not a party to the Proceedings, pursuant to the lease with the tenant, the Company received, in early January 2023, $4,626,000 from the settlement. At December 31, 2022, this sum was accrued as rental income, net on the consolidated statement of income and as other receivables on the consolidated balance sheet.

NOTE 5 – VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES (CONTINUED)

Variable Interest Entities – Consolidated Joint Ventures

The Company has determined the three consolidated joint ventures in which it holds between a 90% to 95% interest are VIEs because the non-controlling interests do not hold substantive kick-out or participating rights. The Company has determined it is the primary beneficiary of these VIEs as it has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact each joint venture’s performance including management, approval of expenditures, and the obligation to absorb the losses or rights to receive benefits. Accordingly, the Company consolidates the operations of these VIEs for financial statement purposes. The VIEs’ creditors do not have recourse to the assets of the Company other than those held by the applicable joint venture.

The following is a summary of the consolidated VIEs’ carrying amounts and classification in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets, none of which are restricted (amounts in thousands):

March 31, 

December 31, 

    

2023

    

2022

Land

$

10,365

$

10,365

Buildings and improvements, net of accumulated depreciation of $5,856 and $5,670, respectively

17,716

17,870

Cash

1,262

1,163

Unbilled rent receivable

1,096

1,111

Unamortized intangible lease assets, net

453

472

Escrow, deposits and other assets and receivables

872

772

Mortgages payable, net of unamortized deferred financing costs of $141 and $152, respectively

18,321

18,500

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

798

711

Unamortized intangible lease liabilities, net

412

424

Accumulated other comprehensive income

16

22

Non-controlling interests in consolidated joint ventures

985

972

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, MCB Real Estate, LLC and its affiliates (‘‘MCB’’) are the Company’s joint venture partner in two consolidated joint ventures in which the Company has aggregate equity investments of approximately $4,532,000 and $4,563,000, respectively.

Distributions to each joint venture partner are determined pursuant to the applicable operating agreement and, in the event of a sale of, or refinancing of the mortgage encumbering, the property owned by such venture, the distributions to the Company may be less than that implied by the Company’s equity ownership interest in the venture.