| ORGANIZATION, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | (1) ORGANIZATION, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Business Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. (“Company”), a Maryland Corporation, is a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), engaged in the acquisition, ownership and management of commercial real estate, primarily neighborhood and community shopping centers in the metropolitan tri-state area outside of the City of New York. The Company's major tenants include supermarket chains and other retailers who sell basic necessities. At July 31, 2021, the Company owned or had equity interests in 79 properties containing a total of 5.1 million square feet of Gross Leasable Area (“GLA”). COVID-19 Pandemic On March 11, 2020, the novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) was declared a pandemic (“COVID-19 pandemic”) by the World Health Organization as the disease spread throughout the world. During March 2020, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were initiated, with federal, state and local government agencies issuing regulatory orders enforcing social distancing and limiting certain business operations and group gatherings in order to further prevent the spread of COVID-19. While these regulatory orders vary by state and have changed over time, as of all of our tenants’ businesses were permitted to operate, in some cases subject to modified operation procedures. Principles of Consolidation and Use of Estimates The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, its wholly owned subsidiaries, and joint ventures in which the Company meets certain criteria in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 810, “Consolidation”. The Company has determined that such joint ventures should be consolidated into the consolidated financial statements of the Company. In accordance with ASC Topic 970-323 “Real Estate-General-Equity Method and Joint Ventures,” joint ventures that the Company does not control but otherwise exercises significant influence over, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting. See Note 4 for further discussion of the unconsolidated joint ventures. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Results of operations for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending October 31, 2021. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2020. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods covered by the financial statements. The most significant assumptions and estimates relate to the valuation of real estate, depreciable lives, revenue recognition, fair value estimates, and the collectability of tenant receivables and other assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates. The consolidated balance sheet at October 31, 2020 has been derived from audited financial statements at that date. Federal Income Taxes The Company has elected to be treated as a REIT under Sections 856-860 of the Internal Revenue Code ("Code"). Under those sections, a REIT that, among other things, distributes at least 90% of real estate trust taxable income and meets certain other qualifications prescribed by the Code will not be taxed on that portion of its taxable income that is distributed. The Company believes it qualifies as a REIT and intends to distribute all of its taxable income for fiscal 2021 in accordance with the provisions of the Code. Accordingly, no provision has been made for Federal income taxes in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company follows the provisions of ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” that, among other things, defines a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. ASC Topic 740 also provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition. Based on its evaluation, the Company determined that it has no uncertain tax positions and no unrecognized tax benefits as of July 31, 2021. As of July 31, 2021, the fiscal tax years 2017 through and including 2020 remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service. There are currently no federal tax examinations in progress. Concentration of Credit Risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and tenant receivables. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents with high quality financial institutions and the balances at times could exceed federally insured limits. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its tenants and may require certain tenants to provide security deposits or letters of credit. Though these security deposits and letters of credit are insufficient to meet the terminal value of a tenant’s lease obligation, they are a measure of good faith and a source of funds to offset the economic costs associated with lost rent and the costs associated with re-tenanting the space. The Company has no dependency upon any single tenant. Marketable Securities Marketable equity securities are carried at fair value based upon quoted market prices in active markets with changes in fair value recognized in net income. Derivative Financial Instruments The Company occasionally utilizes derivative financial instruments, such as interest rate swaps, to manage its exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. The Company has established policies and procedures for risk assessment, and the approval, reporting and monitoring of derivative financial instruments. Derivative financial instruments must be effective in reducing the Company’s interest rate risk exposure in order to qualify for hedge accounting. When the terms of an underlying transaction are modified, or when the underlying hedged item ceases to exist, all changes in the fair value of the instrument are marked-to-market with changes in value included in net income for each period until the derivative instrument matures or is settled. Any derivative instrument used for risk management that does not meet the hedging criteria is marked-to-market with the changes in value included in net income. The Company has not entered into, and does not plan to enter into, derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. Additionally, the Company has a policy of entering into derivative contracts only with major financial institutions. As of July 31, 2021, the Company believes it has no significant risk associated with non-performance of the financial institutions that are the counterparties to its derivative contracts. At July 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $124.8 million in secured mortgage financings subject to interest rate swaps. Such interest rate swaps converted the LIBOR-based variable rates on the mortgage financings to an average fixed annual rate of 3.94% per annum. As of July 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, the Company had a deferred liability of $9.7 million and $13.3 million, respectively (included in accounts payable and accrued expenses on the consolidated balance sheets), relating to the fair value of the Company’s interest rate swaps applicable to secured mortgages. Charges and/or credits relating to the changes in fair values of such interest rate swaps are made to other comprehensive income/(loss) as the swaps are deemed effective and are classified as a cash flow hedge. Comprehensive Income (Loss) Comprehensive income (loss) is comprised of net income applicable to Common and Class A Common stockholders and other comprehensive income (loss). Other comprehensive income (loss) includes items that are otherwise recorded directly in stockholders’ equity, such as unrealized gains and losses on interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges, including the Company's share from entities accounted for under the equity method of accounting. At July 31, 2021, accumulated other comprehensive loss consisted of net unrealized losses on interest rate swap agreements of $11.6 million, inclusive of the Company's share of accumulated comprehensive losses from joint ventures accounted for by the equity method of accounting. At October 31, 2020, accumulated other comprehensive loss consisted of net unrealized losses on interest rate swap agreements of approximately $15.7 million, inclusive of the Company's share of accumulated comprehensive losses from joint ventures accounted for by the equity method of accounting. Unrealized gains and losses included in other comprehensive income/(loss) will be reclassified into earnings as gains and losses are realized. Asset Impairment On a periodic basis, management assesses whether there are any indicators that the value of its real estate investments may be impaired. A property value is considered impaired when management’s estimate of current and projected operating cash flows (undiscounted and without interest) of the property over its remaining useful life is less than the net carrying value of the property. Such cash flow projections consider factors such as expected future operating income, trends and prospects, as well as the effects of demand, competition and other factors. To the extent impairment has occurred, the loss is measured as the excess of the net carrying amount of the property over the fair value of the asset. Changes in estimated future cash flows due to changes in the Company’s plans or market and economic conditions could result in recognition of impairment losses which could be substantial. As of July 31, 2021, management does not believe that the value of any of its real estate investments is impaired. Acquisitions of Real Estate Investments, Capitalization Policy and Depreciation Acquisition of Real Estate Investments: The Company evaluates each acquisition of real estate or in-substance real estate (including equity interests in entities that predominantly hold real estate assets) to determine if the integrated set of assets and activities acquired meet the definition of a business and need to be accounted for as a business combination. If either of the following criteria is met, the integrated set of assets and activities acquired would not qualify as a business:
• Substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in either a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; or
• The integrated set of assets and activities is lacking, at a minimum, an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs (i.e. revenue generated before and after the transaction). An acquired process is considered substantive if:
• The process includes an organized workforce (or includes an acquired contract that provides access to an organized workforce), that is skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced in performing the process;
• The process cannot be replaced without significant cost, effort, or delay; or
• The process is considered unique or scarce. Generally, the Company expects that acquisitions of real estate or in-substance real estate will not meet the definition of a business because substantially all of the fair value is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of similar identifiable assets (i.e. land, buildings, and related intangible assets) or because the acquisition does not include a substantive process in the form of an acquired workforce or an acquired contract that cannot be replaced without significant cost, effort or delay. Acquisitions of real estate and in-substance real estate that do not meet the definition of a business are accounted for as asset acquisitions. The accounting model for asset acquisitions is similar to the accounting model for business combinations except that the acquisition consideration (including acquisition costs) is allocated to the individual assets acquired and liabilities assumed on a relative fair value basis. As a result, asset acquisitions do not result in the recognition of goodwill or a bargain purchase gain. The relative fair values used to allocate the cost of an asset acquisition are determined using the same methodologies and assumptions as the Company utilizes to determine fair value in a business combination. The value of tangible assets acquired is based upon our estimation of value on an “as if vacant” basis. The value of acquired in-place leases includes the estimated costs during the hypothetical lease-up period and other costs that would have been incurred in the execution of similar leases under the market conditions at the acquisition date of the acquired in-place lease. We assess the fair value of tangible and intangible assets based on numerous factors, including estimated cash flow projections that utilize appropriate discount and capitalization rates and available market information. Estimates of future cash flows are based on a number of factors, including the historical operating results, known trends, and market/economic conditions that may affect the property. The values of acquired above and below-market leases, which are included in prepaid expenses and other assets and other liabilities, respectively, are amortized over the terms of the related leases and recognized as either an increase (for below-market leases) or a decrease (for above-market leases) to rental revenue. The values of acquired in-place leases are classified in other assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and amortized over the remaining terms of the related leases. Capitalization Policy: Land, buildings, property improvements, furniture/fixtures and tenant improvements are recorded at cost. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred. Renovations and/or replacements, which improve or extend the life of the asset, are capitalized and depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Depreciation: The Company is required to make subjective assessments as to the useful life of its properties for purposes of determining the amount of depreciation. These assessments have a direct impact on the Company’s net income. Properties are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. The estimated useful lives are as follows:
Buildings 30-40 years
Property Improvements 10-20 years
Furniture/Fixtures 3-10 years
Tenant Improvements Shorter of lease term or their useful life Sale of Investment Property and Property Held for Sale The Company reports properties that are either disposed of or are classified as held for sale in continuing operations in the consolidated statement of income if the removal, or anticipated removal, of the asset(s) from the reporting entity does not represent a strategic shift that has or will have a major effect on an entity's operations and financial results when disposed of. In March 2021, third no In June 2021, the Company sold its property located in Newington, NH (the "Newington Property") to an unrelated third party for a sale price of $13.4 million as that property no longer met the Company's investment objectives. In accordance with ASC Topic 840, Contracts with Customers, the Company recorded a gain on sale in the amount of $11.8 million in its consolidated income statements for the nine and three months ended July 31, 2021, when the Company's performance obligation was met, the transfer of the property's title to the buyer and when consideration was received from the buyer for that performance obligation. The operating results of the Hillsdale Property and Newington Property, which are included in continuing operations are as follows (amounts in thousands):
Nine Months Ended July 31, Three Months Ended July 31,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Revenues $ 906 $ 1,234 $ 129 $ 272
Property operating expense (385 ) (438 ) (140 ) (131 )
Depreciation and amortization (36 ) (131 ) - (36 )
Net Income (Loss) $ 485 $ 665 $ (11 ) $ 105 Lease Income, Revenue Recognition and Tenant Receivables Lease Income: The Company accounts for lease income in accordance with ASC Topic 842 "Leases". The Company's existing leases are generally classified as operating leases. However, certain longer-term leases (both lessee and lessor leases) may be classified as direct financing or sales type leases, which may result in selling profit and an accelerated pattern of earnings recognition. The Company leases space to tenants under agreements with varying terms that generally provide for fixed payments of base rent, with designated increases over the term of the lease. Some of the lease agreements contain provisions that provide for additional rents based on tenants' sales volume ("percentage rent"). Percentage rents are recognized when the tenants achieve the specified targets as defined in their lease agreements. Additionally, most all lease agreements contain provisions for reimbursement of the tenants' share of actual real estate taxes, insurance and Common Area Maintenance ("CAM") costs (collectively, "Recoverable Costs") incurred. Lease terms generally range from 1 to 5 years for tenant spaces under 10,000 square feet (“Shop Space”) and in excess of 5 years for spaces greater than 10,000 square feet (“Anchor Spaces”). Many leases also provide the option for the tenants to extend their lease beyond the initial term of the lease. If the tenants do not exercise renewal options and the leases mature, the tenants must relinquish their space so it can be leased to a new tenant, which generally involves some level of cost to prepare the space for re-leasing. These costs are capitalized and depreciated over the shorter of the life of the subsequent lease or the life of the improvement. CAM is a non-lease component of the lease contract under ASC Topic 842, and therefore would be accounted for under ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, and presented separate from lease income in the accompanying consolidated statements of income, based on an allocation of the overall contract price, which is not necessarily the amount that would be billable to the tenants for CAM reimbursements per the terms of the lease contract. As the timing and pattern of providing the CAM service to the tenant is the same as the timing and pattern of the tenants' use of the underlying lease asset, the Company, in accordance with ASC Topic 842, combines CAM with the remaining lease components, along with tenants' reimbursement of real estate taxes and insurance, and recognize them together as lease income in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. Lease income for operating leases with fixed payment terms is recognized on a straight-line basis over the expected term of the lease for all leases for which collectability is considered probable at the commencement date. At lease commencement, the Company expects that collectability is probable for all of its leases due to the Company’s credit checks on tenants and other creditworthiness analysis undertaken before entering into a new lease; therefore, income from all operating leases is initially recognized on a straight-line basis. Lease income each period is reduced by amounts considered uncollectable on a lease-by-lease basis, with any changes in collectability assessments recognized as a current period adjustment to lease income. For operating leases in which collectability of lease income is not considered probable, lease income is recognized on a cash basis and all previously recognized uncollected lease income, including straight-line rental income, is reversed in the period in which the lease income is determined not to be probable of collection. The Company, as a lessor, may only defer as initial direct costs the incremental costs of a tenant operating lease that would not have been incurred if the lease had not been obtained. These costs generally include third party broker payments, which are capitalized to deferred costs in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and amortized over the expected term of the lease to depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of income. COVID-19 Pandemic Beginning in March 2020, many of the Company's properties were, and some continue to be, negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as state governments mandated restrictions on the operation of non-essential businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19, forcing many of our tenants’ businesses to close or reduce operations. As a result, 402 of approximately 860 tenants in the Company's consolidated portfolio, representing 1.6 million square feet and approximately 45.3% of the Company's annualized base rent, asked for some type of rent deferral or concession. Approximately 117 of the 402 tenants withdrew their requests for rent relief or paid their rent in full. The primary strategy of the Company with respect to rent concession requests was to defer some portion of rents due for the months of 2020 through to be paid over a later part of the lease, preferably within a period of year or less. In some instances, however, the Company determined that it was more appropriate to abate some portion of base rents. Most of the few base rent deferrals or abatements entered into with tenants in the third quarter of fiscal 2021 are additional deferrals or abatements for tenants who received prior rent concessions. From the onset In April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FASB staff issued guidance that it would be acceptable for entities to make an election to account for lease concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic consistent with how those concessions would be accounted for under Topic 842, as if enforceable rights and obligations for those concessions existed (regardless of whether those enforceable rights and obligations for the concessions explicitly exist in the lease contract). Consequently, for concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an entity will not have to analyze each lease contract to determine whether enforceable rights and obligations for concessions exist in the lease contract and may elect to apply or not apply the lease modification guidance in Topic 842 to those contracts. This election is available for concessions related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that do not result in a substantial increase in the rights of the lessor or the obligations of the lessee. For example, this election is available for concessions that result in the total payments required by the modified contract being substantially the same as or less than total payments required by the original contract. The FASB staff expects that reasonable judgment will be exercised in making those determinations. Most concessions will provide a deferral of payments with no substantive changes to the consideration in the original lease contract. A deferral affects the timing, but the amount of the consideration is substantially the same as that required by the original lease contract. The FASB staff expects that there will be multiple ways to account for those deferrals, none of which the staff believes are preferable over others. The Company has made the election not to analyze each lease contract, and believes that, based on FASB guidance, the appropriate way to account for the concessions as described above is to account for such concessions as if no changes to the lease contracts were made. Under that accounting, a lessor would increase its lease receivable (straight-line rents receivable) and would continue to recognize income during the deferral period, assuming that the collectability of the future rents under the lease contract are considered collectable. If it is determined that the future rents of any lease contract are not collectable, the Company would treat that lease contract on a cash basis as defined in ASC Topic 842. When collection of substantially all lease payments during the lease term is not considered probable, total lease revenue is limited to the lesser of revenue recognized under accrual accounting or cash received. Determining the probability of collection of substantially all lease payments during a lease term requires significant judgment. This determination is impacted by numerous factors, including our assessment of the tenant’s credit worthiness, economic conditions, tenant sales productivity in that location, historical experience with the tenant and tenants operating in the same industry, future prospects for the tenant and the industry in which it operates, and the length of the lease term. If leases currently classified as probable are subsequently reclassified as not probable, any outstanding lease receivables (including straight-line rent receivables) would be written-off with a corresponding decrease in lease income. Revenue Recognition In those instances, in which the Company funds tenant improvements and the improvements are deemed to be owned by the Company, revenue recognition on operating leases will commence when the improvements are substantially completed and possession or control of the space is turned over to the tenant. When the Company determines that the tenant allowances are lease incentives, the Company commences revenue recognition when possession or control of the space is turned over to the tenant for tenant work to begin. Lease termination amounts are recognized in operating revenues when there is a signed termination agreement, all of the conditions of the agreement have been met, the tenant is no longer occupying the property and the termination consideration is probable of collection. Lease termination amounts are paid by tenants who want to terminate their lease obligations before the end of the contractual term of the lease by agreement with the Company. There is no way of predicting or forecasting the timing or amounts of future lease termination fees. Interest income is recognized as it is earned. Gains or losses on disposition of properties are recorded when the criteria for recognizing such gains or losses under U.S. GAAP have been met. Percentage rent is recognized when a specific tenant’s sales breakpoint is achieved. Tenant Receivables The actions taken by federal, state and local governments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, initially by ordering closures of non-essential businesses and ordering residents to generally stay at home, and subsequent phased re-openings have resulted in many of our tenants temporarily or even permanently closing their businesses, and for some, it has impacted their ability to pay rent although this situation is rapidly improving as a large part of the country becomes vaccinated and the pandemic continues to wane. As a result, in accordance with ASC Topic 842, we revised our collectability assumptions for many of our tenants that were most significantly impacted by COVID-19. This amount includes changes in our collectability assessments for certain tenants in our portfolio from probable to not probable, which requires that revenue recognition for those tenants be converted to cash basis accounting, with previously uncollected billed rents reversed in the current period. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of our second quarter of fiscal 2021, we converted 89 tenants to cash basis accounting in accordance with ASC Topic 842. We did not convert any additional tenants to cash basis accounting in the three months ended July 31, 2021. In addition, when one of the Company’s tenants is converted to cash basis accounting in accordance with ASC Topic 842, all previously recorded straight-line rent receivables need to be reversed in the period that the tenant is converted to cash basis revenue recognition. During the nine months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, we recognized collectability adjustments totaling $4.5 million and $6.2 million, respectively. During the three months ended July 31, 2020, we recognized collectability adjustment totaling $4.3 million. We did not have any reductions of lease income for collectability adjustments in the three months ended July 31, 2021 as the amount of collections received from tenants for previously reserved rents and tenants accounted for on a cash basis in accordance with ASC Topic 842, equaled or exceeded any new reserves for uncollectable receivables or the quarterly billings for tenants accounted for on a cash basis. In addition, as a result of not converting any tenants to cash basis accounting in the three months ended July 31, 2021, we did not have any write-offs of previously recorded straight-line rent in the three months ended July 31, 2021 related to those tenants. As of July 31, 2021, the revenue from approximately 10.3% of our tenants (based on total commercial leases) is being recognized on a cash basis. At July 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, $19,327,000 and $22,330,000, respectively, have been recognized as straight-line rents receivable (representing the current cumulative rents recognized prior to when billed and collectable as provided by the terms of the leases), all of which is included in tenant receivables in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company provides an allowance for doubtful accounts against the portion of tenant receivables that is estimated to be uncollectable. Such allowances are reviewed periodically. At July 31, 2021 and October 31, 2020, tenant receivables in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets are shown net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $7,706,000 and $8,769,000, respectively. Included in the aforementioned allowance for doubtful accounts is an amount for future tenant credit losses of approximately 10% of the deferred straight-line rents receivable which is estimated to be uncollectable. Earnings Per Share The Company calculates basic and diluted earnings per share in accordance with the provisions of ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) excludes the impact of dilutive shares and is computed by dividing net income applicable to Common and Class A Common stockholders by the weighted average number of Common shares and Class A Common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue Common shares or Class A Common shares were exercised or converted into Common shares or Class A Common shares and then shared in the earnings of the Company. Since the cash dividends declared on the Company’s Class A Common stock are higher than the dividends declared on the Common Stock, basic and diluted EPS have been calculated using the “two-class” method. The two-class method is an earnings allocation formula that determines earnings per share for each class of common stock according to the weighted average of the dividends declared, outstanding shares per class and participation rights in undistributed earnings. The following table sets forth the reconciliation between basic and diluted EPS (in thousands):
Nine Months Ended July 31, Three Months Ended July 31,
2021 2020 2021 2020
Numerator
Net income applicable to common stockholders – basic $ 6,013 $ 2,047 $ 4,035 $ 342
Effect of dilutive securities:
Restricted stock awards 136 53 124 4
Net income applicable to common stockholders – diluted $ 6,149 $ 2,100 $ 4,159 $ 346
Denominator
Denominator for basic EPS – weighted average common shares 9,249 9,144 9,247 9,145
Effect of dilutive securities:
Restricted stock awards 315 335 450 136
Denominator for diluted EPS – weighted average common equivalent shares 9,564 9,479 9,697 9,28 |
