Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Business and Organization

Business and Organization

American Assets Trust, Inc. (which may be referred to in these financial statements as the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a Maryland corporation formed on July 16, 2010 that did not have any operating activity until the consummation of our initial public offering (the “Offering”) and the related acquisition of certain assets of our Predecessor (as defined below) on January 19, 2011. The Company is the sole general partner of American Assets Trust, L.P., a Maryland limited partnership formed on July 16, 2010 (the “Operating Partnership”). The Company’s operations are carried on through our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries, including our taxable REIT subsidiary. Since the formation of our Operating Partnership, the Company has controlled our Operating Partnership as its general partner and has consolidated its assets, liabilities and results of operations.

In connection with the Offering, on January 19, 2011 the following transactions were completed:

• We issued a total of 31,625,000 shares of our common stock at $20.50 per share.

• We acquired, through a series of merger and contribution transactions (the “Formation Transactions,” as more fully described below), certain assets of our Predecessor and certain other entities. In exchange for such assets, the prior investors in such assets that were accredited investors were issued a total of 7,030,084 shares of our common stock and 18,145,039 common units of limited partnership interests in our Operating Partnership (“common units”), with an aggregate value of approximately $516.1 million, and non-accredited prior investors were paid a total of approximately $6.1 million in cash from the net proceeds of the Offering.

• We entered into a $250.0 million revolving credit facility (the “credit facility”) with an accordion feature to increase availability to $400.0 million under specified circumstances.

• We repaid $342.0 million of indebtedness (including $24.3 million of defeasance costs) and paid $10.8 million, net of $0.7 million prepaid by our Predecessor, for loan transfer and consent fees and credit facility origination fees from the net proceeds of the Offering.

The net proceeds from the Offering were approximately $594.6 million, net of $1.9 million of offering costs prepaid by our Predecessor, including the underwriters’ overallotment option which was exercised in full (after deducting the underwriting discount and commissions and expenses of the Offering and Formation Transactions). We contributed the net proceeds of the Offering to our Operating Partnership in exchange for common units.

Our “Predecessor” is not a legal entity but rather a combination of entities whose assets included entities owned and/or controlled by Ernest S. Rady and his affiliates, including the Ernest Rady Trust U/D/T March 13, 1983 (the “Rady Trust”), which in turn owned (1) controlling interests in entities owning 17 properties and the property management business of American Assets, Inc. (“AAI”) (the “controlled entities”), and (2) noncontrolling interests in entities owning four properties (the “noncontrolled entities”) (the assets described at (1) and (2) are the “Acquired Assets,” and do not include our Predecessor’s noncontrolling 25% ownership interest in Novato FF Venture, LLC, the entity that owns the Fireman’s Fund Headquarters in Novato, California). The Formation Transactions included the acquisition by our Operating Partnership of the (a) Acquired Assets, (b) the entities that own Waikiki Beach Walk (a mixed-use property consisting of a retail portion and a hotel portion) (the “Waikiki Beach Walk entities”) and (c) the entities that own Solana Beach Towne Centre and Solana Beach Corporate Centre (the “Solana Beach Centre entities”) (including our Predecessor’s ownership interest in these entities).

The Formation Transactions enabled us to (1) consolidate the ownership of our property portfolio under our Operating Partnership, (2) succeed to the property management business of AAI, (3) facilitate the Offering, and (4) qualify as a real estate investment trust (a “REIT”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with the taxable year ending December 31, 2011. As a result of the Formation Transactions, we are a vertically integrated and self-administered REIT with approximately 130 employees providing substantial in-house expertise in asset management, property management, property development, leasing, tenant improvement construction, acquisitions, repositioning, redevelopment and financing.

We determined that our Predecessor was the acquirer for accounting purposes, and therefore the contribution or acquisition by merger of interests in the controlled entities was considered a transaction between entities under common control since our Executive Chairman, Ernest S. Rady or his affiliates, including the Rady Trust, owned the controlling interest in each of the entities comprising our Predecessor, which, in turn, owned a controlling interest in each of the controlled entities. As a result, the acquisition of interests in each of the controlled entities was recorded at our historical cost. The contribution or acquisition by merger of interests in certain of the noncontrolled entities, which include the Waikiki Beach Walk entities and the Solana Beach Centre entities (including our Predecessor’s ownership interest in these noncontrolled entities), was accounted for as an acquisition under the acquisition method of accounting and recognized at the estimated fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities on the date of such contribution or acquisition.

Since these transactions occurred on January 19, 2011, the financial condition and results of operations for the entities acquired by us in connection with the Offering and related Formation Transactions are not included in certain historical financial statements. Our results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2011 reflect the financial condition and results of operation for our Predecessor together with the entities we acquired at the time of the Offering, namely, the Waikiki Beach Walk entities and the Solana Beach Centre entities, as well as entities acquired subsequent to the Offering. We have included the results of operations for the acquired entities in our consolidated statements of operations from the date of acquisition.

As of June 30, 2012, we owned or had a controlling interest in 22 office, retail, multifamily and mixed-use operating properties, the operations of which we consolidate. Additionally, as of June 30, 2012, we owned land at five of our properties that we classify as held for development and/or construction in progress. A summary of the properties owned by us is as follows:

Retail

Carmel Country Plaza

Carmel Mountain Plaza

South Bay Marketplace

Rancho Carmel Plaza

Lomas Santa Fe Plaza

Solana Beach Towne Centre

Del Monte Center

The Shops at Kalakaua

Waikele Center

Alamo Quarry Market

Office

Torrey Reserve Campus

Solana Beach Corporate Centre

160 King Street

The Landmark at One Market

One Beach Street

First & Main

Lloyd District Portfolio

Multifamily

Loma Palisades

Imperial Beach Gardens

Mariner’s Point

Santa Fe Park RV Resort

Mixed-Use

Waikiki Beach Walk Retail and Embassy Suites^TM Hotel

Held for Development and Construction in Progress

Solana Beach Corporate Centre – Land

Solana Beach – Highway 101 – Land

Sorrento Pointe – Land

Torrey Reserve – Land

Lloyd District Portfolio – Land

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

Our consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, our Operating Partnership and our subsidiaries. The equity interests of other investors in our Operating Partnership are reflected as noncontrolling interests.

All significant intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated in consolidation.

In August 2011, we sold Valencia Corporate Center. We have reclassified our financial statements for all periods prior to the sale to reflect Valencia Corporate Center as discontinued operations. Unless noted otherwise, discussions in these notes pertain to our continuing operations.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with the rules applicable to Form 10-Q and include all information and footnotes required for interim financial statement presentation, but do not include all disclosures required under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) for annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments, except as otherwise noted) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that in certain circumstances affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and revenues and expenses. These estimates are prepared using management’s best judgment, after considering past, current and expected events and economic conditions. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows-Supplemental Disclosures

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows—Supplemental Disclosures

The following table provides supplemental disclosures related to the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands):

	Six Months Ended June 30,
	2012		2011
Supplemental cash flow information
Total interest costs incurred	$	29,039	$	27,054
Interest capitalized	$	207	$	—
Interest expense	$	28,832	$	27,054
Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized	$	27,113	$	25,747
Cash paid for income taxes	$	954	$	55
Supplemental schedule of noncash investing and financing activities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities for construction in progress	$	3,203	$	711
Assumption of debt upon acquisition	$	—	$	268,008
Assumption of notes to affiliates upon acquisition	$	—	$	14,824
Acquisition of working capital deficit, net of cash	$	—	$	(3,036	)
Distribution of investment in joint venture not acquired	$	—	$	11,480
Issuance of common shares and units for acquisition of properties	$	—	$	33,854
Notes receivable from affiliate settled in common units	$	—	$	21,797
Notes payable to affiliates settled in common units	$	—	$	828
Reduction to capital for prepaid Offering costs	$	—	$	1,974
Transfer taxes accrued at time of Offering	$	—	$	6,556

Significant Accounting Policies

Significant Accounting Policies

We describe our significant accounting policies in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies during the six months ended June 30, 2012.

Segment Information

Segment Information

Segment information is prepared on the same basis that our management reviews information for operational decision-making purposes. We operate in four business segments: the acquisition, redevelopment, ownership and management of retail real estate, office real estate, multifamily real estate and mixed-use real estate. The products for our retail segment primarily include rental of retail space and other tenant services, including tenant reimbursements, parking and storage space rental. The products for our office segment primarily include rental of office space and other tenant services, including tenant reimbursements, parking and storage space rental. The products for our multifamily segment include rental of apartments and other tenant services. The products of our mixed-use segment include rental of retail space and other tenant services, including tenant reimbursements, parking and storage space rental and operation of a 369-room all-suite hotel.

Reclassifications

Reclassifications

Certain items in the consolidated financial statements for prior periods have been reclassified to conform to current classifications.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs (“ASU 2011-04”), which amended ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement. ASU 2011-04 clarifies the application of certain existing fair value measurement guidance and expands the disclosures for fair value measurements that are estimated using significant unobservable (Level 3) inputs. ASU 2011-04 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. The new guidance is to be adopted prospectively and early adoption is not permitted. The adoption of ASU 2011-04 did not have a significant impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-05, Presentation of Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2011-05”), which amended ASC Topic 220, Comprehensive Income. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in equity and requires that all non owner changes in equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. ASU 2011-05 requires retrospective application and will be effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of ASU 2011-05 did not have significant impact on our disclosures of comprehensive income, since we do not have other comprehensive income.