Lease Commitments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Lease Commitments [Abstract]

Lease Commitments

(7) Lease Commitments

The Company leases its operating facilities under operating leases. On October 18, 2005 Nanophase entered into a Lease Amendment amending its then-current lease for its facility in Romeoville, Illinois, which, among other things, extended the term of such lease through December 31, 2015 (with our option to extend the term for up to two additional five year periods) and granted Nanophase an option to purchase such facility in certain instances. The current monthly rent on this lease amounts to $28,200. Nanophase leases its Burr Ridge facility under an agreement whose initial term expired in September 1999. Nanophase renewed its Burr Ridge facility lease in September 2010, extending its terms through August 2014 (with our option to extend the term for up to three additional one-year periods). The current monthly rent on this lease amounts to $11,860. In August of 2010, we also renewed our lease for our offsite warehouse through August 2013. The current monthly rent on this lease amounts to $5,150.

The following is a schedule of future minimum lease payments including real estate taxes as required under the above operating leases:

Year ending December 31:
2012	$	650,427
2013		639,848
2014		568,879
2015		464,917
2016		474,215
Thereafter		4,718,305
Total minimum payments required:	$	7,516,591

Rent expense, including real estate taxes, under these leases amounted to $625,001 and $630,259, for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.