16. Commitments and Contingencies

BioTime had no fixed, non-cancelable contractual obligations as of December 31, 2013, with the exception of office and laboratory facility operating leases.

BioTime Leases

BioTime leases office and research laboratory space in Alameda, California. Base monthly rent is $30,752 from December 2013 and will increase by three percent each year. In addition to the base rent, BioTime pays a pro rata share of real property taxes and certain costs associated to the operation and maintenance of the building in which the leased premises are located.

BioTime also leases an office and research facility located in La Jolla, California. The lease is for a term one year plus one half month commencing October 15, 2013. BioTime pays base rent of $4,330 per month, plus operational costs of maintaining the leased premises.

BioTime also currently pays $5,050 per month for the use of office space in New York City, which is made available to BioTime by one of its directors at his cost for use in conducting meetings and other business affairs.

Asterias Leases

BioTime leases an office and research facility located in Menlo Park, California for use by Asterias. The lease is for a term of three years commencing January 7, 2013. Base rent is $31,786 per month, plus real estate taxes and certain costs of maintaining the leased premises.

Asterias has entered into a lease for an office and research facility located in Fremont, California. The lease is for a term of 96 months and the estimated term commencement date is October 1, 2014. Asterias will pay base monthly rent of $99,000 during the first 12 months commencing on the term commencement date, except that during the first 15 months of the lease term, Asterias will pay base rent on only 22,000 square feet rather than 44,000 square feet provided that Asterias is not in default in performing its obligations under the lease beyond any notice and cure periods. Base monthly rent will increase by approximately 3% annually. In addition to monthly base rent Asterias will pay all real estate taxes, insurance, a management fee in the amount of 3% of base rent, and the cost of maintenance, repair and replacement of the leased premises. During the first 15 months of the lease term, Asterias will pay only 50% of the real estate taxes assessed on the premises provided that Asterias is not in default in performing its obligations under the lease beyond any notice and cure periods. However, if any improvements or alterations to the premises that Asterias constructs or adds are assessed for real property tax purposes at a valuation higher than the valuation of the improvements on the Premises on the date signed the lease, Asterias will pay 100% of the taxes levied on the excess assessed valuation.

ESI Lease

ESI had leased approximately 125 square meters of laboratory space in Singapore under a lease that expired on February 28, 2014. Base monthly rent under the Singapore laboratory lease was S$11,000 (approximately US$8,700). In addition to base rent, ESI paid a pro rata share of real property taxes and certain costs related to the operation and maintenance of the building in which the leased premises were located. ESI will continue to pursue our ongoing plans to establish new laboratory facilities in Singapore for manufacturing and distribution of ESI BIO research products in Asia.

Cell Cure Lease

Cell Cure Neurosciences leases approximately 290 square meters of office and laboratory space in Hadassah Ein Kerem, in Jerusalem, Israel under a lease that expires on June 1, 2014. Base monthly rent for that facility is approximately ILS 33,000 (approximately US$9,500). In addition to base rent, Cell Cure Neurosciences pays a pro rata share of real property taxes and certain costs related to the operation and maintenance of the building in which the leased premises are located. Cell Cure Neurosciences will be liable for ILS 820,000 (approximately US$236,000) in improvement costs if the company renews the lease agreement for five additional years.

LifeMap Lease

LifeMap Sciences office space in Tel Aviv, Israel under a lease expiring on May 31, 2015. Base monthly rent under the lease from July 2013 is ILS 25,889 (approximately US$7,400) per month. In addition to base rent, LifeMap Sciences pays a pro rata share of real property taxes and certain costs related to the operation and maintenance of the building in which the leased premises are located. LifeMap Sciences also leases several parking spots.

LifeMap Sciences leases approximately office space in Hong Kong under a lease that commenced on December 1, 2013 and expires on November 30, 2015. Base monthly rent under the lease is HK$7,500 (approximately US $970) per month. In addition to base rent, LifeMap pays certain costs related to the operation of the building in which the leased premises are located.

LifeMap also leases office space in Marshfield, Massachusetts under a lease that expires on September 30, 2015. Base monthly rent under the lease is $1,082 per month.

Rent expenses totaled $1,599,725, $1,178,840, and $1,058,170 for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively. Remaining minimum annual lease payments under the various operating leases for the year ending after December 31, 2013 are as follows:

Year Ending December 31,	Minimum lease payments
2014		1,188,316
2015		1,973,845
2016		1,266,825
2017		1,271,160
2018		1,308,120
Thereafter		5,262,840
Total		12,271,106