Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]


9. Commitments and Contingencies

In the normal course of business, from time to time, the Company is involved in legal proceedings relating to the ownership and operations of its properties. In management’s opinion, the liabilities, if any, that may ultimately result from normal course of business legal actions, including The Woodlands legal proceeding discussed below, are not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Litigation On June 14, 2018, the Company was served with a petition involving approximately 500 individuals or entities who claim that their properties, located in the Timarron Park neighborhood of The Woodlands, were damaged by flood waters that resulted from the unprecedented rainfall that occurred throughout Harris County and surrounding areas during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. The complaint was filed in State Court in Harris County of the State of Texas. In general, the plaintiffs allege negligence in the development of Timarron Park and violations of Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act and name as defendants The Howard Hughes Corporation, The Woodlands Land Development Company and two unaffiliated parties involved in the planning and engineering of Timarron Park. The plaintiffs are seeking restitution for damages to their property and diminution of their property values. The Company intends to vigorously defend the matter as it believes that these claims are without merit and that it has substantial legal and factual defenses to the claims and allegations contained in the complaint. Based upon the present status of this matter, the Company does not believe it is probable that a loss will be incurred. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded a charge as a result of this action.

The Company entered into a settlement agreement with the Waiea homeowners association related to certain construction defects at the tower. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the Company will pay for the repair of the defects. The Company believes that the general contractor is ultimately responsible for the defects and expects to recover all the repair costs from the general contractor, other responsible parties and insurance proceeds; however, the Company can provide no assurances that all or any portion of these costs will be recovered. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company recorded a $97.9 million charge for the estimated repair costs related to this matter. An additional $20.5 million was charged during the three months ended March 31, 2021, related to additional anticipated costs. These amounts were included in Condominium rights and unit cost of sales in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. As of March 31, 2021, the Company has recorded a total of $116.5 million in Construction payables for the estimated repair costs related to this matter, which is included in Accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Environmental Matters The Company purchased its 250 Water Street property in the Seaport in June 2018. The site is currently used as a parking lot while the Company continues to move forward with redevelopment planning. The Company engaged a third-party specialist to perform a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) of the property, and the ESA identified, among other findings, the existence of mercury levels above regulatory criteria. Under the current regulations, the site does not require remediation until the Company begins redevelopment activities. The normal operations of the parking lot do not require the property to be remediated, and the Company has not started any redevelopment activities as of March 31, 2021. As a result, the potential remediation has no financial impact for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Letters of Credit and Surety Bonds As of March 31, 2021, the Company had outstanding letters of credit totaling $5.1 million and surety bonds totaling $306.6 million. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had outstanding letters of credit totaling $5.2 million and surety bonds totaling $272.4 million. These letters of credit and surety bonds were issued primarily in connection with insurance requirements, special real estate assessments and construction obligations.

Operating Leases The Company leases land or buildings at certain properties from third parties, which are recorded in Operating lease right-of-use assets, net and Operating lease obligations on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 15 - Leases for further discussion. Contractual rental expense, including participation rent, was $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021, compared to $1.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The amortization of above and below‑market ground leases and straight‑line rents included in the contractual rent amount was not significant.

Guarantee Agreements In conjunction with the execution of the ground lease for the Seaport, the Company executed a completion guarantee for the redevelopment of the Tin Building. The completion guaranty is for the core and shell construction, which is nearing completion.

The Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries agreed to complete defined public improvements and to indemnify Howard County, Maryland, for certain matters as part of the Downtown Columbia Redevelopment District TIF bonds. To the extent that increases in taxes do not cover debt service payments on the TIF bonds, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary is obligated to pay special taxes. Management has concluded that as of March 31, 2021, any obligations to pay special taxes are not probable.

As part of the Company’s development permits with the Hawai’i Community Development Authority for the condominium towers at Ward Village, the Company entered into a guarantee whereby it is required to reserve 20% of the residential units for local residents who meet certain maximum income and net worth requirements. This guarantee, which is triggered once the necessary permits are granted and construction commences, was satisfied for the Company’s three condominium towers, Waiea, Anaha and Ae‘o, with the opening of the Company’s fourth tower, Ke Kilohana, which is a workforce tower fully earmarked to fulfill this obligation. For the three towers under construction, the reserved units for the ‘A‘ali‘i tower are included in the tower, and the units for Kō'ula and Victoria Place will either be built off site or fulfilled by paying a cash-in-lieu fee. As a result of this guarantee, the Company expects that future reserved housing towers will be delivered on a break-even basis.

The Company evaluates the likelihood of future performance under these guarantees and did not record an obligation as of March 31, 2021, and December 31, 2020.