Rental Properties

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Real Estate [Abstract]

Rental Properties

Rental Properties

The following table summarizes the carrying amounts of rental properties as of December 31, 2011and 2010 (in thousands):

	2011			2010
Buildings and improvements	$	1,602,676		$	1,707,180
Furniture, fixtures & equipment	54,737			71,866
Land	496,879			537,929
	2,154,292			2,316,975
Accumulated depreciation	(335,116		)	(296,784		)
Total	$	1,819,176		$	2,020,191

Depreciation expense on rental properties was $45.0 million, $43.0 million and $39.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

On March 29, 2011, the Company sold its Toronto Dundas Square entertainment retail center and related signage business in downtown Toronto.  The gross sale proceeds were approximately $226 million Canadian (CAD) and the net sales proceeds, after selling costs, were $222.7 million CAD.  The acquirer did not purchase any of the pre-acquisition receivables, payables or accrued liabilities and the purchase and sale agreement called for the establishment of $15.3 million CAD of escrow accounts primarily for the payment of previously accrued property taxes. This amount has been netted against the net proceeds from sale of real estate from discontinued operations in the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2011. The net proceeds from this sale, after the aforementioned escrows, were converted to U.S. dollars primarily through a foreign currency forward contract that was entered into on February 3, 2011 and designated as a net investment hedge.  This forward contract allowed the Company to sell $200 million CAD for $201.5 million U.S.  The Company used the proceeds to pay down its revolving line of credit and recorded a net gain of $18.3 million U.S. on the sale of real estate, including the impact of foreign currency and the settlement of the forward contract. The results of operations of the project have been classified within discontinued operations retroactively through the first quarter of 2010 as the project was purchased on March 4, 2010 (see Note 22 for further details). During the third and fourth quarters of 2011, approximately $13.1 million CAD was paid from reserves leaving an outstanding balance of $2.2 million CAD at December 31, 2011. During the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company recorded an additional gain on sale or acquisition of real estate of $1.2 million U.S. related to the settlement of certain reserves. As of December 31, 2011, the Company's consolidated balance sheet includes $2.9 million CAD of assets and $5.6 million CAD of liabilities related to Toronto Dundas Square; however, the Company has no significant continuing involvement with the ownership or operation of the project.