MDRR Medalist Diversified REIT Inc

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our common stock involves a number of very significant risks. You should carefully consider the following risk factors in conjunction with the other information contained in this prospectus before purchasing our common stock. The risks discussed in this prospectus could adversely affect our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. This could cause the value of our common stock to decline and/or you to lose part or all of your investment. 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, as of the date of this prospectus, we deem immaterial may also harm our business. Some statements in this prospectus, including statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. Please refer to the section entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Investments

Our success is totally dependent on our ability to make additional Investments consistent with our investment goals.

We cannot provide prospective investors with any specific information as to the identification, location, operating histories, lease terms or other relevant economic and financial data regarding any other Investments we will make with the net proceeds of this offering. Our success is totally dependent on our ability to make Investments consistent with our investment goals, and a failure to do so is likely to materially and adversely affect returns to our stockholders.

Restrictions in tenants in common agreements related to the Hampton Inn Property and the Hanover Square Property may adversely impact our investments in those properties.

We own two of our six Investments, the Hampton Inn Property and the Hanover Square Property, with a tenant in common. In connection with each of our acquisitions of those Investments, we entered into a tenant in common agreement with an unaffiliated third party. The tenant in common agreements require consent of both tenants in common for certain actions, including but not limited to, selling the property and refinancing the property. As a result, we may be unable to sell or refinance either or both properties when it would be advantageous to us. While each agreement provides a buy/sell provision in the event the tenants in common are unable to agree on a decision requiring unanimous consent, there is no guaranty that we will be able to buyout our tenant in common in a timely manner or at all.

You will not have the opportunity to evaluate our Investments before we make them.

Because we have not identified all of the specific assets that we will acquire with the proceeds raised in this offering, we are not able to provide you with information that you may want to evaluate before deciding to invest in our shares. Our investment policies and strategies are very broad and permit us to invest in any type of commercial real estate, including developed and undeveloped properties, entities owning these assets or other real estate assets regardless of geographic location or property type. Our Manager and board of directors have absolute discretion in implementing these policies and strategies, subject to the restrictions on investment objectives and policies set forth in our articles of incorporation. Because you cannot evaluate our investments in advance of purchasing shares of our common stock, this offering may entail more risk than other types of offerings. This additional risk may hinder your ability to achieve your own personal investment objectives related to portfolio diversification, risk-adjusted investment returns and other objectives.

Our future growth will depend upon our ability to acquire and lease properties in a competitive real estate business and to raise additional capital.

Our future growth will depend, in large part, upon our ability to acquire and lease properties and raise additional capital. In order to grow we need to continue to acquire and finance investment properties and sell non-core properties. We face significant competition with respect to our acquisition and origination of assets from many other companies, including other REITs, insurance companies, private investment funds, hedge funds, specialty finance companies and other investors. Some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, there is significant competition on a national, regional and local level with respect to property management services and in commercial real estate services generally, and we are subject to competition from large national and multi-national firms as well as local or regional firms that offer similar services to ours. Some of our competitors may have greater financial and operational resources, larger customer bases, and more established relationships with their customers and suppliers than we do. The competitive pressures we face, if not effectively managed, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. 

Also, as a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive origination and investment opportunities, and therefore may not be able to identify and pursue opportunities that are consistent with our objectives. Competition may limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us. It may also result in higher prices, lower yields and a narrower spread of yields over our borrowing costs, making it more difficult for us to acquire new investments on attractive terms. In addition, competition for desirable investments could delay our investment in desirable assets, which may in turn reduce our earnings per share and negatively affect our ability to declare and make distributions to our stockholders.

Our Manager may not be successful in identifying and consummating suitable investment opportunities.

Our investment strategy requires us, through our Manager, to identify suitable investment opportunities compatible with our investment criteria. Our Manager may not be successful in identifying suitable opportunities that meet our criteria or in consummating investments, including those identified as part of our investment pipeline, on satisfactory terms or at all. Our ability to make investments on favorable terms may be constrained by several factors including, but not limited to, competition from other investors with significant capital, including publicly-traded REITs and institutional investment funds, which may significantly increase investment costs; and/or the inability to finance an investment on favorable terms or at all. The failure to identify or consummate investments on satisfactory terms, or at all, may impede our growth and negatively affect our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

If we cannot obtain additional capital, our ability to make acquisitions and lease properties will be limited. We are subject to risks associated with debt and capital stock issuances, and such issuances may have consequences to holders of shares of our common stock.

Our ability to make acquisitions and lease properties will depend, in large part, upon our ability to raise additional capital. If we were to raise additional capital through the issuance of equity securities, we could dilute the interests of holders of shares of our common stock. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of classes or series of preferred stock which may have rights that could dilute, or otherwise adversely affect, the interest of holders of shares our common stock.

Further, we expect to incur additional indebtedness in the future, which may include a corporate credit facility. Such indebtedness could also have other important consequences to holders of the notes and holders of our common and preferred stock, including subjecting us to covenants restricting our operating flexibility, increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions, limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements, requiring the use of a portion of our cash flow from operations for the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund working capital, acquisitions, capital expenditures and general corporate requirements, and limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry.

Lack of diversification in number of investments increases our dependence on individual investments.

If we acquire other property interests that are similarly large in relation to our overall size, our portfolio could become even more concentrated, increasing the risk of loss to stockholders if a default or other problem arises. Alternatively, property sales may reduce the aggregate amount of our property investment portfolio in value or number. As a result, our portfolio could become concentrated in larger assets, thereby reducing the benefits of diversification by geography, property type, tenancy or other measures.

We may never reach sufficient size to achieve diversity in our portfolio.

We are presently a comparatively small company with a modest number of properties, resulting in a portfolio that lacks geographic and tenant diversity. While we intend to endeavor to grow and diversify our portfolio through additional property acquisitions, we may never reach a significant size to achieve true portfolio diversity.

The market for real estate investments is highly competitive.

Identifying attractive real estate investment opportunities, particularly in the value-added real estate arena, is difficult and involves a high degree of uncertainty. Furthermore, the historical performance of a particular property or market is not a guarantee or prediction of the property’s or market’s future performance. There can be no assurance that we will be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities, achieve its investment goal and objectives, or fully deploy for investment the net proceeds of this offering.

Because of the recent growth in demand for real estate investments, there may be increased competition among investors to invest in the same asset classes as our company. This competition may lead to an increase in the investment prices or otherwise less favorable investment terms. If this situation occurs with a particular Investment, our return on that Investment is likely to be less than the return it could have achieved if it had invested at a time of less investor competition for the Investment. For this and other reasons, our Manager is under no restrictions concerning the timing of Investments. 

We are required to make a number of judgments in applying accounting policies, and different estimates and assumptions in the application of these policies could result in changes to our reporting of financial condition and results of operations.

Various estimates are used in the preparation of our financial statements, including estimates related to asset and liability valuations (or potential impairments) and various receivables. Often these estimates require the use of market data values that may be difficult to assess, as well as estimates of future performance or receivables collectability that may be difficult to accurately predict. While we have identified those accounting policies that are considered critical and have procedures in place to facilitate the associated judgments, different assumptions in the application of these policies could result in material changes to our financial condition and results of operations.

We utilize, and intend to continue to utilize, leverage, which may limit our financial flexibility in the future.

We make acquisitions and operate our business in part through the utilization of leverage pursuant to loan agreements with various financial institutions. These loan agreements contain financial covenants that restrict our operations. These financial covenants, as well as any future financial covenants we may enter into through further loan agreements, could inhibit our financial flexibility in the future and prevent distributions to stockholders.

We may incur losses as a result of ineffective risk management processes and strategies.

We seek to monitor and control our risk exposure through a risk and control framework encompassing a variety of separate but complementary financial, credit, operational, compliance and legal reporting systems, internal controls, management review processes and other mechanisms. While we employ a broad and diversified set of risk monitoring and risk mitigation techniques, those techniques and the judgments that accompany their application cannot anticipate every economic and financial outcome or the specifics and timing of such outcomes. Thus, we may, in the course of our activities, incur losses due to these risks.

We are dependent on information systems and third parties, and systems failures could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Our business is dependent on communications and information systems, some of which are provided by third parties. Any failure or interruption of our systems could cause delays or other problems, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Inflation may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Although inflation has not materially impacted the results of operations of our affiliates in the recent past, increased inflation could have a more pronounced negative impact on any variable rate debt we incur in the future and on our results of operations. During times when inflation is greater than increases in rent, the contracted rent increases called for under our leases may be unable to keep pace with the rate of inflation. Likewise, while triple-net leases will generally reduce our exposure to rising property expenses resulting from inflation, substantial inflationary pressures and increased costs may have an adverse impact on our tenants, which may adversely affect the ability of our tenants to pay rent.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, new Securities and Exchange Commission regulations and stock exchange rules and state blue sky laws, regulations and filing requirements, are creating uncertainty for companies such as ours. These new or changed laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity. As a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations, and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.

We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, and particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to compliance with these requirements. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, which could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we will incur as a public company or the timing of such costs. 

If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, our ability to produce accurate financial statements could be impaired, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock may decline.

We are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and, in accordance with this law, we will file periodic reports (Form 10-K’s, Form 10-Q’s and Form 8-K’s), proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a public reporting company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal control. We are also required to establish and maintain effective disclosure controls. In addition, we are required to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In early 2018, we began the process of implementing the internal control over financial reporting required to comply with this obligation, which process is time consuming, costly and complicated. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting beginning with our annual report on Form 10-K following the date on which we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” which may be up to five full years following the date of our IPO, or 2023. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting when required, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

We may discover deficiencies with our internal controls that require improvements, and we will be exposed to potential risks from legislation requiring companies to evaluate controls under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

It may be time consuming, difficult and costly for us to implement and maintain the additional internal controls, processes and reporting procedures required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Currently, as a small company, we maintain our internal controls through a segregation of duties between our executive officers. Our current officers and directors have limited experience in management of a publicly reporting company. This may be inadequate to have internal controls as we will rely heavily on direct management oversight of transactions, along with the use of external legal and accounting professionals. We may need to hire additional financial reporting, internal auditing and other finance staff in order to implement and maintain appropriate additional internal controls, processes and reporting procedures.

If we fail to comply in a timely manner with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding internal control over financial reporting or to remedy any material weaknesses in our internal controls that we may identify, such failure could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and current SEC regulations, we are required to prepare assessments regarding internal controls over financial reporting and, furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. We are not required to obtain the auditor attestation of management’s evaluation of internal controls over financial reporting because we are a smaller reporting company.

This process of internal control evaluation and testing is likely to result in increased general and administrative expenses and may shift management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. While our management expects to expend significant resources in an effort to complete this important project, there can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve our objective on a timely basis. If it is determined that we are not in compliance with Section 404, we may be required to implement new internal control procedures and re-evaluate our financial reporting. Failure to maintain an effective internal control environment or complete our Section 404 certifications could have a material adverse effect on our ability to comply with our periodic reporting obligations under the Exchange Act and on our stock price.

In addition, in connection with our on-going assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we may discover a “material weaknesses” in our internal controls as defined in standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB. A material weakness is a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The PCAOB defines “significant deficiency” as a deficiency that results in more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected. 

In the event that a material weakness is identified, we would be required to adopt and implement policies and procedures to address such material weaknesses. We may also need to employ additional qualified personnel to assist us in these efforts. The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. We cannot assure you that the measures we will take will remediate any material weaknesses that we may identify or that we will implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial process and reporting in the future.

We are an emerging growth company and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies including, but not limited to, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the end of the fiscal year in which the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million, (ii) the end of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year, (iii) the date on which we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period or (iv) five years from the date of our initial public offering.

We have experienced losses in the past, and we may experience similar losses in the future.

From inception of our company through December 31, 2020, we had a cumulative net loss of $17,533,820. Our losses can be attributed, in part, to the initial start-up costs and high corporate general and administrative expenses relative to the size of our portfolio. In addition, acquisition costs, depreciation and amortization expenses and impairment losses substantially reduced our income. We cannot assure you that, in the future, we will be profitable or that we will realize growth in the value of our assets.

We have paid and may continue to pay distributions from offering proceeds to the extent our cash flow from operations or earnings are not sufficient to fund declared distributions. Rates of distribution to you will not necessarily be indicative of our operating results. If we make distributions from sources other than our cash flows from operations or earnings, we will have fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and your overall return may be reduced.

Our organizational documents permit us to make distributions from any source, including the net proceeds from this offering. There is no limit on the amount of offering proceeds we may use to pay distributions. To date, we have funded and expect to continue to fund distributions from the net proceeds of our public offerings, including our offering pursuant to Regulation A in 2018 and our IPO. We may also fund distributions with borrowings and the sale of assets to the extent distributions exceed our earnings or cash flows from operations. While our policy is generally to pay distributions from cash flow from operations, our distributions paid to date were funded, in part, by proceeds from our previous public offering. To the extent we fund distributions from sources other than cash flow from operations, such distributions may constitute a return of capital and we will have fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and your overall return may be reduced. Further, to the extent distributions exceed our earnings and profits, a stockholder’s basis in our stock will be reduced and, to the extent distributions exceed a stockholder’s basis, the stockholder will be required to recognize capital gain.

Disruptions in the financial markets and uncertain economic conditions resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 could adversely affect market rental rates, commercial real estate values, hotel revenues and our ability to secure debt financing, service future debt obligations, or pay distributions to stockholders.

The outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”), both in the U.S. and globally, has created significant disruptions to financial markets, has resulted in business shutdowns and has led to an expectation of recessionary conditions in the economy in the short term. We expect the significance of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extent of its effects on our financial and operational results, to be dictated by, among other things, its nature, duration and scope, the success of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the impact of actions taken in response to the pandemic including travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter in place orders, the promotion of social distancing and limitations on business activity, including business closures. At this point, the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the global economy and our business is uncertain, but pandemics or other significant public health events could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. 

Volatility in global markets and changing political environments can cause fluctuations in the performance of the U.S. commercial real estate markets. Economic slowdowns of large economies outside the United States are likely to negatively impact growth of the U.S. economy. Political uncertainties both home and abroad may discourage business investment in real estate and other capital spending. Possible future declines in rental rates and expectations of future rental concessions, including free rent to renew tenants early, to retain tenants who are up for renewal or to attract new tenants, or requests from tenants for rent abatements during periods when they are severely impacted by COVID-19, may result in decreases in our cash flows from our retail and flex properties. The current and potential future travel bans and stay at home orders have and are expected to materially affect our hotel revenues. Management continuously reviews our investment and debt financing strategies to optimize our portfolio and the cost of our debt exposure.

The debt market remains sensitive to the macro-economic environment, such as Federal Reserve policy, market sentiment or regulatory factors affecting the banking and commercial mortgage backed securities (“CMBS”) industries and the COVID-19 pandemic. We may experience more stringent lending criteria, which may affect our ability to finance certain property acquisitions or refinance any debt at maturity. Additionally, for properties for which we are able to obtain financing, the interest rates and other terms on such loans may be unacceptable. We expect to manage the current mortgage lending environment by considering alternative lending sources, including but not limited to securitized debt, fixed rate loans, short-term variable rate loans, assumed mortgage loans in connection with property acquisitions, interest rate lock or swap agreements, or any combination of the foregoing.

Disruptions in the financial markets and uncertain economic conditions could adversely affect the values of our investments. Furthermore, declining economic conditions could negatively impact commercial real estate fundamentals and result in lower occupancy, lower rental rates and declining values in our real estate portfolio, which could have a negative effect on the values of our properties and revenues from our properties. Additionally, the significant disruption and volatility in the global capital markets increases the cost of capital and may adversely impact our access to the capital markets.

We may not acquire or sell Investments on the terms we expect, or at all.

As disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus, our company is currently under separate contracts to purchase the Lancer Center and sell the Hampton Inn Property. Each transaction is subject to a number of conditions and contingencies which may result in our inability to purchase the Lancer Center and/or sell the Hampton Inn Property on the terms we expect, or at all. The inability to acquire and/ or sell these properties on the terms we expect, or at all, may negatively affect our business and financial well-being and our management’s projections related thereto.

Risks Related to our Management and Relationships with our Manager

Our Manager and our senior management team have limited experience managing a REIT or a publicly traded company.

Our senior management team has limited experience managing a REIT or a publicly traded company. We cannot assure you that the past experience of our Manager and our senior management team will be sufficient to successfully operate our company as a REIT and as a publicly traded company, including meeting the requirements to timely meet disclosure and reporting obligations under the Exchange Act, exchange listing requirements and requirements relative to maintaining our qualification as a REIT.

We are dependent on our Manager and its key personnel for our success.

Currently, we are advised by our Manager and, pursuant to the Management Agreement, our Manager is not obligated to dedicate any specific personnel exclusively to us, nor is its personnel obligated to dedicate any specific portion of their time to the management of our business. As a result, we cannot provide any assurances regarding the amount of time our Manager will dedicate to the management of our business. Moreover, each of our officers and non-independent directors is also an employee of our Manager or one of its affiliates, and they have significant responsibilities for other investment vehicles currently managed by affiliates. As a result, they may not always be able to devote sufficient time to the management of our business. Consequently, we may not receive the level of support and assistance that we otherwise might receive if we were internally managed.

In addition, we offer no assurance that our Manager will remain our manager or that we will continue to have access to our Manager’s principals and professionals. The initial term of the Management Agreement extended until December 31, 2018, with automatic one-year renewals thereafter, and may be terminated earlier under certain circumstances. While the Management Agreement was renewed on January 1, 2020 for a one-year term, if the Management Agreement is terminated or not renewed at the end of the year and no suitable replacement is found to manage us, we may not be able to execute our business plan, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. 

The inability of our Manager to retain or obtain key personnel could delay or hinder implementation of our investment strategies, which could impair our ability to make distributions and could reduce the value of your investment.

Our Manager is obligated to supply us with substantially all of our senior management team, including our chief executive officer, president, chief accounting officer and chief operating officer. Subject to investment, leverage and other guidelines or policies adopted by our board of directors, our Manager has significant discretion regarding the implementation of our investment and operating policies and strategies. Accordingly, we believe that our success will depend significantly upon the experience, skill, resources, relationships and contacts of the senior officers and key personnel of our Manager and its affiliates. In particular, our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of Messrs. Elliott and Messier, who are senior officers of our Manager. We do not have employment agreements with any of these key personnel and do not currently have key man life insurance on any of them. However, as of the closing of this offering, we shall have obtained, and shall maintain for a period of no less than two (2) years, key man life insurance on the life of Mr. Messier, our Chief Executive Officer. If either of Messrs. Elliott and Messier were to cease their affiliation with us or our Manager, our Manager may be unable to find suitable replacements, and our operating results could suffer. We believe that our future success depends, in large part, upon our Manager’s ability to hire and retain highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing personnel. Competition for highly skilled personnel is intense, and our Manager may be unsuccessful in attracting and retaining such skilled personnel. If we lose or are unable to obtain the services of highly skilled personnel, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of your investment may decline.

Termination of the Management Agreement, even for poor performance, could be difficult and costly, including as a result of termination or incentive fees, and may cause us to be unable to execute our business plan.

Termination of the Management Agreement without cause, even for poor performance, could be difficult and costly. We may generally terminate our Manager for “cause” (as defined in the Management Agreement); provided, that if we are terminating due to a “change of control” of our Manager (as defined in the Management Agreement), and a majority of our directors must determine such change of control is materially detrimental to us prior to any termination. If we terminate the Management Agreement without cause or in connection with an internalization, or if our Manager terminates the Management Agreement because of a material breach thereof by us or as a result of a change of control of our company, we must pay our Manager a termination fee payable in cash or, in connection with an internalization, acquire our Manager at an equivalent price, which may include a contribution of our Manager’s assets in exchange for OP Units or other tax-efficient transaction. The termination fee, if any, will be equal to three times the sum of the management fee and incentive fee earned, in each case, by our Manager during the 12-month period prior to such termination, calculated as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. These provisions may substantially restrict our ability to terminate the Management Agreement without cause and would cause us to incur substantial costs in connection with such a termination. Furthermore, in the event that the Management Agreement is terminated, with or without cause, and we are unable to identify a suitable replacement to manage us, our ability to execute our business plan could be adversely affected.

Because we are dependent upon our Manager and its affiliates to conduct our operations, any adverse changes in the financial health of our Manager or its affiliates or our relationship with them could hinder our operating performance and the return on your investment.

We are dependent on our Manager and its affiliates to manage our operations and acquire and manage our portfolio of real estate assets. Under the direction of our board of directors, and subject to our investment guidelines, our Manager makes all decisions with respect to the management of our company. Our Manager depends upon the fees and other compensation that it receives from us in connection with managing our company to conduct its operations. Any adverse changes in the financial condition of our Manager or its affiliates, or our relationship with our Manager, could hinder its ability to successfully manage our operations and our portfolio of investments, which would adversely affect us and our stockholders.

Our board of directors has approved very broad investment guidelines for our Manager and will not approve each investment and financing decision made by our Manager unless required by our investment guidelines.

Our Manager is authorized to follow very broad investment guidelines established by our board of directors. Our board of directors will periodically review our investment guidelines and our portfolio of assets but will not, and will not be required to, review all of our proposed investments, except in limited circumstances as set forth in our investment policies. In addition, in conducting periodic reviews, our board of directors may rely primarily on information provided to them by our Manager. Furthermore, transactions entered into by our Manager may be costly, difficult or impossible to unwind by the time they are reviewed by our board of directors. Our board of directors is currently controlled by affiliates of our Manager. Our Manager has great latitude within the broad parameters of our investment guidelines in determining the types and amounts of assets in which to invest on our behalf, including making investments that may result in returns that are substantially below expectations or result in losses, which would materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations, or may otherwise not be in the best interests of our stockholders. 

Our Manager may fail to identify acceptable Investments.

There can be no assurances that our Manager will be able to identify, make or acquire suitable Investments meeting our investment criteria. There is no guarantee that any Investment selected by our Manager will generate operating income or gains. While affiliates of our Manager have been successful in the past in identifying and structuring favorable real estate investments, there is no guarantee that our Manager will be able to identify and structure favorable Investments in the future.

Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry and Investments in Real Estate

Our real estate investments are subject to risks particular to real property.

Real estate investments are subject to risks particular to real property, including:

If any of these or similar events occur, it may reduce our return from an affected property or investment and reduce or eliminate our ability to make distributions to stockholders.

Real estate investments are not as liquid as other types of assets, which may reduce economic returns to our stockholders.

Real estate investments are not as liquid as other types of investments. In addition, the instruments that we purchase in connection with privately negotiated transactions are not registered under the relevant securities laws, resulting in a prohibition against their transfer, sale, pledge or other disposition except in a transaction that is exempt from the registration requirements of, or is otherwise in accordance with, those laws. As a result, our ability to sell under-performing assets in our portfolio or respond to changes in economic and other conditions may be relatively limited.

Investments in real estate-related assets can be speculative.

Investments in real estate-related assets can involve speculative risks and always involve substantial risks. No assurance can be given that our Manager will be able to execute the investment strategy or that stockholders in our company will realize their investment objectives. No assurance can be given that our stockholders will realize a substantial return (if any) on their investment or that they will not lose their entire investment in our company. For this reason, each prospective purchaser of shares of our common stock should carefully read this prospectus and all exhibits to this prospectus. All such persons or entities should consult with their attorney or business advisor prior to making an investment.

Our Investments may be concentrated.

We expect to diversify our Investments, and do not expect to concentrate on any single Investment. However, our investments may nonetheless result in significant concentration in a single Investment, especially in our early stages of operation. If such an Investment experienced a material adverse event, our company and our stockholders would likely be significantly and adversely affected. 

Liability relating to environmental matters may impact the value of the properties that we may acquire or underlying our investments.

Under various U.S. federal, state and local laws, an owner or operator of real property may become liable for the costs of removal of certain hazardous substances released on its property. These laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the release of such hazardous substances. If we fail to disclose environmental issues, we could also be liable to a buyer or lessee of a property.

There may be environmental problems associated with our properties which we were unaware of at the time of acquisition. The presence of hazardous substances may adversely affect our ability to sell real estate, including the affected property, or borrow using real estate as collateral. The presence of hazardous substances, if any, on our properties may cause us to incur substantial remediation costs, thus harming our financial condition. In addition, although our leases will generally require our tenants to operate in compliance with all applicable laws and to indemnify us against any environmental liabilities arising from a tenant’s activities on the property, we nonetheless would be subject to strict liability by virtue of our ownership interest for environmental liabilities created by such tenants, and we cannot ensure the stockholders that any tenants we might have would satisfy their indemnification obligations under the applicable sales agreement or lease. The discovery of material environmental liabilities attached to such properties could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Discovery of previously undetected environmentally hazardous conditions, including mold or asbestos, may lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of remediating the problem could adversely affect our operating results.

Under various U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property. The costs of removal or remediation could be substantial. 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. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require substantial expenditures. Environmental laws provide for sanctions in the event of noncompliance and may be enforced by governmental agencies or, in certain circumstances, by private parties. Certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for release of and exposure to hazardous substances, including asbestos-containing materials into the air, and third parties may seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury or property damage associated with exposure to released hazardous substances. The cost of defending against claims of liability, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims related to any contaminated property could materially adversely affect our business, assets or results of operations and, consequently, amounts available for distribution to our security holders.

We may invest in real estate-related Investments, including joint ventures and co-investment arrangements.

We expect to primarily invest in properties as sole owner. However, we may, in our Manager’s sole discretion subject to our investment guidelines, invest as a joint venture partner or co-investor in an Investment. In such event, we generally anticipate owning a controlling interest in the joint venture or co-investment vehicle. However, our joint venture partner or co-investor may have a consent or similar right with respect to certain major decisions with respect to an Investment, including a refinancing, sale or other disposition. Additionally, we may rely on our joint venture partner or co-investor to act as the property manager or developer, and, thus, our returns will be subject to the performance of our joint venture partner or co-investor. While our Manager does not intend for these types of Investments to be a primary focus of our company, our Manager may make such Investments in its sole discretion.

We expect to lease a significant portion of our real estate to middle-market businesses, which may be more susceptible to adverse market conditions.

We expect that a substantial number of our properties will be leased to middle-market businesses that generally have less financial and other resources than larger businesses. Middle-market companies are more likely to be adversely affected by a downturn in their respective businesses or in the regional, national or international economy. As such, negative market conditions affecting existing or potential middle-market tenants, or the industries in which they operate, could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. 

Adverse economic conditions may negatively affect our results of operations and, as a result, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders or to realize appreciation in the value of our Investments.

Our operating results may be adversely affected by market and economic challenges, which may negatively affect our returns and profitability and, as a result, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders or to realize appreciation in the value of our Investments. These market and economic challenges include, but are not limited to, the following:

The length and severity of any economic slow-down or downturn cannot be predicted. Our operations and, as a result, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and/or our ability to realize appreciation in the value of our properties could be materially and adversely affected to the extent that an economic slow-down or downturn is prolonged or becomes severe.

We may be adversely affected by unfavorable economic changes in the specific geographic areas where our Investments are concentrated.

Adverse conditions (including business layoffs or downsizing, industry slowdowns, changing demographics and other factors) in the areas where our Investments are located and/or concentrated, and local real estate conditions (such as oversupply of, or reduced demand for, office, industrial, retail or multifamily properties) may have an adverse effect on the value of our Investments. A material decline in the demand or the ability of tenants to pay rent for office, industrial or retail space in these geographic areas may result in a material decline in our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

We may not be able to re-lease or renew leases at the Investments held by us on terms favorable to us or at all.

We are subject to risks that upon expiration or earlier termination of the leases for space located at our Investments the space may not be re-leased or, if re-leased, the terms of the renewal or re-leasing (including the costs of required renovations or concessions to tenants) may be less favorable than current lease terms. Any of these situations may result in extended periods where there is a significant decline in revenues or no revenues generated by an Investment. If we are unable to re-lease or renew leases for all or substantially all of the spaces at these Investments, if the rental rates upon such renewal or re-leasing are significantly lower than expected, if our reserves for these purposes prove inadequate, or if we are required to make significant renovations or concessions to tenants as part of the renewal or re-leasing process, we will experience a reduction in net income and may be required to reduce or eliminate distributions to our stockholders.

The bankruptcy, insolvency or diminished creditworthiness of our tenants under their leases or delays by our tenants in making rental payments could seriously harm our operating results and financial condition.

We lease our properties to tenants, and we receive rents from our tenants during the terms of their respective leases. A tenant’s ability to pay rent is often initially determined by the creditworthiness of the tenant. However, if a tenant’s credit deteriorates, the tenant may default on its obligations under its lease and the tenant may also become bankrupt. The bankruptcy or insolvency of our tenants or other failure to pay is likely to adversely affect the income produced by our real estate investments. Any bankruptcy filings by or relating to one of our tenants could bar us from collecting pre-bankruptcy debts from that tenant or its property, unless we receive an order permitting us to do so from the bankruptcy court. A tenant bankruptcy could delay our efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums. If a tenant files for bankruptcy, we may not be able to evict the tenant solely because of such bankruptcy or failure to pay. A court, however, may authorize a tenant to reject and terminate its lease with us. In such a case, our claim against the tenant for unpaid, future rent would be subject to a statutory cap that might be substantially less than the remaining rent owed under the lease. In addition, certain amounts paid to us within 90 days prior to the tenant’s bankruptcy filing could be required to be returned to the tenant’s bankruptcy estate. In any event, it is highly unlikely that a bankrupt or insolvent tenant would pay in full amounts it owes us under its lease. In other circumstances, where a tenant’s financial condition has become impaired, we may agree to partially or wholly terminate the lease in advance of the termination date in consideration for a lease termination fee that is likely less than the agreed rental amount. If a lease is rejected by a tenant in bankruptcy, we would have only a general unsecured claim for damages. Any unsecured claim we hold against a bankrupt entity may be paid only to the extent that funds are available and only in the same percentage as is paid to all other holders of unsecured claims. We may recover substantially less than the full value of any unsecured claims, which would harm our financial condition.

Lease defaults or terminations or landlord-tenant disputes may adversely reduce our income from our leased property portfolio.

Lease defaults or terminations by one or more of our significant tenants may reduce our revenues unless a default is cured or a suitable replacement tenant is found promptly. In addition, disputes may arise between the landlord and tenant that result in the tenant withholding rent payments, possibly for an extended period. These disputes may lead to litigation or other legal procedures to secure payment of the rent withheld or to evict the tenant. In other circumstances, a tenant may have a contractual right to abate or suspend rent payments. Even without such right, a tenant might determine to do so. Any of these situations may result in extended periods during which there is a significant decline in revenues or no revenues generated by the property. If this were to occur, it could adversely affect our results of operations. 

Net leases may require us to pay property-related expenses that are not the obligations of our tenants.

Under the terms of net leases, in addition to satisfying their rent obligations, tenants are responsible for the payment of real estate taxes, insurance and ordinary maintenance and repairs. However, pursuant to leases we may assume or enter into in the future, we may be required to pay certain expenses, such as the costs of environmental liabilities, roof and structural repairs, insurance, certain non-structural repairs and maintenance and other costs and expenses for which insurance proceeds or other means of recovery are not available. If one or more of our properties incur significant expenses under the terms of the leases, such property, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected and the amount of cash available to meet expenses and to make distributions to our stockholders may be reduced.

Net leases may not result in fair market lease rates over time, which could negatively impact our income and reduce the amount of funds available to make distributions to our stockholders.

A significant portion of our rental income is expected to come from net leases, which generally provide the tenant greater discretion in using the leased property than ordinary property leases, such as the right to freely sublease the property, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Furthermore, net leases typically have longer lease terms and, thus, there is an increased risk that contractual rental increases in future years will fail to result in fair market rental rates during those years. As a result, our income and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not engage in net leases.

We could be adversely affected by various facts and events related to our Investments over which we have limited or no control.

We could be adversely affected by various facts and events over which we have limited or no control, such as (i) oversupply of space and changes in market rental rates; (ii) economic or physical decline of the areas where the Investments are located; and (iii) deterioration of the physical condition of our Investments. Negative market conditions or adverse events affecting our existing or potential tenants, or the industries in which they operate, could have an adverse impact on our ability to attract new tenants, re-lease space, collect rent or renew leases, any of which could adversely affect our financial condition.

We may be required to reimburse tenants for overpayments of estimated operating expenses.

Under certain of our leases, tenants pay us as additional rent their proportionate share of the costs we incur to manage, operate and maintain the buildings and properties where they rent space. These leases often limit the types and amounts of expenses we can pass through to our tenants and allow the tenants to audit and contest our determination of the operating expenses they are required to pay. Given the complexity of certain additional rent calculations, tenant audit rights under large portfolio leases can remain unresolved for several years. If as a result of a tenant audit it is determined that we have collected more additional rent than we are permitted to collect under a lease, we must refund the excess amount back to the tenant and, sometimes, also reimburse the tenant for its audit costs. Such unexpected reimbursement payments could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

An uninsured loss or a loss that exceeds the policies on our Investments could subject us to lost capital or revenue on those properties.

Under the terms and conditions of the leases expected to be in force on our Investments, tenants are generally expected to be required to indemnify and hold us harmless from liabilities resulting from injury to persons, air, water, land or property, on or off the premises, due to activities conducted on the Investments, except for claims arising from the negligence or intentional misconduct of us or our agents. Additionally, tenants are generally expected to be required, at the tenants’ expense, to obtain and keep in full force during the term of the lease, liability and property damage insurance policies. Insurance policies for property damage are generally expected to be in amounts not less than the full replacement cost of the improvements less slab, foundations, supports and other customarily excluded improvements and insure against all perils of fire, extended coverage, vandalism, malicious mischief and special extended perils (“all risk,” as that term is used in the insurance industry). Insurance policies are generally expected to be obtained by the tenant providing general liability coverage in varying amounts depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding the tenant and the industry in which it operates. These policies may include liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage arising out of the ownership, use, occupancy or maintenance of the properties and all of their appurtenant areas. To the extent that losses are uninsured or underinsured, we could be subject to lost capital and revenue on those Investments. 

Acquired Investments may not meet projected occupancy.

If the tenants in an Investment do not renew or extend their leases or if tenants terminate their leases, the operating results of the Investment could be substantially and adversely affected by the loss of revenue and possible increase in operating expenses not reimbursed by the tenants. There can be no assurance that the Investments will be substantially occupied at projected rents. We will anticipate a minimum occupancy rate for each Investment, but there can be no assurance that the Investments will maintain the minimum occupancy rate or meet our anticipated lease-up schedule. In addition, lease-up of the unoccupied space may be achievable only at rental rates less than those we anticipate.

We could be exposed to environmental liabilities with respect to Investments to which we take title.

In the course of our business, and taking title to properties, we could be subject to environmental liabilities with respect to such properties. In such a circumstance, we may be held liable to a governmental entity or to third parties for property damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs incurred by these parties in connection with environmental contamination, or we may be required to investigate or clean up hazardous or toxic substances or chemical releases at a property. The costs associated with investigation or remediation activities could be substantial. If we become subject to significant environmental liabilities, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Properties may contain toxic and hazardous materials.

Federal, state and local laws impose liability on a landowner for releases or the otherwise improper presence on the premises of hazardous substances. This liability is without regard to fault for, or knowledge of, the presence of such substances. A landowner may be held liable for hazardous materials brought onto the property before it acquired title and for hazardous materials that are not discovered until after it sells the property. Similar liability may occur under applicable state law. If any hazardous materials are found within an Investment that are in violation of law at any time, we may be liable for all cleanup costs, fines, penalties and other costs. This potential liability will continue after we sell the Investment and may apply to hazardous materials present within the Investment before we acquired such Investment. If losses arise from hazardous substance contamination which cannot be recovered from a responsible party, the financial viability of that property may be substantially affected. It is possible that we will acquire an Investment with known or unknown environmental problems which may adversely affect us.

Properties may contain mold.

Mold contamination has been linked to a number of health problems, resulting in recent litigation by tenants seeking various remedies, including damages and ability to terminate their leases. Originally occurring in residential property, mold claims have recently begun to appear in commercial properties as well. Several insurance companies have reported a substantial increase in mold-related claims, causing a growing concern that real estate owners might be subject to increasing lawsuits regarding mold contamination. No assurance can be given that a mold condition will not exist at one or more of our Investments, with the risk of substantial damages, legal fees and possibly loss of tenants. It is unclear whether such mold claims would be covered by the customary insurance policies to be obtained for us.

Significant restrictions on transfer and encumbrance of Investments are expected.

The terms of any debt financing for an Investment are expected to prohibit the transfer or further encumbrance of that Investment or any interest in that Investment except with the lender’s prior consent, which consent each lender is expected to be able to withhold. The relative illiquidity of the Investments may prevent or substantially impair our ability to dispose of an Investment at times when it may be otherwise advantageous for us to do so. If we were forced to immediately liquidate some or all of our Investments, the proceeds are likely to result in a significant loss, if such a liquidation is possible at all.

We will likely receive limited representations and warranties from sellers.

Investments will likely be acquired with limited representations and warranties from the seller regarding the condition of the Investment, the status of leases, the presence of hazardous substances, the status of governmental approvals and entitlements and other significant matters affecting the use, ownership and enjoyment of the Investment. As a result, if defects in an Investment or other matters adversely affecting an Investment are discovered, we may not be able to pursue a claim for damages against the seller of the Investment. The extent of damages that we may incur as a result of such matters cannot be predicted, but potentially could result in a significant adverse effect on the value of the Investments.

We may be subject to the risk of liability and casualty loss as the owner of an Investment.

It is expected that our Manager will maintain or cause to be maintained insurance against certain liabilities and other losses for an Investment, but the insurance obtained will not cover all amounts or types of loss. There is no assurance that any liability that may occur will be insured or that, if insured, the insurance proceeds will be sufficient to cover the loss. There are certain categories of loss that may be or may become uninsurable or not economically insurable, such as earthquakes, floods and hazardous waste. 

Further, if losses arise from hazardous substance contamination that cannot be recovered from a responsible party, the financial viability of the affected Investment may be substantially impaired. It is expected that lenders will require a Phase I environmental site assessment to determine the existence of hazardous materials and other environmental problems prior to making a Loan secured by an Investment. However, a Phase I environmental site assessment generally does not involve invasive testing, but instead is limited to a physical walk through or inspection of an Investment and a review of governmental records. It is possible that we will acquire an Investment with known or unknown environmental problems that may adversely affect our Investments.

Risks Related to Our Taxation as a REIT

Our failure to qualify as a REIT would result in higher taxes and reduced cash available for stockholders.

We intend to continue to operate in a manner so as to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our initial and continued qualification as a REIT depends on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution and stockholder ownership requirements on a continuing basis. Our ability to satisfy some of the asset tests depends upon the fair market values of our assets, some of which are not able to be precisely determined and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals. If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, and certain statutory relief provisions were not available, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and distributions to stockholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution. Unless entitled to relief under certain Internal Revenue Code provisions, we also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to qualify as a REIT. In addition, if we fail to qualify as a REIT, we will no longer be required to make distributions. As a result of all these factors, our failure to qualify as a REIT could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital, and it would adversely affect the value of our common stock.

REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our liquidity.

In order to maintain our REIT status and to meet the REIT distribution requirements, we may need to borrow funds on a short-term basis or sell assets, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings or sales. To qualify as a REIT, we generally must distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our net taxable income each year, excluding capital gains. In addition, we will be subject to corporate income tax to the extent we distribute less than 100% of our net taxable income including any net capital gain. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code for REITs and to minimize or eliminate our corporate income tax obligation to the extent consistent with our business objectives. Our cash flows from operations may be insufficient to fund required distributions as a result of differences in timing between the actual receipt of income and the recognition of income for federal income tax purposes, or the effect of non-deductible capital expenditures, the creation of reserves or required debt service or amortization payments. The insufficiency of our cash flows to cover our distribution requirements could have an adverse impact on our ability to raise short- and long-term debt or sell equity securities in order to fund distributions required to maintain our REIT status. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which distributions paid by us in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from prior years.

Further, amounts distributed will not be available to fund investment activities. We expect to fund our investments by raising equity capital and through borrowings from financial institutions and the debt capital markets. If we fail to obtain debt or equity capital in the future, it could limit our ability to grow, which could have a material adverse effect on the value of our common stock.

The stock ownership limit imposed by the Code for REITs and our charter may inhibit market activity in our stock and may restrict our business combination opportunities.

In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Internal Revenue Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our capital stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year for each taxable year. Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may own more than 9.8% of the aggregate value of the outstanding shares of our stock or more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Our board of directors may not grant such an exemption to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of 9.8% of the value of our outstanding shares or more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock, would result in the termination of our status as a REIT. These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in our control that might be in the best interest of our stockholders. 

Upon the closing of our IPO, our board of directors exempted the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, or the Virginia Birth Injury Program, from the 9.8% ownership limit. In connection with that exemption, our board of directors set the Virginia Birth Injury Program’s ownership limit at 32.95% of our issued and outstanding common stock. As of the date of this prospectus, our top five stockholders, by share ownership, beneficially own 22.76% of our issued and outstanding common stock. If any of these stockholders increase their holdings, we may go over the 50% threshold which could result in our failure to qualify or preserve our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. If this were to occur, your investment would be negatively affected.

Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

The maximum tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income” payable to U.S. stockholders that are taxed at individual rates is 20% (exclusive of the application of the net investment tax). Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates on qualified dividend income. The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are taxed at individual rates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our common stock.

The prohibited transactions tax may subject us to tax on our gain from sales of property and limit our ability to dispose of our properties.

A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Although we intend to acquire and hold all of our assets as investments and not for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, the IRS may assert that we are subject to the prohibited transaction tax equal to 100% of net gain upon a disposition of real property. Although a safe harbor to the characterization of the sale of real property by a REIT as a prohibited transaction is available, not all of our prior property dispositions qualified for the safe harbor and we cannot assure you that we can comply with the safe harbor in the future or that we have avoided, or will avoid, owning property that may be characterized as held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Consequently, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of our properties or may conduct such sales through a TRS, which would be subject to federal and state income taxation. Additionally, in the event that we engage in sales of our properties, any gains from the sales of properties classified as prohibited transactions would be taxed at the 100% prohibited transaction tax rate.

We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations, operating cash flow or portfolio income to pay our operating expenses, and our operating expenses could rise, diminishing our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.

As a REIT, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and not including net capital gains, each year to our stockholders. To qualify for the tax benefits accorded to REITs, we have and intend to continue to make distributions to our stockholders in amounts such that we distribute all or substantially all our net taxable income each year, subject to certain adjustments. However, our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected by the risk factors described herein. Our ability to make and sustain cash distributions is based on many factors, including the return on our investments, the size of our investment portfolio, operating expense levels, and certain restrictions imposed by Maryland law. Some of the factors are beyond our control and a change in any such factor could affect our ability to pay future dividends. No assurance can be given as to our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders. In the event of a downturn in our operating results and financial performance or unanticipated declines in the value of our asset portfolio, we may be unable to declare or pay quarterly distributions or make distributions to our stockholders. The timing and amount of distributions are in the sole discretion of our board of directors, which considers, among other factors, our earnings, financial condition, debt service obligations and applicable debt covenants, REIT qualification requirements and other tax considerations and capital expenditure requirements as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time.

Although our use of TRSs may partially mitigate the impact of meeting the requirements necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT, our ownership of and relationship with our TRSs will be limited, and a failure to comply with the limits would jeopardize our REIT qualification and may result in the application of a 100% excise tax.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more TRSs. A TRS generally may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. In addition, the TRS rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a TRS to its parent REIT to assure that the TRS is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The rules also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.

Any TRSs that we own will pay U.S. federal, state and local income tax on their taxable income, and their after-tax net income will be available for distribution to us but will not be required to be distributed to us. We will monitor the value of our investments in TRSs for the purpose of ensuring compliance with the rule that no more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of TRS securities (which is applied at the end of each calendar quarter). In addition, we will scrutinize all of our transactions with any TRSs for the purpose of ensuring that they are entered into on arm’s-length terms in order to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. The value of the securities that we hold in TRSs may not be subject to precise valuation. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the 20% REIT subsidiaries limitation or to avoid application of the 100% excise tax. 

In connection with the acquisition of the Hampton Inn Property, we created MDR Greensboro HI TRS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a TRS jointly owned with PMI Greensboro, or the Greensboro TRS. Also in connection with the acquisition of the Clemson Best Western Property, we created MDR Clemson TRS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, or the Clemson TRS. While we believe our ownership of the Greensboro TRS or Clemson TRS will not affect our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, your investment in our company would be materially affected if we do not qualify and maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes as the result of our ownership of the Greensboro TRS, Clemson TRS or otherwise.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our common stock.

At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation, or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in the U.S. federal income tax laws, regulations or administrative interpretations.

If our operating partnership failed to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, we would cease to qualify as a REIT and suffer other adverse consequences.

We believe that our operating partnership will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, our operating partnership will not be subject to federal income tax on its income. Instead, each of its partners, including us, will be allocated, and may be required to pay tax with respect to, its share of our operating partnership’s income. We cannot assure you, however, that the IRS will not challenge the status of our operating partnership or any other subsidiary partnership in which we own an interest as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating our operating partnership or any such other subsidiary partnership as an entity taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we would fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs and, accordingly, we would likely cease to qualify as a REIT. Also, the failure of our operating partnership or any subsidiary partnerships to qualify as a partnership could cause it to become subject to federal and state corporate income tax, which would reduce significantly the amount of cash available for debt service and for distribution to its partners, including us.

Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest

The Management Agreement with our Manager was not negotiated on an arm’s-length basis and may not be as favorable to us as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party.

Our executive officers, including a majority of our current directors, are executives of our Manager. The Management Agreement was negotiated between related parties and its terms, including fees payable to our Manager, may not be as favorable to us as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party. In addition, we may choose not to enforce, or to enforce less vigorously, our rights under the Management Agreement because of our desire to maintain our ongoing relationship with Medalist and its affiliates.

We may have conflicts of interest with our Manager and its affiliates, which could result in investment decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.

There are numerous conflicts of interest between our interests and the interests of our Manager, the Medalist companies and their respective affiliates, including conflicts arising out of allocation of personnel to our activities, allocation of investment opportunities between us and investment vehicles affiliated with our Manager, purchase or sale of properties, including from affiliates of our Manager and fee arrangements with our Manager that might induce our Manager to make investment decisions that are not in our best interests. Examples of these potential conflicts of interest include:

Any of these and other conflicts of interest between us and our Manager could have a material adverse effect on the returns on our investments, our ability to make distributions to stockholders and the trading price of our stock.

Our executive officers have interests that may conflict with the interests of stockholders.

Certain of our executive officers are also affiliated with or are executive and/or senior officers of our Manager, and its affiliates. These individuals may have personal and professional interests that conflict with the interests of our stockholders with respect to business decisions affecting us and our operating partnership. As a result, the effect of these conflicts of interest on these individuals may influence their decisions affecting the negotiation and consummation of the transactions whereby we acquire Investments in the future from affiliates of our Manager, or in the allocation of investment opportunities to us by our Manager.

Risks Associated with Debt Financing

We have used and may continue to use mortgage and other debt financing to acquire properties or interests in properties and otherwise incur other indebtedness, which increases our expenses and could subject us to the risk of losing properties in foreclosure if our cash flow is insufficient to make loan payments.

We are permitted to acquire real properties and other real estate-related investments, including entity acquisitions, by assuming either existing financing secured by the asset or by borrowing new funds. In addition, we may incur or increase our mortgage debt by obtaining loans secured by some or all of our assets to obtain funds to acquire additional investments or to pay distributions to our stockholders. We also may borrow funds, if necessary, to satisfy the requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our annual “REIT taxable income,” or otherwise as is necessary or advisable to assure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes.

There is no limit on the amount we may invest in any single property or other asset or on the amount we can borrow to purchase any individual property or other investment. If we mortgage a property and have insufficient cash flow to service the debt, we risk an event of default which may result in our lenders foreclosing on the properties securing the mortgage.

If we cannot repay or refinance loans incurred to purchase our properties, or interests therein, then we may lose our interests in the properties secured by the loans we are unable to repay or refinance.

High levels of debt or increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our loan payments, which could reduce the cash available for distribution to stockholders.

Our policies do not limit us from incurring debt. For purposes of calculating our leverage, we assume full consolidation of all of our real estate investments, whether or not they would be consolidated under GAAP, include assets we have classified as held for sale, and include any joint venture level indebtedness in our total indebtedness.

High debt levels will cause us to incur higher interest charges, resulting in higher debt service payments, and may be accompanied by restrictive covenants. Interest we pay reduces cash available for distribution to stockholders. Additionally, with respect to our variable rate debt, increases in interest rates increase our interest costs, which reduces our cash flow and our ability to make distributions to you. In addition, 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 in properties at times which may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments and could result in a loss. In addition, if we are unable to service our debt payments, our lenders may foreclose on our interests in the real property that secures the loans we have entered into. 

High mortgage rates may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance properties, which could reduce the number of properties we can acquire, our cash flow from operations and the amount of cash distributions we can make.

To qualify as a REIT, we will be required to distribute at least 90% of our annual taxable income (excluding net capital gains) to our stockholders in each taxable year, and thus our ability to retain internally generated cash is limited. Accordingly, our ability to acquire properties or to make capital improvements to or remodel properties will depend on our ability to obtain debt or equity financing from third parties or the sellers of properties. If mortgage debt is unavailable at reasonable rates, we may not be able to finance the purchase of properties. If we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance the properties when the debt becomes due or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when we refinance the properties, our income could be reduced. We may be unable to refinance properties. If any of these events occurs, our cash flow would be reduced. This, in turn, would reduce cash available for distribution to you and may hinder our ability to raise capital by issuing more stock or borrowing more money.

Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to you.

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 the property, discontinue insurance coverage, or replace our Manager. These or other limitations may limit our flexibility and prevent us from achieving our operating plans.

Our ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms would be impacted by negative capital market conditions.

Recently, domestic and international financial markets have experienced unusual volatility and uncertainty. Although this condition occurred initially within the “subprime” single-family mortgage lending sector of the credit market, liquidity has tightened in overall financial markets, including the investment grade debt and equity capital markets. Consequently, there is greater uncertainty regarding our ability to access the credit market in order to attract financing on reasonable terms. Investment returns on our assets and our ability to make acquisitions could be adversely affected by our inability to secure financing on reasonable terms, if at all.

Some of our mortgage loans may have “due on sale” provisions, which may impact the manner in which we acquire, sell and/or finance our properties.

In purchasing properties subject to financing, we may obtain financing with “due-on-sale” and/or “due-on-encumbrance” clauses. Due-on-sale clauses in mortgages allow a mortgage lender to demand full repayment of the mortgage loan if the borrower sells the mortgaged property. Similarly, due-on-encumbrance clauses allow a mortgage lender to demand full repayment if the borrower uses the real estate securing the mortgage loan as security for another loan. In such event, we may be required to sell our properties on an all-cash basis, which may make it more difficult to sell the property or reduce the selling price.

Lenders may be able to recover against our other Investments under our mortgage loans.

In financing our acquisitions, we will seek to obtain secured nonrecourse loans. However, only recourse financing may be available, in which event, in addition to the Investment securing the loan, the lender would have the ability to look to our other assets for satisfaction of the debt if the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the Investment securing the loan are insufficient to fully repay it. Also, in order to facilitate the sale of an Investment, we may allow the buyer to purchase the Investment subject to an existing loan whereby we remain responsible for the debt.

If we are required to make payments under any “bad boy” carve-out guaranties that we may provide in connection with certain mortgages and related loans, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

In obtaining certain nonrecourse loans, we may provide standard carve-out guaranties. These guaranties are only applicable if and when the borrower directly, or indirectly through agreement with an affiliate, joint venture partner or other third party, voluntarily files a bankruptcy or similar liquidation or reorganization action or takes other actions that are fraudulent or improper (commonly referred to as “bad boy” guaranties). Although we believe that “bad boy” carve-out guaranties are not guaranties of payment in the event of foreclosure or other actions of the foreclosing lender that are beyond the borrower’s control, some lenders in the real estate industry have recently sought to make claims for payment under such guaranties. In the event such a claim were made against us under a “bad boy” carve-out guaranty following foreclosure on mortgages or related loan, and such claim were successful, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected. 

Interest-only indebtedness may increase our risk of default and ultimately may reduce our funds available for distribution to our stockholders.

We may finance our property acquisitions using interest-only mortgage indebtedness. During the interest-only period, the amount of each scheduled payment will be less than that of a traditional amortizing mortgage loan. The principal balance of the mortgage loan will not be reduced (except in the case of prepayments) because there are no scheduled monthly payments of principal during this period. After the interest-only period, we will be required either to make scheduled payments of amortized principal and interest or to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity. These required principal or balloon payments will increase the amount of our scheduled payments and may increase our risk of default under the related mortgage loan. If the mortgage loan has an adjustable interest rate, the amount of our scheduled payments also may increase at a time of rising interest rates. Increased payments and substantial principal or balloon maturity payments will reduce the funds available for distribution to our stockholders because cash otherwise available for distribution will be required to pay principal and interest associated with these mortgage loans.

We may enter into derivative or hedging contracts that could expose us to contingent liabilities and certain risks and costs in the future.

Part of our investment strategy may involve entering into derivative or hedging contracts that could require us to fund cash payments in the future under certain circumstances, such as the early termination of the derivative agreement caused by an event of default or other early termination event, or the decision by a counterparty to request margin securities it is contractually owed under the terms of the derivative contract. The amount due would be equal to the unrealized loss of the open swap positions with the respective counterparty and could also include other fees and charges. These economic losses would be reflected in our financial results of operations, and our ability to fund these obligations will depend on the liquidity of our assets and access to capital at the time, and the need to fund these obligations could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Further, the cost of using derivative or hedging instruments increases as the period covered by the instrument increases and during periods of rising and volatile interest rates. We may increase our derivative or hedging activity and thus increase our related costs during periods when interest rates are volatile or rising and hedging costs have increased.

In addition, hedging instruments involve risk since they often are not traded on regulated exchanges, guaranteed by an exchange or its clearing house, or regulated by any U.S. or foreign governmental authorities. Consequently, in many cases, there are no requirements with respect to record keeping, financial responsibility or segregation of customer funds and positions. Furthermore, the enforceability of agreements underlying derivative transactions may depend on compliance with applicable statutory and commodity and other regulatory requirements and, depending on the identity of the counterparty, applicable international requirements. The business failure of a hedging counterparty with whom we enter into a hedging transaction will most likely result in a default. Default by a party with whom we enter into a hedging transaction may result in the loss of unrealized profits and force us to cover our resale commitments, if any, at the then current market price. Although generally we will seek to reserve the right to terminate our hedging positions, it may not always be possible to dispose of or close out a hedging position without the consent of the hedging counterparty, and we may not be able to enter into an offsetting contract in order to cover our risk. We cannot be assured that a liquid secondary market will exist for hedging instruments purchased or sold, and we may be required to maintain a position until exercise or expiration, which could result in losses.

Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge risk effectively.

The REIT provisions of the Code may limit our ability to hedge the risks inherent to our operations. From time to time, we may enter into hedging transactions with respect to one or more of our assets or liabilities. Our hedging transactions may include entering into interest rate swaps, caps and floors, options to purchase these items, and futures and forward contracts. Any income or gain derived by us from transactions that hedge certain risks, such as the risk of changes in interest rates, will not be treated as gross income for purposes of either the 75% or the 95% income test, as defined below in “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations — Gross Income Tests,” unless specific requirements are met. Such requirements include that the hedging transaction be properly identified within prescribed time periods and that the transaction either (1) hedges risks associated with indebtedness issued by us that is incurred to acquire or carry real estate assets or (2) manages the risks of currency fluctuations with respect to income or gain that qualifies under the 75% or 95% income test (or assets that generate such income). To the extent that we do not properly identify such transactions as hedges, hedge with other types of financial instruments, or hedge other types of indebtedness, the income from those transactions is not likely to be treated as qualifying income for purposes of the 75%- and 95%-income tests. As a result of these rules, we may have to limit the use of hedging techniques that might otherwise be advantageous, which could result in greater risks associated with interest rate or other changes than we would otherwise incur.

Interest rates might increase.

Based on historical interest rates, current interest rates are low and, as a result, it is likely that the interest rates available for future real estate loans and refinances will be higher than the current interest rates for such loans, which may have a material and adverse impact on our company and our Investments. If there is an increase in interest rates, any debt servicing on Investments could be significantly higher than currently anticipated, which would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to the stockholders. Also, rising interest rates may affect the ability of our Manager to refinance an Investment. Investments may be less desirable to prospective purchasers in a rising interest rate environment and their values may be adversely impacted by the reduction in cash flow due to increased interest payments. 

We may use floating rate, interest-only or short-term loans to acquire Investments.

Our Manager has the right, in its sole discretion, to negotiate any debt financing, including obtaining (i) interest-only, (ii) floating rate and/or (iii) short-term loans to acquire Investments. If our Manager obtains floating rate loans, the interest rate would not be fixed but would float with an established index (probably at higher interest rates in the future). No principal would be repaid on interest-only loans. Finally, we would be required to refinance short-term loans at the end of a relatively short period. The credit markets have recently been in flux and are experiencing a malaise. No assurance can be given that our Manager would be able to refinance with fixed-rate permanent loans in the future, on favorable terms or at all, to refinance the short-term loans. In addition, no assurance can be given that the terms of such future loans to refinance the short-term loans would be favorable to our company.

We may use leverage to make Investments.

Our Manager, in its sole discretion, may leverage the Investments. As a result of the use of leverage, a decrease in revenues of a leveraged Investment may materially and adversely affect that Investment’s cash flow and, in turn, our ability to make distributions. No assurance can be given that future cash flow of a particular Investment will be sufficient to make the debt service payments on any borrowed funds for that Investment and also cover operating expenses. If the Investment’s revenues are insufficient to pay debt service and operating expenses, we would be required to use net income from other Investments, working capital or reserves, or seek additional funds. There can be no assurance that additional funds will be available, if needed, or, if such funds are available, that they will be available on terms acceptable to us.

Leveraging an Investment allows a lender to foreclose on that Investment.

Lenders to an Investment, even non-recourse lenders, are expected in all instances to retain the right to foreclose on that Investment if there is a default in the loan terms. If this were to occur, we would likely lose our entire investment in that Investment.

Lenders may have approval rights with respect to an encumbered Investment.

A lender to an Investment will likely have numerous other rights, which may include the right to approve any change in the property manager for a particular Investment.

Availability of financing and market conditions will affect the success of our company.

Market fluctuations in real estate financing may affect the availability and cost of funds needed in the future for Investments. In addition, credit availability has been restricted in the past and may become restricted again in the future. Restrictions upon the availability of real estate financing or high interest rates for real estate loans could adversely affect the Investments and our ability to execute its investment goals.

We do not have guaranteed cash flow.

There can be no assurance that cash flow or profits will be generated by the Investments. If the Investments do not generate the anticipated amount of cash flow, we may not be able to pay the anticipated distributions to the stockholders without making such distributions from the net proceeds of this offering or from reserves.

Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure

A limit on the percentage of our securities a person may own may discourage a takeover or business combination, which could prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium price for their stock.

Our charter restricts direct or indirect ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% in value of the outstanding shares of our capital stock or 9.8% in number of shares or value, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board of directors. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price to our stockholders. 

Our charter permits our board of directors to issue stock with terms that may subordinate the rights of our common stockholders or discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that could result in a premium price to our stockholders.

Our board of directors may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue and may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock into other classes or series of stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Our board of directors could also authorize the issuance of up to 250,000,000 shares of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock. Such preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price to holders of our common stock.

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 will not be able to continue our business.

Neither we, nor our operating partnership, nor any of our subsidiaries intend to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We expect that our operating partnership’s and subsidiaries’ investments in real estate will represent the substantial majority of our total asset mix, which would not subject us to the Investment Company Act. In order to maintain an exemption from regulation under the Investment Company Act, we intend to engage, through our operating partnership and our wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries, primarily in the business of buying real estate, and these investments must be made within a year after this offering ends. If we are unable to invest a significant portion of the proceeds of this offering in properties within one year of the termination of this offering, we may avoid being required to register as an investment company by temporarily investing any unused proceeds in government securities with low returns, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to stockholders and possibly lower your returns.

We expect that most of our assets will be held through wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries of our operating partnership. We expect that most of these subsidiaries will be outside the definition of investment company under Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act as they are generally expected to hold at least 60% of their assets in real property or in entities that they manage or co-manage that own real property. 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 as we intend to invest primarily in real property, through our wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, the majority of which we expect to have at least 60% of their assets in real property or in entities that they manage or co-manage that own 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) of the Investment Company Act. We are organized as a holding company that conducts its businesses primarily through the operating partnership, which in turn is a holding company conducting its business through its subsidiaries. Both we and our operating partnership intend to conduct our operations so that they 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 the operating partnership will be considered an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act because neither we nor the operating partnership will engage primarily or hold itself out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, through the operating partnership’s wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we and the operating partnership will be primarily engaged in the non-investment company businesses of these subsidiaries.

In the event that the value of investment securities held by the subsidiaries of our operating partnership were to exceed 40%, we expect our subsidiaries 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 to 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. 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 joint venture investments 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 will concur with our classification of our assets. Future revisions to the Investment Company Act or further guidance from the SEC may cause us to lose our exclusion from registration or force us to re-evaluate our Portfolio and our investment strategy. Such changes may prevent us from operating our business successfully. 

In the event that we, or our operating partnership, were to acquire assets that could make either entity fall within the definition of 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). Section 3(c)(6) excludes from the definition of investment company any company primarily engaged, directly or through majority-owned subsidiaries, in one or more of certain specified businesses. These specified businesses include the business described in Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. It also excludes from the definition of investment company any company primarily engaged, directly or through majority-owned subsidiaries, in one or more of such specified businesses from which at least 25% of such company’s gross income during its last fiscal year is derived, together with any additional business or businesses other than investing, reinvesting, owning, holding, or trading in securities. 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, nor our operating partnership nor subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company, each entity may be unable to sell assets they would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets they would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we, our operating company 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 respective portfolios periodically and prior to each acquisition or disposition, any of these entities may not be able to maintain an exclusion from registration as 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.

For more information on issues related to compliance with the Investment Company Act, see “Policies with Respect to Certain Activities—Policies Relating to the Investment Company Act.”

We may change our investment and operational policies without stockholder consent.

We may change our investment and operational policies, including our policies with respect to investments, acquisitions, growth, operations, indebtedness, capitalization and distributions, at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in our making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the types of investments described in this filing. A change in our investment strategy may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk and real estate market fluctuations, all of which could adversely affect our ability to make distributions.

We may in the future choose to pay dividends in our own stock, in which case you may be required to pay income taxes in excess of the cash dividends you receive.

We may in the future distribute taxable dividends that are payable in cash and shares of our common stock at the election of each stockholder. Taxable stockholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. stockholder may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.

Risks Related to this Offering and the Ownership of Our Common Stock

Future sales of shares of our common stock in the public market or the issuance of other equity may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or other equity-related securities in the public market could depress the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We cannot predict the effect that future sales of our common stock or other equity-related securities would have on the market price of our common stock. 

The stock price of our common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the public offering price.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile. In addition, the trading volume in our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares at or above the public offering price. We cannot assure you that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our common stock include:

The availability and timing of cash distributions is uncertain.

We are generally required to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, each year in order for us to qualify as a REIT under the Code, which we intend to satisfy through quarterly cash distributions of all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income in such year, subject to certain adjustments. Our board of directors will determine the amount and timing of any distributions. In making such determinations, our directors will consider all relevant factors, including the amount of cash available for distribution, capital expenditures, general operational requirements and applicable law. We intend over time to make regular quarterly distributions to holders of shares of our common stock. However, we bear all expenses incurred by our operations, and the funds generated by operations, after deducting these expenses, may not be sufficient to cover desired levels of distributions to stockholders. In addition, our board of directors, in its discretion, may retain any portion of such cash in excess of our REIT taxable income for working capital. Our company’s board of directors has not declared a common dividend since the fourth quarter of 2019 ($562,357 paid during the first quarter of 2020) and may consider continuing to suspend quarterly dividend distributions. We cannot predict the amount of distributions we may make, maintain or increase over time. See “Distribution Policy.”

There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders. Because we may receive rents and income from our properties at various times during our fiscal year, distributions paid may not reflect our income earned in that particular distribution period. The amount of cash available for distribution will be affected by many factors, including without limitation, the amount of income we will earn from investments in target assets, the amount of its operating expenses and many other variables. Actual cash available for distribution may vary substantially from our expectations.

While we intend to fund the payment of quarterly distributions to holders of shares of our common stock entirely from distributable cash flows, we may fund quarterly distributions to its stockholders from a combination of available net cash flows, equity capital and proceeds from borrowings. In the event we are unable to consistently fund future quarterly distributions to stockholders entirely from distributable cash flows, the value of our common stock may be negatively impacted.

An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to its stockholders.

One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell shares of our common stock is our distribution rate as a percentage of our share price, relative to market interest rates. If market interest rates increase, prospective investors may demand a higher distribution rate on shares of common stock or seek alternative investments paying higher distributions or interest. As a result, interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions can affect the market price of shares of our common stock. For instance, if interest rates rise without an increase in our distribution rate, the market price of shares of our common stock could decrease because potential investors may require a higher distribution yield on shares of our common stock as market rates on interest-bearing instruments such as bonds rise. In addition, to the extent we have variable rate debt, rising interest rates would result in increased interest expense on our variable rate debt, thereby adversely affecting our cash flow and its ability to service our indebtedness and make distributions to our stockholders. 

We may not be able to satisfy listing requirements of Nasdaq Capital Market to maintain a listing of our common stock.

We must meet certain financial and liquidity criteria to maintain the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market. If we violate Nasdaq Capital Market listing requirements, our common stock may be delisted. If we fail to meet any of the Nasdaq Capital Market listing standards, our common stock may be delisted. In addition, our board may determine that the cost of maintaining our listing on a national securities exchange outweighs the benefits of such listing. A delisting of our common stock from Nasdaq Capital Market may materially impair our stockholders’ ability to buy and sell our common stock and could have an adverse effect on the market price of, and the efficiency of the trading market for, our common stock. In addition, the delisting of our common stock could significantly impair our ability to raise capital.

Because the offering price of our shares of common stock is higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our outstanding shares following the offering, new investors will experience immediate dilution.

The offering price of our common stock is higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately following the offering, based on the total value of our tangible assets less our total liabilities. Therefore, if you purchase our common stock in the offering at $2.11 per share, which was the last reported sales price of our common stock on April 1, 2021, you will experience immediate dilution of $0.02 per share, which is the difference between the price per share you pay for shares of our common stock in this offering and our pro forma net tangible book value per share as of December 31, 2020, after giving effect to the issuance of shares of our common stock in the offering.

The public offering price of the shares may not be indicative of the market prices that prevail after this offering.

The public offering price per share of our common stock has been determined through negotiation between us and representatives of the underwriter and may not be indicative of the market prices that prevail after this offering. The price of the shares is not based on our past earnings. You may not be able to sell your common stock at or above the offering price per share.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us and our business. If few analysts commence coverage of us, or if analysts cease coverage of us, the trading price for our common stock would be negatively affected. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price for our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which might cause the price and trading volume for our common stock to decline.

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from the offering and may not use them effectively.

We will have broad discretion in the application of any net proceeds of this offering, including working capital, possible acquisitions of other Investments, and other general corporate purposes, and we may spend or invest these proceeds in a way with which our stockholders disagree. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could adversely affect our business and financial condition. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value. These investments may not yield a favorable return to our investors.

A possible “short squeeze” due to a sudden increase in demand of our common stock that largely exceeds supply may lead to further price volatility in our common stock.

Investors may purchase our common stock to hedge existing exposure in our common stock or to speculate on the price of our common stock. Speculation on the price of our common stock may involve long and short exposures. To the extent aggregate short exposure exceeds the number of shares of our common stock available for purchase in the open market, investors with short exposure may have to pay a premium to repurchase our common stock for delivery to lenders of our common stock. Those repurchases may in turn, dramatically increase the price of our common stock until investors with short exposure are able to purchase additional common shares to cover their short position. This is often referred to as a “short squeeze.” A short squeeze could lead to volatile price movements in our common stock that are not directly correlated to the performance or prospects of our company and once investors purchase the shares of common stock necessary to cover their short position the price of our common stock may decline. 

The market price of our common stock may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors who purchase our shares; and the volatility in the stock prices of other companies may contribute to volatility in our stock price.

Our common stock has experienced price and volume fluctuations and may continue to experience volatility in the future. The closing price of our common stock during the past 12 months ranged from a peak of $3.20 on February 9, 2021 to a low of $1.03 on September 24, 2020. You may not be able to sell your shares quickly or at the latest market price if trading in our stock is not active or the volume is low. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate include:

In recent years, the stock market has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations and depressions that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to changes in the operating performance of the companies whose stock is experiencing those price and volume fluctuations. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of our common stock regardless of our actual operating performance. Following periods of such volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. Because of the potential volatility of our stock price, we may become the target of securities litigation in the future. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources from our business.

Material Federal Income Tax Risks

Failure to remain qualified as a REIT would cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, which would substantially reduce funds available for distributions to our stockholders.

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes beginning with our taxable year ended December 31, 2017. We believe that we have operated in a manner qualifying us as a REIT commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2017 and intend to continue to so operate. However, we cannot assure you that we will remain qualified as a REIT. In connection with this offering, we have received an opinion from our tax counsel, that our organization and current and proposed method of operation enable us to qualify and continue to qualify as a REIT. Investors should be aware that tax counsel’s opinion is based upon customary assumptions, conditioned upon certain representations made by us as to factual matters, including representations regarding the nature of our assets and the conduct of our business, is not binding upon the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, or any court and speaks as of the date issued. In addition, tax counsel’s opinion is based on existing U.S. federal income tax law governing qualification as a REIT, which is subject to change either prospectively or retroactively. Moreover, our qualification and taxation as a REIT depend upon our ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual annual operating results, certain qualification tests set forth in the federal tax laws. Tax counsel will not review our compliance with those tests on a continuing basis. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that our actual results of operations for any particular taxable year will satisfy such requirements.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we will face serious tax consequences that will substantially reduce the funds available for distributions to our stockholders because:

In addition, if we fail to qualify as a REIT, we will no longer be required to make distributions. As a result of all these factors, our failure to qualify as a REIT could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital, and it would adversely affect the value of our common stock. See “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a discussion of material federal income tax consequences relating to us and our common stock. 

Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.

To maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our capital stock. In order to meet these tests, we may be required to forego investments we might otherwise make. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our performance.

In particular, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities, securities of TRSs and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities, securities of TRSs and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our total assets can be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.

Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flows.

Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income, tax on income from some activities conducted as a result of a foreclosure, and state or local income, property and transfer taxes. In addition, any TRS in which we own an interest will be subject to regular corporate federal, state and local taxes. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distributions to stockholders.

Failure to make required distributions would subject us to U.S. federal corporate income tax.

We intend to continue to operate in a manner so as to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In order to remain qualified as a REIT, we generally are required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, each year to our stockholders. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under the Code.

The prohibited transactions tax may subject us to tax on our gain from sales of property and limit our ability to dispose of our properties.

A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Although we intend to acquire and hold all of our assets as investments and not for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, the IRS may assert that we are subject to the prohibited transaction tax equal to 100% of net gain upon a disposition of real property.

Although a safe harbor to the characterization of the sale of real property by a REIT as a prohibited transaction is available, not all of our prior property dispositions qualified for the safe harbor and we cannot assure you that we can comply with the safe harbor in the future or that we have avoided, or will avoid, owning property that may be characterized as held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Consequently, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of our properties or may conduct such sales through a TRS, which would be subject to federal and state income taxation. Additionally, in the event that we engage in sales of our properties, any gains from the sales of properties classified as prohibited transactions would be taxed at the 100% prohibited transaction tax rate.

The ability of our board of directors to revoke our REIT qualification without stockholder approval may cause adverse consequences to our stockholders.

Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to qualify as a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our stockholders. 

Our ownership of any TRSs will be subject to limitations and our transactions with any TRSs will cause us to be subject to a 100% penalty tax on certain income or deductions if those transactions are not conducted on arm’s-length terms.

Overall, no more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. In addition, the Code limits the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a TRS to its parent REIT to assure that the TRS is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The Code also imposes a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. Furthermore, we will monitor the value of our respective investments in any TRSs for the purpose of ensuring compliance with TRS ownership limitations and will structure our transactions with any TRSs on terms that we believe are arm’s-length to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the 20% REIT subsidiaries limitation or to avoid application of the 100% excise tax.

You may be restricted from acquiring or transferring certain amounts of our common stock.

The stock ownership restrictions of the Code for REITs and the 9.8% stock ownership limits in our charter may inhibit market activity in our capital stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.

In order to qualify as a REIT, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code to include specified private foundations, employee benefit plans and trusts, and charitable trusts, may not own, beneficially or constructively, more than 50% in value of our issued and outstanding stock at any time during the last half of a taxable year. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity beneficially or constructively owns our capital stock under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our capital stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year. To help insure that we meet these tests, among other purposes, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of shares of our capital stock.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted, prospectively or retroactively, by our board of directors, our charter prohibits any person from beneficially or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of capital stock or 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Our board of directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of such thresholds does not satisfy certain conditions designed to ensure that we will not fail to qualify as a REIT. These restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply, however, if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance is no longer required for REIT qualification.

Upon the closing of our IPO, our board of directors exempted the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program, or the Virginia Birth Injury Program, from the 9.8% ownership limit. In connection with that exemption, our board of directors set the Virginia Birth Injury Program’s ownership limit at 32.95% of our issued and outstanding common stock. As of the date of this prospectus, our top five stockholders, by share ownership, beneficially own 22.76% of our issued and outstanding common stock. If any of these stockholders increase their holdings, we go over the 50% threshold which could result in our failure to qualify or preserve our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. If this were to occur, your investment would be negatively affected.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our common stock.

At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation, or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in the U.S. federal income tax laws, regulations or administrative interpretations.

Dividends payable by REITs generally do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for certain dividends.

The maximum tax rate applicable to “qualified dividend income” payable to U.S. stockholders taxed at individual rates is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates. The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are taxed at individual rates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our common stock.

Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income and tax-exempt investors would be required to pay tax on the unrelated business taxable income and to file income tax returns.

Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our common stock nor gain from the sale of stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:

We encourage you to consult your own tax advisor to determine the tax consequences applicable to you if you are a tax-exempt investor. See “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations — Taxation of Tax-Exempt Stockholders.”

Benefit Plan Risks Under ERISA or the Code

If you fail to meet the fiduciary and other standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended or the Code as a result of an investment in our stock, you could be subject to criminal and civil penalties.

Special considerations apply to the purchase of stock by employee benefit plans subject to the fiduciary rules of title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, including pension or profit sharing plans and entities that hold assets of such plans, which we refer to as ERISA Plans, and plans and accounts that are not subject to ERISA, but are subject to the prohibited transaction rules of Section 4975 of the Code, including IRAs, Keogh Plans, and medical savings accounts. (Collectively, we refer to ERISA Plans and plans subject to Section 4975 of the Code as “Benefit Plans” or “Benefit Plan Investors”). If you are investing the assets of any Benefit Plan, you should consider whether:

Failure to satisfy the fiduciary standards of conduct and other applicable requirements of ERISA and the Code may result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties and can subject the fiduciary to claims for damages or for equitable remedies. In addition, if an investment in our shares constitutes a prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code, the fiduciary or IRA owner who authorized or directed the investment may be subject to the imposition of excise taxes with respect to the amount invested. In the case of a prohibited transaction involving an IRA owner, the IRA may be disqualified, and all of the assets of the IRA may be deemed distributed and subjected to tax. Benefit Plan Investors should consult with counsel before making an investment in shares of our common stock.

Plans that are not subject to ERISA or the prohibited transactions of the Code, such as government plans or church plans, may be subject to similar requirements under state law. The fiduciaries of such plans should satisfy themselves that the investment satisfies applicable law.