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Other Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2017
Other Related Party Transactions  
Other Related Party Transactions

18. OTHER RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

As of January 31, 2017 and 2016, Mr. Wirth and his affiliates held 3,407,938 Class B Partnership units, which represented 25.8% of the total outstanding Partnership units. As of January 31, 2017 and 2016, Mr. Wirth and his affiliates held 6,939,429 and 6,175,205, respectively, Shares of Beneficial Interest in the Trust, which represented 71.93% and 70.24%, respectively, of the total issued and outstanding Shares of Beneficial Interest.

 

As of January 31, 2017 and 2016, the Trust owned 72.11% of the Partnership. As of January 31, 2017, the Partnership owned a 51.01% interest in the InnSuites® hotel located in Tucson, Arizona and a 51.48% interest in an InnSuites® hotel located in Ontario, California. The Trust also owned a direct 50.27% interest in one InnSuites® hotel located in Yuma, Arizona and owned a direct 50.91% interest in one InnSuites® hotel located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

The Trust directly manages the Hotels through the Trust’s wholly-owned subsidiary, InnSuites Hotels Inc. Under the management agreements, InnSuites Hotels Inc. manages the daily operations of the Hotels and the two hotels owned by affiliates of Mr. Wirth. Revenues and reimbursements among the Trust, InnSuites Hotels Inc. and the Partnership have been eliminated in consolidation. The management fees for the Hotels and the two hotels owned by affiliates of Mr. Wirth are set at 3.0% of room revenue and a monthly accounting fee of $2,000 per hotel. As of May 1, 2016, management fees increased to 5.0% of room revenues. These agreements have no expiration date and may be cancelled by either party with 90-days written notice or 30-days written notice in the event the property changes ownership.

 

On October 7, 2015, pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, the Trust issued 440,000 Shares of Beneficial Interest of the Trust, at a purchase price of $2.50 per Share, for gross aggregate proceeds of $1,100,000 to the Trust. Rare Earth Financial, LLC (“Rare Earth”), whose managing member is James F. Wirth, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Trust, purchased 200,000 of the 440,000 Shares of Beneficial Interest of the Trust on the same terms and conditions as the other purchasers. Rare Earth is wholly owned by Mr. Wirth and his family members, including Pamela Barnhill, Vice Chairperson and President of the Trust. The transaction was approved by the Board of Trustees and the Audit Committee of the Trust. The issuance of the Shares of Beneficial Interest by the Trust was made in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to Section 4(a)(2).

 

On November 30, 2015, pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, the Trust issued 704,225 Shares of Beneficial Interest to Rare Earth at a purchase price of $2.13 per share, for proceeds of $1,499,999.25 to the Trust. The transaction was approved by the Board of Trustees and the Audit Committee of the Trust. The issuance of the Shares of Beneficial Interest by the Trust to Rare Earth was made in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to Section 4(a)(2).

 

On December 22, 2015, pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, the Trust issued 21,929 Shares of Beneficial Interest to Rare Earth at a purchase price of $2.28 per share, for proceeds of $49,998.12 to the Trust. The transaction was approved by the Board of Trustees and the Audit Committee of the Trust. The issuance of the Shares of Beneficial Interest by the Trust to Rare Earth was made in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to Section 4(a)(2).

 

On January 28, 2016, pursuant to a Securities Purchase Agreement, the Trust issued 60,000 Shares of Benefitic Interest to Rare Earth at a purchase price of $2,50 per share, for proceeds of $ 150,000 to the Trust. The transaction was approved by the Board of Trustees and the Audit Committee of the Turst. The issuance of the Shares of Beneficial Interest by the Trust to Rare Earth was made in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to Section 4(a)(2).

 

On July 23, 2013, the Trust entered into a Corporate Card Agreement (“Corporate Purchase Cards”) with American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. The Corporate Card Agreement distributed a total of nine purchase cards - one to each of the four respective Hotels, one to the Trust, and one to each of the two respective hotels owned by affiliates of James F. Wirth. The Corporate Purchase Cards, with a total limit of $50,000, includes insignificant annual fees and $0 of interest per annum. Payments are due monthly. The Corporate Card Agreement may be cancelled by either party with 30-days written notice. Pamela J. Barnhill, the Trust’s President and Vice Chairperson and daughter of Mr. Wirth, initiated the nine purchase cards. As of January 31, 2017 and 2016, the Trust’s portion of the Corporate Purchase Cards balance was approximately $115,000 and $86,000, respectively.

 

As of January 31, 2017 and 2016, the Trust paid Berg Investment Advisors $0 and $3,000, respectively, for additional consultative services rendered by Mr. Marc Berg, the Trust’s Executive Vice President.

 

On September 25, 2013, the Trust entered into a revenue sharing agreement with Independent Lodging Industry Association (“ILIA”). In 2014, the Trust President, Ms. Pamela Barnhill, became President of ILIA. The revenue sharing agreement states that of the 10% IBC fees collected from ILIA hotels, 3% will be remitted back to ILIA from February, 2015 through June, 2015, 2% will be remitted back to ILIA from July, 2015 through December, 2015, and 1% will be remitted back to ILIA from January, 2016 through June, 2016. As of January 31, 2017 and 2016 no fees have been remitted or accrued related to the ILIA revenue sharing agreement.

 

Besides Pamela Barnhill, Vice Chairperson and President of the Trust and daughter of Mr. Wirth, the Trust’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the Trust also employs two other immediate family members of Mr. Wirth who provide technology and administrative support services to the Trust with each receiving a $47,500 yearly salary.

 

As of January 31, 2016, Rare Earth received a restructuring fee of $350,000, conditioned upon and arising from the sale of the first 150 units in the Yuma entity following the October 24, 2014 restructuring (see Note 6).

 

InnSuites Hotels has entered into membership agreements with Best Western for four of the hotel properties. In exchange for use of the Best Western name, trademark and reservation system, all Hotels pay fees to Best Western based on reservations received through the use of the Best Western reservation system and the number of available suites at the Hotels. The agreements with Best Western have no specific expiration terms and may be cancelled by either party. Best Western requires that the hotels meet certain requirements for room quality, and the Hotels are subject to removal from its reservation system if these requirements are not met. The Hotels with third-party membership agreements received significant reservations through the Best Western reservation system. Under these arrangements, fees paid for membership fees and reservations were approximately $575,000 and $483,000 for fiscal years ended January 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

On December 22, 2015, the Trust provided Advances to Affiliate – Related Party each in the amount of $500,000 to Phoenix Northern Resort, LLC and Tempe/Phoenix Airport Resort LLC. Mr. Wirth, individually and thru one of his affiliates owns approximately 32% and 42%, respectively, of Phoenix Northern Resort, LLC and Tempe/Phoenix Airport Resort LLC. Both notes have a due date of June 30, 2017 and accrue interest of 7.0%. During the fiscal year ended January 31, 2016, the Trust received $3,696 and $3,489 interest income from Phoenix Northern Resort, LLC and Tempe/Phoenix Airport Resort LLC, respectively. As of January 31, 2017, the Lending from Affiliate – Related Party balance was $19,483 and $359,684 from Phoenix Northern Resort, LLC and Tempe/Phoenix Airport Resort LLC, respectively. As of January 31, 2016, the Advances to Affiliate – Related Party receivable balance was $473,696 and $498,488 from Phoenix Northern Resort, LLC and Tempe/Phoenix Airport Resort, LLC, respectively.