Discontinued operations

6 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2014

Discontinued Operations and Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Discontinued operations

Note 5 – Discontinued operations:

On December 20, 2013, FREIT’s South Brunswick property, which consisted of vacant land, was sold for $11 million resulting in a capital gain of approximately $8.7 million net of sales fees and commissions. The net proceeds from this sale were approximately $9.8 million, which has been recorded as Escrow Deposit-1031 Exchange on the condensed consolidated balance sheet at April 30, 2014 . FREIT has structured this sale in a manner that qualifies it as a like-kind exchange of real estate pursuant to Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. Such a transaction, if completed, will result in a deferral for income tax purposes of the $8.7 million capital gain, which is included in discontinued operations for the six month period ended April 30, 2014. A replacement property related to this like-kind exchange has been identified, and a contract for the purchase of this replacement property was entered into on May 7, 2014. The Company has until June 18, 2014 to complete the acquisition. (See Note 13 for further details.)

On August 29, 2012, FREIT sold its Heights Manor Apartments in Spring Lake Heights, NJ. In connection with the Heights Manor sale, FREIT recognized a capital gain of approximately $9.5 million of which it distributed approximately $5 million to its shareholders during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2012. As FREIT did not intend to distribute to its shareholders the remaining $4.5 million of capital gain, FREIT provided approximately $1.5 million federal and $400,000 state income taxes on such undistributed gain, which was charged to discontinued operations during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2012. In the quarter ended January 31, 2013, FREIT elected, under Section 858 of the Internal Revenue Code, to treat the $1.4 million dividend paid during such period as a distribution of the prior year’s capital gain and, accordingly, reversed $720,000 of the income tax liability, which has been credited to income from discontinued operations for the six-month period ended April 30, 2013.

On April 26, 2013, FREIT sold its Palisades Manor Apartments in Palisades Park, New Jersey for $1.6 million and recognized a capital gain of approximately $1.4 million from the sale. On August 13, 2013, FREIT sold its Grandview Apartments in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey for $2.5 million and recognized a capital gain of approximately $2.2 million from the sale of this property.

The gain from the sale of the South Brunswick property as described above, as well as the related results of operations for the other three properties described above, have been classified as discontinued operations in the accompanying statements of income for all periods presented. Revenue attributable to discontinued operations for the six and three-month periods ended April 30, 2014 was $0 for both periods, and $229,000 and $116,000 for the six and three-month periods ended April 30, 2013, respectively.