I. Capital Lease

On December 5, 1997, prior to the Offering in 1999, the Company entered into a fifteen-year lease, expiring on April 30, 2014, of office space from an entity controlled by members of the Chairman's family. On June 11, 2013, the Company modified and extended its lease with M4E, LLC, the Company’s landlord at 401 Theodore Fremd Ave, Rye, NY. The lease term was extended to December 31, 2028, and the base rental remained at $18 per square foot, or $1.1 million, for 2014. From January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2028, the base rental will be determined by the change in the consumer price index for the New York Metropolitan Area for November of the immediate prior year with the base period as November 2008 for the New York Metropolitan Area.

The lease has been accounted for as a capital lease as it transfers substantially all the benefits and risks of ownership to GBL. The Company has recorded the leased property as an asset and a capital lease obligation for the present value of the obligation of the leased property. The leased property is amortized on a straight-line basis from the date of the most recent extension to the end of the lease. The capital lease obligation is amortized over the same term using the interest method of accounting. Capital lease improvements are amortized from the date of expenditure through the end of the lease term or the useful life, whichever is shorter, on a straight-line basis. The lease provides that all operating expenses relating to the property (such as property taxes, utilities and maintenance) are to be paid by the lessee, GBL. These are recognized as expenses in the periods in which they are incurred. Accumulated amortization on the leased property was approximately $5.1 million and $4.9 million at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments for this capitalized lease at December 31, 2018 are as follows:

	(In thousands)
2019	$	1,253
2020		1,080
2021		1,080
2022		1,080
2023		1,080
Thereafter		5,400
Total minimum obligations		10,973
Interest		6,166
Present value of net obligations	$	4,807

Lease payments under this agreement amounted to approximately $1.2 million, $1.2 million and $1.2 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The capital lease contains an escalation clause tied to the change in the New York Metropolitan Area Consumer Price Index which may cause the future minimum payments to exceed $1,080,000 annually. Future minimum lease payments have not been reduced by related minimum future sublease rentals of approximately $1.1 million due over the next five years, which are due from affiliated entities. Total minimum obligations exclude the operating expenses to be borne by the Company, which are estimated to be approximately $0.8 million per year.