Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2018

Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

7.	Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

The following methods and assumptions were used by the Company in estimating fair value disclosures of financial instruments:

Notes Receivable and Advances to Affiliates

The fair value is estimated using a discounted cash flow analysis in which the Company uses unobservable inputs such as market interest rates determined by the loan to value and market capitalization rates related to the underlying collateral at which management believes similar loans would be made and classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy. The fair value of these notes was approximately $258.0 million and $299.0 million at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively, as compared to the carrying amounts of $257.0 million and $297.9 million, respectively.

Debt

The fair market value of senior notes is determined using the trading price of the Company’s public debt. The fair market value for all other debt is estimated using a discounted cash flow technique that incorporates future contractual interest and principal payments and a market interest yield curve with adjustments for duration, optionality and risk profile, including the Company’s non-performance risk and loan to value. The Company’s senior notes and all other debt are classified as Level 2 and Level 3, respectively, in the fair value hierarchy.

Considerable judgment is necessary to develop estimated fair values of financial instruments. Accordingly, the estimates presented are not necessarily indicative of the amounts the Company could realize on disposition of the financial instruments.

Debt instruments with carrying values that are different than estimated fair values are summarized as follows (in thousands):

	March 31, 2018				December 31, 2017
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Senior Notes	$	1,917,833	$	1,937,522	$	2,810,100	$	2,884,272
Revolving Credit Facilities and term loans		318,452		320,218		398,130		400,119
Mortgage Indebtedness		1,505,235		1,538,103		641,082		653,185
	$	3,741,520	$	3,795,843	$	3,849,312	$	3,937,576

Interest Rate Cap

In March 2018, the Company entered into a $1.35 billion interest rate cap, in connection with entering into the mortgage (Note 6). The fair value of the interest rate cap was $4.7 million at March 31, 2018, and was included in Other Assets. Changes in fair value are marked to market to earnings in Other Income (Expense). For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company recorded $0.1 million of expense.

The Company’s objectives in using interest rate derivatives are to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Company generally uses interest rate instruments as part of its interest rate risk management strategy. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties. The Company believes it mitigates its credit risk by entering into these arrangements with major financial institutions. The Company continually monitors and actively manages interest costs on its variable-rate debt portfolio and may enter into additional interest rate positions or other derivative interest rate instruments based on market conditions. The Company has not, and does not plan to enter into any derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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