New Accounting Pronouncement (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements

Business Combinations

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations: Clarifying the Definition of a Business ("ASU 2017-01"). ASU 2017-01 provides revised guidance to determine when an acquisition meets the definition of a business or should be accounted for as an asset acquisition, likely resulting in more acquisitions being accounted for as asset acquisitions as opposed to business combinations. Transaction costs are capitalized for asset acquisitions while they are expensed as incurred for business combinations. ASU 2017-01 requires that when substantially all of the fair value of an acquisition is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets it does not meet the definition of a business. ASU 2017-01 also revises the definition of a business to include, at a minimum, an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create an output. ASU 2017-01 will be effective, on a prospective basis, for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. We adopted ASU 2017-01 prospectively as of January 1, 2017 as permitted under the standard, which has not had a material impact to the consolidated financial statements.

Restricted Cash

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows: Restricted Cash ("ASU 2016-18"). ASU 2016-18 requires entities to show the changes in the total of cash and restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. As a result, entities will no longer present transfers between cash and restricted cash in the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-18 will be effective for us retrospectively for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. We do not believe ASU 2016-18 will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Statement of Cash Flows

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows ("ASU 2016-15"). ASU 2016-15 clarifies how entities should classify certain cash receipts and cash payments on the statement of cash flows and how the predominance principle should be applied when cash receipts and cash payments have aspects of more than one class of cash flows. ASU 2016-15 will be effective for us retrospectively for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 with early adoption permitted. We do not believe ASU 2016-15 will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Stock Compensation

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting ("ASU 2016-09"), which simplifies certain aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, forfeitures and the classification of amounts paid to taxing authorities when shares are withheld to cover employee tax withholdings for certain stock based compensation plans in the statements of cash flows. ASU 2016-09 was effective for us as of January 1, 2017 and did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases ("ASU 2016-02"), which sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e. lessees and lessors). ASU 2016-02 supersedes existing leasing standards.

ASU 2016-02 requires lessors to account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing guidance for sales-type leases, direct financing leases and operating leases. ASU 2016-02 also requires that lessors expense certain initial direct costs, which are capitalizable under existing leasing standards, as incurred.

ASU 2016-02 also specifies that payments for certain lease-related services, which are often included in lease agreements, represent "non-lease" components that will become subject to the guidance in ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, when ASU 2016-02 becomes effective. The FASB recently clarified that only new or modified leases subsequent to adoption of ASU 2016-02 will require different accounting for "non-lease" components under the guidance in ASU 2014-09. We are currently evaluating the presentation and disclosure impacts of this accounting change.

ASU 2016-02 requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase of the leased asset by the lessee. This classification will determine whether the lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification. ASU 2016-02 will impact the accounting and disclosure requirements for the ground leases, and other operating leases, where we are the lessee.

ASU 2016-02 will be effective for us under a modified retrospective approach for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. A set of practical expedients for implementation, which must be elected as a package and for all leases, may also be elected. These practical expedients include relief from re-assessing lease classification at the adoption date for expired or existing leases, although a right-of-use asset and lease liability would still be recorded for such leases. We are currently assessing the method of adoption and the impact that ASU 2016-02 will have on our consolidated financial statements but have tentatively concluded that we will apply the practical expedients.

Revenue Recognition

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers ("ASU 2014-09"). ASU 2014-09 is a comprehensive revenue recognition standard that will supersede nearly all existing GAAP revenue recognition guidance as well as impact the existing GAAP guidance governing the sale of non-financial assets. The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it satisfies performance obligations, by transferring promised goods or services to customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for fulfilling those performance obligations. In doing so, companies will need to exercise more judgment and make more estimates than under existing GAAP guidance.

ASU 2014-09 also created guidance governing the sale of non-financial assets with customers and non-customers with the only difference in the treatment of these transactions being presentation in the statement of operations (revenue and expense is reported when the sale is to a customer and net gain or loss is reported when the sale is to a non-customer). Based on the nature of our business, we have concluded that our property sales represent transactions with non-customers.

In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-05, Other Income: Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Non-financial Assets (“ASU 2017-05”). ASU 2017-05 provides guidance on how entities recognize sales, including partial sales, of non-financial assets (and in-substance non-financial assets) to non-customers. ASU 2017-05 requires the seller to recognize a full gain or loss in a partial sale of non-financial assets, to the extent control is not retained. Any noncontrolling interest retained by the seller would, accordingly, be measured at fair value.

Both ASU 2014-09 and ASU 2017-05 will be effective for public entities for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017 and early adoption is permitted in periods ending after December 15, 2016. ASU 2014-09 and ASU 2017-05 allow for either full or modified retrospective ("cumulative effect") adoption. Both standards must be adopted concurrently. We have concluded that we will adopt both ASU 2014-09 and ASU 2017-05 using the cumulative effect method.

We have evaluated each of our revenue streams under ASU 2014-09 and determined that our revenues that will be impacted by this standard primarily include construction and development fees charged to third parties, fees for

services performed for unconsolidated joint ventures and sales of real estate. We expect that the amount and timing of revenue recognition from these revenue streams referenced above will be generally consistent with our current measurement and pattern of recognition. In addition, the pattern of recognition for sales of real estate is not expected to change significantly. We have primarily disposed of property and land in all cash transactions with no contingencies and no future involvement in the operations, and therefore, do not expect ASU 2017-05 to significantly impact the recognition of property and land sales.