Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Insurance

We maintain general liability insurance with limits of $300,000,000 per occurrence and per property, of which the first $1,000,000 includes communicable disease coverage, and all-risk property and rental value insurance coverage with limits of $1.7 billion per occurrence, including coverage for acts of terrorism, with sub-limits for certain perils such as floods and earthquakes on each of our properties.

Fifty Ninth Street Insurance Company, LLC (“FNSIC”), our wholly owned consolidated subsidiary, acts as a direct insurer for coverage for acts of terrorism, including nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (“NBCR”) acts, as defined by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, as amended to date and which has been extended through December 2027. Coverage for acts of terrorism (including NBCR acts) is up to $1.7 billion per occurrence and in the aggregate. Coverage for acts of terrorism (excluding NBCR acts) is fully reinsured by third party insurance companies and the Federal government with no exposure to FNSIC. For NBCR acts, FNSIC is responsible for a $268,000 deductible and 20% of the balance of a covered loss, and the Federal government is responsible for the remaining 80% of a covered loss. We are ultimately responsible for any loss incurred by FNSIC.

We continue to monitor the state of the insurance market and the scope and costs of coverage for acts of terrorism or other events. However, we cannot anticipate what coverage will be available on commercially reasonable terms in the future. We are responsible for uninsured losses and for deductibles and losses in excess of our insurance coverage, which could be material.


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Our mortgage loans are non-recourse to us and contain customary covenants requiring us to maintain insurance. Although we believe that we have adequate insurance coverage for purposes of these agreements, we may not be able to obtain an equivalent amount of coverage at reasonable costs in the future. If lenders insist on greater coverage than we are able to obtain, it could adversely affect our ability to finance or refinance our properties.

Paramus

In 2001, we leased 30.3 acres of land located in Paramus, New Jersey to IKEA Property, Inc. The lease contains a purchase option in October 2021 for $75,000,000. The property is encumbered by a $68,000,000 interest-only mortgage loan with a fixed rate of 4.72%, which matures in October 2021. The annual triple-net rent is the sum of $700,000 plus the amount of interest on the mortgage loan. If the purchase option is exercised, we will receive net cash proceeds of approximately $7,000,000 and recognize a gain on sale of land of approximately $60,000,000. If the purchase option is not exercised, the triple-net rent for the last 20 years would include debt service sufficient to fully amortize $68,000,000 over the remaining 20-year lease term.

Rego Park I Litigation

In June 2014, Sears Roebuck and Co. (“Sears”) filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against Vornado and us (and certain of our subsidiaries) with regard to the 195,000 square foot store that Sears leased at our Rego Park I property alleging that the defendants are liable for harm that Sears has suffered as a result of (a) water intrusions into the premises, (b) two fires in February 2014 that caused damages to those premises, and (c) alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the premises’ parking garage. Sears asserted various causes of actions for damages and sought to compel compliance with landlord’s obligations to repair the premises and to provide security, and to compel us to abate a nuisance that Sears claims was a cause of the water intrusions into its premises. In addition to injunctive relief, Sears sought, among other things, damages of not less than $4,000,000 and future damages it estimated would not be less than $25,000,000. In March 2016, Sears withdrew its claim for future damages leaving a remaining claim for property damages, which we estimate to be approximately $650,000 based on information provided by Sears. We intend to defend the remaining claim vigorously. The amount or range of reasonably possible losses, if any, is not expected to be greater than $650,000. On October 15, 2018, Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief resulting in an automatic stay of this case.

Kings Plaza Transfer Tax

In 2012, we sold the Kings Plaza Regional Shopping Center (“Kings Plaza”) and paid real property transfer taxes to New York City in connection with the sale. In 2015, the New York City Department of Finance (“NYC DOF”) issued a Notice of Determination to us assessing an additional New York City real property transfer tax amount, including interest.

In 2014, in a case with similar facts, the NYC DOF issued a Notice of Determination to a Vornado joint venture assessing an additional New York City real property transfer tax amount, including interest. In January 2017, a New York City administrative law judge made a determination upholding the Vornado joint venture’s position that such additional real property transfer taxes were not due. On February 16, 2018, the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) overturned the January 2017 determination. The Vornado joint venture appealed the Tribunal’s decision to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the

State of New York and on April 25, 2019, the Tribunal’s decision was unanimously upheld. The Vornado joint venture filed a motion to reargue the Appellate Division’s decision or for leave to appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals. On December 12, 2019, that motion was denied and the case can no longer be appealed. Based on the precedent of the Tribunal’s decision, we paid the potential additional real property transfer taxes of $23,797,000 ($15,874,000 of real property transfer tax and $7,923,000 of interest) on April 5, 2018. We are currently evaluating our options relating to this matter.

Letters of Credit

Approximately $1,030,000 of standby letters of credit were issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2020.

Other

There are various other legal actions against us in the ordinary course of business. In our opinion, the outcome of such matters in the aggregate will not have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.