GAAP requires a company to present ownership interests in subsidiaries held by parties other than the company in the consolidated financial statements within the equity section, but separate from the company’s equity. It also requires the amount of consolidated net income attributable to the parent and to the noncontrolling interest to be clearly identified and presented on the face of the consolidated statement of operations and requires changes in ownership interest to be accounted for similarly as equity transactions. If noncontrolling interests are determined to be redeemable, they are to be carried at their redemption value as of the balance sheet date and reported as temporary equity.

The Company has evaluated the terms of the Operating Partnership’s preferred units and classifies the noncontrolling interest represented by such preferred units as stockholders’ equity in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company will periodically evaluate individual noncontrolling interests for the ability to continue to recognize the noncontrolling interest as permanent equity in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Any noncontrolling interests that fail to qualify as permanent equity will be reclassified as temporary equity and adjusted to the greater of (1) the carrying amount and (2) the redemption value as of the end of the period in which the determination is made.

At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the noncontrolling interests represented by the Preferred OP Units qualified for classification as permanent equity on the Company's condensed consolidated balance sheets. The partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership (as amended, the "Partnership Agreement") provides for the designation and issuance of the OP Units. The balances for each of the specific Preferred OP Units as presented in the Statement of Noncontrolling Interests and Equity as of the periods indicated is as follows:

The Partnership Agreement provides for the designation and issuance of the Series A Units. The Series A Units have priority over all other partnership interests of the Operating Partnership with respect to distributions and liquidation.

The Partnership Agreement provides for the designation and issuance of the Series B Units. The Series B Units rank junior to the Series A Units, on parity with the Series C Units and Series D Units, and senior to all other partnership interests of the Operating Partnership with respect to distributions and liquidation.

The Series B Units were issued in 2013 and 2014. The Series B Units have a liquidation value of $25.00 per unit for a fixed liquidation value of $33,567 which represents 1,342,727 Series B Units. Holders of the Series B Units receive distributions at an annual rate of 6.0%. These distributions are cumulative. The Series B Units became redeemable at the option of the holder on the first anniversary of the date of issuance, which redemption obligation may be satisfied at the Company’s option in cash or shares of its common stock.

The Partnership Agreement provides for the designation and issuance of the Series C Units. The Series C Units ranked junior to the Series A Units, on parity with the Series B Units and Series D Units, and senior to all other partnership interests of the Operating Partnership with respect to distributions and liquidation.

The Partnership Agreement provides for the designation and issuance of the Series D Units. The Series D Units rank junior to the Series A Units, on parity with the Series B Units and Series C Units, and senior to all other partnership interests of the Operating Partnership with respect to distributions and liquidation.

The Series D Units have a liquidation value of $25.00 per unit, for a fixed liquidation value of $185,257, which represents 7,410,300 Series D Units. Holders of the Series D Units receive distributions at an annual rate between 3.0% and 5.0%. These distributions are cumulative. The Series D Units become redeemable at the option of the holder on the first anniversary of the date of issuance, which redemption obligation may be satisfied at the Company’s option in cash or shares of its common stock. In addition, certain of the Series D Units are exchangeable for OP Units at the option of the holder until the tenth anniversary of the date of issuance, with the number of OP Units to be issued equal to $25.00 per Series D Unit, divided by the value of a share of common stock as of the exchange date.

The Company’s interest in its stores is held through the Operating Partnership. Between its general partner and limited partner interests, the Company held a 95.4% ownership interest in the Operating Partnership as of March 31, 2024. The remaining ownership interests in the Operating Partnership (including Preferred OP Units) of 4.6% are held by certain former owners of assets acquired by the Operating Partnership. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the noncontrolling interests in the Operating Partnership are shown on the balance sheet net of a note receivable of $1,900 because a borrower under the note receivable is also a holder of OP Units. This note receivable originated in December 2014, bears interest at 5.0% per annum and matures on December 15, 2024.

The noncontrolling interest in the Operating Partnership represents OP Units that are not owned by the Company. OP Units are redeemable at the option of the holder, which redemption may be satisfied at the Company's option in cash, based upon the fair market value of an equivalent number of shares of the Company’s common stock (based on the ten-day average trading price) at the time of the redemption, or shares of the Company's common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to anti-dilution adjustments provided in the Partnership Agreement. As of March 31, 2024, the ten-day average closing price of the Company's common stock was $141.47 and there were 8,626,449 OP Units outstanding. Assuming that all of the OP Unit holders exercised their right to redeem all of their OP Units on March 31, 2024 and the Company elected to pay the OP Unit holders cash, the Company would have paid $1,220,384 in cash consideration to redeem the units.

GAAP requires a company to present ownership interests in subsidiaries held by parties other than the company in the consolidated financial statements within the equity section, but separate from the company’s equity. It also requires the amount of consolidated net income attributable to the parent and to the noncontrolling interest to be clearly identified and presented on the face of the consolidated statement of operations, and requires changes in ownership interest to be accounted for similarly as equity transactions. If noncontrolling interests are determined to be redeemable, they are to be carried at their redemption value as of the balance sheet date and reported as temporary equity.

The Company has evaluated the terms of the OP Units and classifies the noncontrolling interest represented by the OP Units as stockholders’ equity in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company will periodically evaluate individual noncontrolling interests for the ability to continue to recognize the noncontrolling amount as permanent equity in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Any noncontrolling interests that fail to qualify as permanent equity will be reclassified as temporary equity and adjusted to the greater of (1) the carrying amount, or (2) its redemption value as of the end of the period in which the determination is made.

Other noncontrolling interests represent the ownership interest of partners in nine consolidated joint ventures as of March 31, 2024. Three joint ventures each own one operating store and the other six joint ventures each have a property under development. The voting interest of each partner is between 2.0% and 17.0%.

Based on the facts and circumstances of each of the Company’s joint ventures, the Company has determined that one of the joint ventures at March 31, 2024 was a variable interest entity (“VIE”) in accordance with ASC 810, “Consolidation.” The Company has consolidated that joint venture as it was determined that the Company has the power to direct the activities of the joint venture and is the primary beneficiary of the joint venture.