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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Accounting
The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company included herein were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Article 8 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. The information furnished includes all adjustments and accruals of a normal recurring nature, which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair statement of results for the interim periods. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year or any subsequent interim period.
These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 19, 2025. Except for those required by new accounting pronouncements discussed below, there have been no significant changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, the OP and its subsidiaries. All inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. In determining whether the Company has a controlling financial interest in a joint venture and the requirement to consolidate the accounts of that entity, management considers factors such as ownership interest, authority to make decisions and contractual and substantive participating rights of the other partners or members as well as whether the entity is a variable interest entity (“VIE”) for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. Substantially all the Company’s assets and liabilities are held by the OP. The Company has determined the OP is a VIE of which the Company is the primary beneficiary.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Management makes significant estimates regarding revenue recognition, purchase price allocations to record investments in real estate, and fair value measurements, as applicable.
Continuing Adverse Impacts Since the COVID-19 Pandemic
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. New York City, where all of the Company’s properties are located, was among the hardest hit locations in the country and fully reopened from relevant restrictions and lockdowns on March 7, 2022. While the COVID-19 pandemic subsided and the Company’s properties remain accessible to all tenants, some tenants have vacated, terminated or otherwise did not renew their lease. The Company has incurred increased unreimbursed property operating expenses because the Company’s occupancy has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and these increased expenses have been compounded by inflation. The pace of recovery in the New York City office market from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be challenging as leasing and occupancy trends for the broader market have slowed, leading political, community and business leaders to propose repositioning plans for many New York City office assets that are experiencing high vacancy rates. Some businesses continue to maintain hybrid or all work-from-home arrangements in response to employee desire for more flexibility, which may lead to continued challenges in the commercial real estate market and potentially represents a long-term negative impact on the New York City real estate market. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to lease all or any portion of the currently vacant space at any property on acceptable or favorable terms, or at all.
Cash Collection and Mortgage Covenant non-compliance
In prior periods, the COVID-19 pandemic caused certain of the Company’s tenants to be unable to make rent payments to the Company timely, or at all. Rent collections from the Company’s tenants have generally been timely in the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 and no new COVID-19 deferral or abatement agreements were entered into. As of March 31, 2025 and 2024 the occupancy and operating results at (i) 1140 Avenue of Americas, and (ii) 8713 Fifth Avenue have not yet fully recovered, which has caused non-compliance of certain mortgage debt covenants or cash trap or cash sweep events under their non-recourse mortgages in the past several quarters and in the current quarter. In our 400 E. 67th Street property, one major tenant's lease expired and we subsequently entered in to a month to month lease with that tenant. This tenant later vacated the property during the year ended December 31, 2024 after the month to month lease ended. In addition at the Company’s 400 E. 67th Street property, another major tenant is paying through the end of their lease, which is September 2025; however, they moved out of the space in the third quarter of 2024. See Note 4 — Mortgage Notes Payable, Net for further details regarding the status of the debt covenants under the above mentioned mortgages as of March 31, 2025.
Revenue Recognition
The Company’s revenues, which are derived primarily from lease contracts, include rents that each tenant pays in accordance with the terms of each lease reported on a straight-line basis over the initial term of the lease. As of March 31, 2025, these leases had a weighted-average remaining lease term of 5.4 years. Because many of the Company’s leases provide for rental increases at specified intervals, straight-line basis accounting requires that the Company record a receivable for, and include in revenue from tenants, unbilled rent receivables that the Company will receive if the tenant makes all rent payments required through the expiration of the initial term of the lease. When the Company acquires a property, the acquisition date is considered to be the commencement date for purposes of this calculation. For new leases after acquisition, the commencement date is considered to be the date the tenant takes control of the space. For lease modifications, the commencement date is considered to be the date the lease modification is executed. The Company defers the revenue related to lease payments received from tenants in advance of their due dates. Pursuant to certain of the Company’s lease agreements, tenants are required to reimburse the Company for certain property operating expenses (recorded in total revenue from tenants), in addition to paying base rent, whereas under certain other lease agreements, the tenants are directly responsible for all operating costs of the respective properties. To the extent such costs exceed the applicable tenant’s base year, many but not all of the Company’s leases require the tenant to pay its allocable share of increases in operating expenses, which may include common area maintenance costs, real estate taxes and insurance. Under ASC 842, the Company has elected to report combined lease and non-lease components in a single line “Revenue from tenants.” For expenses paid directly by the tenant, under both ASC 842 and 840, the Company has reflected them on a net basis.
The Company continually reviews receivables related to rent and unbilled rents receivable and determines collectability by taking into consideration the tenant’s payment history, the financial condition of the tenant, business conditions in the industry in which the tenant operates and economic conditions in the area in which the property is located. Under the leasing standard, the Company is required to assess, based on credit risk, if it is probable that the Company will collect virtually all of the lease payments at the lease commencement date and it must continue to reassess collectability periodically thereafter based on new facts and circumstances affecting the credit risk of the tenant. Partial reserves, or the ability to assume partial recovery are no longer permitted. If the Company determines that it is probable that it will collect virtually all of the lease payments (base rent and additional rent), the lease will continue to be accounted for on an accrual basis (i.e. straight-line). However, if the Company determines it is not probable that it will collect virtually all of the lease payments, the lease will be accounted for on a cash basis and the straight-line rent receivable accrued will be written off, as well as any accounts receivable, where it was subsequently concluded that collection was not probable. Cost recoveries from tenants are included in operating revenue from tenants in accordance with current accounting rules, on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the period the related costs are incurred, as applicable.
In accordance with lease accounting rules the Company records uncollectible amounts as reductions in revenue from tenants. During the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had no such reductions in revenue which excludes rents from tenants on a cash basis not collected.
Accounting for Leases
Lessor Accounting
In accordance with the lease accounting standard, all leases as lessor prior to adoption were accounted for as operating leases. The Company evaluates new leases originated after the adoption date (by the Company or by a predecessor lessor/owner) pursuant to the new guidance where a lease for some or all of a building is classified by a lessor as a sales-type lease if the significant risks and rewards of ownership reside with the tenant. This situation is met if, among other things, there is an automatic transfer of title during the lease, a bargain purchase option, the non-cancelable lease term is for more than major part of remaining economic useful life of the asset (e.g., equal to or greater than 75%), the present value of the minimum lease payments represents substantially all (e.g., equal to or greater than 90%) of the leased property’s fair value at lease inception, or the asset so specialized in nature that it provides no alternative use to the lessor (and therefore would not provide any future value to the lessor) after the lease term. Further, such new leases are evaluated to consider whether they would be failed sale-leaseback transactions and accounted for as financing transactions by the lessor. As of March 31, 2025, the Company did not have any leases as a lessor that would be considered as sales-type leases or financing under sales-leaseback rules.
As a lessor of real estate, the Company has elected, by class of underlying assets, to account for lease and non-lease components (such as tenant reimbursements of property operating expenses) as a single lease component as an operating lease because (a) the non-lease components have the same timing and pattern of transfer as the associated lease component; and (b) the lease component, if accounted for separately, would be classified as an operating lease. Additionally, only incremental direct leasing costs may be capitalized under the accounting guidance. Indirect leasing costs in connection with new or extended tenant leases, if any, are being expensed.
Lessee Accounting
For lessees, the accounting standard requires the application of a dual lease classification approach, classifying leases as either operating or finance leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee. Lease expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease, while lease expense for finance leases is recognized based on an effective interest method over the term of the lease. Also, lessees must recognize a right-of-use asset (“ROU”) and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification. Further, certain transactions where at inception of the lease the buyer-lessor accounted for the transaction as a purchase of real estate and a new lease, may now be required to have symmetrical accounting to the seller-lessee if the transaction was not a qualified sale-leaseback and accounted for as a financing transaction. For additional information and disclosures related to the Company’s operating leases, see Note 8 — Commitments and Contingencies.
We are the lessee under a land lease which was previously classified as an operating lease prior to adoption of lease accounting and will continue to be classified as an operating lease under transition elections unless subsequently modified. This lease is reflected on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and the rent expense is reflected on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
When circumstances indicate the carrying value of a property may not be recoverable, the Company reviews the property for impairment. This review is based on an estimate of the future undiscounted cash flows, excluding interest charges, expected to result from the property’s use and eventual disposition. These estimates consider factors such as expected future operating income, market and other applicable trends and residual value, as well as the effects of leasing demand, competition and other factors. If an impairment exists, due to the inability to recover the carrying value of a property, the Company would recognize an impairment loss in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income to the extent that the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the property for properties to be held for use. For properties held for sale, the impairment loss recorded would equal the adjustment to fair value less estimated cost to dispose of the asset. These assessments have a direct impact on net loss because recording an impairment loss results in an immediate negative adjustment to earnings.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Not Yet Adopted as of March 31, 2025
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740) — Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures. The new standard expands the disclosure requirements for income taxes, specifically related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid. Public entities must apply the new standard to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company will adopt the new guidance in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025. The guidance is not expected to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Income Statement (Topic 220) — Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Topic 220): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses. The new standard requires additional disclosure of the nature of expenses included in the income statement as well as disclosures about specific types of expenses included in the expense captions presented in the income statement. Public entities must apply the new standard to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. Both early adoption and retrospective application are permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this new standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.