ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

NOTE 1. ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Organization

As used herein, the terms “TCI”, “the Company”, “we”, “our” or “us” refer to Transcontinental Realty Investors, Inc., a Nevada corporation which was formed in 1984. The Company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol (“TCI”). Subsidiaries of American Realty Investors, Inc. (“ARL”) own approximately 80.9% of the Company’s common stock. Accordingly, TCI’s financial results are consolidated with those of ARL’s on Form 10-K and related Consolidated Financial Statements. ARL’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (“ARL”). We have no employees.

TCI is a “C” corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and files an annual consolidated tax return with ARL and its ultimate parent, May Realty Holdings, Inc. (“MRHI”).

TCI owns approximately 81.1% of the common stock of Income Opportunity Realty Investors, Inc. (“IOT”). Accordingly IOT’s financial results are consolidated with those of TCI and its subsidiaries. Shares of IOT are traded on the New York Stock Exchange Euronext (“NYSE MKT”) under the symbol (“IOT”).

TCI invests in real estate through direct ownership, leases and partnerships and also invests in mortgage loans on real estate. Pillar Income Asset Management, Inc. (“Pillar”) is the Company’s external Advisor and Cash Manager. Although the Board of Directors is directly responsible for managing the affairs of TCI, and for setting the policies which guide it, the day-to-day operations of TCI are performed by Pillar, as the contractual Advisor, under the supervision of the Board. Pillar’s duties include, but are not limited to: locating, evaluating and recommending real estate and real estate-related investment opportunities, and arranging debt and equity financing for the Company with third party lenders and investors. Additionally, Pillar serves as a consultant to the Board with regard to their decisions in connection with TCI’s business plan and investment policy. Pillar also serves as an Advisor and Cash Manager to ARL and IOT.

Regis Realty Prime, LLC (“Regis”) manages our commercial properties and provides brokerage services for our real estate portfolio. TCI engages third-party companies to lease and manage its apartment properties.

Properties

We own or had interests in a total property portfolio of 58 income-producing properties as of March 31, 2017. The properties consisted of:

• Seven commercial properties consisting of five office buildings and two retail centers comprising in aggregate approximately 1.7 million rentable square feet;

• A golf course comprising approximately 96.09 acres

• 50 apartment communities totaling 8,226 units; excluding apartments being developed; and

• 3,517 acres of developed and undeveloped land.

We join with various third-party development companies to construct residential apartment communities. We are in the predevelopment process on several residential apartment communities that have not yet begun construction. At March 31, 2017, we had five apartment projects in development. The third-party developer typically holds a general partner, as well as a majority limited partner interest in a limited partnership formed for the purpose of building a single property, while we generally take a minority limited partner interest in the limited partnership. We may contribute land to the partnership as part of our equity contribution or we may contribute the necessary funds to the partnership to acquire the land. We are required to fund all necessary equity contributions while the third-party developer is responsible for obtaining construction financing, hiring a general contractor and for the overall management, successful completion and delivery of the project. We generally bear all the economic risks and rewards of ownership in these partnerships and therefore include these partnerships in our Consolidated Financial Statements. The third-party developer is paid a developer fee typically equal to a percentage of the construction costs. When the project reaches stabilized occupancy, we acquire the third-party developer’s partnership interests in exchange for any remaining unpaid developer fees.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted in accordance with such rules and regulations, although management believes the disclosures are adequate to prevent the information presented from being misleading. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring matters) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the full fiscal year.

The year-end Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2016, was derived from the audited Consolidated Financial Statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. For further information, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Certain 2016 Consolidated Financial Statement amounts have been reclassified to conform to the 2017 presentation.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company, its subsidiaries, generally all of which are wholly-owned, and all entities in which we have a controlling interest. Arrangements that are not controlled through voting or similar rights are accounted for as a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”), in accordance with the provisions and guidance of ASC Topic 810 “Consolidation”, whereby we have determined that we are a primary beneficiary of the VIE and meet certain criteria of a sole general partner or managing member as identified in accordance with Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue 04-5, Investor’s Accounting for an Investment in a Limited Partnership when the Investor is the Sole General Partner and the Limited Partners have Certain Rights (“EITF 04-5”). VIEs are generally entities that lack sufficient equity to finance their activities without additional financial support from other parties or whose equity holders as a group lack adequate decision making ability, the obligation to absorb expected losses or residual returns of the entity, or have voting rights that are not proportional to their economic interests. The primary beneficiary is generally the entity that provides financial support and bears a majority of the financial risks, authorizes certain capital transactions, or makes operating decisions that materially affect the entity’s financial results. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

In determining whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we consider qualitative and quantitative factors, including, but not limited to: the amount and characteristics of our investment; the obligation or likelihood for us or other investors to provide financial support; our and the other investors’ ability to control or significantly influence key decisions for the VIE; and the similarity with and significance to the business activities of us and the other investors. Significant judgments related to these determinations include estimates about the current future fair values and performance of real estate held by these VIEs and general market conditions.

For entities in which we have less than a controlling financial interest or entities where we are not deemed to be the primary beneficiary, the entities are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Accordingly, our share of the net earnings or losses of these entities is included in consolidated net income. Our investment in ARL is accounted for under the equity method.

Real Estate, Depreciation and Impairment

Real estate assets are stated at the lower of depreciated cost or fair value, if deemed impaired. Major replacements and betterments are capitalized and depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Depreciation is computed on a straight-line basis over the useful lives of the properties (buildings and improvements: 10-40 years; furniture, fixtures and equipment: 5-10 years). The Company continually evaluates the recoverability of the carrying value of its real estate assets using the methodology prescribed in ASC Topic 360 (“ASC 360”), “Property, Plant and Equipment”. Factors considered by management in evaluating impairment of its existing real estate assets held for investment include significant declines in property operating profits, annually recurring property operating losses and other significant adverse changes in general market conditions that are considered permanent in nature. Under ASC 360, a real estate asset held for investment is not considered impaired if the undiscounted, estimated future cash flows of an asset (both the annual estimated cash flow from future operations and the estimated cash flow from the theoretical sale of the asset) over its estimated holding period are in excess of the asset’s net book value at the balance sheet date. If any real estate asset held for investment is considered impaired, a loss is provided to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value.

Real Estate Held for Sale

We periodically classify real estate assets as “held for sale.” An asset is classified as held for sale after the approval of our Board of Directors, after an active program to sell the asset has commenced and if the sale is probable. One of the deciding factors in determining whether a sale is probable is whether the firm purchase commitment is obtained and whether the sale is probable within the year. Upon the classification of a real estate asset as held for sale, the carrying value of the asset is reduced to the lower of its net book value or its estimated fair value, less costs to sell the asset. Subsequent to the classification of assets as held for sale, no further depreciation expense is recorded. Real estate assets held for sale are stated separately on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Upon a decision that the sale is no longer probable, the asset is classified as an operating asset and depreciation expense is reinstated.

Cost Capitalization

Costs related to planning, developing, leasing and constructing a property are capitalized and classified as Real Estate in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. We capitalize interest to qualifying assets under development based on average accumulated expenditures outstanding during the period. In capitalizing interest to qualifying assets, we first use the interest incurred on specific project debt, if any, and next use the weighted average interest rate of non-project specific debt. We capitalize interest, real estate taxes and certain operating expenses until building construction is substantially complete and the building is ready for its intended use, but no later than one year from the cessation of major construction activity.

We capitalize leasing costs, which include commissions paid to outside brokers, legal costs incurred to negotiate and document a lease agreement and any internal costs that may be applicable. We allocate these costs to individual tenant leases and amortize them over the related lease term.

Fair Value Measurement

We apply the guidance in ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, to the valuation of real estate assets. These provisions define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in a transaction between market participants at the measurement date, establish a hierarchy that prioritizes the information used in developing fair value estimates and require disclosure of fair value measurements by level within the fair value hierarchy. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable data (Level 3 measurements), such as the reporting entity’s own data.

The valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability as of the measurement date and includes three levels defined as follows:

Level 1 –	Unadjusted quoted prices for identical and unrestricted assets or liabilities in active markets.
Level 2 –	Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, and inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.
Level 3 –	Unobservable inputs that are significant to the fair value measurement.

A financial instrument’s categorization within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

Deferred Costs

Costs relating to the financing of properties are deferred and amortized over the life of the related financing agreement.  Amortization is reflected as interest expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, with remaining terms ranging from 6 months to 40 years.  Unamortized financing costs are written off when the financing agreement is extinguished before the maturity date. 

Related Parties

We apply ASC Topic 805, “Business Combinations”, to evaluate business relationships. Related parties are persons or entities who have one or more of the following characteristics, which include entities for which investments in their equity securities would be required, trust for the benefit of persons including principal owners of the entities and members of their immediate families, management personnel of the entity and members of their immediate families and other parties with which the entity may deal if one party controls or can significantly influence the decision making of the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests, or affiliates of the entity.

Newly Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09 (“ASU 2014-09”), “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” was issued. This new guidance established a new single comprehensive revenue recognition model and provides for enhanced disclosures. Under the new policy, the nature, timing and amount of revenue recognized for certain transactions could differ from those recognized under existing accounting guidance. This new standard does not affect revenue recognized under lease contracts. ASU 2014-09 is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2014-09 on its financial position and results of operations, if any.

In February 2016, Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02 (“ASU 2016-02”), Leases was issued. This guidance establishes a new model for accounting for leases and provides for enhanced disclosures. ASU 2016-02 is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its financial position and results of operations, if any.