Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Insurance

For our properties (except Farley), we maintain general liability insurance with limits of $300,000,000 per occurrence and per property, of which $250,000,000 includes communicable disease coverage, and we maintain all risk property and rental value insurance with limits of $2.0 billion per occurrence, with sub-limits for certain perils such as flood and earthquake and effective February 15, 2021, excluding communicable disease coverage. For the period February 15, 2020 through February 14, 2021, we and the insurance carriers for our all risk property policy have disagreements as to the applicability of a $2,300,000 sub-limit for communicable disease coverage across our properties. Our California properties have earthquake insurance with coverage of $350,000,000 per occurrence and in the aggregate, subject to a deductible in the amount of 5% of the value of the affected property. We maintain coverage for certified terrorism acts with limits of $6.0 billion per occurrence and in the aggregate (as listed below), $1.2 billion for non-certified acts of terrorism, and $5.0 billion per occurrence and in the aggregate for terrorism involving nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (“NBCR”) terrorism events, as defined by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, as amended to date and which has been extended through December 2027.

Penn Plaza Insurance Company, LLC (“PPIC”), our wholly owned consolidated subsidiary, acts as a re-insurer with respect to a portion of all risk property and rental value insurance and a portion of our earthquake insurance coverage, and as a direct insurer for coverage for acts of terrorism including NBCR acts. Coverage for acts of terrorism (excluding NBCR acts) is fully reinsured by third-party insurance companies and the Federal government with no exposure to PPIC. For NBCR acts, PPIC is responsible for a deductible of $1,759,257 and 20% of the balance of a covered loss and the Federal government is responsible for the remaining portion of a covered loss. We are ultimately responsible for any loss incurred by PPIC.

For Farley, we maintain general liability insurance with limits of $100,000,000 per occurrence, and builder’s risk insurance including coverage for existing property and development activities of $2.8 billion per occurrence and in the aggregate. We maintain coverage for certified and non-certified terrorism acts with limits of $1.85 billion and $1.17 billion per occurrence, respectively, and in the aggregate.

We continue to monitor the state of the insurance market and the scope and costs of coverage for acts of terrorism and other events. However, we cannot anticipate what coverage will be available on commercially reasonable terms in the future. We are responsible for uninsured losses and for deductibles and losses in excess of our insurance coverage, which could be material.

Our debt instruments, consisting of mortgage loans secured by our properties, senior unsecured notes and revolving credit agreements contain customary covenants requiring us to maintain insurance. Although we believe that we have adequate insurance coverage for purposes of these agreements, we may not be able to obtain an equivalent amount of coverage at reasonable costs in the future. Further, if lenders insist on greater coverage than we are able to obtain it could adversely affect our ability to finance or refinance our properties and expand our portfolio.

Other Commitments and Contingencies

We are from time to time involved in legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. In our opinion, after consultation with legal counsel, the outcome of such matters is not currently expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Each of our properties has been subjected to varying degrees of environmental assessment at various times. The environmental assessments did not reveal any material environmental contamination. However, there can be no assurance that the identification of new areas of contamination, changes in the extent or known scope of contamination, the discovery of additional sites, or changes in cleanup requirements would not result in significant costs to us.

In July 2018, we leased 78,000 square feet at 345 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, CA, to a subsidiary of Regus PLC, for an initial term of 15 years. The obligations under the lease were guaranteed by Regus PLC in an amount of up to $90,000,000. The tenant purported to terminate the lease prior to space delivery. We commenced a suit on October 23, 2019 seeking to enforce the lease and the guaranty. On May 11, 2021, the court issued a final statement of decision in our favor and on July 7, 2021, the Regus subsidiary appealed the decision. On October 9, 2020, the successor to Regus PLC filed for bankruptcy in Luxembourg. We are actively pursuing claims relating to the guaranty against the successor to Regus PLC and its parent, in Luxembourg and other jurisdictions.

20.    Commitments and Contingencies - continued

Other Commitments and Contingencies - continued

In November 2011, we entered into an agreement with the New York City Economic Development Corporation ("EDC") to lease Piers 92 and 94 (the "Piers") for a 49-year term with five 10-year renewal options. The non-recourse lease with a single-purpose entity calls for current annual rent payments of $2,000,000 with fixed rent steps through the initial term. We operate trade shows and special events at the Piers (and sublease to others for the same uses). In February 2019, an inspection revealed that the piles supporting Pier 92 were structurally unsound (an obligation of EDC to maintain) and we were issued an order by EDC to vacate the property. We continued to make the required lease payments through February 2020, with no abatement provided by EDC for the loss of our right to use Pier 92 or reimbursement for lost revenues. Beginning March 2020, as no resolution had been reached with EDC, we have not paid the monthly rents due under the non-recourse lease. As of June 30, 2021, we have a $48,600,000 lease liability and a $34,300,000 right-of-use asset recorded for this lease.

Our mortgage loans are non-recourse to us, except for the mortgage loans secured by 640 Fifth Avenue, 7 West 34th Street and 435 Seventh Avenue, which we guaranteed and therefore are part of our tax basis. In certain cases, we have provided guarantees or master leased tenant space. These guarantees and master leases terminate either upon the satisfaction of specified circumstances or repayment of underlying loans. In addition, we have guaranteed the rent and payments in lieu of real estate taxes due to Empire State Development, an entity of New York State, for Farley Office and Retail. As of June 30, 2021, the aggregate dollar amount of these guarantees and master leases is approximately $1,678,000,000.

As of June 30, 2021, $13,273,000 of letters of credit were outstanding under one of our unsecured revolving credit facilities. Our unsecured revolving credit facilities contain financial covenants that require us to maintain minimum interest coverage and maximum debt to market capitalization ratios, and provide for higher interest rates in the event of a decline in our ratings below Baa3/BBB. Our unsecured revolving credit facilities also contain customary conditions precedent to borrowing, including representations and warranties, and also contain customary events of default that could give rise to accelerated repayment, including such items as failure to pay interest or principal.

Our 95% consolidated joint venture (5% is owned by Related Companies ("Related")) is developing Farley Office and Retail. In connection with the development of the property, the joint venture took in a historic Tax Credit Investor. Under the terms of the historic tax credit arrangement, the joint venture is required to comply with various laws, regulations, and contractual provisions. Non-compliance with applicable requirements could result in projected tax benefits not being realized and, therefore, may require a refund or reduction of the Tax Credit Investor’s capital contributions. As of June 30, 2021, the Tax Credit Investor has made $92,400,000 in capital contributions. Vornado and Related have guaranteed certain of the joint venture’s obligations to the Tax Credit Investor.

As investment manager of the Fund we are entitled to an incentive allocation after the limited partners have received a preferred return on their invested capital. The incentive allocation is subject to catch-up and clawback provisions. Accordingly, based on the June 30, 2021 fair value of the Fund assets, at liquidation we would be required to make a $28,000,000 payment to the limited partners, net of amounts owed to us, representing a clawback of previously paid incentive allocations, which would have no income statement impact as it was previously accrued.

As of June 30, 2021, we expect to fund additional capital to certain of our partially owned entities aggregating approximately $10,700,000.

As of June 30, 2021, we have construction commitments aggregating approximately $429,000,000.