Unsecured Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of unsecured debt and lines of credit

Unsecured debt consists of the following as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 ($ in thousands):

	2015			2014			Weighted Average Maturity In Years
Unsecured bonds private placement - fixed rate	$	463,891		$	463,443		3.2
Term loan - variable rate	224,467			224,130			0.9
Bonds public offering - fixed rate	2,400,322			1,915,975			6.7
Unsecured debt, net (1)	3,088,680			2,603,548
Lines of credit, net (2)	11,707			242,824
Total unsecured debt	$	3,100,387		$	2,846,372
Weighted average interest rate on fixed rate unsecured and unsecured private placement bonds	3.6		%	3.6		%
Weighted average interest rate on variable rate term loan	2.4		%	2.4		%
Weighted average interest rate on lines of credit	1.9		%	1.8		%

⁽¹⁾  Includes unamortized premium and discounts of $14.3 million and $27.5 million and reduced by unamortized debt issuance costs of $15.6 million and $13.9 million as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

⁽²⁾  Includes unamortized debt issuance costs of $3.3 million and $3.6 million as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Summary of unsecured private placement bonds

The following is a summary of the Company’s unsecured private placement bonds as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 ($ in thousands):

	Maturity	2015		2014		Coupon Rate
Senior unsecured private placement notes	March 2016	$	150,000	$	150,000	4.36	%
Senior unsecured private placement notes	September 2017	40,000		40,000		4.50	%
Senior unsecured private placement notes	December 2019	75,000		75,000		4.92	%
Senior unsecured private placement notes	April 2021	100,000		100,000		4.27	%
Senior unsecured private placement notes	June 2021	50,000		50,000		4.30	%
Senior unsecured private placement notes	August 2021	50,000		50,000		4.37	%
		$	465,000	$	465,000

Schedule of Long-term Debt Instruments

The following is a summary of the Company’s senior unsecured notes as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 ($ in thousands):

	Maturity	2015	2014	Coupon Rate
Senior notes	March 2017	300,000	300,000	5.500	%
Senior notes	March 2021	300,000	300,000	5.200	%
Senior notes	August 2022	300,000	300,000	3.625	%
Senior notes	January 2023	300,000	300,000	3.375	%
Senior notes	May 2023	300,000	300,000	3.250	%
Senior notes	May 2024	400,000	400,000	3.875	%
Senior notes	April 2025	500,000	—	3.500	%
		2,400,000	1,900,000

ESS does not have any indebtedness as all debt is incurred by the Operating Partnership. Mortgage notes payable consist of the following as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 ($ in thousands):

	2015			2014
Fixed rate mortgage notes payable	$	1,925,985		$	2,049,577
Variable rate mortgage notes payable (1)	289,092			184,740
Total mortgage notes payable (2)	$	2,215,077		$	2,234,317
Number of properties securing mortgage notes	64			67
Remaining terms	1-31 years			1-26 years
Weighted average interest rate	4.4		%	4.6		%

Schedule of Maturities of Long-term Debt

The aggregate scheduled principal payments of unsecured debt payable, excluding lines of credit, at December 31, 2015 are as follows ($ in thousands):

2016	$	350,000
2017	365,000
2018	—
2019(1)	75,000
2020	—
Thereafter	2,300,000
	$	3,090,000

The aggregate scheduled principal payments of mortgage notes payable at December 31, 2015 are as follows ($ in thousands):

2016	$	29,714
2017	199,180
2018	320,622
2019	586,212
2020	693,088
Thereafter	329,451
	$	2,158,267

⁽¹⁾  Variable rate mortgage notes payable, including $257.3 million in bonds that have been converted to variable rate through total return swap contracts, consists of multi-family housing mortgage revenue bonds secured by deeds of trust on rental properties and guaranteed by collateral pledge agreements, payable monthly at a variable rate as defined in the Loan Agreement (approximately 1.2% at December 2015 and 1.8% at December 2014) plus credit enhancement and underwriting fees ranging from approximately 1.2% to 1.9%.  Among the terms imposed on the properties, which are security for the bonds, is a requirement that 20% of the apartment homes are subject to tenant income criteria. Principal balances are due in full at various maturity dates from March 2019 through December 2046. Of these bonds $20.7 million are subject to various interest rate cap agreements which limit the maximum interest rate to such bonds.

⁽²⁾  Includes total unamortized premium of $64.8 million and $83.8 million and reduced by unamortized debt issuance costs of $8.0 million and $11.9 million as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.