| Debt | DEBT Certain subsidiaries of Whitestone are the borrowers under various financing arrangements. These subsidiaries are separate legal entities, and their respective assets and credit are not available to satisfy the debt of Whitestone or any of its other subsidiaries. Debt consisted of the following as of the dates indicated (in thousands): Description September 30, 2021 December 31, 2020 Fixed rate notes $100.0 million, 1.73% plus 1.35% to 1.90% Note, due October 30, 2022 (1) $ 100,000 $ 100,000 $165.0 million, 2.24% plus 1.35% to 1.90% Note, due January 31, 2024 (2) 165,000 165,000 $80.0 million, 3.72% Note, due June 1, 2027 80,000 80,000 $19.0 million 4.15% Note, due December 1, 2024 18,442 18,687 $20.2 million 4.28% Note, due June 6, 2023 17,914 18,222 $14.0 million 4.34% Note, due September 11, 2024 13,044 13,236 $14.3 million 4.34% Note, due September 11, 2024 13,834 14,014 $15.1 million 4.99% Note, due January 6, 2024 13,973 14,165 $2.6 million 5.46% Note, due October 1, 2023 2,302 2,339 $50.0 million, 5.09% Note, due March 22, 2029 50,000 50,000 $50.0 million, 5.17% Note, due March 22, 2029 50,000 50,000 $1.7 million 3.25% Note, due December 28, 2021 463 — Floating rate notes Unsecured line of credit, LIBOR plus 1.40% to 1.90%, due January 31, 2023 94,500 119,500 Total notes payable principal 619,472 645,163 Less deferred financing costs, net of accumulated amortization (823) (978) Total notes payable $ 618,649 $ 644,185 (1) Promissory note includes an interest rate swap that fixed the LIBOR portion of Term Loan 3 (as defined below) at 1.73%. (2) Promissory note includes an interest rate swap that fixed the LIBOR portion of the interest rate at an average rate of 2.24% for the duration of the term through January 31, 2024. LIBOR is expected to be discontinued after 2021. A number of our current debt agreements have an interest rate tied to LIBOR. Some of these agreements provide procedures for determining an alternative base rate in the event that LIBOR is discontinued, but not all do so. Regardless, there can be no assurances as to what alternative base rates may be and whether such base rate will be more or less favorable than LIBOR and any other unforeseen impacts of the discontinuation of LIBOR. The Company is monitoring the developments with respect to the phasing out of LIBOR after 2021 and working with its lenders to ensure any transition away from LIBOR will have minimal impact on its financial condition, but can provide no assurances regarding the impact of the discontinuation of LIBOR. On April 30, 2020, the Company entered into a loan in the principal amount of $1,733,510 from U.S. Bank National Association, one of the Company’s existing lenders, pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP Loan”) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the “CARES Act”). The PPP Loan was set to mature on May 6, 2022 (the “Maturity Date”), and accrued interest at 1.00% per annum and could be prepaid in whole or in part without penalty. Principal and interest were payable in 18 monthly installments of $96,864.28, beginning on December 6, 2020, plus a final payment equal to all unpaid principal and accrued interest on the Maturity Date. Pursuant to the CARES Act, the Company applied for and was granted forgiveness for all of the PPP Loan. Forgiveness was determined by the U.S. Small Business Administration based on the use of loan proceeds for payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent or utility costs and the maintenance of employee and compensation levels. The Company intended to and used all proceeds from the PPP Loan to retain employees and maintain payroll and make mortgage payments, lease payments and utility payments to support business continuity throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which amounts were eligible for forgiveness, subject to the provisions of the CARES Act. Based on the guidance in FASB ASC 405-20, “Liabilities - Extinguishment of Liabilities,” the PPP loan remains a liability until either (1) it is wholly or partially forgiven and we have been legally released, or (2) it is paid off. Since the loan was partially or wholly forgiven and legal release was received, the liability was reduced by the amount forgiven and a gain on extinguishment was recognized. T he Company recognized a $1,734,000 gain for the PPP Loan forgiveness during the year ended December 30, 2020 based on the legal release from the U.S. Small Business Administration. On March 22, 2019, we, through our Operating Partnership, entered into a Note Purchase and Guarantee Agreement (the “Note Agreement”) together with certain subsidiary guarantors as initial guarantor parties thereto (the “Subsidiary Guarantors”) and The Prudential Insurance Company of America and the various other purchasers named therein (collectively, the “Purchasers”) providing for the issuance and sale of $100 million of senior unsecured notes of the Operating Partnership, of which (i) $50 million are designated as 5.09% Series A Senior Notes due March 22, 2029 (the “Series A Notes”) and (ii) $50 million are designated as 5.17% Series B Senior Notes due March 22, 2029 (the “Series B Notes” and, together with the Series A Notes, the “Notes”) pursuant to a private placement that closed on March 22, 2019 (the “Private Placement”). Obligations under the Notes are unconditionally guaranteed by the Company and by the Subsidiary Guarantors. The principal of the Series A Notes will begin to amortize on March 22, 2023 with annual principal payments of approximately $7.1 million. The principal of the Series B Notes will begin to amortize on March 22, 2025 with annual principal payments of $10.0 million. The Notes will pay interest quarterly on the 22nd day of March, June, September and December in each year until maturity. The Operating Partnership may prepay at any time all, or from time to time part of, the Notes, in an amount not less than $1,000,000 in the case of a partial prepayment, at 100% of the principal amount so prepaid, plus a make-whole amount. The make-whole amount is equal to the excess, if any, of the discounted value of the remaining scheduled payments with respect to the Notes being prepaid over the aggregate principal amount of such Notes (as described in the Note Agreement). In addition, in connection with a Change of Control (as defined in the Note Purchase Agreement), the Operating Partnership is required to offer to prepay the Notes at 100% of the principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon. The Note Agreement contains representations, warranties, covenants, terms and conditions customary for transactions of this type and substantially similar to the Operating Partnership’s existing senior revolving credit facility, including limitations on liens, incurrence of investments, acquisitions, loans and advances and restrictions on dividends and certain other restricted payments. In addition, the Note Agreement contains certain financial covenants substantially similar to the Operating Partnership’s existing senior revolving credit facility, including the following: • maximum total indebtedness to total asset value ratio of 0.60 to 1.00; • maximum secured debt to total asset value ratio of 0.40 to 1.00; • minimum EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization or extraordinary items) to fixed charges ratio of 1.50 to 1.00; • maximum other recourse debt to total asset value ratio of 0.15 to 1.00; and • maintenance of a minimum tangible net worth (adjusted for accumulated depreciation and amortization) of $372 million plus 75% of the net proceeds from additional equity offerings (as defined therein). In addition, the Note Agreement contains a financial covenant requiring that maximum unsecured debt not exceed the lesser of (i) an amount equal to 60% of the aggregate unencumbered asset value and (ii) the debt service coverage amount (as described in the Note Agreement). That covenant is substantially similar to the borrowing base concept contained in the Operating Partnership’s existing senior revolving credit facility. The Note Agreement also contains default provisions, including defaults for non-payment, breach of representations and warranties, insolvency, non-performance of covenants, cross-defaults with other indebtedness and guarantor defaults. The occurrence of an event of default under the Note Agreement could result in the Purchasers accelerating the payment of all obligations under the Notes. The financial and restrictive covenants and default provisions in the Note Agreement are substantially similar to those contained in the Operating Partnership’s existing credit facility. Net proceeds from the Private Placement were used to refinance existing indebtedness. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The Notes were sold in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. On January 31, 2019, we, through our Operating Partnership, entered into an unsecured credit facility (the “2019 Facility”) with the lenders party thereto, Bank of Montreal, as administrative agent (the “Agent”), SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, as syndication agent, and BMO Capital Markets Corp., U.S. Bank National Association, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Regions Capital Markets, as co-lead arrangers and joint book runners. The 2019 Facility amended and restated the 2018 Facility (as defined below). The 2019 Facility is comprised of the following three tranches: • $250.0 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a maturity date of January 1, 2023 (the “2019 Revolver”); • $165.0 million unsecured term loan with a maturity date of January 31, 2024 (“Term Loan A”); and • $100.0 million unsecured term loan with a maturity date of October 30, 2022 (“Term Loan B” and together with Term Loan A, the “2019 Term Loans”). Borrowings under the 2019 Facility accrue interest (at the Operating Partnership's option) at a Base Rate or an Adjusted LIBOR plus an applicable margin based upon our then existing leverage. As of September 30, 2021, the interest rate on the 2019 Revolver was 1.73%. The applicable margin for Adjusted LIBOR borrowings ranges from 1.40% to 1.90% for the 2019 Revolver and 1.35% to 1.90% for the 2019 Term Loans. Base Rate means the higher of: (a) the Agent’s prime commercial rate, (b) the sum of (i) the average rate quoted by the Agent by two or more federal funds brokers selected by the Agent for sale to the Agent at face value of federal funds in the secondary market in an amount equal or comparable to the principal amount for which such rate is being determined, plus (ii) 1/2 of 1.00%, and (c) the LIBOR rate for such day plus 1.00%. Adjusted LIBOR means LIBOR divided by one minus the Eurodollar Reserve Percentage. The Eurodollar Reserve Percentage means the maximum reserve percentage at which reserves are imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on eurocurrency liabilities. Pursuant to the 2019 Facility, in the event of certain circumstances that result in the unavailability of LIBOR, including but not limited to LIBOR no longer being a widely recognized benchmark rate for newly originated dollar loans in the U.S. market, the Operating Partnership and the Agent will establish an alternate interest rate to LIBOR giving due consideration to prevailing market conventions and will amend the 2019 Facility to give effect to such alternate interest rate. The 2019 Facility includes an accordion feature that will allow the Operating Partnership to increase the borrowing capacity by $200.0 million, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. On March 20, 2020, as a precautionary measure to preserve our financial flexibility in response to potential credit risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company drew down approximately $30.0 million under the 2019 Revolver, which we subsequently paid down in the fourth quarter of 2020. As of September 30, 2021, subject to any potential future paydowns or increases in the borrowing base, we have $81.8 million remaining availability under the 2019 Revolver. As of September 30, 2021, $359.5 million was drawn on the 2019 Facility, and $0.5 million was outstanding under a standby letter of credit. The Company used $446.2 million of proceeds from the 2019 Facility to repay amounts outstanding under the 2018 Facility and intends to use the remaining proceeds from the 2019 Facility for general corporate purposes, including property acquisitions, debt repayment, capital expenditures, the expansion, redevelopment and re-tenanting of properties in its portfolio and working capital. The Company, each direct and indirect material subsidiary of the Operating Partnership and any other subsidiary of the Operating Partnership that is a guarantor under any unsecured ratable debt will serve as a guarantor for funds borrowed by the Operating Partnership under the 2019 Facility. The 2019 Facility contains customary terms and conditions, including, without limitation, customary representations and warranties and affirmative and negative covenants including, without limitation, information reporting requirements, limitations on investments, acquisitions, loans and advances, mergers, consolidations and sales, incurrence of liens, dividends and restricted payments. In addition, the 2019 Facility contains certain financial covenants including the following: • maximum total indebtedness to total asset value ratio of 0.60 to 1.00; • maximum secured debt to total asset value ratio of 0.40 to 1.00; • minimum EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization or extraordinary items) to fixed charges ratio of 1.50 to 1.00; • maximum other recourse debt to total asset value ratio of 0.15 to 1.00; and • maintenance of a minimum tangible net worth (adjusted for accumulated depreciation and amortization) of $372 million plus 75% of the net proceeds from additional equity offerings (as defined therein). We serve as the guarantor for funds borrowed by the Operating Partnership under the 2019 Facility. The 2019 Facility contains customary terms and conditions, including, without limitation, affirmative and negative covenants such as information reporting requirements, maximum secured indebtedness to total asset value, minimum EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization or extraordinary items) to fixed charges, and maintenance of a minimum net worth. The 2019 Facility also contains customary events of default with customary notice and cure, including, without limitation, nonpayment, breach of covenant, misrepresentation of representations and warranties in a material respect, cross-default to other major indebtedness, change of control, bankruptcy and loss of REIT tax status. On November 7, 2014, we, through our Operating Partnership, entered into an unsecured revolving credit facility (the “2014 Facility”) with the lenders party thereto, with BMO Capital Markets Corp., Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and U.S. Bank, National Association, as co-lead arrangers and joint book runners, and Bank of Montreal, as administrative agent (the “Agent”). The 2014 Facility amended and restated our previous unsecured revolving credit facility. On October 30, 2015, we, through our Operating Partnership, entered into the First Amendment to the 2014 Facility (the “First Amendment”) with the guarantors party thereto, the lenders party thereto and the Agent. We refer to the 2014 Facility, as amended by the First Amendment, as the “2018 Facility.” Pursuant to the First Amendment, the Company made the following amendments to the 2014 Facility: • extended the maturity date of the $300 million unsecured revolving credit facility under the 2014 Facility (the “2018 Revolver”) to October 30, 2019 from November 7, 2018; • converted $100 million of outstanding borrowings under the Revolver to a new $100 million unsecured term loan under the 2014 Facility (“Term Loan 3”) with a maturity date of October 30, 2022; • extended the maturity date of the first $50 million unsecured term loan under the 2014 Facility (“Term Loan 1”) to October 30, 2020 from February 17, 2017; and • extended the maturity date of the second $50 million unsecured term loan under the 2014 Facility (“Term Loan 2” and together with Term Loan 1 and Term Loan 3, the “2018 Term Loans”) to January 29, 2021 from November 7, 2019. Borrowings under the 2018 Facility accrued interest (at the Operating Partnership's option) at a Base Rate or an Adjusted LIBOR plus an applicable margin based upon our then existing leverage. The applicable margin for Adjusted LIBOR borrowings ranged from 1.40% to 1.95% for the 2018 Revolver and 1.35% to 2.25% for the 2018 Term Loans. Base Rate means the higher of: (a) the Agent’s prime commercial rate, (b) the sum of (i) the average rate quoted by the Agent by two or more federal funds brokers selected by the Agent for sale to the Agent at face value of federal funds in the secondary market in an amount equal or comparable to the principal amount for which such rate is being determined, plus (ii) 1/2 of 1.00%, and (c) the LIBOR rate for such day plus 1.00%. Adjusted LIBOR means LIBOR divided by one minus the Eurodollar Reserve Percentage. The Eurodollar Reserve Percentage means the maximum reserve percentage at which reserves are imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on eurocurrency liabilities. Proceeds from the 2018 Facility were used for general corporate purposes, including property acquisitions, debt repayment, capital expenditures, the expansion, redevelopment and re-tenanting of properties in our portfolio and working capital. As of September 30, 2021, our $159.5 million in secured debt was collateralized by seven properties with a carrying value of $248.0 million. Our loans contain restrictions that would require the payment of prepayment penalties for the acceleration of outstanding debt and are secured by deeds of trust on certain of our properties and by assignment of the rents and leases associated with those properties. As of September 30, 2021, we were in compliance with all loan covenants. Scheduled maturities of our outstanding debt as of September 30, 2021 were as follows (in thousands): Year Amount Due 2021 (remaining) $ 1,138 2022 101,683 2023 122,363 2024 228,574 2025 17,143 Thereafter 148,571 Total $ 619,472 |
