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VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES

NOTE 6 – 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 September 30, 2023, the VIE’s maximum exposure to loss was $17,012,000 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 $63,887,000 as of September 30, 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 $668,000 during the nine months ended September 30, 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 $4,642,000 from the settlement. At December 31, 2022, $4,626,000 of such sum was accrued as rental income, net on the consolidated statement of income and as other receivables on the consolidated balance sheet.

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.

NOTE 6 – VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES, CONTINGENT LIABILITY AND CONSOLIDATED JOINT VENTURES (CONTINUED)

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):


	September 30,		December 31,
	2023		2022
Land	$	10,365	$	10,365
Buildings and improvements, net of accumulated depreciation of $6,235 and $5,670, respectively		17,929		17,870
Cash		829		1,163
Unbilled rent receivable		1,059		1,111
Unamortized intangible lease assets, net		419		472
Escrow, deposits and other assets and receivables		856		772
Mortgages payable, net of unamortized deferred financing costs of $120 and $152, respectively		17,960		18,500
Accrued expenses and other liabilities		650		711
Unamortized intangible lease liabilities, net		392		424
Accumulated other comprehensive income		9		22
Non-controlling interests in consolidated joint ventures		1,010		972

As of September 30, 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 $4,475,000 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.