UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20152017
or
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the Transition Period from to .
Commission file number 333-198305000-55778
MOODY NATIONAL REIT II, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Maryland | ||
47-1436295 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
6363 Woodway Drive, Suite 110 | ||
Houston, Texas | 77057 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
(713) 977-7500
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
NoneCommon Stock, $0.01 par value per share
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (check one):
Large accelerated filer ☐ | Accelerated filer ☐ | |
Non-accelerated filer ☐ | Smaller reporting company ☒ | |
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company) | Emerging growth company ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
There is no established market for the registrant’s shares of common stock. The registrant is currently conducting an ongoing initial public offering of its Class A shares, Class D shares, Class I shares and Class T shares of common stock pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-11, which shares are being sold at $25.00$23.19 per share, with discounts available for certain categories of purchasers.share. The registrant was formed on JuneJuly 25, 2014, and commenced its initial public offering on January 20, 2015. There were no4,750,286 shares of common stock held by non-affiliates at June 30, 2015,2017, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarterquarter.
As of March 2, 2016,19, 2018, there were 908,5868,901,604 shares of the common stock of the registrant outstanding.outstanding, consisting of 8,785,095 shares of Class A common stock, 0 shares of Class D common stock, 46,851 shares of Class I common stock, and 69,658 shares of Class T common stock.
MOODY NATIONAL REIT II, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this annual reportAnnual Report on Form 10-K, (this “Annual Report”)or this Annual Report, that are not historical facts (including any statements concerning investment objectives, other plans and objectives of management for future operations or economic performance, or assumptions or forecasts related thereto) are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are only predictions. We caution that forward-looking statements are not guarantees. Actual events or our investments and results of operations could differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “should,” “expect,” “could,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology.terms.
The forward-looking statements included herein are based upon our current expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs, which involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond our control. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Factors whichthat could have a material adverse effect on our operations and future prospects include, but are not limited to:
our ability to raise capital in our ongoing initial public offering; |
our ability to effectively deploy the proceeds raised in our initial public offering; |
our ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms; |
our levels of debt and the terms and limitations imposed on us by our debt agreements; |
our ability to identify and acquire real estate and real estate-related assets on selling terms that are favorable to us; |
our ability to effectively integrate and manage our expanded operations following the consummation of our merger with Moody National REIT I, Inc.; |
● | risks inherent in the real estate business, including the lack of liquidity for real estate and real estate-related assets on terms that are favorable to us; |
changes in demand for rooms at our hotel properties; |
our ability to compete in the hotel industry; |
adverse developments affecting our sponsor and its affiliates; |
the availability of cash flow from operating activities for distributions; |
changes in economic conditions generally and the real estate and debt markets specifically; |
conflicts of interest arising out of our relationship with our advisor and its affiliates; |
legislative or regulatory changes, |
the availability of capital; and |
changes in interest rates. |
i
Any of the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements included herein could be inaccurate, and undue reliance should not be placed upon any forward-looking statements included herein. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Annual Report and the risk that actual results will differ materially from the expectations expressed herein will increase with the passage of time. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made after the date of this Annual Report, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report, including, without limitation, the risks described under “Risk Factors,” the inclusion of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the objectives and plans set forth in this annual reportAnnual Report will be achieved.
ii
ITEM 1. | Business |
Overview
Moody National REIT II, Inc., referred to herein as “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company,” is a Maryland corporation formed on July 25, 2014 to invest in a portfolio of hospitality properties focusing primarily on the select-service segment of the hospitality sector with premier brands including, but not limited to, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. We intendhave elected to qualifybe taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code, beginning with our taxable year endingended December 31, 2016. As used herein, the terms “we,” “our,” “us” and “our company” refer to Moody National REIT II, Inc. and, as required by context, Moody National Operating Partnership II, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, which we refer to as our “operating partnership,” and to their respective subsidiaries. We own, and in the future intend to own, substantially all of our assets and conduct our operations through Moody National Operating Partnership II, LP, or our operating partnership. We are the sole general partner of our operating partnership, and the initial limited partners of our operating partnership arewere our subsidiary, Moody OP Holdings II, LLC, or Moody Holdings II, and Moody National LPOP II, LLC, or Moody LPOP II, an affiliate of our advisor.advisor (as defined below). Moody Holdings II invested $1,000 in our operating partnership in exchange for limited partnership interests, and Moody LPOP II invested $1,000 in our operating partnership in exchange for special limited partnership interests. As we accept subscriptions for sales of shares of our common stock, we transfer substantially all of the net offering proceeds from such sales to our operating partnership in exchange for limited partnership interests and our percentage ownership in our operating partnership increases proportionally.
We are externally managed by Moody National Advisor II, LLC, an affiliate of oursa related party, which we refer to as our “advisor.“advisor,” pursuant to an advisory agreement among us, our operating partnership and our advisor, or the advisory agreement. Our advisor was formed in July 2014. Our sponsor, Moody National REIT Sponsor, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company,which we refer to as our “sponsor,” is owned and managed by Brett C. Moody, who also serves as our Chief Executive Officer and President and the Chief Executive Officer and President of our advisor. We refer to Moody National REIT Sponsor, LLC as our “sponsor” or “Moody National.”
On January 20, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, declared our registration statement on Form S-11, or our registration statement, effective and we commenced our initial public offering, or our offering, of up to $1,100,000,000 in shares of common stock. We are offeringstock, consisting of up to $1,000,000,000 in shares of our common stock offered to the public, at an initial price of $25.00 per share (subject to certain discounts)or our primary offering, and up to $100,000,000 in shares offered to our stockholders pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, or the DRP.
On June 26, 2017, the SEC declared effective our post-effective amendment to our registration statement, which reallocated our shares of common stock as Class A common stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Class A Shares, Class D common stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Class D Shares, Class I common stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Class I Shares, and Class T common stock, $0.01 par value per share, or the Class T Shares and, together with the Class A Shares, the Class D Shares and the Class I Shares, the Shares, to be sold on a “best efforts” basis. On January 16, 2018, our advisor assumed responsibility for the payment of all selling commissions, dealer manager fees and stockholder servicing fees paid in connection with our offering; provided, however that our advisor intends to recoup the selling commissions, dealer manager fees and stockholder servicing fees that it funds through an increased acquisition fee, or “contingent advisor payment.”
On March 19, 2018, our board of directors determined an estimated net asset value, or NAV, per share of all classes of our common stock of $23.19 as of December 31, 2017. Accordingly, we are currently offering the Shares (i) to the public in our primary offering at a purchase price of $23.19 per share, which is equal to the NAV per share for each class of our common stock as of December 31, 2017 and (ii) to our stockholders pursuant to the DRP at an initiala purchase price of $23.75$23.19 per share. share, which is equal to the NAV per share for each class of our common stock as of December 31, 2017.
Moody Securities, LLC, an affiliate of our advisor, which we refer to as the “dealer manager,manager” or “Moody Securities,” is the dealer manager for our initial public offering and is responsible for the distribution of our common stock in thatour offering.
Pursuant to the terms of our initial public offering, offering proceeds were held in an escrow account until we met the minimum offering amount of $2,000,000. On July 2, 2015, we received subscriptions aggregating $2,000,000, and the subscription proceeds held in escrow were released to us. As of December 31, 2015,2017, we had received and accepted investors’ subscriptions for and issued 502,9695,037,374 shares of our common stock in our initial public offering, excluding shares issued in connection with our merger with Moody National REIT I, Inc., or Moody I, and including 1,945133,680 shares of common stock pursuant to our DRP, resulting in gross offering proceeds of $12,525,592.
We will continue$123,729,965. On January 18, 2018, we filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-11 (Registration No. 333-222610) registering $990,000,000 in any combination of the Shares to offer shares of our common stockbe sold on a continuous“best efforts” basis in a follow-on public offering. This registration statement is not yet effective. We are currently taking advantage of an extension to our offering which allows us to continue selling the Shares in our offering until January 20, 2017, unless extended. However, in certain states the offering may continue for only one year unless we renew the offering period for an additional year.July 19, 2018. As of March 2, 2016,19, 2018, we had received and accepted investors’ subscriptions for and issued 888,0865,245,611 shares of our common stock in our initial public offering, including 4,051143,654 shares of common stock pursuant to our DRP, resulting in gross offering proceeds of $22,100,885.$128,312,862. As of March 2, 2016 39,105,965 shares19, 2018, $967,773,753 of stock remained to be sold in our initial public offering. We reserve the right to terminate our initial public offering at any time.
On November 12, 2015, our board of directors determined an estimated fair value per share of our common stock of $25.03 as of October 31, 2015. In determining an estimated fair value per share of our common stock, our board relied upon information provided in a report by our advisor, the recommendation of our audit committee, and the board’s experience with, and knowledge of our assets, including the hotel property that we owned, as of October 31, 2015. See Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.”
We intend to use the net proceeds from our initial public offering to acquire hotel properties located in the East Coast, the West Coast and the Sunbelt regions of the United States. To a lesser extent, we may also invest in other hospitality properties located within other markets and regions, as well as real estate securities and debt-related investments related to the hospitality sector. See “—Investment Strategy.”
As of December 31, 2015,2017, our portfolio consisted of a(1) interests in fourteen hotel property known as the Residence Inn Austin University Area, or the Residence Inn Austin, a select-service hotel facility comprised of 112 guest roomsproperties located in Austin, Texas.six states, comprising a total of 1,941 rooms, (2) a loan with a current principal amount of $6,750,000 originated to an affiliate of Sponsor used to acquire a commercial property located in Katy, Texas, (3) a loan in the principal amount of $4,500,000 originated to an affiliate of Sponsor used to acquire a commercial property located in Houston, Texas, which loan was subsequently retired in March 2018 and (4) a mortgage note receivable with a current principal amount of $11,200,000 from a related party.
Our office isprinciple executive offices are located at 6363 Woodway Drive, Suite 110, Houston, Texas 77057, and our main telephone number is 713-977-7500.(713) 977-7500.
2015Merger with Moody National REIT I, Inc.
On November 16, 2016, we, along with our operating partnership, our advisor, Moody I, Moody National Operating Partnership I, L.P., the operating partnership of Moody I, or Moody I OP, Moody National Advisor I, LLC, the advisor to Moody I, or Moody I advisor, and Moody Merger Sub, LLC, our wholly owned subsidiary, or merger sub, entered into an agreement and plan of merger, or the merger agreement. On September 27, 2017, or the closing date, pursuant to the merger agreement, Moody I merged with and into merger sub, and merger sub subsequently merged with and into us. We refer to the foregoing transaction as the “merger.” In addition, pursuant to the merger agreement and amendment no. 1 thereto, Moody I OP merged with and into our operating partnership, which transaction we refer to as the “partnership merger,” with our operating partnership continuing as the surviving partnership following the partnership merger. Unless context suggests otherwise, we refer to the merger and the partnership merger together as the “mergers.” Pursuant to the terms of the merger agreement, former Moody I stockholders had the right to receive a total of approximately 3.63 million Class A shares of our common stock as stock consideration, which was equal to approximately 43% of our diluted common equity as of the closing date, and a total of approximately $44.7 million in cash consideration. In addition, upon consummation of the partnership merger, each issued and outstanding unit of limited partnership interest in Moody I OP was automatically cancelled and retired and converted into 0.41 units of Class A limited partnership interest in our operating partnership. As a result of the mergers, our portfolio was expanded from two hotel properties and one note receivable to 14 hotel properties and three notes receivable from related parties. We refer to the additional properties and notes acquired in the mergers as the Moody I portfolio.
Concurrently with the entry into the merger agreement, we, Moody I, Moody I OP, Moody I advisor, Moody National Realty Company, LP, or Moody National, and Moody OP Holdings I, LLC, or OP Holdings, the holder of all of the outstanding special partnership units in Moody I OP, entered into a termination agreement, or the termination agreement. Pursuant to the termination agreement, at the effective time of the mergers, the amended and restated advisory agreement, dated August 14, 2009, among Moody I, Moody I OP, Moody I advisor and Moody National was terminated and Moody I paid Moody I advisor a payment of $5,580,685, or the Moody I advisor payment. During the first year following the consummation of the mergers, if we sell a property that was previously owned by Moody I, then any disposition fee to which our advisor would be entitled under our advisory agreement will be reduced by an amount equal to the portion of the Moody I advisor payment attributable to such property. In addition, in accordance with the terms of the limited partnership agreement of Moody I OP, Moody I OP paid to OP Holdings $613,751, or the promote payment. We paid our advisor an acquisition fee of $670,000 in connection with the mergers, which amount was equal to 1.5% of the cash consideration paid to Moody I stockholders. Additionally, we paid our advisor a financing coordination fee of $1,720,000 based on the loans assumed from Moody I in connection with the merger, including debt held by us related to our Marriott Courtyard Lyndhurst and the Townplace Suites Fort Worth hotel properties.
Additionally, in connection with the mergers, on February 2, 2017, we entered into a stockholder servicing coordination agreement, or the stockholder servicing coordination agreement, with Moody Securities that provided for the payment of certain “stockholder servicing fees” in connection with the mergers. All stockholder servicing fees were re-allowed to broker-dealers that provide ongoing financial advisory services to former Moody I stockholders following the mergers and that entered into participating broker-dealer agreements with Moody Securities. The aggregate amount of stockholder servicing fees was based on the number of shares of our common stock issued as consideration in the merger, and was approximately $7.0 million. No stockholder servicing fees were paid with respect to any cash paid by us as cash consideration in the merger.
2017 Highlights:
During the year ended December 31, 2015,2017, we:
raised gross offering proceeds of |
Investment Objectives
Our primary investment objectives are to:
preserve, protect and return stockholders’ capital contributions; |
pay regular cash distributions to stockholders; and |
realize capital appreciation upon the ultimate sale of the real estate assets we acquire. |
Investment Strategy
We expect that our portfolio will consist primarily ofselect-service hotel properties with premier brands, including, but not limited to, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, that are located in major metropolitan markets in the East Coast, West Coast and the Sunbelt regions of the United States. Select-service hotel properties target business-oriented travelers by providing clean rooms with basic amenities. In contrast to lower-cost budget motels, select-service hotels provide amenities such as an exercise room, business facilities and breakfast buffets. In contrast to full-service hotels, select-service hotels typically do not have a full-service restaurant, which is relatively costly to operate. To a lesser extent, we may also invest in other hospitality properties located within other markets and regions outside of the West Coast, Sunbelt and East Coast, as well as real estate securities and debt-related investments related to the hospitality sector. Our board of directors, or our “board,”board, may adjust our investment focus from time to time based upon market conditions and other factors our board deems relevant.
In identifying investments, we will rely upona market optimization investment strategy and acquisition model that analyzes economic fundamentals and demographic trends in major metropolitan markets. By followingutilizing a targeted, disciplined approach, we believe that we will be able to capitalize on market inefficiencies and identify undervalued investment opportunities with underlying intrinsic value that have the potential to create greater value at disposition.Our investment strategy seeks to identify technical pressures created by demographic, business and industry changes, which we believe lead to supply and demand imbalances within certain sectors of commercial real estate.
Based on our internal research, weWe believe that presently the hospitality sector, compared to other real estate asset classes, has the greatest supply-demand imbalance, which should lead to upward pressure on room rates. In addition, we believe that hotel properties continue to trade below historical price levels, resulting in attractive purchasing opportunities at this present time. More specifically,we believe thatpremier-brand, select-service hotel properties in major metropolitan markets have the potential to generate attractive returns relative to other types of hotel properties due to their ability to achieve Revenuerevenue per Available Room,available room, or “RevPAR,”RevPAR, levels at or close to those achieved by traditional, full-service hotels while achieving higher profit margins due to their more efficient operating model and more predicable net operating income. In addition, ourmarket optimization investment strategy, accounting for growth potential and risks related to asset devaluation, takes into account currentsupply-demand imbalances and targets markets that offer stable population growth, high barriers to entry and multiple demand generators.
Investment Portfolio
As noted above, as of December 31, 2015,2017, our portfolio consisted of the Residence Inn Austin. Wefollowing:
Hotel Properties
As of December 31, 2017, our portfolio included fourteen hotel properties, described below.
Property Name | Date Acquired | Location | Ownership Interest | Original Purchase Price(1) | Rooms | Mortgage Debt Outstanding(2) | ||||||||||||||
Residence Inn Austin | October 15, 2015 | Austin, Texas | 100 | % | $ | 27,500,000 | 112 | $ | 16,575,000 | |||||||||||
Springhill Suites Seattle | May 24, 2016 | Seattle, Washington | 100 | % | 74,100,000 | 234 | 45,000,000 | |||||||||||||
Homewood Suites Woodlands | September 27, 2017(5) | The Woodlands, Texas | 100 | % | 17,355,672 | 91 | 9,208,948 | |||||||||||||
Hyatt Place Germantown | September 27, 2017(5) | Germantown, Tennessee | 100 | % | 16,073,719 | 127 | 7,178,639 | |||||||||||||
Hyatt Place North Charleston | September 27, 2017(5) | North Charleston, South Carolina | 100 | % | 13,805,648 | 113 | 7,291,839 | |||||||||||||
Hampton Inn Austin | September 27, 2017(5) | Austin, Texas | 100 | % | 19,327,908 | 123 | 10,870,546 | |||||||||||||
Residence Inn Grapevine | September 27, 2017(5) | Grapevine, Texas | 100 | % | 25,244,614 | 133 | 12,555,885 | |||||||||||||
Marriott Courtyard Lyndhurst | September 27, 2017(5) | Lyndhurst, New Jersey | (3) | 39,547,484 | 227 | — | ||||||||||||||
Hilton Garden Inn Austin | September 27, 2017(5) | Austin, Texas | 100 | % | 29,287,695 | 138 | 18,707,199 | |||||||||||||
Hampton Inn Great Valley | September 27, 2017(5) | Frazer, Pennsylvania | 100 | % | 15,284,824 | 125 | 8,119,879 | |||||||||||||
Embassy Suites Nashville | September 27, 2017(5) | Nashville, Tennessee | 100 | % | 82,207,322 | 208 | 42,714,881 | |||||||||||||
Homewood Suites Austin | September 27, 2017(5) | Austin, Texas | 100 | % | 18,834,848 | 96 | 10,946,152 | |||||||||||||
Townplace Suites Fort Worth | September 27, 2017(5) | Fort Worth, Texas | (4) | 11,241,742 | 95 | — | ||||||||||||||
Hampton Inn Houston | September 27, 2017(5) | Houston, Texas | 100 | % | 9,959,747 | 119 | 4,604,351 | |||||||||||||
Totals | $ | 399,771,223 | 1,941 | $ | 193,773,319 |
(1) | Excludes closing costs and includes gain on acquisition. | |
(2) | As of December 31, 2017. | |
(3) | The Marriott Courtyard Lyndhurst is owned by MN Lyndhurst Venture, LLC, of which the OP is a member and holds 100% of the Class B membership interests therein. | |
(4) | The Townplace Suites Fort Worth is owned by MN Fort Worth Venture, LLC, of which the OP is a member and holds 100% of the Class B membership interests therein. | |
(5) | Property acquired as a result of the mergers. |
Mortgage Note Receivable from Related Party
On October 6, 2016, our operating partnership originated a secured loan in the Residence Inn Austin on October 15, 2015 for an aggregate purchase price of $25,500,000, which was financed with (1) a portion of the proceeds from our initial public offering and (2) the proceeds of a mortgage loan secured by the Residence Inn Austin with an aggregate principal amount of $16,575,000.$11,200,000, or the MN TX II note, to MN TX II, LLC, or MN TX II, a Texas limited liability company and a party related to our advisor. Proceeds from the MN TX II note were used by MN TX II solely to acquire a commercial property located in Houston, Texas. The Residence Inn Austin is ownedentire unpaid principal balance of the MN TX II note and all accrued and unpaid interest thereon and all other amounts due thereunder are due and payable on October 6, 2018. Interest on the outstanding principal balance of the MN TX II note accrues at a fixed per annum rate equal to 5.50%, provided that in no event will the interest rate exceed the maximum rate permitted by a wholly-owned subsidiary ofapplicable law. The MN TX II note may be prepaid in whole or in part by MN TX II without penalty at any time upon prior written notice to our operating partnership.
Notes Receivable from Related Parties
Related Party Note. On August 21, 2015, Moody I originated an unsecured loan in the aggregate principal amount of $9,000,000, or the Related Party Note, to Moody National DST Sponsor, LLC, a Texas limited liability company and an affiliate of Sponsor, or DST Sponsor. Proceeds from the Related Party Note were used by DST Sponsor solely to acquire a commercial real property located in Katy, Texas, or the Subject Property. The balance of the Related Party Note was $6,750,000 and $0 as of December 31, 2017 and, 2016, respectively. We acquired the Related Party Note in connection with the mergers.
The entire unpaid principal balance of the Related Party Note and all accrued and unpaid interest thereon and all other amounts due under the Related Party Note were due and payable in full on the earlier of (1) August 21, 2016 or (2) ten days following the sale of 100% of the equity ownership interests that are to be syndicated in the Subject Property. Interest on the outstanding principal balance of the Related Party Note accrues at a fixed per annum rate equal to 12%, provided that in no event will the interest rate exceed the maximum rate permitted by applicable law. DST Sponsor was required to pay an origination fee in the amount of $90,000 and an exit fee in the amount of $90,000 upon the maturity date of the Related Party Note, including any earlier prepayment date or accelerated maturity date of the Related Party Note. The Related Party Note may be prepaid in whole or part by DST Sponsor without penalty at any time upon prior written notice.
On August 15, 2016, the maturity date of the Related Party note was extended from August 21, 2016 to August 21, 2017 and the origination fee in the amount of $90,000 and an extension fee in the amount of $45,000 were paid to Moody I by DST Sponsor. On September 24, 2017, the maturity date was extended to August 21, 2018.
Related Party Mezzanine Note. On April 29, 2016, Moody I originated an unsecured loan in the aggregate principal amount of $4,500,000, or the Related Party Mezzanine Note, to Moody Realty. Proceeds from the Related Party Mezzanine Note were used by Moody Realty solely to acquire a multifamily real property located in Houston, Texas. We acquired the Related Party Mezzanine Note in connection with the mergers.
In March 2018, the unpaid principal balance of the Related Party Mezzanine Note and all accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and all other amounts due under the Related Party Mezzanine Note, were paid in full. Prior to the retirement of the Related Party Mezzanine Note, interest on the outstanding principal balance of such note accrued at a fixed per annum rate equal to 10%. Moody Realty also agreed to pay an origination fee in the amount of $45,000, and an exit fee of $45,000 upon maturity.
Borrowing Policies
We have used, and intend in the future to use, secured and unsecured debt as a means of providing additional funds for the acquisition of real property, securities and debt-related investments.investments, including the use of debt to pay the cash consideration and other costs related to the mergers. By operating on a leveraged basis, we expect that we will have more funds available for investments. This will generally allow us to make more investments than would otherwise be possible, potentially resulting in enhanced investment returns and a more diversified portfolio. However, our use of leverage increases the risk of default on loan payments and the resulting foreclosure on a particular asset. In addition, lenders may have recourse to assets other than those specifically securing the repayment of the indebtedness. When debt financing is unattractive due to high interest rates or other reasons, or when financing is otherwise unavailable on a timely basis, we may purchase certain assets for cash with the intention of obtaining debt financing at a later time.
Consistent with the leverage policy adopted by our board, we expect that after we have invested substantially all of the proceeds of our initial public offering, our debt financing will be approximately 55% to 60% of the aggregate costs of our investments before non-cash reserves and depreciation, although our debt financing could be as high as 75% of the aggregate costscost of our investments before non-cash reserves and depreciation. Our board may from time to time modify our leverage policy in light of then-current economic conditions, relative costs of debt and equity capital, fair values of our properties, general conditions in the market for debt and equity securities, growth and acquisition opportunities or other factors. Our actual leverage may be higher or lower than our target leverage depending on a number of factors, including the availability of attractive investment and disposition opportunities, inflows and outflows of capital and increases and decreases in the value of our portfolio.
There is no limitation on the amount we may invest in any single improved real property. However, under our Articles of Amendment and Restatement, which we refer to as our “charter,” we are prohibited from borrowing in excess of 300% of the value of our net assets. “Net assets” for purposes of this calculation is defined to be our total assets (other than intangibles), valued at cost prior to deducting depreciation, reserves for bad debts and other non-cash reserves, less total liabilities. The preceding calculation is generally expected to approximate 75% of the aggregate cost of our assets before non-cash reserves and depreciation. However, we may temporarily borrow in excess of these amounts if such excess is approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report, along with justification for such excess. In such event, we will review our debt levels at that time and take action to reduce any such excess as soon as practicable. We do not intend to exceed our charter’s leverage limit except in the early stages of building our portfolio when the costs of our investments are most likely to exceed our net offering proceeds.
Our advisor will use its best efforts to obtain financing on the most favorable terms available to us and will seek to refinance assets during the term of a loan only in limited circumstances, such as when a decline in interest rates makes it beneficial to prepay an existing loan, when an existing loan is approaching maturity or if an attractive investment becomes available and the proceeds from the refinancing can be used to purchase such investment. The benefits of any such refinancing may include increased cash flow resulting from reduced debt service requirements, an increase in distributions from proceeds of the refinancing and an increase in diversification and assets owned if all or a portion of the refinancing proceeds are reinvested.
Our charter restricts us from obtaining loans from any of our directors, our advisor and any of our affiliates unless such loan is approved by a majority of the directors (including a majority of the independent directors) not otherwise interested in the transaction as fair, competitive and commercially reasonable and no less favorable to us than comparable loans between unaffiliated parties. Our aggregate borrowings, secured and unsecured, are reviewed by our board at least quarterly. As of December 31, 2015,2017, our total outstanding indebtedness totaled $16,575,000.$269,173,319. This amount did not exceed 300% of the value of our net assets.
Economic Dependency
We depend on our advisor for certain services that are essential to us, including the identification, evaluation, negotiation, purchase and disposition of properties and other investments, management of the daily operations of our real estate portfolio, and other general and administrative responsibilities. In the event that our advisor is unable to provide these services to us, we will be required to obtain such services from other sources, and our failure to identify such other sources could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. We also depend upon the dealer manager for the sale of our shares of common stock in our initial public offering.
Competitive Market Factors
The United States commercial real estate market is highly competitive. We face competition from various entities for investment opportunities in our targeted assets, including other REITs, pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds, real estate companies and developers. Many of these entities have substantially greater financial resources than we do and may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage, including risks with respect to the geographic location of investments or the creditworthiness of tenants. Competition from these entities may reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us or increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell real estate assets. In particular, the hotel industry is highly competitive. We have purchased, and intend to purchase, hotels in developed areas that include other hotels and compete for guests primarily with other hotels in the immediate vicinity and secondarily with other hotels in the geographic market. An increase in the number of competitive hotels in a particular area could have a material adverse effect on the occupancy, average daily rate and RevPAR of our hotels in that area. We believe that brand recognition, location, price and quality (of both the hotel and the services provided) are the principal competitive factors affecting our hotel properties. Additionally, general economic conditions in a particular market and nationally impact the performance of the hotel industry.
Disruptions in the credit markets may materially impact the cost and availability of debt to finance real estate acquisitions, which is a key component of our acquisition strategy. Although credit markets have stabilized since the recession that occurred from 2007 to 2009, futureA limited availability of financing in the future could result in a further reduction ofreduce suitable investment opportunities and create a competitive advantage for other entities that have greater financial resources than we do. All of the above factors could result in delays in the investment of the proceeds from our initial public offering. Further, as a result of their greater financial resources, our competitors may have more flexibility than we do in their ability to offer reduced room rates at properties. This could put pressure on our ability to maintain or raise rates and could adversely affect our ability to attract or retain customers. As a result, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected.
Tax Status
We intend to electelected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2016. PriorIn order to qualifyingelect to be taxed as a REIT for the year ended December 31, 2016, such election was made by filing our 2016 federal income tax return as a REIT. We believe we are organized and operate in such a manner as to qualify for taxation as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code, and we intend to operate in such a manner, but no assurance can be given that we will operate in a manner so as to remain qualified as a REIT. We did not meet all of the qualifications to be subjecta REIT under the Internal Revenue Code for the year ended December 31, 2015 and for the period from July 25, 2014 (the date of our inception) to normal federal and state corporation income taxes.
December 31, 2014, including not having 100 shareholders for a sufficient number of days in 2015. To qualify as a REIT, we must meet a number of organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined for this purpose without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gain) to our stockholders. As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax at the corporate level. We believe we are organized and operate in such a manner asPrior to qualify for taxationqualifying to be taxed as a REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code,we were subject to normal federal and we intend to operate in such a manner, but no assurance can be given that we will operate in a manner so as to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT. We did not meet all of the qualifications to be a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code for the year ended December 31, 2015 and the period from July 25, 2014 (the date of our inception) to December 31, 2014, including not having 100 shareholders for a sufficient number of days in 2015.state corporation income taxes.
Regulations
All real property investments and the operations conducted in connection with such investments are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on customers, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on a real property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such real property as collateral for future borrowings. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which real property may be used or businesses may be operated. Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require us to incur material expenditures or may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, tenants’ or guests’ operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our real properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our real properties. There are also various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply and which may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. In connection with the acquisition and ownership of real properties, we may be exposed to such costs in connection with such regulations. The cost of defending against environmental claims, of any damages or fines we must pay, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements or of remediating any contaminated real property could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations or lower the value of our assets and, consequently, lower the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
We do not believe that compliance with existing environmental laws will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. However, we cannot predict the impact of unforeseen environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations on properties in which we hold an interest, or on properties that may be acquired directly or indirectly in the future.
Seasonality
The hotel industry historically has been seasonal in nature. Seasonal variations in occupancy at our hotel propertyproperties and other hotel properties we may acquire may cause quarterly fluctuations in our revenues. Specifically, business class hotels tend to draw lower occupancy rates during holidays as there is less business travel.travel on such dates. To the extent that cash flow from operations is insufficient during any quarter, due to temporary or seasonal fluctuations in revenue, we expect to utilize cash on hand or, if necessary, any available other financing sources to make distributions.
Employees
We have no paid employees. The employees of our advisor or its affiliates provide management, acquisition, advisory and certain administrative services for us.
Financial Information About Industry Segments
Our current business consists of owning, managing, operating, leasing, acquiring, developing, investing in, and disposing of real estate assets. We internally evaluate all of our real estate assets as one industry segment, and, accordingly, we do not report segment information.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting and information requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act, and, as a result, we file periodic reports and other information with the SEC. Access to copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other filings that we make with the SEC, including amendments to such filings, may be obtained free of charge from the following website,http://www.moodynationalreit.com. These filings are available promptly after we file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We are not incorporating our website or any information from the website into this Annual Report. The SEC also maintains a website,http://www.sec.gov, where our filings are available free of charge. We will provide without charge a copy of this Annual Report, including financial statements and schedules, upon written request delivered to our principal executive office at the address listed on the cover page of this Annual Report.
The following are some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business. Our stockholders or potential investors may be referred to as “you” or “your” in this Item 1A. References to “shares” and “our common stock” refer to the shares of our common stock.
GENERAL INVESTMENT RISKS
There is no public trading market for shares of our common stock and we are not required to effectuate a liquidity event by a certain date. As a result, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares of our common stock and, if stockholders are able to sell their shares, they are likely to sell them at a substantial discount.
There is no current public market for the shares of our common stock and we have no obligation to list our shares on any public securities market or provide any other type of liquidity to our stockholders. It will therefore be difficult for stockholders to sell their shares of common stock promptly or at all. Even if stockholders are able to sell their shares of common stock, the absence of a public market may cause the price received for any shares of our common stock sold to be less than what a stockholder paid or less than a stockholder’s proportionate value of the assets we own. We have adopted a share repurchase program but it is limited in terms of the amount of shares that a stockholder may sell back to us each quarter. Our board of directors may amend, suspend or terminate our share repurchase program upon 10 days’ prior notice to our stockholders. Additionally, our charter does not require that we consummate a transaction to provide liquidity to stockholders on any date certain or at all. As a result, a purchase of our common stock should be viewed only as a long-term investment, and stockholders on any date certain or at all. As a result, shares of our common stock should be viewed only as a long-term investment, and investors must be prepared to hold their shares for an indefinite length of time.
We have no prior operating history and there is no assurance that we will be able to successfully achieve our investment objectives.
We have a limited operating history and may not be able to successfully operate our business or achieve our investment objectives. As a result, an investment in our shares of common stock may entail more risk than the shares of common stock of a real estate investment trust with a substantial operating history.
Our initial public offering is being conducted on a “best efforts” basis, and if we are unable to raise substantial funds, we will be limited in the number and type of investments we may make, which could negatively impact your investment.
Our initial public offering is being made on a “best efforts” basis, whereby the broker-dealers participating in the offering are only required to use their best efforts to sell shares of our common stock and have no firm commitment or obligation to purchase any of the shares of our common stock. If we are unable to raise a substantial amount of funds, we will make fewer investments, resulting in less diversification in terms of the number of investments owned, the geographic regions in which ourassets are located and the types of investments that we make. Further, it is likely that in our early stages of growth we may not be able to achieve a portfolio that is consistent with our longer-term investment objectives, increasing the likelihood that any single investment’s poor performance would materially affect our overall investment performance. Our inability to raise substantial funds would also increase our fixed operating expenses as a percentage of gross income. Each of these factors could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Our ability to successfully conduct our initial public offering depends, in part, on the ability of our dealer manager to successfully establish, operate and maintain a network of broker-dealers.
Moody Securities, LLC, our dealer manager, only has experience acting as a dealer manager for one public offering in addition to ours, that of Moody National REIT I, Inc., or Moody National REIT I. The success of our initial public offering, and correspondingly our ability to implement our business strategy, depends upon the ability of our dealer manager to establish and maintain a network of licensed securities broker-dealers and other agents. If our dealer manager fails to perform, we may not be able to raise sufficient proceeds through this offering to implement our investment strategy. If we are unsuccessful in implementing our investment strategy, you could lose all or a part of your investment.
Because our charter does not require our listing or liquidation by a specified date, our shares should be viewed as a long-term investment and investors should be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
In the future, our board will consider alternatives for providing liquidity to our stockholders, which we refer to as a liquidity event. A liquidity event may include the sale of our assets, a sale or merger of our company or a listing of our shares on a national securities exchange. It is anticipated that our board will consider a liquidity event within three to six years after the completion of our initial primary offering; however the timing of any such event will significantly depend upon economic and market conditions after completion of our offering stage. Because our charter does not require us to pursue a liquidity event by a specified date, our shares should be viewed as a long-term investment and investors should be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
We pay substantial fees and expenses to our advisor and its affiliates, including the dealer manager. These fees were not negotiated at arm’s length, may be higher than fees payable to unaffiliated third parties and reduce cash available for investment.
A portion of the offering price from the sale of our shares are used to pay fees and expenses to our advisor and its affiliates. These fees were not negotiated at arm’s length of time.
Our offering is a “blind pool” offering, and stockholders do not have the opportunity to evaluate our investments other than those that we already own.
As of December 31, 2017, we held 14 hotel properties and 3 notes receivable from related parties (one of which was subsequently retired). Other than those assets, stockholders will not be able to evaluate the economic merits, transaction terms or other financial or operational data concerning our investments. Stockholders must rely on our advisor and our board of directors to implement our investment policies, to evaluate our investment opportunities and to structure the terms of our investments. This additional risk may hinder the ability to achieve a stockholder’s personal investment objectives related to portfolio diversification, risk-adjusted investment returns and other objectives.
We have a limited prior operating history and there is no assurance that we will be able to successfully achieve our investment objectives.
We have a limited operating history and may not be able to successfully operate our business or achieve our investment objectives. As a result, an investment in our shares of common stock may entail more risk than the shares of common stock of a real estate investment trust with a substantial operating history.In addition, stockholders should not rely on the past performance of real property, real estate securities or debt-related investments owned by other Moody companies to predict our future results. Nor should stockholders assume that the prior performance of other investment programs sponsored by our sponsor or its affiliates (private or publicly offered, including, without limitation, Moody I) will be indicative of our future results.
Our offering is being conducted on a “best efforts” basis, and if we are unable to raise substantial funds, we will be limited in the number and type of investments we may make, which could negatively impact your investment.
Our offering is being made on a “best efforts” basis, whereby the broker-dealers participating in the offering are only required to use their best efforts to sell shares of our common stock and have no firm commitment or obligation to purchase any of the shares of our common stock. If we are unable to raise a substantial amount of funds, we will make fewer investments, resulting in less diversification in terms of the number of investments owned, the geographic regions in which ourassetsare located and the types of investments that we make. Further, it is likely that in our early stages of growth we may not be able to achieve a portfolio that is consistent with our longer-term investment objectives, increasing the likelihood that any single investment’s poor performance would materially affect our overall investment performance. Our inability to raise substantial funds would also increase our fixed operating expenses as a percentage of gross income. Each of these factors could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Our ability to successfully conduct our offering depends, in part, on the ability of our dealer manager to successfully establish, operate and maintain a network of broker-dealers.
Our dealer manager only has experience acting as a dealer manager for one public offering in addition to ours, that of Moody I. The success of the offering, and correspondingly our ability to implement our business strategy, depends upon the ability of our dealer manager to establish and maintain a network of licensed securities broker-dealers and other agents. If our dealer manager fails to perform, we may not be able to raise sufficient proceeds through this offering to implement our investment strategy. If we are unsuccessful in implementing our investment strategy, a stockholder could lose all or a part of his or her investment.
Because our charter does not require our listing or liquidation by a specified date, stockholders should only view our shares as a long-term investment and should be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
In the future, our board of directors will consider alternatives for providing liquidity to our stockholders, which we refer to as a liquidity event. A liquidity event may include the sale of our assets, a sale or merger of our company or a listing of our shares on a national securities exchange. It is anticipated that our board of directors will consider a liquidity event within three to six years after the completion of our primary offering; however, the timing of any such event will significantly depend upon economic and market conditions after completion of our offering stage. Because our charter does not require us to pursue a liquidity event by a specified date, stockholders should only view our shares as a long-term investment and should be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
We pay substantial fees and expenses to our advisor and its affiliates. These fees were not negotiated at arm’s-length, may be higher than fees payable to unaffiliated third parties and reduce cash available for investment.
A portion of the offering price from the sale of our shares in our offering is used to pay fees and expenses to our advisor and its affiliates. These fees were not negotiated at arm’s-length and may be higher than fees payable to unaffiliated third parties. In addition, because the full offering price paid by stockholders will not be invested in hospitality assets, stockholders will only receive a full return of their invested capital if we either (1) sell our assets or our company for a sufficient amount in excess of the original purchase price of our assets or (2) the market value of our company after we list our shares of common stock on a national securities exchange is substantially in excess of the original purchase price of our assets.
Stockholders are limited in their ability to sell their shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program. Stockholders may not be able to sell any of their shares of our common stock back to us, and if they do sell they shares, they may not receive the price that they paid.
Our share repurchase program may provide stockholders with a limited opportunity to have their shares of common stock repurchased by us at a price equal to or at a discount from the purchase price of the shares of our common stock being repurchased. Unless the shares are being repurchased in connection with a stockholder’s death or qualifying disability, shares may not be repurchased under our share repurchase program until after the first anniversary of the date of purchase of such shares. Shares of our common stock are generally repurchased on a quarterly basis. However, our share repurchase program contains certain restrictions and limitations, including those relating to the number of shares of our common stock that we can repurchase at any given time and limiting the repurchase price. Specifically, we presently limit the number of shares to be repurchased to no more than the lesser of (1) 5.0% of the weighted-average number of shares of our common stock outstanding during the prior calendar year and (2) the number of shares of our common stock that could be purchased with the net proceeds from the sale of shares under our distribution reinvestment plan in the prior calendar year plus such additional funds as may be reserved for share repurchase by our board of directors; provided, however, that shares subject to a repurchase request upon the death of a stockholder will be included in calculating the maximum number of shares that may be repurchased, but the above limitation shall not apply to repurchases requested upon the death of a stockholder.
In addition, our board of directors reserves the right to amend or suspend the share repurchase program at any time or terminate the share repurchase program upon a determination that termination would be in our best interest. Therefore, a stockholder may not have the opportunity to make a repurchase request prior to an amendment, termination or suspension of the share repurchase program, and may not be able to sell any shares of our common stock back to us pursuant to our share repurchase program. Moreover, if a stockholder does sell his or her shares of common stock back to us pursuant to the share repurchase program, such stockholder may not receive the same price that such stockholder paid for any shares of our common stock being repurchased.
On January 4, 2017, our board of directors amended the share repurchase program to provide that our board of directors may amend,suspend or terminate the share repurchase program at any time upon 10 days’ prior written notice to our stockholders, which notice may be provided by including such information (i) in a current report on Form 8-K or in our annual or quarterly reports, all as publicly filed or furnished with the SEC, or (ii) in a separate mailing to our stockholders. We have suspended our share repurchase program twice, initially effective March 24, 2017, in connection with the mergers, and also on January 1, 2018, in connection with amending our registration statement to provide that our advisor will pay all selling compensation with respect to the Shares. Our board of directors reinstated the share repurchase program effective on the effective date of the mergers and the post-effective amendment, respectively.
Our board of directors has determined an estimated NAV per share of our common stock of $23.19 as of December 31, 2017. Stockholders should not rely on the estimated NAV per share as being an accurate measure of the current value of our shares of common stock.
On March 19, 2018, our board of directors determined an estimated NAV per share of each of our Class A shares, Class D shares, Class T shares and Class I shares of $23.19 as of December 31, 2017. The offering price of our shares of common stock in our offering is based on such determination. The objective of our board of directors in determining the estimated NAV per share was to arrive at a value, based on the most recent data available, that it believed was reasonable based on methodologies that it deemed appropriate after consultation with our advisor. However, the market for commercial real estate can fluctuate quickly and substantially and the value of our assets is expected to change in the future and may decrease. Also, our board of directors did not consider certain other factors, such as a liquidity discount to reflect the fact that our shares are not currently traded on a national securities exchange and the limitations on the ability to redeem shares pursuant to our share repurchase program.
As with any valuation method, the methods used to determine the estimated NAV per share were based upon a number of assumptions, estimates and judgments that may not be accurate or complete. Our assets have been valued based upon appraisal standards and the values of our assets using these methods are not required to be a reflection of market value under those standards and will not necessarily result in a reflection of fair value under generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Further, different parties using different property-specific and general real estate and capital market assumptions, estimates, judgments and standards could derive a different estimated NAV per share, which could be significantly different from the estimated NAV per share determined by our board of directors. The estimated NAV per share is not a representation or indication that, among other things: a stockholder would be able to realize the estimated NAV per share if he or she attempts to sell shares; a stockholder would ultimately realize distributions per share equal to the estimated NAV per share upon liquidation of assets and settlement of our liabilities or upon a sale of our company; shares of our common stock would trade at the estimated NAV per share on a national securities exchange; a third party would offer the estimated NAV per share in an arms-length transaction to purchase all or substantially all of our shares of common stock; or the methodologies used to determine the estimated NAV per share would be acceptable to FINRA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, or other regulatory authorities (including state regulators), with respect to their respective requirements. Further, the estimated NAV per share was calculated as of a specific time and the value of our shares will fluctuate over time as a result of, among other things, future acquisitions or dispositions of assets, developments related to individual assets and changes in the real estate and capital markets.
Because the price our stockholders will pay for shares in our offering is based on the estimated NAV per share, stockholders may pay more than realizable value when they purchase shares or receive less than realizable value for their investment when selling their shares.
We may only calculate our estimated NAV per share annually and therefore, stockholders may not be able to determine the net asset value of their shares on an ongoing basis.
We intend to determine an updated estimated NAV per share every year as of or about a date as of the last day of our fiscal year, or more frequently, in the sole discretion of our board of directors and intend to disclose that updated estimated NAV per share in our annual report on Form 10-K or a current report on Form 8-K that we file with the SEC. We may not calculate an estimated NAV per share for our shares more frequently than annually. Therefore, a stockholder may not be able to determine the estimated NAV of their shares on an ongoing basis. In addition, the recovery by our advisor of selling commissions, dealer manager fees and stockholder servicing fees through the receipt of the Contingent Advisor Payment, would negatively impact our estimated NAV per share. Furthermore, because we will include leverage in the calculation of the Contingent Advisor Payment, the use of more leverage could allow our advisor to recoup the payment of such fees more quickly than if we use less leverage. However, such an impact will not be reflected in our estimated NAV per share until we determine a new estimated NAV per share which, as noted above, may only be annually.
If we internalize our management functions, a stockholder’s interest in us could be diluted and we could incur other significant costs associated with being self-managed.
Our board of directors may decide in the future to internalize our management functions. If we do so, we may elect to negotiate to acquire our advisor’s assets and personnel. At this time, we cannot anticipate the form or amount of consideration or other terms relating to any such acquisition. Such consideration could take many forms, including cash payments, promissory notes and shares of our common stock. The payment of such consideration could result in dilution of our stockholder’s interests and could reduce the earnings per share and funds from operations per share attributable to their investment.
Additionally, while we would no longer bear the costs of the various fees and expenses we pay to our advisor under the advisory agreement, our direct expenses would include general and administrative costs, including legal, accounting and other expenses related to corporate governance, SEC reporting and compliance. We would also be required to employ personnel and would be subject to potential liabilities commonly faced by employers, such as workers disability and compensation claims, potential labor disputes and other employee-related liabilities and grievances as well as incur the compensation and benefits costs of our officers and other employees and consultants that we now expect will be paid by our advisor or its affiliates. We may issue equity awards to officers, employees and consultants, which awards would decrease net income and funds from operations and may further dilute your investment. We cannot reasonably estimate the amount of fees to our advisor we would save or the costs we would incur if we became self-managed. If the expenses we assume as a result of an internalization are higher than the expenses we avoid paying to our advisor, our earnings per share and funds from operations per share would be lower as a result of the internalization than it otherwise would have been, potentially decreasing the amount of funds available to distribute to our stockholders and the value of our shares.
If we internalize our management functions, we could have difficulty integrating these functions as a stand-alone entity. Currently, our advisor and its affiliates perform asset management and general and administrative functions, including accounting and financial reporting, for multiple entities. These personnel have a great deal of know-how and experience which provides us with economies of scale. We may fail to properly identify the appropriate mix of personnel and capital needs to operate as a stand-alone entity. An inability to manage an internalization transaction effectively could thus result in our incurring excess costs and suffering deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting. Such deficiencies could cause us to incur additional costs, and our management’s attention could be diverted from most effectively managing our real estate assets.
If we were to internalize our management or if another investment program, whether sponsored by our sponsor or otherwise, hires the employees of our advisor in connection with its own internalization transaction or otherwise, our ability to conduct our business may be adversely affected.
We rely on persons employed by our advisor and its affiliates to manage our day-to-day operations. If we were to effectuate an internalization of our advisor, we may not be able to retain all of the employees of our advisor and its affiliates or to maintain a relationship with our sponsor. In addition, some of the employees of our advisor and its affiliates provide services to one or more other investment programs. These programs or third parties may decide to retain some or all of our advisor’s key employees in the future. If this occurs, these programs could hire certain of the persons currently employed by our advisor and its affiliates who are most familiar with our business and operations, thereby potentially adversely impacting our business.
Our cash distributions are not guaranteed, may fluctuate and may constitute a return of capital or taxable gain from the sale or exchange of property.
The actual amount and timing of distributions has been and will be determined by our board of directors and typically will depend upon the amount of funds available for distribution, which will depend on items such as current and projected cash requirements and taxconsiderations. As a result, our distribution rate and payment frequency may vary from time to time. Our long-term strategy is to fund the payment of monthly distributions to our stockholders entirely from our funds from operations. However, we may need to borrow funds, request that our advisor in its discretion, defer its receipt of fees and reimbursements of expenses or, to the extent necessary, utilize offering proceeds in order to make cash distributions. Accordingly, the amount of distributions paid at any given time may not reflect current cash flow from operations. Distributions payable to stockholders may also include a return of capital, rather than a return on capital.
We have paid, and may continue to pay, distributions from the proceeds of our offering. To the extent that we pay distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, we will have reduced funds available for investment and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced.
Our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from any source, including net proceeds from our publicofferings, borrowings, advances from our sponsor or advisor and the deferral of fees and expense reimbursements by our advisor, in its sole discretion. Since our inception, our cash flow from operations has not been sufficient to fund all of our distributions. Of the $11,355,587 in total distributions we paid during the period from our inception through December 31, 2017, including shares issued pursuant to our DRP, $0, or 0%, were paid from cash provided by operating activities and $11,355,587, or 100%, were paid from offering proceeds. We may continue to fund distributions from the net proceeds from our offering or sources other than cash flow from operations. We have not established a limit on the amount of offering proceeds, or other sources other than cash flow from operations, which we may use to fund distributions.
If we are unable to consistently fund distributions to our stockholders entirely from our cash flow from operations, the value of your shares may be reduced, including upon a listing of our common stock, the sale of our assets or any other liquidity event should such event occur. To the extent that we fund distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, our fundsavailablefor investment will be reduced relative to the funds available for investment if our distributions were funded solely from cash flow from operations, our ability to achieve our investment objectives will be negatively impacted and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced. In addition, if we make a distribution in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, the distribution will be treated first as a tax-free return of capital, which will reduce the stockholder’s tax basis in its shares of common stock. The amount, if any, of each distribution in excess of a stockholder’s tax basis in its shares of common stock will be taxable as gain realized from the sale or exchange of property.
We have incurred net losses in the past and may incur net losses in the future, and we have an accumulated deficit and may continue to have an accumulated deficit in the future.
For the year ended December 31, 2017, we had a net loss of $15,045,000 and for the year ended December 31, 2016, we had a net loss of $2,273,471. We incurred a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $14,784,929 for year ended December 31, 2017 and $2,257,911 for the year ended December 31, 2016. Our accumulated deficit was $28,501,476 as of December 31, 2017 and $4,154,395 as of December 31, 2016. We may incur net losses in the future, and may continue to have an accumulated deficit.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
We, our sponsor and our advisor have limited experience in operating a public company or a REIT, and our failure to operate successfully or profitably could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate cash flow.
Our advisor and our sponsor and each of our advisor’s andsponsor’srespective officers or employees in their capacities with our advisor and our sponsor have limited experience operating a public company or an entity that has elected to be taxed as a REIT. To be successful, we must, among other things:
● | identify and acquire investments that align with our investment strategies; |
● | establish and maintain contacts with licensed securities brokers and other agents to successfully complete this offering; |
● | attract, integrate, motivate and retain qualified personnel to manage our day-to-day operations; |
● | respond to competition for our targeted real estate properties, real estate securities and debt-related investments as well as for potential investors in our shares; and |
● | continue to build and expand our operations structure to support our business. |
Our failure, or our advisor’s or sponsor’s failure, to operate successfully or profitably, and successfully integrate Moody I, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate cash flow to make distributions to our stockholders and could cause a stockholder to lose all or a portion of his or her investment in our shares.
Our success depends on the performance of our sponsor and affiliates of our sponsor.
Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions depends upon the performance of our advisor, our sponsor and other affiliates of our sponsor, and any adverse change in their financial health could cause our operations to suffer. Our sponsor and its other affiliates are sensitive to trends in the general economy, as well as the real estate and credit markets.
To the extent that any decline in revenues and operating results impacts our sponsor’s ability to provide our advisor with sufficient resources to perform its obligations to us pursuant to the advisory agreement, our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders could also suffer. Additionally, such adverse conditions could require a substantial amount of time on the part of the management of our advisor and its affiliates, particularly with regard to other real estate programs, thereby decreasing the amount of time they spend actively managing our investments.
We are uncertain of our sources for funding our future capital needs. If we do not have sufficient funds from operations to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to any hospitality properties we may acquire and cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our ability to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to our hospitality properties will be adversely affected.
We have, and will continue, to use the proceeds from our offering for investments in hospitality assets and for payment of operating expenses, various fees and other expenses, including the costs and expenses associated with the mergers. We may not have sufficient funds from operations to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to our properties. Accordingly, in the event that we develop a need for additional capital in the future for the improvement of our properties or for any other reason, that capital may not be available to us. If we do not have sufficient funds from cash flow generated by our investments or out of net proceeds from our initial public offering, or cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our financial condition and ability to make distributions may be adversely affected.
Public, non-listed REITs have been the subject of scrutiny by regulators and media outlets resulting from inquiries and investigations initiated by FINRA, the SEC and certain states. We could also become the subject of scrutiny and may face difficulties in raising capital should negative perceptions develop regarding public, non-listed REITs. As a result, we may be unable to raise substantial funds which will limit the number and type of investments we may make and our ability to diversify our assets.
Our securities, like other public, non-listed REITs, are sold through the independent broker-dealer channel (i.e. U.S. broker-dealers that are not affiliated with money center banks or similar financial institutions). Governmental and self-regulatory organizations like the SEC, the states and FINRA impose and enforce regulations on broker-dealers, investment banking firms, investment advisers and similar financial services companies. Self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA adopt rules, subject to approval by the SEC, that govern aspects of the financial services industry and conduct periodic examinations of the operations of registered investment dealers and broker-dealers.
Recently, FINRA and certain states have initiated investigations of broker-dealers with respect to the sales practices related to the sale of shares of public, non-listed REITs. The SEC has also approved rules proposed by FINRA that may significantly affect the manner in which public, non-listed REITs, such as our company, raise capital. These rules may cause a negative impact on our ability to achieve our business plan and to successfully sell shares in our initial public offering.
As a result of this increased scrutiny and accompanying negative publicity and coverage by media outlets, FINRA may impose additional restrictions on sales practices in the independent broker-dealer channel for public, non-listed REITs, and accordingly we may face increased difficulties in raising capital in this or any other offering. This could result in a reduction in the returns achieved on those investments as a result of a smaller capital base limiting our investments. If we become the subject of scrutiny, even if we have complied with all applicable laws and regulations, responding to such scrutiny could be expensive and distracting to our management.
Our stockholders and Moody I stockholders were diluted by the mergers.
The merger diluted the ownership position of our current stockholders and resulted in Moody I stockholders having an ownership stake in us that is smaller than their prior stake in Moody I. In connection with the mergers, we issued approximately 3.63 million shares of our Class A common stock to the former holders of Moody I common stock, based on the elections of Moody I’s stockholders. Accordingly, our current stockholders and former Moody I stockholders held approximately 57% and 43% of our common stock, respectively, following the merger. In addition, approximately 298,037 units of limited partnership interest in our operating partnership were issued in connection with the partnership merger. Consequently, our stockholders and Moody I stockholders, as a general matter, have less influence over the management and policies of us after the mergers than each exercised over the management and policies of us and Moody I, as applicable, immediately prior to the mergers.
We incurred debt in connection with the mergers, which may limit our financial and operating flexibility, and we may incur additional borrowings, which could increase the risks associated with our borrowings.
In connection with the mergers, we incurred additional debt (including the Term Loans, as defined and described below). Our new borrowings could have material adverse consequences for our business and may:
● | require us to dedicate a large portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our borrowings, which will reduce the availability of cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, and other business activities; |
● | increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; |
● | subject us to maintaining various debt, operating income, net worth, cash flow, and other financial covenants; |
● | limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and industry; |
● | restrict our operating policies and ability to make strategic acquisitions, dispositions, or exploiting business opportunities; |
● | place us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less borrowings; |
● | limit our ability to borrow more funds (even when necessary to maintain adequate liquidity), dispose of assets, or make distributions to stockholders; or |
● | increase our costs of capital. |
If new borrowings are added to our existing borrowing levels, the related risks that we now face would increase. In addition, at the time that any of our outstanding borrowings or new borrowings mature, we may not be able to refinance such borrowings or have the funds to pay them off.
In connection with the mergers, we assumed the liabilities of Moody I.
We have assumed the liabilities of Moody I in connection with the mergers. These liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business to the extent we have not identified such liabilities or have underestimated the amount of such liabilities.
Our future results will suffer if we do not effectively integrate and manage our expanded operations following the mergers.
We expanded our operations significantly in connection with the mergers and expect to continue to expand our operations through additional acquisitions and other transactions, some of which may involve complex challenges. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to manage expansion opportunities, which may pose substantial challenges to integrate new operations into our existing business in an efficient and timely manner, and upon our ability to successfully monitor our operations, costs, regulatory compliance and service quality, and to maintain other necessary internal controls. There is no assurance that our expansion or acquisition opportunities will be successful, or that we will realize the expected operating efficiencies, cost savings, revenue enhancements or other benefits.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Maryland law and our organizational documents limit your right to bring claims against our officers and directors.
Maryland law provides that a director will not have any liability as a director so long as he or she performs his or her duties in accordance with the applicable standard of conduct. In addition, our charter provides that, subject to the applicable limitations set forth therein or under Maryland law, no director or officer will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages. Our charter also provides that we will generally indemnify and advance expenses to our directors, our officers, our advisor and its affiliates for losses they may incur by reason of their service in those capacities subject to any limitations under Maryland law or in our charter. Moreover, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against these persons than might otherwise exist under common law. We may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by these persons in some cases. However, our charter provides that we may not indemnify our directors, our advisor and its affiliates for loss or liability suffered by them or hold our directors or our advisor and its affiliates harmless for loss or liability suffered by us unless they have determined that the course of conduct that caused the loss or liability was in our best interests, they were acting on our behalf or performing services for us, the liability was not the result of negligence or misconduct by our non-independent directors, our advisor and its affiliates or gross negligence or willful misconduct by our independent directors, and the indemnification or obligation to hold harmless is recoverable only out of our net assets, including the proceeds of insurance, and not from the stockholders. See “Management—Limited Liability and Indemnification of Directors, Officers and Others.”
The limit on the percentage of shares of our common stock that any person may own may discourage a takeover or business combination that may benefit our stockholders.
Our charter restricts the direct or indirect ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% of the value of the aggregate of our then outstanding shares of capital stock (which includes common stock and any preferred stock or convertible stock we may issue) and no more than 9.8% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate of our then outstanding shares of common stock unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board of directors. These restrictions may discourage a change of control of us and may deter individuals or entities from making tender offers for shares of our common stock on terms that might be financially attractive to stockholders or which may cause a change in our management. In addition to deterring potential transactions that may be favorable to our stockholders, these provisions may also decrease a stockholder’s ability to sell his or her shares of our common stock.
We may issue preferred stock, convertible stock or other classes of common stock, which issuance could adversely affect the holders of our common stock issued pursuant to this offering.
Our stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. We may issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, convertible stock or other classes of common stock with rights that could dilute the value of your shares of common stock. However, the issuance of preferred stock or convertible stock must be approved by a majority of our independent directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, who will have access, at our expense, to our legal counsel or to independent legal counsel. The issuance of preferred stock or other classes of common stock could increase the number of stockholders entitled to distributions without simultaneously increasing the size of our asset base.
Our charter authorizes us to issue 1,100,000,000 shares of capital stock, par value $0.01 per share, of which 1,000,000,000 shares are classified as common stockof which 250,000,000 shares are classified as Class A shares, 250,000,000 shares are classified as Class D shares, 250,000,000 shares are classified as Class I shares, 250,000,000 shares are classified as Class T shares, par value $0.01 per share and 100,000,000 shares are classified as preferred stock. Our board of directors, with the approval of a majority of the entire board of directors and without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of capital stock or the number of authorized shares of capital stock of any class or series. If we ever created and issued preferred stock or convertible stock with a distribution preference over common stock, payment of any distribution preferences of outstanding preferred stock or convertible stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our common stock. Further, holders of preferred stock are normally entitled to receive a preference payment in the event we liquidate, dissolve or wind up before any payment is made to our common stockholders, likely reducing the amount common stockholders would otherwise receive upon such an occurrence. In addition, under certain circumstances, the issuance of preferred stock or a separate class or series of common stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage:
● | a merger, tender offer or proxy contest; |
● | the assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities; and |
● | the removal of incumbent management. |
Our UPREIT structure may result in potential conflicts of interest with limited partners in our operating partnership whose interests may not be aligned with those of our stockholders.
We are structured as an “UPREIT,” which stands for “umbrella partnership real estate investment trust.” We use the UPREIT structure because a contribution of property directly to us is generally a taxable transaction to the contributing property owner. In the UPREIT structure, a contributor of a property who desires to defer taxable gain on the transfer of a property may transfer the property to our operating partnership in exchange for limited partnership interests and defer taxation of gain until the contributor later exchanges his or her limited partnership interests for shares of our common stock. We believe that using an UPREIT structure gives us an advantage in acquiring desired properties from persons who may not otherwise sell their properties because of unfavorable tax results.
Our operating partnership may issue limited partner interests in connection with certain transactions. Limited partners in our operating partnership have the right to vote on certain amendments to the operating partnership agreement, as well as on certain other matters. Persons holding such voting rights may exercise them in a manner that conflicts with the interests of our stockholders. As general partner of our operating partnership, we are obligated to act in a manner that is in the best interest of all partners of our operating partnership. Circumstances may arise in the future when the interests of limited partners in our operating partnership may conflict with the interests of our stockholders. These conflicts may be resolved in a manner stockholders do not believe are in their best interest.
In addition, Moody LPOP II, which holds special limited partnership interests in our operating partnership, is an affiliate of our advisor and, as the special limited partner in our operating partnership, may be entitled to: (1) certain cash distributions upon the disposition of certain of our operating partnership’s assets; or (2) a one-time payment in the form of cash or shares in connection with the redemption of the special limited partnership interests upon the occurrence of a listing of our shares on a national stock exchange or certain events that result in the termination or non-renewal of our advisory agreement. The special limited partnership interest holder will only become entitled to the compensation after stockholders have received, in the aggregate, cumulative distributions equal to their invested capital plus a 6.0% (or 8.0% in the case of former limited partners of Moody I OP) cumulative, non-compounded annual pre-tax return on such invested capital. This potential obligation to make substantial payments to the holder of the special limited partnership interests would reduce the overall return to stockholders to the extent such return exceeds 6.0% (or 8.0% in the case of former limited partners of Moody I OP).
We may grant stock-based awards to our directors, employees and consultants pursuant to our long-term incentive plan, which will have a dilutive effect on your investment in us.
We have adopted a long-term incentive plan which we use to attract and retain qualified directors, officers, employees, and consultants. The long-term incentive plan authorizes the granting of restricted stock, stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted or deferred stock units, dividend equivalents, other stock-based awards and cash-based awards to directors, employees and consultants of ours selected by the board of directors for participation in our long-term incentive plan. We currently intend only to issue awards of restricted stock to our independent directors under our long-term incentive plan. Accordingly, we have adopted an independent directors compensation plan as a sub-part of our long-term incentive plan, pursuant to which each of our independent directors is entitled to receive restricted stock in connection with their service on the board of directors and with other events. As of December 31, 2017, we had issued 35,000 shares of restricted stock to our independent directors pursuant to that plan.
If we issue additional stock-based awards to eligible participants under our long-term incentive plan, the issuance of these stock-based awards may dilute an investment in our shares of common stock. In particular, certain features of our long-term incentive plan could have a dilutive effect on an investment in us, including (1) a lack of annual award limits, individually or in the aggregate (subject to the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan), (2) the fact that the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan is not tied to the amount of proceeds raised in our initial public offering and (3) share counting procedures which provide that shares subject to certain awards, including, without limitation, substitute awards granted by us to employees of another company in connection with our merger or consolidation with such company, or shares subject to outstanding awards of another company assumed by us in connection with our merger or consolidation with such company, are not subject to the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan.
Your investment return may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act; if we are subject to registration under the Investment Company Act, we may not be able to continue our business.
Neither we, our operating partnership nor any of our subsidiaries intend to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our operating partnership’s and subsidiaries’ intended investments in real estate will represent the substantial majority of our total asset mix. In order for us not to be subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, we have engaged, and intend to continue to engage, through our operating partnership and our wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries, primarily in the business of buying real estate. These investments must be made within a year after this initial public offering ends.
Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the “40% test.” Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are U.S. government securities and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.
We believe that we, our operating partnership and most of the subsidiaries of our operating partnership will not fall within either definition of investment company under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act as we intend to invest primarily in real property through our operating partnership or our operating partnership’s wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, the majority of which we expect to have at least 60% of their assets in real property. As these subsidiaries would be investing either solely or primarily in real property, they would be outside of the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. We are organized as a holding company that conducts its businesses primarily through our operating partnership, which in turn is a company conducting its business of investing in real property either directly or through its subsidiaries. Both we and our operating partnership intend to conduct our operations so that we comply with the 40% test. We will monitor our holdings to ensure continuing and ongoing compliance with this test. In addition, we believe that neither we nor our operating partnership will be considered an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act because neither we nor our operating partnership will engage primarily or hold ourselves out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, through our operating partnership or our operating partnership’s wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we and our operating partnership will be primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring real property.
In the event that the value of investment securities held by a subsidiary of our operating partnership were to exceed 40% of the value of its total assets, we expect that subsidiary to be able to rely on the exclusion from the definition of “investment company” provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. Section 3(c)(5)(C), as interpreted by the staff of the SEC, requires each of our subsidiaries relying on this exception to invest at least 55% of its portfolio in “mortgage and other liens on and interests in real estate,” which we refer to as “qualifying real estate assets,” and maintain at least 80% of its assets in qualifying real estate assets or other real estate-related assets. The remaining 20% of the portfolio can consist of miscellaneous assets. What we buy and sell is therefore limited by these criteria. How we determine to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action letters issued by the SEC staff in the past and other SEC interpretive guidance and, in the absence of SEC guidance, on our view of what constitutes a qualifying real estate asset and a real estate-related asset. These no-action positions were issued in accordance with factual situations that may be substantially different from the factual situations we may face, and a number of these no-action positions were issued more than ten years ago. Pursuant to this guidance, and depending on the characteristics of the specific investments, certain mortgage loans, participations in mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine loans, joint venture investments and the equity securities of other entities may not constitute qualifying real estate assets and therefore investments in these types of assets may be limited. No assurance can be given that the SEC or its staff will concur with our classification of our assets. Future revisions to the Investment Company Act or further guidance from the SEC staff may cause us to lose our exclusion from the definition of investment company or force us to re-evaluate our portfolio and our investment strategy. Such changes may prevent us from operating our business successfully.
There can be no assurance that the laws and regulations governing the Investment Company Act status of REITs, including more specific or different guidance regarding these exclusions that may be published by the SEC or its staff, will not change in a manner that adversely affects our operations. For instance, in 2011, the SEC solicited public comment on a wide range of issues relating to Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act, including the nature of the assets that qualify for purposes of the exclusion. In addition, the SEC or its staff could take action that results in our or our subsidiary’s failure to maintain an exception or exemption from the Investment Company Act.
In the event that we, or our operating partnership, were to acquire assets that could make either entity fall within one of the definitions of an investment company under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act, we believe that we would still qualify for an exclusion from registration pursuant to Section 3(c)(6) of the Investment Company Act. Although the SEC staff has issued little interpretive guidance with respect to Section 3(c)(6), we believe that we and our operating partnership may rely on Section 3(c)(6) if 55% of the assets of our operating partnership consist of, and at least 55% of the income of our operating partnership is derived from, qualifying real estate assets owned by wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries of our operating partnership.
To ensure that neither we, our operating partnership or any of our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company, each entity may be unable to sell assets that it would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets that it would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we, our operating partnership or our subsidiaries may be required to acquire additional income or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise acquire or forego opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire. Although we, our operating partnership and our subsidiaries intend to monitor our portfolio periodically and prior to each acquisition and disposition, any of these entities may not be able to remain outside the definition of investment company or maintain an exclusion from the definition of an investment company. If we, our operating partnership or our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company but fail to do so, the unregistered entity would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and criminal and civil actions could be brought against such entity. In addition, the contracts of such entity would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of the entity and liquidate its business.
RISKS RELATED TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Potential investors not have the benefit of an independent due diligence review in connection with the offering.
Because our dealer manager is an affiliate of ours, investors will not have the benefit of an independent due diligence review and investigation of the type normally performed by an unaffiliated, independent underwriter in connection with a securities offering. The lack of an independent due diligence review and investigation increases the risk of an investment in us because it may not have uncovered facts that would be important to a potential investor.
We depend on our advisor and its key personnel and our business could suffer if any of such key personnel were to cease to be affiliated with our advisor.
Our ability to make distributions and achieve our investment objectives depends upon the performance of our advisor in the acquisition, disposition and management of real estate assets, the selection of tenants for our real properties and the determination of any financing arrangements. In addition, our success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of certain of the key personnel of our sponsor, including Brett C. Moody and Robert W. Engel, each of whom would be difficult to replace. We currently do not have key man life insurance on any of these key personnel. If our advisor were to lose the benefit of the experience, efforts and abilities of one or more of these individuals, our operating results could suffer.
We may compete with affiliates of our sponsor for opportunities to acquire or sell investments, which may have an adverse impact on our operations.
We may compete with affiliates of our sponsor for opportunities to acquire or sell hospitality properties. We may also buy or sell hospitality properties at the same time as affiliates of our sponsor. In this regard, there is a risk that our sponsor will select for us investments that provide lower returns to us than investments purchased by its affiliates. Certain of our affiliates own or manage hospitality properties in geographical areas in which we expect to own hospitality properties. As a result of our potential competition with affiliates of our sponsor, certain investment opportunities that would otherwise be available to us may not in fact be available. This competition may also result in conflicts of interest that are not resolved in our favor.
The time and resources that affiliates of our sponsor devote to us may be diverted, and we may face additional competition due to the fact that affiliates of our sponsor are not prohibited from raising money for, or managing, another entity that makes the same types of investments that we target.
Affiliates of our sponsor are not prohibited from raising money for, or managing, another investment entity that makes the same types of investments as those we target. For example, our advisor’s management team has successfully completed over 40 fully subscribed private placements in real estate programs of multiple property types with over 1000 investors across the United States and one public, non-listed REIT, Moody I, which terminated its primary offering on October 12, 2015 and which raised approximately $132 million. As a result, the time and resources they could devote to us may be diverted to other investment activities. Additionally, some of our officers serve as officers of investment entities sponsored by our sponsor and its affiliates. Since these professionals engage in and will continue to engage in other business activities on behalf of themselves and others, these professionals will face conflicts of interest in allocating their time among us, our advisor, and its affiliates and other business activities in which they are involved. This could result in actions that are more favorable to other affiliates of our advisor than us.
In addition, as noted above, we may compete with affiliates of our advisor for the same investors and investment opportunities. We may also co-invest with any such affiliate. Even though all such co-investments will be subject to approval by our independent directors, they could be on terms not as favorable to us as those we could achieve co-investing with a third-party.
Because other real estate programs sponsored by our sponsor and offered through our dealer manager may conduct offerings concurrently with this offering, our sponsor and dealer manager face potential conflicts of interest arising from competition among us and these other programs for investors and investment capital, and such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor.
Future programs that our sponsor may decide to sponsor may seek to raise capital through public or private offerings conducted concurrently with this offering. As a result, our sponsor and our dealer manager may face conflicts of interest arising from potential competition with these other programs for investors and investment capital. Such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and our stockholders will not have the opportunity to evaluate the manner in which these conflicts of interest are resolved before or after making their investment in our shares.
Our advisor and its affiliates, including our officers and some of our directors, face conflicts of interest caused by compensation arrangements with us and other affiliates of our sponsor, which could result in actions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
Our advisor and its affiliates receive substantial fees from us in return for their services and these fees could influence the advice provided to us. Among other matters, the compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to:
● | public offerings of equity by us, which allow our dealer manager to earn additional dealer manager fees; |
● | real estate acquisitions, which allow our advisor to earn acquisition fees upon purchases of assets and to increase asset management fees; |
● | real estate asset sales, since the asset management fees payable to our advisor will decrease and since our advisor will be entitled to disposition fees upon sales; |
● | the purchase of real estate assets from our sponsor and its affiliates, which may allow our advisor or its affiliates to earn additional asset management fees, hotel management fees and disposition fees; and |
● | whether and when we seek to list our common stock on a national securities exchange, |
Further, our advisor may recommend that we invest in a particular asset, pay a higher purchase price for the asset or use higher leverage to acquire an asset than it would otherwise recommend if it did not receive an acquisition fee. Certain potential acquisition fees and asset management fees payable to our advisor and hotel management and leasing fees payable to the property manager would be paid irrespective of the quality of the underlying real estate or hotel management services during the term of the related agreement. These fees may incentivize our advisor to recommend transactions with respect to the sale of a property or properties that may not be in our best interest at the time. Investments with higher net operating income growth potential are generally riskier or more speculative. In addition, the premature sale of an asset may add concentration risk to the portfolio or may be at a price lower than if we held on to the asset. Our advisor will have considerable discretion with respect to the terms and timing of acquisition, disposition and leasing transactions. In evaluating investments and other management strategies, the opportunity to earn these fees may lead our advisor to place undue emphasis on criteria relating to its compensation at the expense of other criteria, such as the preservation of capital, to achieve higher short-term compensation. Considerations relating to our affiliates’ compensation from us and other affiliates of our sponsor could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
Our advisor may have conflicting fiduciary obligations if we acquire assets from affiliates of our sponsor or enter into joint ventures with affiliates of our sponsor. As a result, in any such transaction we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
Our advisor may cause us to invest in a property owned by, or make an investment in equity securities in or real estate-related loans to, our sponsor or its affiliates or through a joint venture with affiliates of our sponsor. In these circumstances, our advisor will have a conflict of interest when fulfilling its fiduciary obligation to us. In any such transaction, we would not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The fees we pay to affiliates in connection with this offering and in connection with the acquisition and management of our investments were not determined on an arm’s-length basis; therefore, we do not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The fees to be paid to our advisor, our property manager, our sub-property managers (if any) and other affiliates for services they provide for us were not determined on an arm’s-length basis. As a result, the fees have been determined without the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties and could be in excess of amounts that we would otherwise pay to third parties for such services.
We may purchase real estate assets from third parties who have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates of our advisor, and, as a result, in any such transaction, we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
We may purchase assets from third parties that have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates of our advisor. The officers, directors or employees of our advisor and its affiliates and the principals of our advisor who also perform services for other affiliates of our sponsor may have a conflict in representing our interests in these transactions on the one hand and the interests of such affiliates in preserving or furthering their respective relationships on the other hand. In any such transaction, we will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties, and the purchase price or fees paid by us may be in excess of amounts that we would otherwise pay to third parties.
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTMENTS IN REAL ESTATE
Changes in national, regional or local economic, demographic or real estate market conditions may adversely affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
We are subject to risks generally attributable to the ownership of real estate assets, including but not limited to: changes in national, regional or local economic, demographic or real estate market conditions; changes in supply of or demand for similar properties in an area; increased competition for real estate assets targeted by our investment strategy; bankruptcies, financial difficulties or lease defaults by our tenants; changes in interest rates and availability of financing; and changes in government rules, regulations and fiscal policies, including changes in tax, real estate, environmental and zoning laws. These conditions, or others we cannot predict, may adversely affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
We have established investment criteria based on certain target markets and geographic areas. If our investments are concentrated in an area that experiences adverse economic conditions, our investments may lose value and we may experience losses.
Our hospitality properties may be concentrated in one or a few geographic locations, namely the East Coast, the West Coast and the Sunbelt regions of the United States. These investments carry the risks associated with significant geographical concentration. We have not established and do not plan to establish any investment criteria to limit our exposure to these risks for future investments, and we may experience losses as a result. A worsening of economic conditions in a geographic area in which our investments may be concentrated could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, the properties that we acquired in the mergers are located primarily in Texas, along with one property we already owned in Texas.
Changes in supply of, or demand for, similar real properties in a particular area may increase the price of real properties we seek to purchase and decrease the price of real properties when we seek to sell them.
The real estate industry is subject to market forces. We are unable to predict certain market changes including changes in supply of, or demand for, similar real properties in a particular area. Any potential purchase of an overpriced asset could decrease our rate of return on these investments and result in lower operating results and overall returns to our stockholders.
Competition with third parties in acquiring properties and other investments may reduce our profitability and the return on a stockholder’s investment.
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, including individuals, corporations, bank and insurance company investment accounts, other REITs and real estate limited partnerships, many of which have greater resources than we do. Larger REITs may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investments may increase. Any such increase would result in increased demand for these assets and therefore increased prices paid for them. If we pay higher prices for properties and other investments, our profitability will be reduced and a stockholder may experience a lower return on his or her investment.
Uninsured losses or premiums for insurance coverage relating to real property may adversely affect a stockholder’s returns.
There are types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments. Risks associated with potential acts of terrorism could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders sometimes require commercial property owners to purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. These policies may not be available at a reasonable cost, if at all, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our properties. In such instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. Changes in the cost or availability of insurance could expose us to uninsured casualty losses. In the event that any of our properties incurs a casualty loss which is not fully covered by insurance, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss. In addition, we cannot assure stockholders that funding will be available to us for repair or reconstruction of damaged hospitality property in the future.
Our hotel properties will be subject to property taxes that may increase in the future, which could adversely affect our cash flow.
Our hotel properties will be subject to property taxes that may increase as tax rates change and as our hotel properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. As the owner of the hotel properties, we are responsible for payment of the taxes to the applicable government authorities. If we fail to pay any such taxes, the applicable taxing authority may place a lien on the property and the property may be subject to a tax sale.
Our property manager’s or sub-property manager’s failure to integrate their subcontractors into their operations in an efficient manner could reduce the return on a stockholder’s investment.
Our property manager or sub-property manager may rely on multiple subcontractors for on-site hotel management of our properties. If our property manager and sub-property manager are unable to integrate these subcontractors into their operations in an efficient manner, our property manager or sub-property manager may have to expend substantial time and money coordinating with these subcontractors, which could have a negative impact on the revenues generated from such properties.
Actions of joint venture partners could negatively impact our performance.
We may enter into joint ventures with third parties, including with entities that are affiliated with our advisor. We may also purchase and develop properties in joint ventures or in partnerships, co-tenancies or other co-ownership arrangements with thesellersof the properties, affiliates of the sellers, developers or other persons. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present with a direct investment in real estate, including, for example:
Our stockholders● the possibility that our venture partner in an investment might become bankrupt;
● | that the venture partner may at any time have economic or business interests or goals which are, |
● | that such venture partner may be in |
● | the possibility that we may incur liabilities as a result of an action taken by such venture partner; |
● | that disputes between us and a venture partner may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and directors from focusing their time and effort on our business; |
● | the possibility that if we have a right of first refusal or buy/sell right to buy out a venture partner, we may be unable to finance such a buy-out if it becomes exercisable or we may be required to purchase such interest at a time when it would not otherwise be in our best interest to do so; or |
● | the possibility that we may not be able to sell |
Under certain joint venture arrangements, neither venture partner may have the power to control the venture and an impasse could be reached, which might have a negative influence on the joint venture and decrease potential returns to our stockholders. In addition, to the extent that our venture partner is an affiliate of our advisor, certain conflicts of interest will exist.
Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations related to environmental protection and human health and safety may be high.
All real property investments and the operations conducted in connection with such investments are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on customers, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on such real property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such real property as collateral for future borrowings. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which real property may be used or businesses may be operated. Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require us to incur material expenditures. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, our tenants’ operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our real properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our real properties. There are also various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply and which may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. In connection with the acquisition and ownership of our real properties, we may be exposed to such costs in connection with such regulations. The cost of defending against environmental claims, of any damages or fines we must pay, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements or of remediating any contaminated real property could materially and adversely affect our business, lower the value of our assets or results of operations and, consequently, lower the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
The costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act may reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
The real properties in which we may invest may also be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, or the ADA. Under the ADA, places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The ADA has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. With respect to the properties we acquire, the ADA’s requirements could require us to remove access barriers and could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties or, in some cases, an award of damages. We cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire properties that comply with the ADA or allocate the responsibility for compliance with the ADA to another third party, such as the seller or the tenant of the property. Any monies we use to comply with the ADA will reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
RISKS RELATED TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
A concentration of our investments in the hospitality industry may leave our profitability vulnerable to a downturn or slowdown in the sector.
We expect to continue to concentrate our investments in the hospitality sector. In addition, all of the real properties that we acquired in the mergers are hospitality properties. As a result, we will be subject to risks inherent in investments in a single type of property. If our investments are substantially in the hospitality sector, then the potential effects on our revenues, and as a result, on cash available for distribution to our stockholders, resulting from a downturn or slowdown in the hospitality sector could be more pronounced than if we had diversified our investments more.
A possible lack of diversification within the hospitality sector increases the risk of investment.
There is no limit on the number of hotels of a particular hotel brand which we may acquire, or on the number of hotels we may acquire in a specific geographic region. We have invested and plan to continue to invest primarily in the select-service hotel properties with premier brands including, but not limited to, Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt that are located in major metropolitan markets in the East Coast, West Coast and Sunbelt regions of the United States. If our hotel properties become geographically concentrated, or if we acquire a substantial number of hotel properties of a particular brand, an economic downturn in one or more of the markets in which we have invested or a negative event relating to a brand in which we have a concentration of hotels could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
If we do not successfully attract and retain franchise flagships for premier-brand, select-service hotel properties, our business will suffer, and this result will reduce the value of your investment.
Generally, we must attract and retain premier-brand hospitality franchises, including, Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt franchises, for any hotel properties we may choose to acquire. Hospitality franchises generally require that design and quality standards be met for guest room and common areas before a hospitality franchisor will agree to provide the franchise agreement to operate a property. Compliance with these brand standards may impose significant costs upon us. Failure to maintain our hospitality properties in accordance with these standards or comply with other terms and conditions of the applicable franchise agreement could result in a franchise license being canceled. If a franchise license terminates due to our failure to make required improvements or to otherwise comply with its terms, we may also be liable to the franchisor for a termination fee. The loss of a franchise license could materially and adversely affect the operations or the underlying value of the hotel property because of the loss associated with the brand recognition and the marketing support and centralized reservation systems provided by the franchisor. A loss of a franchise license for one or more hotel properties could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and our cash flows, including our ability to service debt and make distributions to our stockholders.
There are risks associated with employing hotel employees.
While we do not and will not directly employ or manage the labor force at our hospitality properties, we are subject to many of the costs and risks generally associated with the hotel labor force. Our property manager or sub-property manager (if any) is responsible for hiring and maintaining the labor force at each of our hotel properties and for establishing and maintaining the appropriate processes and controls over such activities. From time to time, the operations of our hotel properties may be disrupted through strikes, public demonstrations or other labor actions and related publicity. We may also incur increased legal costs and indirect labor costs as a result of the aforementioned disruptions, or contract disputes or other events. Significant adverse disruptions caused by union activities or increased costs affiliated with such activities could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and our cash flows, including our ability to service debt and make distributions to our stockholders.
Hospitality properties are illiquid investments, and we may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions or sell a property if or when we decide to do so.
Hospitality properties are illiquid investments. We may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. In addition, the hospitality property market is affected by many factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates, and supply and demand. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any real property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a real property. Additionally, we may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements.
In acquiring a hospitality property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that real property. All these provisions would restrict our ability to sell a property, which could reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our ability to make distributions to our stockholders will depend upon the ability of hotel managers to operate our hotels effectively.
We expect to invest the proceeds from this offering primarily in additional hotel properties. To qualify as a REIT, we cannot operate any hotel or directly participate in the decisions affecting the daily operations of any hotel. Our property manager or a third-party property manager or sub-property manager will have direct control of the daily operations of our hotels. We will not have the authority to directly control any particular aspect of the daily operations of any hotel (e.g., setting room rates). Thus, even if we believed the hotels were being operated in an inefficient or sub-optimal manner, we would not be able to require a change to the method of operation. Our only alternative for changing the operation of the hotels would be to replace the manager of one or more hotels in situations where the applicable management agreement permits us to terminate the existing manager.
Our ability to make distributions to stockholders will be impacted by the performance of the hotel managers in generating sufficient revenues from the hotels in excess of operating expenses. The hotel managers will be affected by factors beyond their control, such as changes in the level of demand for rooms and related services of the hotels, their ability to maintain and increase gross revenues and operating margins at the hotels and other factors. Therefore, any operating difficulties or other factors affecting the hotel managers’ ability to maintain and increase gross revenues and operating margins at the hotels could significantly adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
The use of internet travel websites by customers can adversely affect our profitability.
The use of internet travel intermediaries by consumers may cause us to experience fluctuations in our operating performance and otherwise adversely affect our profitability and cash flows. Our property managers will likely rely upon internet travel intermediaries such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, Hotels.com and Priceline.com to generate demand for our hotel properties. As internet bookings increase, these intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from our property managers. Moreover, some of these internet travel intermediaries are attempting to offer hotel rooms as a commodity, by increasing the importance of price and general indicators of quality (such as “three-star downtown hotel”) at the expense of brand identification. Consumers may eventually develop brand loyalties to their reservations system rather than the premier-brand, select-service hotel properties we intend to primarily invest in, which could have an adverse effect on our business because we will rely heavily on brand identification. If the amount of sales made through internet intermediaries increases significantly and our property managers fail to appropriately price room inventory in a manner that maximizes the opportunity for enhanced profit margins, room revenues may flatten or decrease and our profitability may be adversely affected.
Our profitability may be adversely affected by unstable market and business conditions and insufficient demand for lodging due to reduced business and leisure travel.
Any hotel properties that we own or may acquire will be subject to all the risks common to the hotel industry and subject to market conditions that affect all hotel properties. These risks could adversely affect hotel occupancy and the rates that can be charged for hotel rooms as well as hotel operating expenses, and generally include: increases in supply of hotel rooms that exceed increases in demand; increases in energy costs and other travel expenses that reduce business and leisure travel; reduced business and leisure travel due to continued geo-political uncertainty, including terrorism; adverse effects of declines in general and local economic activity; and adverse effects of a downturn in the hotel industry.
Competition in the hospitality industry and with third parties in acquiring properties may reduce our profitability and the return on a stockholder’s investment.
The hospitality industry is generally characterized as being intensely competitive. Any hotel in which we invest will compete with existing and new hotels and other short-term rental competitors in their geographic markets, including with independent hotels, hotels which are part of local or regional chains and hotels in other well-known national chains, including hotels and other short-term rental competitors offering different types of accommodations and services. The principal competitive factors that will affect the hotel properties in which we will seek to invest include, but are not limited to, brand recognition, location, range of services and guest amenities and the quality and price of the rooms and services provided. Any one of the foregoing could impact our profitability and ability to pay distributions.
We face significant competition for attractive hotel investment opportunities from other major real estate investors with significant capital, including both publicly traded REITs and private institutional investment funds. Because of competition from other well-capitalized real estate investors, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired hotel properties. Where it is possible to acquire desired hotel properties, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to do so on favorable terms or that such properties will meet our return expectations or conform to our investment criteria. The competition to acquire attractive hotel investment opportunities could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to pay distributions.
The hospitality industry is subject to unique, unforeseeable risks that may negatively impact our business and the value of your investment.
The hospitality industry is subject to unique, unforeseeable risks, such as natural disasters, pandemics and threats of pandemics, acts of terror and other catastrophes. We have no control over events of this type and they could have a substantial impact on the hospitality industry and our business if we decide to invest in additional hotel properties. Because we are unable to control the timing, duration or magnitude of these unforeseen events, the negative impact upon our business could be great.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH REAL ESTATE SECURITIES AND DEBT-RELATED INVESTMENTS
Disruptions in the financial markets and deteriorating economic conditions could adversely impact the commercial mortgage market as well as the market for debt-related investments generally, which could hinder our ability to implement our business strategy and generate returns for our stockholders.
As part of our investment strategy, we may acquire real estate-related loans, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments in the hospitality sector. The returns available to investors on these investments are determined by: (1) the supply and demand for such investments and (2) the existence of a market for such investments, which includes the ability to sell or finance such investments. During periods of volatility, the number of investors participating in the market may change at an accelerated pace. As liquidity or “demand” increases, the returns available to investors will decrease. Conversely, a lack of liquidity will cause the returns available to investors to increase. Continued or future instability may interfere with the successful implementation of our business strategy.
If we make or invest in mortgage loans, our mortgage loans may be affected by unfavorable real estate market conditions, which could decrease the value of those loans and the return on a stockholder’s investment.
If we make or invest in mortgage loans, we will be at risk of defaults by the borrowers on those mortgage loans. These defaults may be caused by many conditions beyond our control, including interest rate levels and local and other economic conditions affecting real estate values. We will not know whether the values of the properties securing our mortgage loans will remain at the levels existing on the dates of origination of those mortgage loans. If the values of the underlying properties drop, our risk will increase because of the lower value of the security associated with such loans.
To the extent we make or invest in mortgage loans, our mortgage loans will be subject to interest rate fluctuations that could reduce our returns as compared to market interest rates and reduce the value of the mortgage loans in the event we sell them; accordingly, the value of a stockholder’s investment would be subject to fluctuations in interest rates.
To the extent we invest in fixed-rate, long-term mortgage loans and market interest rates rise, the mortgage loans could yield a return that is lower than then-current market rates, which would lower the proceeds we would receive in the event we sell such assets. If market interest rates decrease, we will be adversely affected to the extent that mortgage loans are prepaid because we may have to originate new loans at the new, lower prevailing interest rate. To the extent we invest in variable-rate loans and interest rates decrease, our revenues will also decrease. Finally, to the extent we invest in variable-rate loans and interest rates increase, the value of the loans we own at such time would decrease, which would lower the proceeds we would receive in the event we sell such assets. For these reasons, if we invest in mortgage loans, our returns on those loans and the value of a stockholder’s investment will be subject to fluctuations in market interest rates.
The CMBS and CDOs in which we may invest are subject to several types of risks.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, are bonds which evidence interests in, or are secured by, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of commercial mortgage loans. Collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, are a type of debt obligation that are backed by commercial real estate assets, such as CMBS, commercial mortgage loans, B-notes, or mezzanine paper. Accordingly, the mortgage-backed securities we may invest in are subject to all the risks of the underlying mortgage loans.
In a rising interest rate environment, the value of CMBS and CDOs may be adversely affected when payments on underlying mortgages do not occur as anticipated, resulting in the extension of the security’s effective maturity and the related increase in interest rate sensitivity of a longer-term instrument. The value of CMBS and CDOs may also change due to shifts in the market’s perception of issuers and regulatory or tax changes adversely affecting the mortgage securities markets as a whole. In addition, CMBS and CDOs are subject to the credit risk associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. In certain instances, third-party guarantees or other forms of credit support can reduce the credit risk.
CMBS and CDOs are also subject to several risks created through the securitization process. Subordinate CMBS and CDOs are paid interest only to the extent that there are funds available to make payments. To the extent the collateral pool includes a large percentage of delinquent loans, there is a risk that interest payment on subordinate CMBS and CDOs will not be fully paid. Subordinate securities of CMBS and CDOs are also subject to greater credit risk than those CMBS and CDOs that are more highly rated.
The mezzanine loans in which we may invest would involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income-producing real properties.
We may invest in mezzanine loans that take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying real property or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of the entity owning the real property, the entity that owns the interest in the entity owning the real property or other assets. These types of investments involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage lending secured by income-producing real property because the investment may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender. In the event of a bankruptcy of the entity providing the pledge of its ownership interests as security, we may not have full recourse to the assets of such entity, or the assets of the entity may not be sufficient to satisfy our mezzanine loan. If a borrower defaults on our mezzanine loan or debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our mezzanine loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our investment. In addition, mezzanine loans may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the real property and increasing the risk of loss of principal.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH DEBT FINANCING
We will incur mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks, could hinder our ability to make distributions and could decrease the value of your investment.
We generally finance a portion of the purchase price of our investments by borrowing funds. We also incurred debt in connection with the mergers. Under our charter, we are prohibited from borrowing in excess of 300% of the value of our net assets. “Net assets” for purposes of this calculation is defined to be our total assets (other than intangibles), valued at cost prior to deducting depreciation, reserves for bad debts or other non-cash reserves, less total liabilities.Generally speaking, the preceding calculation is expected to approximate 75% of the aggregate cost of our real estate assets before non-cash reserves and depreciation. We may temporarily borrow in excess of these amounts if such excess is approved by a majority of the independent directors and is disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report, along with justification for such excess. In addition, we may incur mortgage debt and pledge some or all of our real estate assets as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire additional real estate assets or for working capital. We may also borrow funds as necessary or advisable to ensure we maintain our REIT tax qualification, including the requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to our stockholders (computed without regard to the distribution paid deduction and excluding net capital gains).However, there is no assurance that we will be able to obtain such borrowings on satisfactory terms.
High debt levels will cause us to incur higher interest charges, which would result in higher debt service payments and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from a property and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt on that property, then the amount available for distributions to stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. In that case, we could lose the property securing the loan that is in default, thus reducing the value of your investment. For tax purposes, a foreclosure on any of our properties will be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we will recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but we would not receive any cash proceeds. If any mortgage contains cross collateralization or cross default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. If any of our properties are foreclosed upon due to a default, our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.
Instability in the debt markets and our inability to find financing on attractive terms may make it more difficult for us to finance or refinance properties, which could reduce the number of properties we can acquire and the amount of cash distributions we can make to our stockholders.
If mortgage debt is unavailable on reasonable terms as a result of increased interest rates, underwriting standards, capital market instability or other factors, we may not be able to finance the initial purchase of properties. In addition, if we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance such debt when the loans come due, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when we refinance debt, our income could be reduced. We may be unable to refinance debt at appropriate times, which may require us to sell properties on terms that are not advantageous to us, or could result in the foreclosure of such properties. If any of these events occur, our cash flow would be reduced. This, in turn, would reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders and may hinder our ability to raise more capital by issuing securities or by borrowing more money.
Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt payments and negatively impact our operating results.
Interest we pay on our debt obligations will reduce cash available for distributions. If we incur variable rate debt, increases in interest rates would increase our interest costs, which would reduce our cash flows and our ability to make distributions to you. If we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When providing financing, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage a property, discontinue insurance coverage, or replace Moody National Advisor II, LLC as our advisor. In addition, loan documents may limit our ability to replace a property’s property manager or terminate certain operating or lease agreements related to a property. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment objectives.
Our derivative financial instruments that we may use to hedge against interest rate fluctuations may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates and could reduce the overall returns on your investment.
We may use derivative financial instruments to hedge exposures to changes in interest rates on loans secured by our real estate assets, but no hedging strategy can protect us completely. We cannot assure you that our hedging strategy and the derivatives that we use will adequately offset the risk of interest rate volatility or that our hedging transactions will not result in losses. In addition, the use of such instruments may reduce the overall return on our investments. These instruments may also generate income that may not be treated as qualifying REIT income for purposes of the 75% or 95% REIT gross income test.
FEDERAL INCOME TAX RISKS
Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our operations and our ability to make distributions.
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for our taxable year ended December 31, 2016 and will operate in a manner designed to permit us to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes.
Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our ongoing satisfaction of numerous requirements established under highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations and involve the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. The complexity of these provisions and of the applicable income tax regulations that have been promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code is greater in the case of a REIT that holds its assets through a partnership, as we do. Moreover, no assurance can be given that legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions will not change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of that qualification.
If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year for which we have elected to be taxed as a REIT and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we would be required to pay U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income, and distributions to our stockholders would not be deductible by us in determining our taxable income. In such a case, we might need to borrow money or sell assets in order to pay our taxes. Our payment of income tax would decrease the amount of our income available for distribution to our stockholders. Furthermore, we would not be required to distribute substantially all of our net taxable income to our stockholders. In addition, if we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year for which we have elected to be taxed as a REIT, unless we are eligible for certain statutory relief provisions, we could not re-elect to qualify as a REIT until the fifth calendar year following the year in which we failed to qualify. In addition, although we intend to operate in a manner intended to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause our board of directors to recommend that we revoke our REIT election.
We believe that our operating partnership will be treated for federal income tax purposes as a partnership and not as an association or as a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation. If the Internal Revenue Service were successfully to determine that our operating partnership should properly be treated as a corporation, our operating partnership would be required to pay federal income tax at corporate rates on its net income. In addition, we would fail to qualify as a REIT, with the resulting consequences described above.
Legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could adversely affect us or our customers.
Legislative, regulatory or administrative changes could be enacted or promulgated at any time, either prospectively or with retroactive effect, and may adversely affect us and/or our customers.
On December 22, 2017, tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax rules for taxation of individuals and corporations, generally effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. In addition to reducing corporate and individual tax rates, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminates or restricts various deductions. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary and apply only to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes numerous large and small changes to the tax rules that do not affect REITs directly but may affect our stockholders and may indirectly affect us.
While the changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally appear to be favorable with respect to REITs, the extensive changes to non-REIT provisions in the Internal Revenue Code may have unanticipated effects on us or our stockholders. Moreover, the process of adopting extensive tax legislation in a short amount of time without hearings and substantial time for review is likely to have led to drafting errors, issues needing clarification and unintended consequences that will have to be revisited in subsequent tax legislation. At this point, it is not clear when Congress will address these issues or when the Internal Revenue Service will issue administrative guidance on the changes made in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
We urge you to consult with your own tax advisor with respect to the status of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and any other legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in shares of our common stock.
To qualify as a REIT we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may result in us distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations.
To qualify as a REIT, we will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our real estate investment trust taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to federal income tax on any undistributed taxable income and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (1) 85% of our ordinary income, (2) 95% of our capital gain net income and (3) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on investments in real estate assets, and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds or sell assets to fund these distributions. If we fund distributions through borrowings, then we will have to repay debt using money we could have otherwise used to acquire properties. If we sell assets or use offering proceeds to pay distributions, we also will have fewer investments. Fewer investments may impact our ability to generate future cash flows from operations and, therefore, reduce your overall return. Although we intend to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid corporate income and excise taxes, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.
We may choose to pay dividends in a combination of cash and our own common stock, in which case stockholders may be required to pay income taxes in excess of the cash dividends they receive.
We may choose to pay dividends in a combination of cash and our own common stock. Under IRS Revenue Procedure 2017-45, as a publicly offered REIT, we may give stockholders a choice, subject to various limits and requirements, of receiving a dividend in cash or in our common stock. As long as at least 20% of the total dividend is available in cash and certain other requirements are satisfied, the IRS will treat the stock distribution as a dividend (to the extent applicable rules treat such distribution as being made out of our earnings and profits). As a result, U.S. stockholders may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends they receive. In the case of non-U.S. stockholders, we generally will be required to withhold tax with respect to the entire dividend, which withholding tax may exceed the amount of cash such non-U.S. stockholder would otherwise receive.
If the leases of our hotels to the TRS lessee are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT, we must annually satisfy two gross income tests, under which specified percentages of our gross income must be derived from certain sources, such as “rents from real property.” Rents paid to our operating partnership by the TRS lessee pursuant to the leases of our hotels will constitute substantially all of our gross income. In order for such rent to qualify as “rents from real property” for purposes of the gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not be treated as service contracts, financing arrangements, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. If our leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
If any hotel managers that we may engage do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” or if our hotels are not “qualified lodging facilities,” we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a “related party tenant” of ours generally will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs, but an exception is provided, however, for leases of “qualified lodging facilities” to a TRS so long as the hotels are managed by an “eligible independent contractor” and certain other requirements are satisfied. We expect to lease all or substantially all of our hotels to the TRS lessee, which is a disregarded subsidiary that is intended to qualify as a TRS. We expect that the TRS lessee will engage hotel managers, including our affiliated property manager and third-party property managers that are intended to qualify as “eligible independent contractors.” Among other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, the hotel manager must not own, directly or through its equity owners, more than 35% of our outstanding stock, and no person or group of persons can own more than 35% of our outstanding stock and the equity interests of the hotel manager, taking into account certain ownership attribution rules. The ownership attribution rules that apply for purposes of these 35% thresholds are complex, and monitoring actual and constructive ownership of our stock by our hotel managers and their owners may not be practical. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that these ownership levels will not be exceeded.
In addition, for a hotel management company to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, such company or a related person must be actively engaged in the trade or business of operating “qualified lodging facilities” (as defined below) for one or more persons not related to the REIT or its TRS at each time that such company enters into a hotel management contract with a TRS or its TRS lessee. No assurances can be provided that any hotel managers that we may engage will in fact comply with this requirement in the future. Failure to comply with this requirement would require us to find other managers for future contracts, and if we hired a management company without knowledge of the failure, it could jeopardize our status as a REIT.
Finally, each property that we lease to our TRS lessee must be a “qualified lodging facility.” A “qualified lodging facility” is a hotel, motel, or other establishment more than one-half of the dwelling units in which are used on a transient basis, including customary amenities and facilities, provided that no wagering activities are conducted at or in connection with such facility by any person who is engaged in the business of accepting wagers and who is legally authorized to engage in such business at or in connection with such facility. The REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code provide only limited guidance for making determinations under the requirements for qualified lodging facilities, and there can be no assurance that these requirements will be satisfied.
Recharacterization of sale-leaseback transactions may cause us to lose our REIT status.
We may purchase real properties and lease them back to the sellers of such properties. We cannot guarantee that the Internal Revenue Service will not challenge our characterization of any sale-leaseback transactions. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT qualification “asset tests” or the “gross income tests” and, consequently, lose our REIT status. Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated which might also cause us to fail to meet the distribution requirement for a taxable year.
Stockholders may have current tax liability on distributions if they elect to reinvest in shares of our common stock.
If stockholders participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, they will be deemed to have received a cash distribution equal to the fair market value of the stock received pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, which will be taxed as a dividend to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. As a result, unless a stockholder is a tax-exempt entity, such stockholders may have to use funds from other sources to pay their tax liability on the value of the common stock received.
Sales of our properties at gains are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax, which could reduce the return on a stockholder’s investment.
Our ability to dispose of property is restricted as a result of our REIT status. Under applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code regarding prohibited transactions by REITs, we will be subject to a 100% tax on any gain realized on the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) we own, directly or through a subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but excluding our taxable REIT subsidiaries, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of trade or business unless a safe harbor applies under the Internal Revenue Code. Whether property is inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. We intend to avoid the 100% prohibited transaction tax by (1) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a taxable REIT subsidiary, (2) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or through any subsidiary other than a taxable REIT subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction, or (3) structuring certain dispositions of our properties to comply with certain safe harbors available under the Internal Revenue Code. However, no assurance can be given that any particular property will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business or that a safe harbor will apply.
In certain circumstances, we may be subject to federal and state taxes as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
Even if we qualify as a REIT, we may be subject to federal and state taxes. For example, net income from a “prohibited transaction” will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not be able to make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. We may also decide to retain income we earn from the sale or other disposition of our real estate assets and pay income tax directly on such income. We may also be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, either directly or at the level of the companies through which we indirectly own our assets. In addition, our TRS will be subject to federal income tax and applicable state and local taxes on its net income. Any federal or state taxes we pay will reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our share repurchase program may provide our stockholders with a limited opportunity to have their shares of common stock repurchased by us at a price equal to or at a discount from the purchase price of the shares of our common stock beingrepurchased.Unless the shares are being repurchased in connection with a stockholder’s death or qualifying disability, shares may not be repurchased under our share repurchase program until after the first anniversary of the date of purchase of such shares.We anticipate that shares of our common stock may be repurchased on a quarterly basis. However, our share repurchase program contains certain restrictions and limitations, including those relating to the number of shares of our common stock that we can repurchase at any given time and limiting the repurchase price. Specifically, we presently intend to limit the number of shares to be repurchased to no more than the lesser of (1) 5.0% of the weighted-average number of shares of our common stock outstanding during the prior calendar year and (2) the number of shares of our common stock that could be purchased with the net proceeds from the sale of shares under the DRP in the prior calendar year plus such additional funds as may be reserved for share repurchase by our board; provided, however that shares subject to a repurchase request upon the death of a stockholder will be included in calculating the maximum number of shares that may be repurchased, but the above limitation shall not apply to repurchases requested upon the death of a stockholder. In addition, our board reserves the right to amend or suspend the share repurchase program at any time or terminate the share repurchase program upon a determination that termination would be in our best interests. Therefore, stockholders may not have the opportunity to make a repurchase request prior to a potential termination of the share repurchase program and may not be able to sell any of their shares of common stock back to us pursuant to our share repurchase program. Moreover, if investors do sell their shares of common stock back to us pursuant to the share repurchase program, they may not receive the same price they paid for any shares of our common stock being repurchased.
Our board of directors determined an estimated value per share of $25.03 for our shares of common stock as of October 31, 2015. You should not rely on the estimated value per share as being an accurate measure of the current value of our shares of common stock.
On November 12, 2015, our board of directors determined an estimated value per share of our common stock of $25.03 as of October 31, 2015. Our board of directors’ objective in determining the estimated value per share was to arrive at a value, based on the most recent data available, that it believed was reasonable based on methodologies that it deemed appropriate after consultation with our advisor. However, the market for commercial real estate can fluctuate quickly and substantially and the value of our assets is expected to change in the future and may decrease. Also, our board of directors did not consider certain other factors, such as a liquidity discount to reflect the fact that our shares are not currently traded on a national securities exchange and the limitations on the ability to redeem shares pursuant to our share repurchase plan.
As with any valuation method, the methods used to determine the estimated value per share were based upon a number of assumptions, estimates and judgments that may not be accurate or complete. Our assets have been valued based upon appraisal standards and the values of our assets using these methods are not required to be a reflection of market value under those standards and will not necessarily result in a reflection of fair value under GAAP. Further, different parties using different property-specific and general real estate and capital market assumptions, estimates, judgments and standards could derive a different estimated value per share, which could be significantly different from the estimated value per share determined by our board of directors. The estimated value per share is not a representation or indication that, among other things: a stockholder would be able to realize the estimated value per share if he or she attempts to sell shares; a stockholder would ultimately realize distributions per share equal to the estimated value per share upon liquidation of assets and settlement of our liabilities or upon a sale of our company; shares of our common stock would trade at the estimated value per share on a national securities exchange; a third party would offer the estimated value per share in an arms-length transaction to purchase all or substantially all of our shares of common stock; or the methodologies used to estimate the value per share would be acceptable to FINRA or ERISA with respect to their respective requirements. Further, the estimated value per share was calculated as of a moment in time and the value of our shares will fluctuate over time as a result of, among other things, future acquisitions or dispositions of assets, developments related to individual assets and changes in the real estate and capital markets. For additional information on the calculation of our estimated value per share as of October 31, 2015, see Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Purchases of Equity Securities—Market Information.”
If we internalize our management functions, stockholders’ interest in us could be diluted and we could incur other significant costs associated with being self-managed.
Our board may decide in the future to internalize our management functions. If we do so, we may elect to negotiate to acquire our advisor’s assets and personnel. At this time, we cannot anticipate the form or amount of consideration or other terms relating to any such acquisition. Such consideration could take many forms, including cash payments, promissory notes and shares of our common stock. The payment of such consideration could result in dilution of a stockholder’s interests and could reduce the earnings per share and funds from operations per share attributable to such investment.
Additionally, while we would no longer bear the costs of the various fees and expenses we pay to our advisor under the advisory agreement, our direct expenses would include general and administrative costs, including legal, accounting and other expenses related to corporate governance, SEC reporting and compliance. We would also be required to employ personnel and would be subject to potential liabilities commonly faced by employers, such as workers disability and compensation claims, potential labor disputes and other employee-related liabilities and grievances as well as incur the compensation and benefits costs of our officers and other employees and consultants that we now expect will be paid by our advisor or its affiliates. We may issue equity awards to officers, employees and consultants, which awards would decrease net income and funds from operations and may further dilute your investment. We cannot reasonably estimate the amount of fees to our advisor we would save or the costs we would incur if we became self-managed. If the expenses we assume as a result of an internalization are higher than the expenses we avoid paying to our advisor, our earnings per share and funds from operations per share would be lower as a result of the internalization than it otherwise would have been, potentially decreasing the amount of funds available to distribute to our stockholders and the value of our shares.
If we internalize our management functions, we could have difficulty integrating these functions as a stand-alone entity. Currently, our advisor and its affiliates perform asset management and general and administrative functions, including accounting and financial reporting, for multiple entities. These personnel have a great deal of know-how and experience which provides us with economies of scale. We may fail to properly identify the appropriate mix of personnel and capital needs to operate as a stand-alone entity. An inability to manage an internalization transaction effectively could thus result in our incurring excess costs and suffering deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting. Such deficiencies could cause us to incur additional costs, and our management’s attention could be diverted from most effectively managing our real estate assets.
If we were to internalize our management or if another investment program, whether sponsored by our sponsor or otherwise, hires the employees of our advisor in connection with its own internalization transaction or otherwise, our ability to conduct our business may be adversely affected.
We rely on persons employed by our advisor and its affiliates to manage our day-to-day operations. If we were to effectuate an internalization of our advisor, we may not be able to retain all of the employees of our advisor and its affiliates or to maintain a relationship with our sponsor. In addition, some of the employees of our advisor and its affiliates provide services to one or more other investment programs, including Moody National REIT I, Inc. These programs or third parties may decide to retain some or all of our advisor’s key employees in the future. If this occurs, these programs could hire certain of the persons currently employed by our advisor and its affiliates who are most familiar with our business and operations, thereby potentially adversely impacting our business.
Our cash distributions are not guaranteed, may fluctuate and may constitute a return of capital or taxable gain from the sale or exchange of property.
The actual amount and timing of distributions will be determined by our board and typically will depend upon the amount of funds available for distribution, which will depend on items such as current and projected cash requirements and taxconsiderations. As a result, our distribution rate and payment frequency may vary from time to time. Our long-term strategy is to fund the payment of monthly distributions to our stockholders entirely from our funds from operations. However, during the early stages of our operations, we may need to borrow funds, request that our advisor in its discretion, defer its receipt of fees and reimbursements of expenses or, to the extent necessary, utilize offering proceeds in order to make cash distributions. Accordingly, the amount of distributions paid at any given time may not reflect current cash flow from operations. Distributions payable to stockholders may also include a return of capital, rather than a return on capital.
We have paid, and may continue to pay, distributions from the proceeds of our initial public offering. To the extent that we pay distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, we will have reduced funds available for investment and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced.
Our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from any source, including net proceeds from our publicofferings, borrowings, advances from our sponsor or advisor and the deferral of fees and expense reimbursements by our advisor, in its sole discretion. Since our inception, our cash flow from operations has not been sufficient to fund all of our distributions. Of the $149,611 in total distributions we paid during the period from our inception through December 31, 2015, including shares issued pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, $149,611, or 100%, were funded from offering proceeds. Until we make substantial investments, we may continue to fund distributions from the net proceeds from our initial public offering or sources other than cash flow from operations. We have not established a limit on the amount of offering proceeds, or other sources other than cash flow from operations, which we may use to fund distributions.
If we are unable to consistently fund distributions to our stockholders entirely from our cash flow from operations the value of your shares may be reduced, including upon a listing of our common stock, the sale of our assets or any other liquidity event should such event occur. To the extent that we fund distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, our fundsavailable for investment will be reduced relative to the funds available for investment if our distributions were funded solely from cash flow from operations, our ability to achieve our investment objectives will be negatively impacted and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced. In addition, if we make a distribution in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, the distribution will be treated first as a tax-free return of capital, which will reduce the stockholder’s tax basis in its shares of common stock. The amount, if any, of each distribution in excess of a stockholder’s tax basis in its shares of common stock will be taxable as gain realized from the sale or exchange of property.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
We, our sponsor and our advisor have limited experience in operating a public company or a REIT, and our failure to operate successfully or profitably could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate cash flow.
We and our advisor are each recently formed companies. Our advisor and our sponsor and each of our advisor’s andsponsor’s respective officers or employees in their capacities with our advisor and our sponsor have limited experience operating a public company or an entity that has elected to be taxed as a REIT. To be successful, we must, among other things:
Our failure, or our advisor’s or sponsor’s failure, to operate successfully or profitably could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate cash flow to make distributions to our stockholders and could cause investors to lose all or a portion of their investments in our shares.
Our success depends on the performance of our sponsor and Moody National affiliates.
Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions depends upon the performance of our advisor, our sponsor and other affiliates of our sponsor, and any adverse change in their financial health could cause our operations to suffer. Our sponsor and its other affiliates are sensitive to trends in the general economy, as well as the real estate and credit markets. The market downturn in 2007 to 2009 has adversely impacted, and could continue to adversely impact, certain prior real estate programs of our sponsor’s affiliates, resulting in a decrease or deferral of distributions with respect to such programs. Certain prior real estate programs have also requested additional cash infusions from investors to fund outstanding debt service payments. Further such requests may be necessary in the future depending upon the then-current economic conditions. These adverse developments have resulted in a reduction in payments to investors for certain prior real estate programs.
To the extent that any decline in revenues and operating results impacts our sponsor’s ability to provide our advisor with sufficient resources to perform its obligations to us pursuant to the advisory agreement, our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders could also suffer. Additionally, such adverse conditions could require a substantial amount of time on the part of the management of our advisor and its affiliates, particularly with regard to other real estate programs, thereby decreasing the amount of time they spend actively managing our investments.
We are uncertain of our sources for funding our future capital needs. If we do not have sufficient funds from operations to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to any hospitality properties we may acquire and cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our ability to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to our hospitality properties will be adversely affected.
We have, and will continue, to use the proceeds from our initial public offering for investments in hospitality assets and for payment of operating expenses, various fees and other expenses. During the initial stages of our initial public offering, which we are currently in, we may not have sufficient funds from operations to cover our expenses or to fund improvements to our properties. Accordingly, in the event that we develop a need for additional capital in the future for the improvement of our properties or for any other reason, that capital may not be available to us. If we do not have sufficient funds from cash flow generated by our investments or out of net proceeds from our initial public offering, or cannot obtain debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, our financial condition and ability to make distributions may be adversely affected.
Public, non-listed REITs have been the subject of scrutiny by regulators and media outlets resulting from inquiries and investigations initiated by FINRA, the SEC and certain states. We could also become the subject of scrutiny and may face difficulties in raising capital should negative perceptions develop regarding public, non-listed REITs. As a result, we may be unable to raise substantial funds which will limit the number and type of investments we may make and our ability to diversify our assets.
Our securities, like other public, non-listed REITs, are sold through the independent broker-dealer channel (i.e., U.S. broker-dealers that are not affiliated with money center banks or similar financial institutions). Governmental and self-regulatory organizations like the SEC, the states and FINRA impose and enforce regulations on broker-dealers, investment banking firms, investment advisers and similar financial services companies. Self-regulatory organizations such as FINRA adopt rules, subject to approval by the SEC, that govern aspects of the financial services industry and conduct periodic examinations of the operations of registered investment dealers and broker-dealers.
Recently, FINRA and certain states have initiated investigations of broker-dealers with respect to the sales practices related to the sale of shares of public, non-listed REITS. The SEC has also approved rules proposed by FINRA that may significantly affect the manner in which public, non-listed REITs, such as our company, raise capital. These rules may cause a negative impact on our ability to achieve our business plan and to successfully sell shares in our initial public offering.
As a result of this increased scrutiny and accompanying negative publicity and coverage by media outlets, FINRA may impose additional restrictions on sales practices in the independent broker-dealer channel for public, non-listed REITs, and accordingly we may face increased difficulties in raising capital in our initial public offering. This could result in a reduction in the returns achieved on those investments as a result of a smaller capital base limiting our investments. If we become the subject of scrutiny, even if we have complied with all applicable laws and regulations, responding to such scrutiny could be expensive and distracting to our management.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Maryland law and our organizational documents limit your right to bring claims against our officers and directors.
Maryland law provides that a director will not have any liability as a director so long as he or she performs his or her duties in accordance with the applicable standard of conduct. In addition, our charter provides that, subject to the applicable limitations set forth therein or under Maryland law, no director or officer will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages. Our charter also provides that we will generally indemnify and advance expenses to our directors, our officers, our advisor and its affiliates for losses they may incur by reason of their service in those capacities subject to any limitations under Maryland law or in our charter. Moreover, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against these persons than might otherwise exist under common law. We may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by these persons in some cases. However, our charter provides that we may not indemnify our directors, our advisor and its affiliates for loss or liability suffered by them or hold our directors or our advisor and its affiliates harmless for loss or liability suffered by us unless they have determined that the course of conduct that caused the loss or liability was in our best interests, they were acting on our behalf or performing services for us, the liability was not the result of negligence or misconduct by our non-independent directors, our advisor and its affiliates or gross negligence or willful misconduct by our independent directors, and the indemnification or obligation to hold harmless is recoverable only out of our net assets, including the proceeds of insurance, and not from the stockholders.
The limit on the percentage of shares of our common stock that any person may own may discourage a takeover or business combination that may benefit our stockholders.
Our charter restricts the direct or indirect ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% of the value of the aggregate of our then outstanding shares of capital stock (which includes common stock and any preferred stock or convertible stock we may issue) and no more than 9.8% of the value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate of our then outstanding common stock unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board. These restrictions may discourage a change of control of us and may deter individuals or entities from making tender offers for shares of our common stock on terms that might be financially attractive to stockholders or which may cause a change in our management. In addition to deterring potential transactions that may be favorable to our stockholders, these provisions may also decrease a stockholder’s ability to sell its shares of our common stock.
We may issue preferred stock, convertible stock or other classes of common stock, which issuance could adversely affect the holders of our common stock issued pursuant to this offering.
Our stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. We may issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, convertible stock or other classes of common stock with rights that could dilute the value of your shares of common stock. However, the issuance of preferred stock or convertible stock must be approved by a majority of our independent directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, who will have access, at our expense, to our legal counsel or to independent legal counsel. The issuance of preferred stock or other classes of common stock could increase the number of stockholders entitled to distributions without simultaneously increasing the size of our asset base.
Our charter authorizes us to issue 1,100,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 1,000,000,000 shares of capital stock are designated as common stock, par value $0.01 per share and 100,000,000 shares of capital stock are classified as preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. Our board, with the approval of a majority of the entire board and without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of capital stock or the number of authorized shares of capital stock of any class or series. If we ever created and issued preferred stock or convertible stock with a distribution preference over common stock, payment of any distribution preferences of outstanding preferred stock or convertible stock would reduce the amount of funds available for the payment of distributions on our common stock. Further, holders of preferred stock are normally entitled to receive a preference payment in the event we liquidate, dissolve or wind up before any payment is made to our common stockholders, likely reducing the amount common stockholders would otherwise receive upon such an occurrence. In addition, under certain circumstances, the issuance of preferred stock or a separate class or series of common stock may render more difficult or tend to discourage:
Our UPREIT structure may result in potential conflicts of interest with limited partners in our operating partnership whose interests may not be aligned with those of our stockholders.
We are structured as an “UPREIT,” which stands for “umbrella partnership real estate investment trust.” We use the UPREIT structure because a contribution of property directly to us is generally a taxable transaction to the contributing property owner. In the UPREIT structure, a contributor of a property who desires to defer taxable gain on the transfer of a property may transfer the property to our operating partnership in exchange for limited partnership interests and defer taxation of gain until the contributor later exchanges his or her limited partnership interests for shares of our common stock. We believe that using an UPREIT structure gives us an advantage in acquiring desired properties from persons who may not otherwise sell their properties because of unfavorable tax results.
Our operating partnership may issue limited partner interests in connection with certain transactions. Limited partners in our operating partnership have the right to vote on certain amendments to the operating partnership agreement, as well as on certain other matters. Persons holding such voting rights may exercise them in a manner that conflicts with the interests of our stockholders. As general partner of our operating partnership, we are obligated to act in a manner that is in the best interest of all partners of our operating partnership. Circumstances may arise in the future when the interests of limited partners in our operating partnership may conflict with the interests of our stockholders. These conflicts may be resolved in a manner stockholders do not believe are in their best interest.
In addition, Moody LPOP II, which holds special limited partnership interests, is an affiliate of our advisor and, as the special limited partner in our operating partnership, may be entitled to: (1) certain cash distributions upon the disposition of certain of our operating partnership’s assets; or (2) a one-time payment in the form of cash or shares in connection with the redemption of the special limited partnership interests upon the occurrence of a listing of our shares on a national stock exchange or certain events that result in the termination or non-renewal of our advisory agreement. The special limited partnership interest holder will only become entitled to the compensation after stockholders have received, in the aggregate, cumulative distributions equal to their invested capital plus a 6.0% cumulative, non-compounded annual pre-tax return on such invested capital. This potential obligation to make substantial payments to the holder of the special limited partnership interests would reduce the overall return to stockholders to the extent such return exceeds 6.0%.
We may grant stock-based awards to our directors, employees and consultants pursuant to our long-term incentive plan, which will have a dilutive effect on your investment in us.
We have adopted a long-term incentive plan which we use to attract and retain qualified directors, officers, employees, and consultants. The long-term incentive plan authorizes the granting of restricted stock, stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted or deferred stock units, dividend equivalents, other stock-based awards and cash-based awards to directors, employees and consultants of ours selected by the board for participation in our long-term incentive plan. We currently intend only to issue awards of restricted stock to our independent directors under our long-term incentive plan. Accordingly, we have adopted an independent directors compensation plan as a sub-part of our long-term incentive plan, pursuant to which each of our independent directors is entitled to receive restricted stock in connection with their service on the board and with other events. We have issued 10,000 shares of restricted stock to our independent directors pursuant to that plan.
If we issue additional stock-based awards to eligible participants under our long-term incentive plan, the issuance of these stock-based awards may dilute an investment in our shares of common stock. In particular, certain features of our long-term incentive plan could have a dilutive effect on an investment in us, including (1) a lack of annual award limits, individually or in the aggregate (subject to the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan), (2) the fact that the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan is not tied to the amount of proceeds raised in our initial public offering and (3) share counting procedures which provide that shares subject to certain awards, including, without limitation, substitute awards granted by us to employees of another company in connection with our merger or consolidation with such company, or shares subject to outstanding awards of another company assumed by us in connection with our merger or consolidation with such company, are not subject to the limit on the maximum number of shares which may be issued pursuant to awards granted under the plan.
An investment return may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act; if we are subject to registration under the Investment Company Act, we will not be able to continue our business.
Neither we, our operating partnership or any of our subsidiaries intend to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our operating partnership’s and subsidiaries’ intended investments in real estate will represent the substantial majority of our total asset mix. In order for us not to be subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, we have engaged, and intend to continue to engage, through our operating partnership and our wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries, primarily in the business of buying real estate. These investments must be made within a year after our initial public offering ends.
Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the “40% test.” Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are U.S. government securities and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.
We believe that we, our operating partnership and most of the subsidiaries of our operating partnership will not fall within either definition of investment company under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act as we intend to invest primarily in real property through our operating partnership or our operating partnership’s wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, the majority of which we expect to have at least 60% of their assets in real property. As these subsidiaries would be investing either solely or primarily in real property, they would be outside of the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. We are organized as a holding company that conducts its businesses primarily through our operating partnership, which in turn is a company conducting its business of investing in real property either directly or through its subsidiaries. Both we and our operating partnership intend to conduct our operations so that we comply with the 40% test. We will monitor our holdings to ensure continuing and ongoing compliance with this test. In addition, we believe that neither we nor our operating partnership will be considered an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act because neither we nor our operating partnership will engage primarily or hold ourselves out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, through our operating partnership or our operating partnership’s wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we and our operating partnership will be primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring real property.
In the event that the value of investment securities held by a subsidiary of our operating partnership were to exceed 40% of the value of its total assets, we expect that subsidiary to be able to rely on the exclusion from the definition of “investment company” provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. Section 3(c)(5)(C), as interpreted by the staff of the SEC, requires each of our subsidiaries relying on this exception to invest at least 55% of its portfolio in “mortgage and other liens on and interests in real estate,” which we refer to as “qualifying real estate assets,” and maintain at least 80% of its assets in qualifying real estate assets or other real estate-related assets. The remaining 20% of the portfolio can consist of miscellaneous assets. What we buy and sell is therefore limited by these criteria. How we determine to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action letters issued by the SEC staff in the past and other SEC interpretive guidance and, in the absence of SEC guidance, on our view of what constitutes a qualifying real estate asset and a real estate-related asset. These no-action positions were issued in accordance with factual situations that may be substantially different from the factual situations we may face, and a number of these no-action positions were issued more than ten years ago. Pursuant to this guidance, and depending on the characteristics of the specific investments, certain mortgage loans, participations in mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities, mezzanine loans, joint venture investments and the equity securities of other entities may not constitute qualifying real estate assets and therefore investments in these types of assets may be limited. No assurance can be given that the SEC or its staff will concur with our classification of our assets. Future revisions to the Investment Company Act or further guidance from the SEC staff may cause us to lose our exclusion from the definition of investment company or force us to re-evaluate our portfolio and our investment strategy. Such changes may prevent us from operating our business successfully.
There can be no assurance that the laws and regulations governing the Investment Company Act status of REITs, including more specific or different guidance regarding these exclusions that may be published by the SEC or its staff, will not change in a manner that adversely affects our operations. For instance, in 2011, the SEC solicited public comment on a wide range of issues relating to Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act, including the nature of the assets that qualify for purposes of the exclusion. In addition, the SEC or its staff could take action that results in our or our subsidiary’s failure to maintain an exception or exemption from the Investment Company Act.
In the event that we, or our operating partnership, were to acquire assets that could make either entity fall within one of the definitions of an investment company under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act, we believe that we would still qualify for an exclusion from registration pursuant to Section 3(c)(6) of the Investment Company Act. Although the SEC staff has issued little interpretive guidance with respect to Section 3(c)(6), we believe that we and our operating partnership may rely on Section 3(c)(6) if 55% of the assets of our operating partnership consist of, and at least 55% of the income of our operating partnership is derived from, qualifying real estate assets owned by wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries of our operating partnership.
To ensure that neither we, our operating partnership or any of our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company, each entity may be unable to sell assets that it would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets that it would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we, our operating partnership or our subsidiaries may be required to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise acquire or forego opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire. Although we, our operating partnership and our subsidiaries intend to monitor our portfolio periodically and prior to each acquisition and disposition, any of these entities may not be able to remain outside the definition of investment company or maintain an exclusion from the definition of an investment company. If we, our operating partnership or our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company but fail to do so, the unregistered entity would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and criminal and civil actions could be brought against such entity. In addition, the contracts of such entity would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of the entity and liquidate its business.
RISKS RELATED TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
We depend on our advisor and its key personnel and our business could suffer if any of such key personnel were to cease to be affiliated with our advisor.
Our ability to make distributions and achieve our investment objectives depends upon the performance of our advisor in the acquisition, disposition and management of real estate assets, the selection of tenants for our real properties and the determination of any financing arrangements. In addition, our success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of certain of the key personnel of our sponsor, including Brett C. Moody and Robert W. Engel, each of whom would be difficult to replace. We currently do not have key man life insurance on any of these key personnel. If our advisor were to lose the benefit of the experience, efforts and abilities of one or more of these individuals, our operating results could suffer.
We may compete with affiliates of our sponsor, including Moody National REIT I, Inc. for opportunities to acquire or sell investments, which may have an adverse impact on our operations.
We may compete with affiliates of our sponsor, including Moody National REIT I, Inc. which generally invests in hospitality assets, and which has more resources than we do, for opportunities to acquire or sell hospitality properties. We may also buy or sell hospitality properties at the same time as affiliates of our sponsor. In this regard, there is a risk that our sponsor will select for us investments that provide lower returns to us than investments purchased by its affiliates. Certain of our affiliates own or manage hospitality properties in geographical areas in which we expect to own hospitality properties. As a result of our potential competition with affiliates of our sponsor, certain investment opportunities that would otherwise be available to us may not in fact be available. This competition may also result in conflicts of interest that are not resolved in our favor.
The time and resources that affiliates of our sponsor, or Moody National affiliates, devote to us may be diverted, and we may face additional competition due to the fact that Moody National affiliates are not prohibited from raising money for, or managing, another entity that makes the same types of investments that we target.
Moody National affiliates are not prohibited from raising money for, or managing, another investment entity that makes the same types of investments as those we target. For example, our advisor’s management team has successfully completed approximately 46 fully subscribed private placements in real estate programs of multiple property types with over 1,308 investors across the United States, and, in addition, our advisor’s management team also advises Moody National REIT I, Inc., which has primarily invested in hospitality assets. As a result, the time and resources they could devote to us may be diverted to other investment activities. Additionally, some of our directors and officers serve as directors and officers of investment entities sponsored by our sponsor and its affiliates, including Moody National REIT I. Since these professionals engage in and will continue to engage in other business activities on behalf of themselves and others, these professionals will face conflicts of interest in allocating their time among us, our advisor, and its affiliates and other business activities in which they are involved. This could result in actions that are more favorable to other affiliates of our advisor than us.
In addition, as noted above, we may compete with affiliates of our advisor for the same investors and investment opportunities. We may also co-invest with any such affiliate. Even though all such co-investments will be subject to approval by our independent directors, they could be on terms not as favorable to us as those we could achieve co-investing with a third-party.
Our advisor and its affiliates, including our officers and some of our directors, will face conflicts of interest caused by compensation arrangements with us and other Moody National affiliates, which could result in actions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
Our advisor and its affiliates receive substantial fees from us in return for their services and these fees could influence the advice provided to us. Among other matters, the compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to:
Further, our advisor may recommend that we invest in a particular asset or pay a higher purchase price for the asset than it would otherwise recommend if it did not receive an acquisition fee. Certain potential acquisition fees and asset management fees payable to our advisor and hotel management and leasing fees payable to the property manager would be paid irrespective of the quality of the underlying real estate or hotel management services during the term of the related agreement. These fees may incentivize our advisor to recommend transactions with respect to the sale of a property or properties that may not be in our best interest at the time. Investments with higher net operating income growth potential are generally riskier or more speculative. In addition, the premature sale of an asset may add concentration risk to the portfolio or may be at a price lower than if we held on to the asset. Our advisor will have considerable discretion with respect to the terms and timing of acquisition, disposition and leasing transactions. In evaluating investments and other management strategies, the opportunity to earn these fees may lead our advisor to place undue emphasis on criteria relating to its compensation at the expense of other criteria, such as the preservation of capital, to achieve higher short-term compensation. Considerations relating to our affiliates’ compensation from us and other Moody National affiliates could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
Our advisor may have conflicting fiduciary obligations if we acquire assets from affiliates of our sponsor or enter into joint ventures with affiliates of our sponsor. As a result, in any such transaction we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
Our advisor may cause us to invest in a property owned by, or make an investment in equity securities in or real estate-related loans to, our sponsor or its affiliates or through a joint venture with affiliates of our sponsor. In these circumstances, our advisor will have a conflict of interest when fulfilling its fiduciary obligation to us. In any such transaction, we would not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The fees we pay to affiliates in connection with our initial public offering and in connection with the acquisition and management of our investments were not determined on an arm’s-length basis; therefore, we do not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
The fees to be paid to our advisor, our property manager, our dealer manager and other affiliates for services they provide for us were not determined on an arm’s-length basis. As a result, the fees have been determined without the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties and could be in excess of amounts that we would otherwise pay to third parties for such services.
We may purchase real estate assets from third parties who have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates of our advisor, and, as a result, in any such transaction, we may not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties.
We may purchase assets from third parties that have existing or previous business relationships with affiliates of our advisor. The officers, directors or employees of our advisor and its affiliates and the principals of our advisor who also perform services for other Moody National affiliates may have a conflict in representing our interests in these transactions on the one hand and the interests of such affiliates in preserving or furthering their respective relationships on the other hand. In any such transaction, we will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiations of the type normally conducted between unrelated parties, and the purchase price or fees paid by us may be in excess of amounts that we would otherwise pay to third parties.
RISKS RELATED TO INVESTMENTS IN REAL ESTATE
Economic activity in the United States was adversely impacted by the global financial crisis of 2008 and future recessions, downturns, disruptions or instability could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
From time to time, the global capital markets may experience periods of disruption and instability, which could cause disruptions in liquidity in the debt capital markets, significant write-offs in the financial services sector, the re-pricing of credit risk in the broadly syndicated credit market and the failure of major financial institutions. Despite actions of U.S. and foreign governments, these events could contribute to worsening general economic conditions that materially and adversely impact the broader financial and credit markets and reduce the availability of debt and equity capital for the market as a whole and financial services firms in particular.
Beginning in the third quarter of 2007, global credit and other financial markets suffered substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity and disruption. These forces reached extraordinary levels in late 2008, resulting in the bankruptcy of, the acquisition of, or government intervention in the affairs of several major domestic and international financial institutions. In particular, the financial services sector was negatively impacted by significant write-offs as the value of the assets held by financial firms declined, impairing their capital positions and abilities to lend and invest. We believe that such value declines were exacerbated by widespread forced liquidations as leveraged holders of financial assets, faced with declining prices, were compelled to sell to meet margin requirements and maintain compliance with applicable capital standards. Such forced liquidations also impaired or eliminated many investors and investment vehicles, leading to a decline in the supply of capital for investment and depressed pricing levels for many assets. These events significantly diminished overall confidence in the debt and equity markets, engendered unprecedented declines in the values of certain assets, and caused extreme economic uncertainty.
Deterioration of economic and market conditions in the future could negatively impact credit spreads as well as our ability to obtain financing, particularly from the debt markets.
Changes in national, regional or local economic, demographic or real estate market conditions may adversely affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
We are subject to risks generally attributable to the ownership of real estate assets, including but not limited to: changes in national, regional or local economic, demographic or real estate market conditions; changes in supply of or demand for similar properties in an area; increased competition for real estate assets targeted by our investment strategy; bankruptcies, financial difficulties or lease defaults by our tenants; changes in interest rates and availability of financing; and changes in government rules, regulations and fiscal policies, including changes in tax, real estate, environmental and zoning laws. These conditions, or others we cannot predict, may adversely affect our results of operations and returns to our stockholders.
We have established investment criteria based on certain target markets and geographic areas. If our investments are concentrated in an area that experiences adverse economic conditions our investments may lose value and we may experience losses.
Our hospitality properties may be concentrated in one or a few geographic locations, namely the East Coast, the West Coast and the Sunbelt regions of the United States. For example, as of December 31, 2015, we owned one property in the Austin, Texas market. These investments may carry the risks associated with significant geographical concentration. We have not established and do not plan to establish any investment criteria to limit our exposure to these risks for future investments, and we may experience losses as a result. A worsening of economic conditions in the geographic area in which our investments may be concentrated could have an adverse effect on our business.
Changes in supply of, or demand for, similar real properties in a particular area may increase the price of real properties we seek to purchase and decrease the price of real properties when we seek to sell them.
The real estate industry is subject to market forces. We are unable to predict certain market changes including changes in supply of, or demand for, similar real properties in a particular area. Any potential purchase of an overpriced asset could decrease our rate of return on these investments and result in lower operating results and overall returns to our stockholders.
Competition with third parties in acquiring properties and other investments may reduce our profitability and the return on your investment.
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, including individuals, corporations, bank and insurance company investment accounts, other REITs, real estate limited partnerships, and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, many of which have greater resources than we do. Larger REITs may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investments may increase. Any such increase would result in increased demand for these assets and therefore increased prices paid for them. If we pay higher prices for properties and other investments, our profitability will be reduced and you may experience a lower return on your investment.
Uninsured losses or premiums for insurance coverage relating to real property may adversely affect your returns.
There are types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments. Risks associated with potential acts of terrorism could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders sometimes require commercial property owners to purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. These policies may not be available at a reasonable cost, if at all, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our properties. In such instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. Changes in the cost or availability of insurance could expose us to uninsured casualty losses. In the event that any of our properties incurs a casualty loss which is not fully covered by insurance, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss. In addition, we cannot assure you that funding will be available to us for repair or reconstruction of damaged hospitality property in the future.
Our hotel properties will be subject to property taxes that may increase in the future, which could adversely affect our cash flow.
Our hotel properties will be subject to property taxes that may increase as tax rates change and as our hotel properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. As the owner of the hotel properties, we are responsible for payment of the taxes to the applicable government authorities. If we fail to pay any such taxes, the applicable taxing authority may place a lien on the property and the property may be subject to a tax sale.
Our property manager’s or sub-property manager’s failure to integrate their subcontractors into their operations in an efficient manner could reduce the return on your investment.
Our property manager or sub-property manager may rely on multiple subcontractors for on-site hotel management of our properties. If our property manager and sub-property manager are unable to integrate these subcontractors into their operations in an efficient manner, our property manager or sub-property manager may have to expend substantial time and money coordinating with these subcontractors, which could have a negative impact on the revenues generated from such properties.
Actions of joint venture partners could negatively impact our performance.
We may enter into joint ventures with third parties, including with entities that are affiliated with our advisor. We may also purchase and develop properties in joint ventures or in partnerships, co-tenancies or other co-ownership arrangements with thesellers of the properties, affiliates of the sellers, developers or other persons. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present with a direct investment in real estate, including, for example:
Under certain joint venture arrangements, neither venture partner may have the power to control the venture and an impasse could be reached, which might have a negative influence on the joint venture and decrease potential returns to our investors. In addition, to the extent that our venture partner is an affiliate of our advisor, certain conflicts of interest will exist.
Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations related to environmental protection and human health and safety may be high.
All real property investments and the operations conducted in connection with such investments are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on customers, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on such real property. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such real property as collateral for future borrowings. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which real property may be used or businesses may be operated. Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require us to incur material expenditures. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, our tenants’ operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our real properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our real properties. There are also various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply and which may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. In connection with the acquisition and ownership of our real properties, we may be exposed to such costs in connection with such regulations. The cost of defending against environmental claims, of any damages or fines we must pay, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements or of remediating any contaminated real property could materially and adversely affect our business, lower the value of our assets or results of operations and, consequently, lower the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
The costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act may reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
The real properties in which we may invest may also be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, or the ADA. Under the ADA, places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The ADA has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. With respect to the properties we acquire, the ADA’s requirements could require us to remove access barriers and could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties or, in some cases, an award of damages. We cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire properties that comply with the ADA or allocate the responsibility for compliance with the ADA to another third party, such as the seller or the tenant of the property. Any monies we use to comply with the ADA will reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
RISKS RELATED TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
A concentration of our investments in the hospitality industry may leave our profitability vulnerable to a downturn or slowdown in the sector.
We expect to concentrate our investments in the hospitality sector. As a result, we will be subject to risks inherent in investments in a single type of property. If our investments are substantially in the hospitality sector, then the potential effects on our revenues, and as a result, on cash available for distribution to our stockholders, resulting from a downturn or slowdown in the hospitality sector could be more pronounced than if we had diversified our investments more.
A possible lack of diversification within the hospitality sector increases the risk of investment.
There is no limit on the number of hotels of a particular hotel brand which we may acquire, or on the number of hotels we may acquire in a specific geographic region. We plan to invest primarily in the select-service hotel properties with premier brands including, but not limited to, Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt that are located in major metropolitan markets in the East Coast, West Coast and Sunbelt regions of the United States. If our hotel properties become geographically concentrated, or if we acquire a substantial number of hotel properties of a particular brand, an economic downturn in one or more of the markets in which we have invested or a negative event relating to a brand in which we have a concentration of hotels could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
If we do not successfully attract and retain franchise flagships for premier-brand, select-service hotel properties, our business will suffer, and this result will reduce the value of your investment.
Generally, we must attract and retain premier-brand hospitality franchises, including, Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt franchises, for any hotel properties we may choose to acquire. Hospitality franchises generally require that design and quality standards be met for guest room and common areas before a hospitality franchisor will agree to provide the franchise agreement to operate a property. Compliance with these brand standards may impose significant costs upon us. Failure to maintain our hospitality properties in accordance with these standards or comply with other terms and conditions of the applicable franchise agreement could result in a franchise license being canceled. If a franchise license terminates due to our failure to make required improvements or to otherwise comply with its terms, we may also be liable to the franchisor for a termination fee. The loss of a franchise license could materially and adversely affect the operations or the underlying value of the hotel property because of the loss associated with the brand recognition and the marketing support and centralized reservation systems provided by the franchisor. A loss of a franchise license for one or more hotel properties could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and our cash flows, including our ability to service debt and make distributions to our stockholders.
There are risks associated with employing hotel employees.
While we will not directly employ or manage the labor force at our hospitality properties, we will be subject to many of the costs and risks generally associated with the hotel labor force. Our property manager or sub-property manager will be responsible for hiring and maintaining the labor force at each of our hotel properties and for establishing and maintaining the appropriate processes and controls over such activities. From time to time, the operations of our hotel properties may be disrupted through strikes, public demonstrations or other labor actions and related publicity. We may also incur increased legal costs and indirect labor costs as a result of the aforementioned disruptions, or contract disputes or other events. Significant adverse disruptions caused by union activities or increased costs affiliated with such activities could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and our cash flows, including our ability to service debt and make distributions to our stockholders.
Hospitality properties are illiquid investments, and we may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions or sell a property if or when we decide to do so.
Hospitality properties are illiquid investments. We may be unable to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. In addition, the hospitality property market is affected by many factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates, and supply and demand. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any real property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a real property. Additionally, we may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements.
In acquiring a hospitality property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that real property. All these provisions would restrict our ability to sell a property, which could reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our ability to make distributions to our stockholders will depend upon the ability of hotel managers to operate our hotels effectively.
We expect to invest the proceeds from this offering primarily in hotel properties. To qualify as a REIT, we cannot operate any hotel or directly participate in the decisions affecting the daily operations of any hotel. Our property manager or a third-party property manager or sub-property manager will have direct control of the daily operations of our hotels. We will not have the authority to directly control any particular aspect of the daily operations of any hotel (e.g., setting room rates). Thus, even if we believed the hotels were being operated in an inefficient or sub-optimal manner, we would not be able to require a change to the method of operation. Our only alternative for changing the operation of the hotels would be to replace the manager of one or more hotels in situations where the applicable management agreement permits us to terminate the existing manager.
Our ability to make distributions to stockholders will be impacted by the performance of the hotel managers in generating sufficient revenues from the hotels in excess of operating expenses. The hotel managers will be affected by factors beyond their control, such as changes in the level of demand for rooms and related services of the hotels, their ability to maintain and increase gross revenues and operating margins at the hotels and other factors. Therefore, any operating difficulties or other factors affecting the hotel managers’ ability to maintain and increase gross revenues and operating margins at the hotels could significantly adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
The expanding use of internet travel websites by customers can adversely affect our profitability.
The increasing use of internet travel intermediaries by consumers may cause us to experience fluctuations in our operating performance and otherwise adversely affect our profitability and cash flows. Our property managers will likely rely upon Internet travel intermediaries such as Travelocity.com, Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, Hotels.com and Priceline.com to generate demand for our hotel properties. As Internet bookings increase, these intermediaries may be able to obtain higher commissions, reduced room rates or other significant contract concessions from our property managers. Moreover, some of these Internet travel intermediaries are attempting to offer hotel rooms as a commodity, by increasing the importance of price and general indicators of quality (such as “three-star downtown hotel”) at the expense of brand identification. Consumers may eventually develop brand loyalties to their reservations system rather than the premier-brand, select-service hotel properties we intend to primarily invest in, which could have an adverse effect on our business because we will rely heavily on brand identification. If the amount of sales made through Internet intermediaries increases significantly and our property managers fail to appropriately price room inventory in a manner that maximizes the opportunity for enhanced profit margins, room revenues may flatten or decrease and our profitability may be adversely affected.
Our profitability may be adversely affected by unstable market and business conditions and insufficient demand for lodging due to reduced business and leisure travel.
Any hotel properties that we may acquire will be subject to all the risks common to the hotel industry and subject to market conditions that affect all hotel properties. These risks could adversely affect hotel occupancy and the rates that can be charged for hotel rooms as well as hotel operating expenses, and generally include: increases in supply of hotel rooms that exceed increases in demand; increases in energy costs and other travel expenses that reduce business and leisure travel; reduced business and leisure travel due to continued geo-political uncertainty, including terrorism; adverse effects of declines in general and local economic activity; and adverse effects of a downturn in the hotel industry.
Competition in the hospitality industry and with third parties in acquiring properties may reduce our profitability and the return on your investment.
The hospitality industry is generally characterized as being intensely competitive. Any hotel in which we invest will compete with existing and new hotels in their geographic markets, including with independent hotels, hotels which are part of local or regional chains and hotels in other well-known national chains, including those offering different types of accommodations and services. The principal competitive factors that will affect the hotel properties in which we will seek to invest include, but are not limited to, brand recognition, location, range of services and guest amenities and the quality and price of the hotel rooms and services provided. Any one of the foregoing could impact our profitability and ability to pay distributions.
We face significant competition for attractive hotel investment opportunities from other major real estate investors with significant capital, including both publicly traded REITs and private institutional investment funds. Because of competition from other well-capitalized real estate investors, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired hotel properties. Where it is possible to acquire desired hotel properties, we can provide no assurance that we will be able to do so on favorable terms or that such properties will meet our return expectations or conform to our investment criteria. The competition to acquire attractive hotel investment opportunities could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to pay distributions.
The hospitality industry is subject to unique, unforeseeable risks that may negatively impact our business and the value of your investment.
The hospitality industry is subject to unique, unforeseeable risks, such as natural disasters, pandemics and threats of pandemics, acts of terror and other catastrophes. We have no control over events of this type and they could have a substantial impact on the hospitality industry and our business if we decide to invest in additional hotel properties. Because we are unable to control the timing, duration or magnitude of these unforeseen events, the negative impact upon our business could be great.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH REAL ESTATE SECURITIES AND DEBT-RELATED INVESTMENTS
Disruptions in the financial markets and deteriorating economic conditions could adversely impact the commercial mortgage market as well as the market for debt-related investments generally, which could hinder our ability to implement our business strategy and generate returns for our stockholders.
As part of our investment strategy, we may acquire real estate-related loans, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments in the hospitality sector. The returns available to investors on these investments are determined by: (1) the supply and demand for such investments and (2) the existence of a market for such investments, which includes the ability to sell or finance such investments. During periods of volatility, the number of investors participating in the market may change at an accelerated pace. As liquidity or “demand” increases, the returns available to investors will decrease. Conversely, a lack of liquidity will cause the returns available to investors to increase. Recently, concerns pertaining to the deterioration of credit in the residential mortgage market have expanded to almost all areas of the debt capital markets including corporate bonds, asset-backed securities and commercial real estate mortgages and loans. Continued or future instability may interfere with the successful implementation of our business strategy.
If we make or invest in mortgage loans, our mortgage loans may be affected by unfavorable real estate market conditions, which could decrease the value of those loans and the return on your investment.
If we make or invest in mortgage loans, we will be at risk of defaults by the borrowers on those mortgage loans. These defaults may be caused by many conditions beyond our control, including interest rate levels and local and other economic conditions affecting real estate values. We will not know whether the values of the properties securing our mortgage loans will remain at the levels existing on the dates of origination of those mortgage loans. If the values of the underlying properties drop, our risk will increase because of the lower value of the security associated with such loans.
To the extent we make or invest in mortgage loans, our mortgage loans will be subject to interest rate fluctuations that could reduce our returns as compared to market interest rates and reduce the value of the mortgage loans in the event we sell them; accordingly, the value of your investment would be subject to fluctuations in interest rates.
To the extent we invest in fixed-rate, long-term mortgage loans and market interest rates rise, the mortgage loans could yield a return that is lower than then-current market rates, which would lower the proceeds we would receive in the event we sell such assets. If market interest rates decrease, we will be adversely affected to the extent that mortgage loans are prepaid because we may have to originate new loans at the new, lower prevailing interest rate. To the extent we invest in variable-rate loans and interest rates decrease, our revenues will also decrease. Finally, to the extent we invest in variable-rate loans and interest rates increase, the value of the loans we own at such time would decrease, which would lower the proceeds we would receive in the event we sell such assets. For these reasons, if we invest in mortgage loans, our returns on those loans and the value of your investment will be subject to fluctuations in market interest rates.
The CMBS and CDOs in which we may invest are subject to several types of risks.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, are bonds which evidence interests in, or are secured by, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of commercial mortgage loans. Collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, are a type of debt obligation that are backed by commercial real estate assets, such as CMBS, commercial mortgage loans, B-notes, or mezzanine paper. Accordingly, the mortgage backed securities we may invest in are subject to all the risks of the underlying mortgage loans.
In a rising interest rate environment, the value of CMBS and CDOs may be adversely affected when payments on underlying mortgages do not occur as anticipated, resulting in the extension of the security’s effective maturity and the related increase in interest rate sensitivity of a longer-term instrument. The value of CMBS and CDOs may also change due to shifts in the market’s perception of issuers and regulatory or tax changes adversely affecting the mortgage securities markets as a whole. In addition, CMBS and CDOs are subject to the credit risk associated with the performance of the underlying mortgage properties. In certain instances, third-party guarantees or other forms of credit support can reduce the credit risk.
CMBS and CDOs are also subject to several risks created through the securitization process. Subordinate CMBS and CDOs are paid interest only to the extent that there are funds available to make payments. To the extent the collateral pool includes a large percentage of delinquent loans, there is a risk that interest payment on subordinate CMBS and CDOs will not be fully paid. Subordinate securities of CMBS and CDOs are also subject to greater credit risk than those CMBS and CDOs that are more highly rated.
The mezzanine loans in which we may invest would involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income-producing real properties.
We may invest in mezzanine loans that take the form of subordinated loans secured by second mortgages on the underlying real property or loans secured by a pledge of the ownership interests of the entity owning the real property, the entity that owns the interest in the entity owning the real property or other assets. These types of investments involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage lending secured by income-producing real property because the investment may become unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender. In the event of a bankruptcy of the entity providing the pledge of its ownership interests as security, we may not have full recourse to the assets of such entity, or the assets of the entity may not be sufficient to satisfy our mezzanine loan. If a borrower defaults on our mezzanine loan or debt senior to our loan, or in the event of a borrower bankruptcy, our mezzanine loan will be satisfied only after the senior debt. As a result, we may not recover some or all of our investment. In addition, mezzanine loans may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans, resulting in less equity in the real property and increasing the risk of loss of principal.
RISK ASSOCIATED WITH DEBT FINANCING
We will incur mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks, could hinder our ability to make distributions and could decrease the value of your investment.
We intend to finance a portion of the purchase price of our hotel investment properties by borrowing funds. Under our charter, we are prohibited from borrowing in excess of 300% of the value of our net assets. “Net assets” for purposes of this calculation is defined to be our total assets (other than intangibles), valued at cost prior to deducting depreciation, reserves for bad debts or other non-cash reserves, less total liabilities.Generally speaking, the preceding calculation is expected to approximate 75% of the aggregate cost of our real estate assets before non-cash reserves and depreciation. We may temporarily borrow in excess of these amounts if such excess is approved by a majority of the independent directors and is disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report, along with justification for such excess. In addition, we may incur mortgage debt and pledge some or all of our real estate assets as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire additional real estate assets or for working capital. We may also borrow funds as necessary or advisable to ensure we maintain our REIT tax qualification, including the requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income to our stockholders (computed without regard to the distribution paid deduction and excluding net capital gains). Furthermore, we may borrow if we otherwise deem it necessary or advisable to ensure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. However, there is no assurance that we will be able to obtain such borrowings on satisfactory terms.
High debt levels will cause us to incur higher interest charges, which would result in higher debt service payments and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from a property and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt on that property, then the amount available for distributions to stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. In that case, we could lose the property securing the loan that is in default, thus reducing the value of your investment. For tax purposes, a foreclosure on any of our properties will be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we will recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but we would not receive any cash proceeds. If any mortgage contains cross collateralization or cross default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. If any of our properties are foreclosed upon due to a default, our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.
Instability in the debt markets and our inability to find financing on attractive terms may make it more difficult for us to finance or refinance properties, which could reduce the number of properties we can acquire and the amount of cash distributions we can make to our stockholders.
If mortgage debt is unavailable on reasonable terms as a result of increased interest rates, underwriting standards, capital market instability or other factors, we may not be able to finance the initial purchase of properties. In addition, if we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance such debt when the loans come due, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when we refinance debt, our income could be reduced. We may be unable to refinance debt at appropriate times, which may require us to sell properties on terms that are not advantageous to us, or could result in the foreclosure of such properties. If any of these events occur, our cash flow would be reduced. This, in turn, would reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders and may hinder our ability to raise more capital by issuing securities or by borrowing more money.
Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt payments and negatively impact our operating results.
Interest we pay on our debt obligations will reduce cash available for distributions. If we incur variable rate debt, increases ininterest rates would increase our interest costs, which would reduce our cash flows and our ability to make distributions to you. If we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When providing financing, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage a property, discontinue insurance coverage, or replace Moody National Advisor II, LLC as our advisor. In addition, loan documents may limit our ability to replace a property’s property manager or terminate certain operating or lease agreements related to a property. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment objectives.
Our derivative financial instruments that we may use to hedge against interest rate fluctuations may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates and could reduce the overall returns on your investment.
We may use derivative financial instruments to hedge exposures to changes in interest rates on loans secured by our real estate assets, but no hedging strategy can protect us completely. We cannot assure you that our hedging strategy and the derivatives that we use will adequately offset the risk of interest rate volatility or that our hedging transactions will not result in losses. In addition, the use of such instruments may reduce the overall return on our investments. These instruments may also generate income that may not be treated as qualifying REIT income for purposes of the 75% or 95% REIT income test.
FEDERAL INCOME TAX RISKS
Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our operations and our ability to make distributions.
We intend to operate in a manner designed to permit us to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with the taxable year ending December 31, 2016.
Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our ongoing satisfaction of numerous requirements established under highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations and involve the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. The complexity of these provisions and of the applicable income tax regulations that have been promulgated under the Internal Revenue Code is greater in the case of a REIT that holds its assets through a partnership, as we do. Moreover, no assurance can be given that legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions will not change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of that qualification.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we fail to qualify as a REIT. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer be deductible in computing our taxable income, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. To the extent that distributions had been made in anticipation of our qualifying as a REIT, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments to pay the applicable corporate income tax. In addition, although we intend to operate in a manner intended to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause our board to recommend that we revoke our REIT election.
We believe that our operating partnership will be treated for federal income tax purposes as a partnership and not as an association or as a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation. If the Internal Revenue Service were successfully to determine that our operating partnership should properly be treated as a corporation, our operating partnership would be required to pay federal income tax at corporate rates on its net income. In addition, we would fail to qualify as a REIT, with the resulting consequences described above.
To qualify as a REIT we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may result in us distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations.
To qualify as a REIT, we will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our real estate investment trust taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to federal income tax on any undistributed taxable income and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (1) 85% of our ordinary income, (2) 95% of our capital gain net income and (3) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on investments in real estate assets, and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds or sell assets to fund these distributions. If we fund distributions through borrowings, then we will have to repay debt using money we could have otherwise used to acquire properties. If we sell assets or use offering proceeds to pay distributions, we also will have fewer investments. Fewer investments may impact our ability to generate future cash flows from operations and, therefore, reduce your overall return. Although we intend to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid corporate income and excise taxes, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.
The use of TRSs will increase our overall tax liability.
Our taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS, lessees and any other of our domestic taxable REIT subsidiaries will be subject to federal and state income tax on their taxable income. Accordingly, although our ownership of TRS lessees allows us to participate in the operating income from hotel properties in addition to receiving rent, that operating income is fully subject to income tax. Such taxes could be substantial.
We will incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with our TRS lessees or other taxable REIT subsidiaries that are not conducted on an arm’s length basis. For example, to the extent that the rent paid by one of our TRS lessees exceeds an arm’s length rental amount, such excess may be subject to the excise tax. Weintend that all transactions between us and our TRS lessees will be conducted on an arm’s length basis and, therefore, that the rent paid by our TRS lessees to us will not be subject to the excise tax.
If the leases of our hotels to the TRS lessees are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT, we must annually satisfy two gross income tests, under which specified percentages of our gross income must be derived from certain sources, such as “rents from real property.” Rents paid to our operating partnership by TRS lessees pursuant to the leases of our hotels will constitute substantially all of our gross income. In order for such rent to qualify as “rents from real property” for purposes of the gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not be treated as service contracts, financing arrangements, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. If our leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
If any hotel managers that we may engage do not qualify as “eligible independent contractors,” or if our hotels are not “qualified lodging facilities,” we will fail to qualify as a REIT.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a “related party tenant” of ours generally will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs, but an exception is provided, however, for leases of “qualified lodging facilities” to a TRS so long as the hotels are managed by an “eligible independent contractor” and certain other requirements are satisfied. We expect to lease all or substantially all of our hotels to TRS lessees, which are disregarded subsidiaries of corporations that are intended to qualify as TRSs. We expect that the TRS lessees will engage hotel managers, including our affiliated property manager and third-party property managers that are intended to qualify as “eligible independent contractors.” Among other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, the hotel manager must not own, directly or through its equity owners, more than 35% of our outstanding stock, and no person or group of persons can own more than 35% of our outstanding stock and the equity interests of the hotel manager, taking into account certain ownership attribution rules. The ownership attribution rules that apply for purposes of these 35% thresholds are complex, and monitoring actual and constructive ownership of our stock by our hotel managers and their owners may not be practical. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that these ownership levels will not be exceeded.
In addition, for a hotel management company to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, such company or a related person must be actively engaged in the trade or business of operating “qualified lodging facilities” (as defined below) for one or more persons not related to the REIT or its TRSs at each time that such company enters into a hotel management contract with a TRS or its TRS lessee. No assurances can be provided that any hotel managers that we may engage will in fact comply with this requirement in the future. Failure to comply with this requirement would require us to find other managers for future contracts, and if we hired a management company without knowledge of the failure, it could jeopardize our status as a REIT.
Finally, each property that we lease to our TRS lessees must be a “qualified lodging facility.” A “qualified lodging facility” is a hotel, motel, or other establishment more than one-half of the dwelling units in which are used on a transient basis, including customary amenities and facilities, provided that no wagering activities are conducted at or in connection with such facility by any person who is engaged in the business of accepting wagers and who is legally authorized to engage in such business at or in connection with such facility. The REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code provide only limited guidance for making determinations under the requirements for qualified lodging facilities, and there can be no assurance that these requirements will be satisfied.
Recharacterization of sale-leaseback transactions may cause us to lose our REIT status.
We may purchase real properties and lease them back to the sellers of such properties. We cannot guarantee that the Internal Revenue Service will not challenge our characterization of any sale-leaseback transactions. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT qualification “asset tests” or the “income tests” and, consequently, lose our REIT status. Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated which might also cause us to fail to meet the distribution requirement for a taxable year.
You may have current tax liability on distributions if you elect to reinvest in shares of our common stock.
If you participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, you will be deemed to have received a cash distribution equal to the fair market value of the stock received pursuant to the plan, which will be taxed as a dividend to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. As a result, unless you are a tax-exempt entity, you may have to use funds from other sources to pay your tax liability on the value of the common stock received.
Sales of our properties at gains are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax, which could reduce the return on your investment.
Our ability to dispose of property is restricted as a result of our REIT status. Under applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code regarding prohibited transactions by REITs, we will be subject to a 100% tax on any gain realized on the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) we own, directly or through a subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but excluding our taxable REIT subsidiaries, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of trade or business. Whether property is inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. We intend to avoid the 100% prohibited transaction tax by (1) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a taxable REIT subsidiary, (2) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or through any subsidiary other than a taxable REIT subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction, or (3) structuring certain dispositions of our properties to comply with certain safe harbors available under the Internal Revenue Code for properties held at least two years. However, no assurance can be given that any particular property will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.
In certain circumstances, we may be subject to federal and state taxes as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
Even if we qualify as a REIT, we may be subject to federal and state taxes. For example, net income from a “prohibited transaction” will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not be able to make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. We may also decide to retain income we earn from the sale or other disposition of our real estate assets and pay income tax directly on such income. We may also be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, either directly or at the level of the companies through which we indirectly own our assets. In addition, our TRSs will be subject to federal income tax and applicable state and local taxes on their net income. Any federal or state taxes we pay will reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income.
Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our common stock nor gain from the sale of common stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:
● | part of the income and gain recognized by certain qualified pension trusts with respect to our common stock |
● | part of the income and gain |
Complying with the REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.
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