CLPR Clipper Realty Inc

1. Organization

As of June 30, 2024, the properties owned by the Company consist of the following (collectively, the “Properties”):

The operations of Clipper Realty Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries are carried on primarily through Clipper Realty L.P., the Company’s operating partnership subsidiary (the "Operating Partnership”). The Company has elected to be taxed as a Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT”) under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code”). The Company is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership and the Operating Partnership is the sole managing member of the limited liability companies (the "LLCs”) that comprised the predecessor of the Company (the "Predecessor”).

At June 30, 2024, the Company’s interest, through the Operating Partnership, in the LLCs that own the properties generally entitles it to 37.9% of the aggregate cash distributions from, and the profits and losses of, the LLCs.

The Company determined that the Operating Partnership and the LLCs are variable interest entities (“VIEs”) and that the Company was the primary beneficiary. The assets and liabilities of these VIEs represented substantially all of the Company’s assets and liabilities.

2. Significant Accounting Policies

On August 23, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-05 that will require a joint venture, upon formation, to measure its assets and liabilities at fair value in its standalone financial statements. A joint venture will recognize the difference between the fair value of its equity and the fair value of its identifiable assets and liabilities as goodwill (or an equity adjustment, if negative) using the business combination accounting guidance regardless of whether the net assets meet the definition of a business. The new accounting standard is intended to reduce diversity in practice. This ASU will apply to joint ventures that meet the definition of a corporate joint venture under GAAP, thus limiting its scope to joint ventures not controlled and therefore not consolidated by any joint venture investor. We currently have no material joint ventures and as such do not expect it to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. This accounting standard will become effective for joint ventures with a formation date on or after January 1, 2025, with early adoption permitted. We expect to adopt this ASU on January 1, 2025.

On November 27, 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07 to require the disclosure of segment expenses if they are (i) significant to the segment, (ii) regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), and (iii) included in each reported measure of a segment’s profit or loss. Public entities will be required to provide this disclosure quarterly. In addition, this ASU requires an annual disclosure of the CODM’s title and a description of how the CODM uses the segment’s profit/loss measure to assess segment performance and to allocate resources. Compliance with these and certain other disclosure requirements will be required for our annual report on Form 10-K for the year 2024, and for subsequent quarterly and annual reports, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our current disclosures.

3. Deferred Costs and Intangible Assets

Deferred costs and intangible assets consist of the following:

Amortization of deferred costs, lease origination costs and in-place lease intangible assets was $27 and $26 for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $53 and $51 for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively; Amortization of real estate tax abatements of $120 and $120 for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $241 and $241 for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, is included in real estate taxes and insurance in the consolidated statements of operations.

Deferred costs and intangible assets as of June 30, 2024, amortize in future years as follows:

4. Notes Payable

The mortgages, loans and mezzanine notes payable collateralized by the properties, or the Company’s interest in the entities that own the properties and assignment of leases, are as follows:

(a) The $329,000 mortgage note agreement with New York Community Bank (“NYCB”), entered into on May 8, 2020, matures on June 1, 2032, and bears interest at 3.125% through May 2027 and thereafter at the prime rate plus 2.75%, subject to an option to fix the rate. The note requires interest-only payments through May 2027, and monthly principal and interest payments thereafter based on a 30-year amortization schedule. The Company has the option to prepay all (but not less than all) of the unpaid balance of the note prior to the maturity date, subject to certain prepayment premiums, as defined.

(b) The $125,000 mortgage note agreement with Citi Real Estate Funding Inc., entered into on May 31, 2019, matures on June 6, 2029, bears interest at 3.63% and requires interest-only payments for the entire term. The Company has the option to prepay all (but not less than all) of the unpaid balance of the note within three months of maturity, without a prepayment premium.

In connection with the termination of the City of New York 342,496 square foot lease, pursuant to the terms of the Loan Agreement, the Company expects to establish a cash management account for the benefit of the lender into which the Company will be obligated to deposit all revenue generated by the building. All amounts remaining in such cash management account after the lender’s allocations set forth in the loan agreement will be disbursed to the Company once the tenant cure conditions are satisfied under the loan agreement.

(c) The $100,000 mortgage note agreement with Citi Real Estate Funding Inc., entered into on February 18, 2021 matures on March 6, 2031, bears interest at 3.21% and requires interest-only payments for the entire term. The Company has the option to prepay all (but not less than all) of the unpaid balance of the note within three months of maturity, without a prepayment premium.

The Company and the City of New York are negotiating the terms of a five-year extension of its current lease upon its termination in December of 2025. There can be no assurance that the negotiations will conclude with an agreement. Should the lease not be extended, in accordance with the terms of the mortgage note, the Company will be required to either fund an escrow account in the amount of $10,000 payable in equal monthly payments over the 18 months prior to lease expiration or deliver to the lender a letter of credit in the amount of $10,000.

(d) The $360,000 loan with Deutsche Bank, entered into on February 21, 2018, matures on March 6, 2028, bears interest at 4.506% and requires interest-only payments for the entire term. The Company has the option to prepay all (but not less than all) of the unpaid balance of the loan prior to the maturity date, subject to a prepayment premium if it occurs prior to December 6, 2027.

(e) The $70,000 mortgage note agreement with Capital One Multifamily Finance LLC matures on July 1, 2028, and bears interest at 3.68%. The note required interest-only payments through July 2017, and monthly principal and interest payments of $321 thereafter based on a 30-year amortization schedule. The Company has the option to prepay the note prior to the maturity date, subject to a prepayment premium.

(f) The $82,000 mortgage note agreement with MetLife Investment Management, entered into on November 8, 2019, matures on December 1, 2029, bears interest at 3.53% and requires interest-only payments for the entire term. The Company has the option, commencing on January 1, 2024, to prepay the note prior to the maturity date, subject to a prepayment premium if it occurs prior to September 2, 2029.

(g) The $31,644 mortgage note agreement with NYCB entered into in connection with the acquisition of the property matures on November 1, 2027. Through October 2022 the Company paid a fixed interest rate of 3.375% and thereafter was scheduled to pay interest at the prime rate plus 2.75%, subject to an option to fix the rate. On August 26, 2022, the Company and NYCB amended the note to replace prime plus 2.75% rate with SOFR plus 2.5% (7.875% at June 30, 2024). The note required interest-only payments through November 2019, and monthly principal and interest payments thereafter based on a 30-year amortization schedule. The Company has the option to prepay all (but not less than all) of the unpaid balance of the note prior to the maturity date, subject to certain prepayment premiums, as defined. 

(h) On August 10, 2021, the Company entered into a group of loans with AIG Asset Management (U.S.), LLC, succeeding a property acquisition loan, providing for maximum borrowings of $52,500 to develop the property. The notes had a 36-month term, bore interest at 30 day LIBOR plus 3.60% (with a floor of 4.1%). The notes were scheduled to mature on September 1, 2024 and could have been extended until September 1, 2026. The Company could have prepaid the unpaid balance of the note within five months of maturity without penalty.

On February 9, 2023, the Company refinanced this construction loan with a mortgage loan with Valley National Bank which provided for maximum borrowings of $80,000. The loan provided initial funding of $60,000 and a further $20,000 subject to achievement of certain financial targets. The loan has a term of five years and an initial annual interest rate of 5.7% subject to reduction by up to 25 basis points upon achievement of certain financial targets (during the quarter ended June 30, 2023, the Company achieved the applicable financial target, and the interest rate was reduced to 5.55%). The interest rate on subsequent fundings will be fixed at the time of any funding. The loan requires interest-only payments for the first two years and principal and interest thereafter based on a 30-year amortization schedule. The Company has the option to prepay in full, or in part, the unpaid balance of the note prior to the maturity date. Prior to the second anniversary of the date of the note prepayment is subject to certain prepayment premiums, as defined. After the second anniversary of the date of the note the prepayment is not subject to a prepayment premium.

On September 15, 2023, the Company borrowed an additional $20,000 from Valley National Bank. The additional borrowing has a term of twenty-four months and an annual interest rate of 6.37%. The loan is interest only subject to the maintenance of certain financial targets after the first 16 months of the term. In conjunction with the additional borrowing, the Company and the bank agreed to amend the expiration date of the initial $60,000 to expire at the same time as the additional borrowing. No change was made to the interest rate on the initial borrowing.

In conjunction with the refinancing the Company incurred $3,868 of loan extinguishment costs related to prepayment penalties, writing off unamortized deferred financed costs of the previous loan and other fees. These costs are included in the consolidated statement of operations for the six-month period ended June 30, 2023.

(i) On December 22, 2021, the Company entered into a $30,000 mortgage note agreement with Bank Leumi, N.A related to the Dean Street acquisition. The notes original maturity was December 22, 2022 and was subsequently extended to September 22, 2023. The note required interest-only payments and bears interest at the prime rate (with a floor of 3.25%) plus 1.60%. In April 2022, the Company borrowed an additional $6,985 under the mortgage note in connection with the acquisition of additional parcels of land in February and April 2022.

On August 10, 2023, the Company refinanced its $37,000 mortgage on its Dean Street development with a senior construction loan (“Senior Loan”) with Valley National Bank that permits borrowings up to $115,000 and a mezzanine loan (the “Mezzanine Loan”) with BADF 953 Dean Street Lender LLC that permits borrowings up to $8,000.

The Senior Loan allows maximum borrowings of $115,000 for a 30-month term, has two 6-month extension options, and bears interest at 1-Month Term SOFR plus 4.00%, with an all-in floor of 5.50% (9.31% at June 30, 2024). The Senior Loan consists of a land loan, funded at closing to refinance the existing loan totaling $36,985, a construction loan of up to $62,400 and a project loan of up to $15,600. The Company has provided a 30% payment guarantee of outstanding borrowings among other standard indemnities. As of June 30,2024, the Company has drawn $33,955 from the construction loan and $7,591 from the project loan.

The Mezzanine Loan allows maximum borrowings of $8,000 for a 30-month term, have two 6-month extension options, and bears interest at 1-Month Term SOFR plus 10%, with an all-in floor of 13% (15.31% at June 30, 2024). Interest shall accrue on the principal, is compounded monthly and is due at the end of the term of the loan. At closing, $4,500 was funded to cover closing costs incurred on the construction loans. As of June 30,2024, the remaining $3,500 was drawn for ongoing construction costs.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2024, the Company incurred $338 and $799, respectively, in interest and is included in the balance of the Notes Payable in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

On August 10, 2023 the Company entered into a $5,000 corporate line of credit with Valley National Bank. The line of credit bears interest of Prime + 1.5%. The Company has not drawn on the line of credit as of June 30, 2024.

The Company has provided limited guaranties for the mortgage notes at several of its properties. The Company’s loan agreements contain customary representations, covenants and events of default. Certain loan agreements require the Company to comply with affirmative and negative covenants, including the maintenance of debt service coverage and debt yield ratios. In the event they are not compliant, certain lenders may require cash sweeps of rent until the conditions are cured. The Company believes it is not in default on any of its loan agreements.

The following table summarizes principal payment requirements under the terms of the mortgage notes as of June 30, 2024:

5. Rental Income under Operating Leases

The Company’s commercial properties are leased to commercial tenants under operating leases with fixed terms of varying lengths. As of June 30, 2024, the minimum future cash rents receivable (excluding tenant reimbursements for operating expenses) under non-cancelable operating leases for the commercial tenants in each of the next five years and thereafter are as follows:

The Company has commercial leases with the City of New York that comprised approximately 21% and 23% of total revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and 22% and 23% of total revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of February 23, 2024, the City of New York notified the Company of its intention to terminate its lease for 342,496 square feet of office space located at 240-250 Livingston Street effective August 23, 2025. The Lease generally provides for rent payments in the amount of $15,400 over the next year. Additionally, the Company and the City of New York are negotiating the terms of a five-year extension of its current 206,084 square foot lease at 141 Livingston Street that expires in December of 2025. There can be no assurance that the negotiations will conclude with an agreement. The current lease at 141 Livingston Street provides for $10,304 rent per annum.

6. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

GAAP requires the measurement of certain financial instruments at fair value on a recurring basis. In addition, GAAP requires the measure of other financial instruments and balances at fair value on a non-recurring basis (e.g., carrying ‐‐‐value of impaired real estate and long-lived assets). Fair value is defined as the price that would be received upon the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The GAAP fair value framework uses a three-tiered approach. Fair value measurements are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

When available, the Company utilizes quoted market prices from an independent third-party source to determine fair value and classifies such items in Level 1 or Level 2. In instances where the market for a financial instrument is not active, regardless of the availability of a nonbinding quoted market price, observable inputs might not be relevant and could require the Company to make a significant adjustment to derive a fair value measurement. Additionally, in an inactive market, a market price quoted from an independent third party may rely more on models with inputs based on information available only to that independent third party. When the Company determines the market for a financial instrument owned by the Company to be illiquid or when market transactions for similar instruments do not appear orderly, the Company uses several valuation sources (including internal valuations, discounted cash flow analysis and quoted market prices) and establishes a fair value by assigning weights to the various valuation sources.

Changes in assumptions or estimation methodologies can have a material effect on these estimated fair values. In this regard, the derived fair value estimates cannot be substantiated by comparison to independent markets and, in many cases, may not be realized in an immediate settlement of the instrument.

The financial assets and liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets include cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables, prepaid expenses, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, security deposits and notes payable. The carrying amount of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables, prepaid expenses, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and security deposits reported in the consolidated balance sheets approximates fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments. The fair value of notes payable, which are classified as Level 2, is estimated by discounting the contractual cash flows of each debt instrument to their present value using adjusted market interest rates.

The carrying amount and estimated fair value of the notes payable are as follows:

7. Commitments and Contingencies

Legal

On July 3, 2017, the Supreme Court of the State of New York (the “Court”) ruled in favor of 41 present or former tenants of apartment units at the Company’s buildings located at 50 Murray Street and 53 Park Place in Manhattan, New York (the Tribeca House property), who brought an action (the “Kuzmich” case) against the Company alleging that they were subject to applicable rent stabilization laws with the result that rental payments charged by the Company exceeded amounts permitted under these laws because the buildings were receiving certain tax abatements under Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) 421-g. The Court also awarded the plaintiffs- tenants their attorney’s fees and costs. After various court proceedings and discussions from 2018-2022, on March 4, 2022 the court issued a ruling, finalized on May 9, 2022, on the rent overcharges to which the plaintiffs are entitled. While the court ruled that the overcharges to which the plaintiffs are entitled total $1.2 million, the court agreed with the Company’s legal arguments that rendered the overcharge liability lower than it could have been, and therefore the Company did not appeal the ruling. On June 23, 2022, the court ruled that the plaintiffs are entitled to attorneys’ fees incurred through February 28, 2022, in the amount of $0.4 million. The only remaining outstanding issues of which the Company is aware relate to the proper form of rent-stabilized renewal leases for the six plaintiffs who remain as tenants in the building. The parties are seeking judicial intervention to resolve this remaining issue. On July 17, 2023, a hearing was held at which the Judicial Hearing Officer (“JHO”) determined five (5) of the tenant’s lease renewal amounts, term and form. The amount of the lease renewal concerning the sixth plaintiff was made on August 28, 2023. On June 14, 2024, the Court amended its August 28, 2023 decision, holding that no renewal lease had been entered into by one of the remaining tenants who claimed to have entered into a renewal lease at a preferential rent. On July 20, 2024, Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal from the June 14, 2024 decision.  Renewal leases for certain of the remaining tenants are outstanding. 

On November 18, 2019, the same law firm which filed the Kuzmich case filed a second action involving a separate group of 26 tenants (captioned Crowe et al v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 161227/19), which action advances essentially the same claims as in Kuzmich. The Company’s deadline to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint in Crowe had been extended to June 30, 2020; on such date, the Company filed its answer to the complaint. Pursuant to the court’s rules, on July 16, 2020, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint; the sole difference as compared to the initial complaint is that seven new plaintiffs-tenants were added to the caption; there were no substantive changes to the complaint’s allegations. On August 5, 2020, the Company filed its answer to the amended complaint. The case was placed on the court’s calendar and was next scheduled for a discovery conference on November 16, 2022. Counsel for the parties have been engaged in and are continuing settlement discussions. On November 16, 2022, the court held a compliance conference and ordered the plaintiffs to provide rent overcharge calculations in response to proposed calculations previously provided by the Company. On July 12, 2023, the court referred this matter to a JHO to determine the outstanding issues. A hearing before the JHO was held in September 2023 in which the Company and Plaintiffs produced their rent overcharge calculations. In addition, on November 28, 2023, the Court denied the motion for use and occupancy against one of the tenants based on a technical error in Plaintiffs’ amended complaint. The Plaintiff has filed with the Court to correct its error. At this time all parties are continuing to engage in settlement discussions and discussions with the JHO seeking to resolve differences between their rent calculations. 

On March 9, 2021, the same law firm which filed the Kuzmich and Crowe cases filed a third action involving another tenant (captioned Horn v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, Supreme Court, New York County, Index No. 152415/21), which action advances the same claims as in Kuzmich and Crowe. The Company filed its answer to the complaint on May 21, 2021. A preliminary conference was held in December 2023 to discuss the calculations for the Horn lease renewal. The parties are currently attempting to settle this matter before the same JHO as in the hearing for the the Kuzmich and Crowe matters.

As a result of the March 4 and May 9, 2022 decisions which established the probability and ability to reasonably compute amounts owed to tenants for all the cases, the Company recorded a charge for litigation settlement and other of $2.7million in the consolidated statements of operations during the year ended December 31, 2021 comprising rent overcharges, interest and legal costs of plaintiff’s counsel. The Company paid $2.3million to the plaintiffs related to the Kuzmich case during the year ended December 31, 2022 and $0.4 million related to the Crowe case during the nine month period ended September 30, 2023.

In addition to the above, the Company is subject to certain legal proceedings and claims arising in connection with its business. Management believes, based in part upon consultation with legal counsel, that the ultimate resolution of all such claims will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services is currently engaged in an audit of the Company’s operating expense escalation charges for the period of June 2014 to December 2018. Based on the preliminary results of the audit the Company believes it has adequate reserves to cover any adverse conclusions.

Commitments

June 29, 2023, the Company entered into the Article 11 Agreement. Under this agreement, the Company has entered into a Housing Repair and Maintenance Letter Agreement in which the Company has agreed to perform certain capital improvements to Flatbush Gardens over the next 3 years. The current estimate is that the costs of that work will be an amount up to $27 million. The Company expects those costs to be offset by the savings provided by a property tax exemption and enhanced payments for tenants receiving government assistance. Through June 30, 2024 the Company spent approximately $4.5 million on capital improvements required under the HRMLA.

The Company is obligated to provide parking availability through August 2025 under a lease with a tenant at the 250 Livingston Street property; the current cost to the Company is approximately $205 per year.

Concentrations

The Company’s properties are located in the Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City, which exposes the Company to greater economic risks than if it owned a more geographically dispersed portfolio.

The breakdown between commercial and residential revenue is as follows (unaudited):

8. Related-Party Transactions

The Company recorded office and overhead expenses pertaining to a related company in general and administrative expense of $148 and $133 for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $197 and $198 for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023. The Company recognized a charge/(credit) to reimbursable payroll expense pertaining to a related company in general and administrative expense of $(23) and $(53) for the three months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $(37) and $(30) for the six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023.

9. Segment Reporting

The Company has classified its reporting segments into commercial and residential rental properties. The commercial reporting segment includes the 141 Livingston Street property and portions of the 250 Livingston Street, Tribeca House, Dean Street and Aspen properties. The residential reporting segment includes the Flatbush Gardens property, the Clover House property, the 10 West 65th Street property, the 1010 Pacific Street property, and portions of the 250 Livingston Street, Tribeca House Aspen properties and the Dean street development

The Company’s income from operations by segment for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023, is as follows (unaudited):