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General (Policies)
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation. The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements are prepared in accordance with United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and are presented in our reporting currency, the U.S. dollar. All material intercompany transactions with consolidated entities have been eliminated.

 

The accompanying unaudited interim financial information has been prepared according to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and note disclosures normally included in our annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted in accordance with such rules and regulations. Our management believes that the disclosures presented in these financial statements are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. In our opinion, all adjustments and eliminations, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary to present fairly the financial position and results of operations for both the Parent and the OP for the reported periods have been included. The results of operations for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for the full year. The accompanying unaudited interim financial information should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as filed with the SEC, and other public information.

New Accounting Pronouncements

New Accounting Pronouncements.

 

New Accounting Standards Adopted

 

Revenue Recognition. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an accounting standard update (“ASU”) that requires companies to use a five-step model to determine when to recognize revenue from customer contracts in an effort to increase consistency and comparability throughout global capital markets and across industries. In February 2017, the FASB issued an additional ASU that provides the accounting treatment for gains and losses from the derecognition of non-financial assets, including the accounting for partial sales of real estate properties.

 

We adopted the revenue recognition and derecognition of non-financial assets standards (collectively “the new revenue recognition standard”) on January 1, 2018, on a modified retrospective basis.

 

Rental revenues and recoveries earned from leasing our operating properties are excluded from this standard and will be assessed with the adoption of the lease ASU discussed below. Our evaluation under the new revenue recognition standard included recurring and transactional fees and incentive fees (“promotes” or “promote revenues”) earned from our co-investment ventures as well as dispositions and contributions of real estate properties. There is no change in our recognition of recurring and transactional fees as we will continue to recognize these fees as we provide the services. Promote revenues are earned based on a venture’s cumulative returns over a certain time-period and the returns are determined by both the operating performance and real estate valuation of the venture, including highly variable inputs such as capitalization rates, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. As these key inputs are highly volatile and out of our control, and such volatility can materially impact our promotes period over period, we expect promote revenues will continue to be recognized at or near the end of the performance period. Accordingly, we do not expect significant changes in promote revenue recognition as a result of this ASU.

 

For dispositions of real estate properties to third parties, the standard will not impact the recognition of the sale. Beginning January 1, 2018, we recognized the entire gain attributed to contributions of real estate properties to unconsolidated entities. We previously recognized a gain on contribution only to the extent of the third-party ownership in the unconsolidated entity acquiring the property and deferred the portion of the gain related to our ownership. For discussion of net gains on contributions to unconsolidated entities recognized during the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, see Note 2. For deferred gains from partial sales recorded prior to the adoption, we will continue to recognize these gains over the lives of the underlying real estate properties or at the time of disposition to a third party, as discussed in Note 3.

 

We adopted the practical expedient to only assess the recognition of revenue for open contracts during the transition period and there was no adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings at January 1, 2018. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for that period.

 

New Accounting Standards Issued but not yet Adopted

 

Leases. In February 2016, the FASB issued an ASU that provides the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases.

 

As a lessor. The accounting for lessors will remain largely unchanged from current GAAP; however, the standard requires that lessors expense, on an as-incurred basis, certain initial direct costs that are not incremental in negotiating a lease. Under existing standards, these costs are capitalizable and therefore this new standard will result in certain of these costs being expensed as incurred after adoption. During the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, we capitalized $10.5 million and $12.4 million, respectively, of internal costs related to our leasing activities. This standard may also impact the timing, recognition, presentation and disclosures related to our rental recoveries from tenants earned from leasing our operating properties, although we do not expect a significant impact.

 

As a lessee. Under the standard, lessees apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases. A lessee is required to record a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months, regardless of their lease classification. We are a lessee of ground leases and office space leases. At December 31, 2017, we had approximately 90 ground and office space leases that will require us to measure and record a ROU asset and a lease liability upon adoption of the standard. There have been no significant changes to our ground and office space leases since December 31, 2017. Details of our future minimum rental payments under these ground and office space leases are disclosed in Note 4 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

The standard is effective for us on January 1, 2019. We expect to adopt the practical expedients available for implementation under the standard. By adopting these practical expedients, we will not be required to reassess (i) whether an expired or existing contract meets the definition of a lease; (ii) the lease classification at the adoption date for existing leases; and (iii) whether costs previously capitalized as initial direct costs would continue to be amortized. This allows us to continue to account for our ground and office space leases as operating leases, however, any new or renewed ground leases may be classified as financing leases unless they meet certain conditions to be considered a lease involving facilities owned by a government unit or authority. The standard will also require new disclosures within the accompanying notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. While we are well into our analysis of the adoption, we will continue to evaluate the key drivers in the measurement of the ROU asset and lease liability and assess the impact the adoption will have on the Consolidated Financial Statements based on industry practice and potential updates to the ASU.

 

Derivatives and Hedging. In August 2017, the FASB issued an ASU that simplifies the application of hedge accounting guidance in current GAAP and improves the reporting of hedging relationships to better portray the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities in its consolidated financial statements. Among the simplification updates, the standard eliminates the requirement in current GAAP to separately recognize periodic hedge ineffectiveness. Mismatches between the changes in value of the hedged item and hedging instrument may still occur but they will no longer be separately reported. The standard requires the presentation of the earnings effect of the hedging instrument in the same income statement line item in which the earnings effect of the hedged item is reported. The standard is effective for us on January 1, 2019, but early adoption is permitted. We do not expect the adoption of this standard to have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.