SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

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 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 real estate investment trust ("REIT") subsidiary ("TRS"). 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.

We are a full service vertically integrated and self-administered REIT with approximately 131 employees providing substantial in-house expertise in asset management, property management, property development, leasing, tenant improvement construction, acquisitions, repositioning, redevelopment and financing.

As of September 30, 2015, we owned or had a controlling interest in 23 office, retail, multifamily and mixed-use operating properties, the operations of which we consolidate. Additionally, as of September 30, 2015, 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	Del Monte Center
Carmel Mountain Plaza	Geary Marketplace
South Bay Marketplace	The Shops at Kalakaua
Lomas Santa Fe Plaza	Waikele Center
Solana Beach Towne Centre	Alamo Quarry Market



Office
Torrey Reserve Campus	Lloyd District Portfolio
Solana Beach Corporate Centre	City Center Bellevue
The Landmark at One Market
One Beach Street
First & Main



Multifamily
Loma Palisades
Imperial Beach Gardens
Mariner's Point
Santa Fe Park RV Resort
Hassalo on Eighth



Mixed-Use
Waikiki Beach Walk Retail and Embassy Suites™ Hotel



Held for Development and/or Construction in Progress
Solana Beach Corporate Centre – Land
Solana Beach – Highway 101 – Land
Torrey Point (formerly Sorrento Pointe) – Land
Torrey Reserve – Land
Lloyd District Portfolio – Land

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.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company and the Operating Partnership 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. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes therein included in the Company's and Operating Partnership's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires us 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 our best judgment, after considering past, current and expected events and economic conditions. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Any reference to the number of properties, square footage or percentages of beneficial ownership of our shares are unaudited and outside the scope of our independent registered public accounting firm’s review of our financial statements in accordance with the standards of the United States Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows—Supplemental Disclosures

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



	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2015			2014
Supplemental cash flow information
Total interest costs incurred	$	41,305		$	43,912
Interest capitalized	$	7,055		$	3,516
Interest expense	$	34,250		$	40,396
Cash paid for interest, net of amounts capitalized	$	30,562		$	37,557
Cash paid for income taxes	$	382		$	319
Supplemental schedule of noncash investing and financing activities
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities for construction in progress	$	(9,092	)	$	8,982
Accrued leasing commissions	$	(431	)	$	(124	)

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, 2014. There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies during the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

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.

Business Transition Costs

From time to time, we incur costs related to integration and business transition activities which include severance, relocation, consulting, and other costs directly associated with such activities that we believe warrants specific disclosure. During the three months ended September 30, 2015, we incurred $2.5 million of such business transition costs, which represent a charge associated with the resignation of the our former President and Chief Executive Officer, John W. Chamberlain. Such resignation occurred in the third quarter of 2015 and was disclosed on September 14, 2015 by our filing of a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The $2.5 million charge includes certain severance and compensation-related charges, net of certain forfeitures of previously recognized equity compensation of approximately $0.4 million, and is included in "general and administrative expense" on the consolidated statements of comprehensive income.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity. ASU 2014-08 revises the definition of a discontinued operation to a disposal, sale or held-for-sale component or group of components that represents a strategic shift that will have a major effect on an entity's operations and financial results. This pronouncement is effective in 2015, however, calendar year-end companies may early adopt during the first quarter of 2014. We have chosen to early adopt this pronouncement and it became effective for us in the first quarter of 2014. This ASU requires prospective application and since our adoption, no additional real estate met the criteria for classification as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements. The adoption of the ASU did not impact assets classified as discontinued operations prior to the adoption. Accordingly, the results of the individual property disposals that occurred during 2015 remained in “Income from continuing operations.”

In May 2014, the FASB issued Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Update No. 2014-09 establishes that companies may recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. This pronouncement is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period; early adoption is not permitted. We are in the process of evaluating the impact this pronouncement will have on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued an ASU that requires reporting entities to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. The ASU modifies the evaluation of whether limited partnerships and similar legal entities are VIEs or voting interest entities and eliminates the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership. This affects the consolidation analysis of reporting entities that are involved with VIEs, particularly those that have fee arrangements and related party relationships. The ASU is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. A reporting entity may apply the amendments in the ASU using: (i) a modified retrospective approach by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption; or (ii) by applying the amendments retrospectively. We are in the process of evaluating the impact of adopting this ASU and currently do not expect that the adoption will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued an ASU that requires reporting entities to present debt issuance cost related to a note as a direct deduction from the face amount of that note presented in the balance sheet. The ASU requires the amortization of debt issuance costs presented as interest expense. The ASU is effective for fiscal years, and for interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted. A reporting entity may apply the amendments in the ASU retrospectively to all prior periods. We do not expect that the adoption of this ASU will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.