Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies.

Commitments and Contingencies

10. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

We are involved from time-to-time in various legal and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business, including, but not limited to, commercial disputes, environmental matters, and litigation in connection with transactions such as acquisitions and divestitures. We believe that current proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations. We record a liability when a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

Lease Commitments

As of June 30, 2023, we are subject to ground leases that cover all or a portion of 23 of our consolidated properties with termination dates extending through 2090, including periods for which exercising an extension option is reasonably assured.  These ground leases generally require us to make fixed annual rental payments, or a fixed annual rental payment plus a percentage rent component based upon the revenues or total sales of the property.  In addition, we have several regional office locations that are subject to leases with termination dates ranging from 2023 to 2025.  These office leases generally require us to make fixed annual rental payments plus pay our share of common area, real estate taxes, and utility expenses.  Some of our ground and office leases include escalation clauses.  All of our lease arrangements are classified as operating leases.  We incurred ground lease expense and office lease expense, which are included in other expense and home office and regional expense, respectively, as follows:

	For the Three Months Ended				For the Six Months Ended
	June 30,				June 30,
	2023		2022		2023		2022
Operating Lease Cost
Fixed lease cost	$	8,145	$	8,131	$	16,268	$	16,226
Variable lease cost		4,195		4,588		9,181		8,857
Total operating lease cost	$	12,340	$	12,719	$	25,449	$	25,083

	For the Six Months Ended
	June 30,
	2023		2022
Other Information
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	25,411	$	25,034
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases		32.3 years		33.1 years
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases		4.88%		4.87%

Minimum lease payments due under these leases for years ending December 31, excluding applicable extension options and renewal options unless reasonably certain of exercise and any sublease income, are as follows:

2023	$	33,264
2024		30,850
2025		30,861
2026		30,875
2027		30,904
Thereafter		835,263
	$	992,017
Impact of discounting		(498,824)
Operating lease liabilities	$	493,193

Guarantees of Indebtedness

Joint venture debt is the liability of the joint venture and is typically secured by the joint venture property, which is non-recourse to us. As of June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Operating Partnership guaranteed joint venture related mortgage indebtedness of $137.5 million and $128.0 million, respectively.  Mortgages guaranteed by the Operating Partnership are secured by the property of the joint venture which could be sold in order to satisfy the outstanding obligation and which has an estimated fair value in excess of the guaranteed amount.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Our U.S. Malls, Premium Outlets, and The Mills rely upon anchor tenants to attract customers; however, anchors do not contribute materially to our financial results as many anchors own their spaces. All material operations are within the United States and no customer or tenant accounts for 5% or more of our consolidated revenues.