Organization and Principles of Consolidation (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

Jun. 30, 2016

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill

Goodwill, which is included within Other assets in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets, represents the excess of the purchase price consideration for the Equity One merger over the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, and reflects expected synergies from combining Regency's and Equity One's operations. The Company accounts for goodwill in accordance with the Intangibles - Goodwill and Other Topic of the FASB ASC, and allocates its goodwill to the reporting units, which have been determined to be at the individual property level. The Company will perform an impairment evaluation of its goodwill at least annually, in November of each year. The goodwill impairment evaluation may be completed through a qualitative or quantitative approach.

Under a qualitative approach, the impairment review for goodwill consists of an assessment of whether it is more-likely-than-not that the property’s fair value is less than its carrying value. If a qualitative approach indicates it is more likely-than-not that the estimated carrying value of a property exceeds its fair value, or if the Company chooses to bypass the qualitative approach for any property, the Company will perform the quantitative approach described below.

The first step of the quantitative approach consists of estimating the fair value of each property using discounted projected future cash flows and comparing those estimated fair values with the carrying values, which include the allocated goodwill. If the estimated fair value is less than the carrying value, a second step is performed to compute the amount of the impairment, if any, by determining an implied fair value of goodwill. The determination of each property’s implied fair value of goodwill requires allocation of the estimated fair value of the property to its assets and liabilities. Any unallocated fair value represents the implied fair value of goodwill which is compared to its corresponding carrying value.

New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The following table provides a brief description of recent accounting pronouncements and expected impact on our financial statements:

Standard	Description	Date of adoption	Effect on the financial statements or other significant matters
Recently adopted:
ASU 2016-09, March 2016, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718):Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting	This ASU affects entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. The ASU is designed to simplify several aspects of accounting for share-based payment award transactions including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, an option to recognize stock compensation forfeitures as they occur, and changes to classification on the statement of cash flows.	January 2017	The adoption of this standard resulted in the reclassification of income taxes withheld on share-based awards out of operating activities into financing activities on the Statement of Cash Flows. As retrospective application was required for this component of the ASU, $8.0 million was reclassified on the Statements of Cash Flows for the six months ended June 30, 2016.
Not yet adopted:
ASU 2017-01 January 2017, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business	The amendments in this update provide a screen to determine when an integrated set of assets and activities, collectively referred to as a "set", is not a business. The screen requires that when substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired (or disposed of) is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, the set is not a business. If the screen is not met, the amendments in this update (1) require that to be considered a business, a set must include, at a minimum, an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create output and (2) remove the evaluation of whether a market participant could replace missing elements. The amendments provide a framework to assist entities in evaluating whether both an input and a substantive process are present. Early adoption is permitted.	July 2017	The Company expects this standard to change the treatment of individual operating properties from being considered a business to being considered an asset. This change will result in acquisition costs being capitalized as part of the asset acquisition, whereas current treatment has them recognized in earnings in the period incurred. The Company will adopt this standard effective July 1, 2017.
ASU 2016-01, January 2016, Financial Instruments—Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities	The standard amends the guidance to classify equity securities with readily-determinable fair values into different categories and requires equity securities to be measured at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized through net income. Equity investments accounted for under the equity method are not included in the scope of this amendment. Early adoption of this amendment is not permitted.	January 2018	The Company does not expect the adoption and implementation of this standard to have a material impact on its results of operations, financialcondition or cash flows.
ASU 2016-15, August 2016, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments	The standard will make eight targeted changes to how cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. Early adoption is permitted on a retrospective basis.	January 2018	The ASU is consistent with the Company's current treatment and the Company does not expect the adoption and implementation of this standard to have an impact on its cash flow statement.
ASU 2016-18, November 2016, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash	This ASU requires entities to show the changes in the total of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows. Early adoption is permitted on a retrospective basis.	January 2018	The Company is evaluating the alternative methods of adoption and does not expect the adoption to have a material impact on its Statements of Cash Flows.

Standard	Description	Date of adoption	Effect on the financial statements or other significant matters
Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): ASU 2014-09, May 2014, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) ASU 2016-08, March 2016, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations ASU 2016-10, April 2016, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing ASU 2016-12, May 2016, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients ASU 2016-19, December 2016, Technical Corrections and Improvements ASU 2016-20, December 2016, Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606 Revenue from Contracts With Customers ASU 2017-05, February 2017, Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets	The standard will replace existing revenue recognition standards and significantly expand the disclosure requirements for revenue arrangements. It may be adopted either retrospectively or on a modified retrospective basis to new contracts and existing contracts with remaining performance obligations as of the effective date.	January 2018	The Company is completing its evaluation of the new ASU's as applied to its revenue streams and contracts within the scope of Topic 606. The Company currently does not expect the adoption of these new ASU's to result in a material change to its revenue recognition policies or practices, including timing or presentation. The Company is evaluating the adoption method to apply.

Standard	Description	Date of adoption	Effect on the financial statements or other significant matters
ASU 2016-02, February 2016, Leases (Topic 842)	The standard amends the existing accounting standards for lease accounting, including requiring lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheets. It also makes targeted changes to lessor accounting, including a change to the treatment of initial direct leasing costs, which no longer considers fixed internal leasing salaries as capitalizable costs. Early adoption of this standard is permitted to coincide with adoption of ASU 2014-09. The standard requires a modified retrospective transition approach for all leases existing at, or entered into after, the date of initial application, with an option to use certain transition relief.	January 2019	The Company is evaluating the impact this standard will have on its financial statements and related disclosures. Upon adoption, the Company will recognize right of use assets and corresponding lease obligations for its office and ground leases. Capitalization of internal leasing salaries and legal costs will no longer be permitted upon the adoption of this standard, which will result in an increase in Total operating expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the period of adoption and prospectively. Historic capitalization of internal leasing salaries was $5.0 million and $10.5 million during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively. Historic capitalization of legal costs was $0.5 million and $0.7 million during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and the year ended December 31, 2016, respectively, including our pro rata share recognized through Equity in income of investments in real estate partnerships.
ASU 2016-13, June 2016, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments	The amendments in this update replace the incurred loss impairment methodology in current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. This ASU applies to how the Company determines its allowance for doubtful accounts on tenant receivables.	January 2020	The Company is evaluating the alternative methods of adoption and the impact it will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.
ASU 2017-04, January 2017, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment	This amendment in this update simplifies how an entity tests goodwill for impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Step 2 measures a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit's goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. Instead, under this update, the Company will perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. The Company would then recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.	January 2020	The Company is evaluating the impact of early adoption and the effect this ASU will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.

Consolidation, Variable Interest Entity, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Real Estate Partnerships

As of June 30, 2017, Regency has an ownership interest in 126 properties through partnerships, of which 11 are consolidated. Our partners in these ventures include institutional investors, other real estate developers and/or operators, and individual parties who help Regency source transactions for development and investment (the "Partners" or "limited partners"). Regency has a variable interest in these entities through its equity interests. As managing member, Regency maintains the books and records and typically provides leasing and property management to the partnerships. The partners’ level of involvement varies from protective decisions (debt, bankruptcy, selling primary asset(s) of business) to involvement in approving leases, operating budgets, and capital budgets.

• Those partnerships for which the partners only have protective rights are considered VIEs under ASC 810, Consolidation. Regency is the primary beneficiary of these VIEs as Regency has power over these partnerships and they operate primarily for the benefit of Regency. As such, Regency consolidates these entities and reports the limited partners’ interest as noncontrolling interests.

The majority of the operations of the VIEs are funded with cash flows generated by the properties, or in the case of developments, with capital contributions or third party construction loans. Regency does not provide financial support to the VIEs beyond the terms stipulated in the partnership operating agreements.

• Those partnerships for which the partners are involved in the day to day decisions and do not have any other aspects that would cause them to be considered VIEs, are evaluated for consolidation using the voting interest model.

◦ Those partnerships in which Regency has a controlling financial interest are consolidated and the limited partners’ ownership interest and share of net income is recorded as noncontrolling interest.

◦ Those partnerships in which Regency does not have a controlling financial interest are accounted for using the equity method, and its ownership interest is recognized through single-line presentation as Investments in real estate partnerships in the Consolidated Balance Sheet, and Equity in income of investments in real estate partnerships in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Cash distributions of earnings from operations of investments in real estate partnerships are presented in cash flows provided by operating activities in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Cash distributions from the sale of a property or loan proceeds received from the placement of debt on a property included in investments in real estate partnerships are presented in cash flows provided by investing activities in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. The net difference in the carrying amount of investments in real estate partnerships and the underlying equity in net assets is either (1) accreted to income and recorded in Equity in income of investments in real estate partnerships in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations over the expected useful lives of the properties and other intangible assets, which range in lives from 10 to 40 years, or (2) recognized upon sale of the underlying asset(s) or settlement of underlying liabilities, or (3) recognized at liquidation if the joint venture agreement includes a unilateral right to elect to dissolve the real estate partnership and, upon such an election, receive a distribution in-kind.

The assets of these partnerships are restricted to the use of the partnerships and cannot be used by general creditors of the Company. And similarly, the obligations of these partnerships can only be settled by the assets of these partnerships.

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Consolidation

The Company consolidates properties that are wholly owned or properties where it owns less than 100%, but which it controls. Control is determined using an evaluation based on accounting standards related to the consolidation of voting interest entities and variable interest entities ("VIEs"). For joint ventures that are determined to be a VIE, the Company consolidates the entity where it is deemed to be the primary beneficiary. Determination of the primary beneficiary is based on whether an entity has (1) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance, and (2) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The Company's determination of the primary beneficiary considers all relationships between it and the VIE, including management agreements and other contractual arrangements.

Ownership of the Operating Partnership

The Operating Partnership’s capital includes general and limited common Partnership Units. As of June 30, 2017, the Parent Company owned approximately 99.8% of the outstanding common Partnership Units of the Operating Partnership with the remaining limited Partnership Units held by third parties (“Exchangeable operating partnership units” or “EOP units”). The Parent Company serves as general partner of the Operating Partnership. The EOP unit holders have limited rights over the Operating Partnership such that they do not have the power to direct the activities of the Operating Partnership. As such, the Operating Partnership is considered a variable interest entity, and the Parent Company, which consolidates it, is the primary beneficiary. The Parent Company’s only investment is the Operating Partnership. Net income and distributions of the Operating Partnership are allocable to the general and limited common Partnership Units in accordance with their ownership percentages.