Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2020 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Basis of Accounting | The unaudited consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared pursuant to accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto of the Company’s and the Operating Partnership’s combined Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. The December 31, 2019 balance sheet data in this Form 10-Q was derived from audited financial statements. Certain information and note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the SEC’s rules and regulations, although management believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements for the interim periods have been made. The results of interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for a full year. |
| Consolidation | The Company currently consolidates the Operating Partnership because it has (1) the power to direct the activities of the Operating Partnership that most significantly impact the Operating Partnership’s economic performance and (2) the obligation to absorb losses and the right to receive the residual returns of the Operating Partnership that could be potentially significant. We consolidate properties that are wholly-owned and properties where we own less than 100% but control such properties. Control is determined using an evaluation based on accounting standards related to the consolidation of voting interest entities and variable interest entities (“VIE”). For joint ventures that are determined to be a VIE, we consolidate the entity where we are deemed to be the primary beneficiary. Determination of the primary beneficiary is based on whether an entity has (1) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance, and (2) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE. Our determination of the primary beneficiary considers all relationships between us and the VIE, including management agreements and other contractual arrangements.
Investments in real estate joint ventures that we do not control but may exercise significant influence on are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. These investments are recorded initially at cost and subsequently adjusted for our equity in the joint venture’s net income or loss, cash contributions, distributions and other adjustments required under the equity method of accounting.
For certain investments in real estate joint ventures, we record our equity in the venture’s net income or loss under the hypothetical liquidation at book value method of accounting due to the structures and the preferences we receive on the distributions from our joint ventures pursuant to the respective joint venture agreements for those joint ventures. Under this method, we recognize income and loss in each period based on the change in liquidation proceeds we would receive from a hypothetical liquidation of our investment based on depreciated book value. Therefore, income or loss may be allocated disproportionately as compared to the ownership percentages due to specified preferred return rate thresholds and may be more or less than actual cash distributions received and more or less than what we may receive in the event of an actual liquidation.
We separately report investments in joint ventures for which accumulated distributions have exceeded investments in, and our share of net income or loss of, the joint ventures within other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets because we are committed to provide further financial support to these joint ventures. The carrying amount of our investments in the Charlotte, Columbus, Galveston/Houston, and National Harbor joint ventures are less than zero because of financing or operating distributions that were greater than net income, as net income includes non-cash charges for depreciation and amortization. “Noncontrolling interests in the Operating Partnership” reflects the Non-Company LP’s percentage ownership of the Operating Partnership’s units. “Noncontrolling interests in other consolidated partnerships” consist of outside equity interests in partnerships or joint ventures not wholly-owned by the Company or the Operating Partnership that are consolidated with the financial results of the Company and Operating Partnership because the Operating Partnership exercises control over the entities that own the properties. Noncontrolling interests are initially recorded in the consolidated balance sheets at fair value based upon purchase price allocations. Income is allocated to the noncontrolling interests based on the allocation provisions within the partnership or joint venture agreements.
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| Impairment |
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
Rental property held and used by us is reviewed for impairment in the event that facts and circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. In such an event, we compare the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset to the asset's carrying amount, and if less, recognize an impairment loss in an amount by which the carrying amount exceeds its fair value.
During the first quarter of 2020, we determined that the estimated future undiscounted cash flows of our Foxwoods outlet center, Mashantucket, Connecticut did not exceed the property's carrying value due to a decline in forecasted operating results. Therefore, we recorded a $45.7 million non-cash impairment charge in our consolidated statement of operations which equaled the excess of the property's carrying value over its estimated fair value. See Note 5 for discussion of the impairment of the Saint-Sauveur, Quebec outlet center in our Canadian unconsolidated joint venture during the quarter ended June 30, 2020.
If the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cause economic and market conditions to deteriorate beyond our current expectations or if our expected holding periods for assets change, subsequent tests for impairment could result in additional impairment charges in the future. For example, the Foxwoods property is part of a casino property and continues to face leasing challenges which could lead to further declines in occupancy, rental revenues and cash flows in the future. Such challenges could result in additional impairments. We can provide no assurance that material impairment charges with respect to our properties will not occur during the fourth quarter of 2020 or future periods.
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| New Accounting Pronouncements |
Recently issued accounting standards
On March 12, 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) - Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting, which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference LIBOR or other reference rates expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. This ASU is effective as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022. We have not adopted any of the optional expedients or exceptions through September 30, 2020, but will continue to evaluate the possible adoption of any such expedients or exceptions during the effective period as circumstances evolve.
Recently adopted accounting standards
In April 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) staff issued a question and answer document (the “Lease Modification Q&A”) focused on the application of lease accounting guidance to lease concessions provided as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under existing accounting lease guidance under ASC 842, the Company would have to determine, on a lease by lease basis, if a lease concession was the result of a new arrangement reached with the tenant (treated within the lease modification accounting framework) or if a lease concession was under the enforceable rights and obligations within the existing lease agreement (precluded from applying the lease modification accounting framework). The Lease Modification Q&A allows the Company, if certain criteria have been met, to bypass the lease by lease analysis, and instead make an accounting policy election to account for COVID-19 related lease concessions as either a lease modification or a negative variable adjustment to rental revenue. The Lease Modification Q&A allows the Company to determine accounting policy elections at a disaggregated level, and the elections should be applied consistently by either the type of concession or another reasonable disaggregated level. We have evaluated and elected to apply the Lease Modification Q&A to eligible lease concessions. We applied modification accounting to individual leases that are in bankruptcy and those that did not qualify for the concession. As a result, for leases not treated as a lease modification we have made the following policy elections by the type of concession agreed to with the respective tenant.
Rent Deferrals
We will account for rental deferrals using the receivables model as described within the Lease Modification Q&A. Under the receivables model, we will continue to recognize lease revenue in a manner that is unchanged from the original lease agreement and continue to recognize lease receivables and rental revenue during the deferral period.
Rent Abatements
We will account for rental abatements as negative variable adjustments to rental revenue as described within the Lease Modification Q&A. We will recognize negative variable rent for the current period reduction of rental revenue associated with any lease concessions we provide.
See Notes 2 and 3, for additional details on the impact of the Lease Modification Q&A on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement. ASU 2018-13 is intended to improve the effectiveness of disclosures required by entities regarding recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The adoption of ASU 2018-13 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13 to amend the accounting for credit losses for certain financial instruments. Under the new guidance, an entity recognizes its estimate of expected credit losses as an allowance, which the FASB believes will result in more timely recognition of such losses. In November 2018, the FASB released ASU No. 2018-19 “Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses.” This ASU clarifies that receivables arising from operating leases are not within the scope of Subtopic 326-20 “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses.” Instead, impairment of receivables arising from operating leases should be accounted for under Subtopic 842-30 “Leases - Lessor.” ASU 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
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