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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

6. Commitments and Contingencies

Ground, Building and Submerged Land Leases – We lease 2,086 square feet of commercial space next to The DeSoto for use as an office, retail or conference space, or for any related or ancillary purposes for the hotel and/or atrium space. In December 2007, we signed an amendment to the lease to include rights to the outdoor esplanade adjacent to the leased commercial space. The areas are leased under a six-year operating lease, which expired October 31, 2006 and has been renewed for the third of three optional five-year renewal periods expiring October 31, 2011, October 31, 2016 and October 31, 2021, respectively. Rent expense for this operating lease for each of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 totaled $18,245, respectively.

We lease, as landlord, the entire fourteenth floor of The DeSoto hotel property to The Chatham Club, Inc. under a ninety-nine year lease expiring July 31, 2086. This lease was assumed upon the purchase of the building under the terms and conditions agreed to by the previous owner of the property. No rental income is recognized under the terms of this lease as the original lump sum rent payment of $990 was received by the previous owner and not prorated over the life of the lease.

We lease a parking lot adjacent to the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone-University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The land is leased under a second amendment, dated April 28, 1998, to a ground lease originally dated May 25, 1966. The original lease is a 50-year operating lease, which expired August 31, 2016. We exercised a renewal option for the first of three additional ten-year periods expiring August 31, 2026, August 31, 2036, and August 31, 2046, respectively. We hold an exclusive and irrevocable option to purchase the leased land at fair market value at August 1, 2018, or at the end of any 10-year renewal period, subject to the payment of an annual fee of $9,000, and other conditions. Rent expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, totaled $27,866 and $23,871, respectively.

We lease land adjacent to the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore for use as parking under a five-year renewable agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation that commenced in July 2009.  In May 2014, we extended the agreement for an additional five years.  The agreement expires in July 2019. The agreement requires annual payments of $2,432, plus tax, and may be renewed for an additional five years. Rent expense for each of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, totaled $651, respectively.

We lease 5,216 square feet of commercial office space in Williamsburg, Virginia under an agreement, as amended, that commenced September 1, 2009 and expires August 31, 2018.  Rent expense for each of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 totaled $22,552.

We lease the parking garage adjacent to the Hyde Resort & Residences along with meeting and office spaces in Hollywood Beach, Florida. The parking garage and meeting space is leased under a 20-year operating lease requiring monthly payments of $20,000, which expires in February 2037.  Rent expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, totaled $60,000 and $40,000, respectively.

We lease land that covers all of the land underlying the Hyatt Centric Arlington pursuant to a ground lease.  The ground lease requires us to make rental payments of $50,000 per year in base rent and percentage rent equal to 3.5% of gross room revenue in excess of certain thresholds, as defined in the ground lease agreement.  The initial term of the ground lease expires in 2025 and may be extended by us for five additional renewal periods of 10 years each. Rent expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $64,595.

We also lease certain furniture and equipment under financing arrangements expiring between August 2018 and August 2026.

A schedule of minimum future lease payments for the following nine and twelve-month periods is as follows:

 

For the remaining nine months ending:  December 31, 2018

 

$

440,122

 

December 31, 2019

 

 

452,023

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

364,163

 

December 31, 2021

 

 

354,639

 

December 31, 2022

 

 

351,464

 

December 31, 2023 and thereafter

 

 

3,920,165

 

Total

 

$

5,882,576

 

 

Employment Agreements - The Company has entered into various employment contracts with employees that could result in obligations to the Company in the event of a change in control or termination without cause.

Management Agreements – As of March 31, 2018, the Hyatt Centric Arlington hotel operated under a management agreement with Highgate Hotels L.P.  The management agreement has an initial term of three years expiring March 1, 2021.

As of March 31, 2018, the eleven remaining wholly-owned hotels and the rental program and condominium association of the Hyde Resort & Residences operated under a management agreement with Chesapeake Hospitality (see Note 9).  The management agreements expire between January 1, 2020 and January 30, 2022, and may be extended for up to two additional periods of five years each subject to the approval of both parties.  Each of the individual hotel management agreements may be terminated earlier than the stated term upon the sale of the hotel covered by the respective management agreement, in which case we may incur early termination fees.

Franchise Agreements – As of March 31, 2018, nine of our hotels operated under franchise licenses from national hotel companies. Under the franchise agreements, we are required to pay a franchise fee generally between 3.0% and 5.0% of room revenues, plus additional fees for marketing, central reservation systems, and other franchisor programs and services that amount to between 2.5% and 6.0% of room revenues from the hotels. The franchise agreements expire between March 2019 and March 2038.  Each of our franchise agreements provides for early termination fees in the event the agreement is terminated before the stated term.

Restricted Cash Reserves – Each month, we are required to escrow with the lenders on the Hotel Ballast, The DeSoto, the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone-University, the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverside, the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hollywood Beach, and the Georgian Terrace an amount equal to one-twelfth (1/12) of the annual real estate taxes due for the properties. We are also required by several of our lenders to establish individual property improvement funds to cover the cost of replacing capital assets at our properties. Each month, those contributions equal 4.0% of gross revenues for the Hotel Ballast, The DeSoto, the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone–University, the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverside, the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hollywood Beach, The Whitehall, and the Georgian Terrace and equal 4.0% of room revenues for the DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Airport.

ESOP Loan Commitment – The Company’s board of directors approved the ESOP on November 29, 2016, which was adopted by the Company in December 2016 and effective January 1, 2016.  The ESOP is a non-contributory defined contribution plan covering all employees of the Company.  The ESOP is a leveraged ESOP, meaning the contributed funds are loaned to the ESOP from the Company.  The Company entered into a loan agreement with the ESOP on December 29, 2016, pursuant to which the ESOP may borrow up to $5.0 million to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock on the open market. Under the loan agreement, the aggregate principal amount outstanding at any time may not exceed $5.0 million and the ESOP may borrow additional funds up to that limit in the future, until December 29, 2036.

Shares purchased by the ESOP are held in a suspense account for allocation among participants as contributions are made to the ESOP by the Company.  The share allocations will be accounted for at fair value at the date of allocation.  As of March 31, 2018, the ESOP had purchased 682,500 shares of the Company’s common stock in the open market for approximately $4.9 million, which the ESOP borrowed from the Company pursuant to the loan agreement.  A total of 42,256 and 0 shares with a fair value of $283,786 and $0 were allocated or committed to be released from the suspense account and recognized as compensation cost during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  The remaining 640,244 unallocated shares have an approximate fair value of $4.0 million, as of March 31, 2018.  At March 31, 2018, the ESOP held a total of 35,725 allocated shares, 6,531 committed-to-be-released shares and 640,244 suspense shares.  Dividends on allocated and unallocated shares are used to pay down the ESOP loan from the Operating Partnership.

Litigation –To our knowledge, no material litigation has been threatened against us. We are involved in routine litigation arising out of the ordinary course of business, all of which we expect to be covered by insurance and we believe it is not reasonably possible such matters will have a material adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations or cash flows.