Risk Management and Use of Financial Instruments

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

RISK MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

RISK MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Risk Management

In the course of its on-going business operations, the Company encounters economic risk. There are three main components of economic risk: interest rate risk, credit risk and market risk. The Company is subject to interest rate risk on its interest-bearing liabilities. Credit risk is primarily the risk of inability or unwillingness of tenants to make contractually required payments and counterparties on derivatives not fulfilling their obligations. Market risk is the risk of declines in the value of properties due to changes in rental rates, interest rates or other market factors affecting the valuation of properties held by the Company.

Risks and Uncertainties

Sluggish economic conditions have reduced the volume of real estate transactions and created credit stresses on many businesses. Vacancy rates may increase through 2012 and possibly beyond as the current economic climate negatively impacts tenants. The current financial markets also have an adverse effect on the Company’s other counter parties such as the counter parties in its derivative contracts.

The Company expects that the impact of the current state of the economy, including high unemployment and the continued volatility in the financial and credit markets, could continue to have a dampening effect on the fundamentals of its business, including potential increases in past due accounts, tenant defaults, lower occupancy and reduced effective rents. These conditions would negatively affect the Company’s future net income and cash flows and could have a material adverse effect on its financial condition.

The Company’s New Credit Facility, New Term Loans and the indenture governing the unsecured public debt securities (Note 7) contain restrictions, requirements and other limitations on the ability to incur indebtedness, including total debt to asset ratios, secured debt to total asset ratios, debt service coverage ratios and minimum ratios of unencumbered assets to unsecured debt which it must maintain. The ability to borrow under the New Credit Facility is subject to compliance with such financial and other covenants. In the event that the Company fails to satisfy these covenants, it would be in default under the New Credit Facility, the New Term Loans and the indenture and may be required to repay such debt with capital from other sources. Under such circumstances, other sources of capital may not be available, or may be available only on unattractive terms.

Availability of borrowings under the New Credit Facility is subject to a traditional material adverse effect clause. Each time the Company borrows it must represent to the lenders that there have been no events of a nature which would have a material adverse effect on the business, assets, operations, condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company taken as a whole or which could negatively affect the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under the New Credit Facility. While the Company believes that there are currently no material adverse effect events, the Company is operating in unprecedented economic times and it is possible that such event could arise which would limit the Company’s borrowings under the New Credit Facility. If an event occurs which is considered to have a material adverse effect, the lenders could consider the Company in default under the terms of the New Credit Facility and the borrowings under the New Credit Facility would become due and payable. If the Company is unable to obtain a waiver, this would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position and results of operations.

The Company was in compliance with all financial covenants as of June 30, 2012. Management continuously monitors the Company’s compliance with and anticipated compliance with the covenants. Certain of the covenants restrict management’s ability to obtain alternative sources of capital. While the Company currently believes it will remain in compliance with its covenants, in the event of a continued slow-down in the credit markets, the Company may not be able to remain in compliance with such covenants and if the lenders would not provide a waiver, an event of default could result.

Use of Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company’s use of derivative instruments is limited to the utilization of interest rate agreements or other instruments to manage interest rate risk exposures and not for speculative purposes. The principal objective of such arrangements is to minimize the risks and/or costs associated with the Company’s operating and financial structure, as well as to hedge specific transactions. The counterparties to these arrangements are major financial institutions with which the Company and its affiliates may also have other financial relationships. The Company is potentially exposed to credit loss in the event of non-performance by these counterparties. However, because of the high credit ratings of the counterparties, the Company does not anticipate that any of the counterparties will fail to meet these obligations as they come due. The Company does not hedge credit or property value market risks through derivative financial instruments.

The Company formally assesses, both at inception of a hedge and on an on-going basis, whether each derivative is highly-effective in offsetting changes in cash flows of the hedged item. If management determines that a derivative is not highly-effective as a hedge or if a derivative ceases to be a highly-effective hedge, the Company will discontinue hedge accounting prospectively. The related ineffectiveness would be charged to the consolidated statement of operations.

The valuation of these instruments is determined using widely accepted valuation techniques including discounted cash flow analysis on the expected cash flows of each derivative. This analysis reflects the contractual terms of the derivatives, including the period to maturity, and uses observable market-based inputs, including interest rate curves and implied volatilities. The fair values of interest rate swaps are determined using the market standard methodology of netting the discounted future fixed cash receipts (or payments) and the discounted expected variable cash payments (or receipts). The variable cash payments (or receipts) are based on an expectation of future interest rates (forward curves) derived from observable market interest rate curves.

To comply with the provisions of the accounting standard for fair value measurements and disclosures, the Company incorporates credit valuation adjustments to appropriately reflect both its own nonperformance risk and the respective counterparty’s nonperformance risk in the fair value measurements. In adjusting the fair value of its derivative contracts for the effect of nonperformance risk, the Company has considered the impact of netting and any applicable credit enhancements, such as collateral postings, thresholds, mutual puts, and guarantees.

The following table summarizes the terms and fair values of the Company's derivative financial instruments as of June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011. The notional amounts provide an indication of the extent of the Company's involvement in these instruments at that time, but do not represent exposure to credit, interest rate or market risks (amounts presented in thousands and included in other liabilities on the Company's consolidated balance sheets).

Hedge Product	Hedge Type	Designation		Notional Amount				Strike		Trade Date	Maturity Date	Fair value
				6/30/2012		12/31/2011						6/30/2012		12/31/2011
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	$	200,000	$	200,000	3.623	%	December 6-13, 2011	February 1, 2019	$	7,600	$	2,820
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	127,000		127,000		2.702	%	December 9-13, 2011	February 1, 2016	1,803		340
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	50,000		50,000		2.470	%	December 13, 2011	February 1, 2015	385		65
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	23,000		23,000		2.513	%	December 7-12, 2012	May 1, 2015	207		27
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	27,062		27,062		2.750	%	December 21, 2011	September 30, 2017	704		244
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	25,774		25,774		3.300	%	December 22, 2011	January 30, 2021	1,126		390
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	50,000		—		2.780	%	January 6, 2012	August 1, 2016	801		—
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	50,000		—		2.910	%	January 6, 2012	February 1, 2017	969		—
Swap	Interest Rate	Cash Flow	(a)	25,774		—		3.090	%	January 6, 2012	October 30, 2019	924		—
				$	578,610	$	452,836					$	14,519	$	3,886

(a) Hedging unsecured variable rate debt.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Concentrations of credit risk arise when a number of tenants related to the Company’s investments or rental operations are engaged in similar business activities, or are located in the same geographic region, or have similar economic features that would cause their inability to meet contractual obligations, including those to the Company, to be similarly affected. The Company regularly monitors its tenant base to assess potential concentrations of credit risk. Management believes the current credit risk portfolio is reasonably well diversified and does not contain any unusual concentration of credit risk. No tenant accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s rents during the three and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012 and 2011. Conditions in the general economy and the global credit markets have had a significant adverse effect on companies in numerous industries. The Company has tenants concentrated in various industries that may be experiencing adverse effects from the current economic conditions and the Company could be adversely affected if such tenants go into default under their leases.