At both June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, eight of our real estate joint ventures, whose activities primarily consisted of owning and operating 19 and 21 neighborhood/community shopping centers, respectively, were determined to be VIEs. Based on a financing agreement by one of our real estate joint ventures that has a bottom dollar guaranty, which is disproportionate to our ownership, we have determined that we are the primary beneficiary and have consolidated this joint venture. For the remaining real estate joint ventures, we concluded we are the primary beneficiary based primarily on our significant power to direct the entities’ activities without any substantive kick-out or participating rights.

(1)	The decrease between the periods is attributable primarily to disposition activities.

(2)	Represents the amount of debt and related assets held as collateral associated with the bottom dollar guaranty at one real estate joint venture.

Restrictions on the use of these assets can be significant because they may serve as collateral for debt. Further, we are generally required to obtain our partner’s approval in accordance with the joint venture agreement for any major transactions. Transactions with these joint ventures in our condensed consolidated financial statements have primarily been positive as demonstrated by the generation of net income and operating cash flows, as well as the receipt of cash distributions. We and our partners are subject to the provisions of the joint venture agreements which include provisions for when additional contributions may be required to fund operating cash shortfalls, development expenditures, unplanned capital expenditures and repayment of debts.

Unconsolidated VIEs:

At both June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, two unconsolidated real estate joint ventures were determined to be VIEs. We have determined that one entity was a VIE through the issuance of a secured loan, since the lender had the ability to make decisions that could have a significant impact on the success of the entity. This entity exercised the first of two one-year renewal options to extend the maturity of a $170 million loan to March 31, 2022. Based on the associated agreements for the future development of a mixed-use project, we concluded that the other entity was a VIE, but we are not the primary beneficiary as the substantive participating rights associated with the entity are shared, and we do not have the power to direct the significant activities of the entity. Our analysis considered that all major decisions require unanimous member consent and those decisions include significant activities such as development, financing, leasing and operations of the entity.

A summary of our unconsolidated VIEs is as follows (in thousands):


	June 30,		December 31,
	2021		2020
Investment in Real Estate Joint Ventures and Partnerships, net ⁽¹⁾	$	128,271	$	133,468
Other Liabilities, net ⁽²⁾		8,101		7,624
Maximum Risk of Loss ⁽³⁾		34,000		34,000

(1)	The carrying amount of the investment represents our contributions to a real estate joint venture, net of any distributions made and our portion of the equity in earnings of the real estate joint venture.

(2)	Includes the carrying amount of an investment where distributions have exceeded our contributions and our portion of the equity in earnings for a real estate joint venture.

(3)	The maximum risk of loss has been determined to be limited to our debt exposure for the real estate joint ventures. Additionally, our investment, including contributions and distributions, associated with a mixed-use project is disclosed in (1) above.

We and our partners are subject to the provisions of the joint venture agreements that specify conditions, including operating shortfalls, development expenditures and unplanned capital expenditures, under which additional contributions may be required.