New Accounting Pronouncements.

New Accounting Standards Adopted

Revenue Recognition. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an accounting standard update (“ASU”) that requires companies to use a five-step model to determine when to recognize revenue from customer contracts in an effort to increase consistency and comparability throughout global capital markets and across industries. In February 2017, the FASB issued an additional ASU that provides the accounting treatment for gains and losses from the derecognition of non-financial assets, including the accounting for partial sales of real estate properties.

We adopted the revenue recognition and derecognition of non-financial assets standards (collectively “the new revenue recognition standard”) on January 1, 2018, on a modified retrospective basis.

Rental revenues and recoveries earned from leasing our operating properties are excluded from this ASU and will be assessed with the adoption of the lease ASU discussed below. Our evaluation under the new revenue recognition standard included recurring and transactional fees and incentive fees (“promotes” or “promote revenues”) earned from our co-investment ventures as well as dispositions and contributions of real estate properties. There is no change in our recognition of recurring and transactional fees as we will continue to recognize these fees as we provide the services. Promote revenues are earned based on a venture’s cumulative returns over a certain time-period and the returns are determined by both the operating performance and real estate valuation of the venture, including highly variable inputs such as capitalization rates, market rents, interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. As these key inputs are highly volatile and out of our control, and such volatility can materially impact our promotes period over period, we expect promote revenues will continue to be recognized at or near the end of the performance period. Accordingly, we do not expect significant changes in promote revenue recognition as a result of this ASU.

For dispositions of real estate properties to third parties, the ASU will not impact the recognition of the sale. Beginning January 1, 2018, we recognized the entire gain attributed to contributions of real estate properties to unconsolidated co-investment ventures. We previously recognized a gain on contribution only to the extent of the third-party ownership in the unconsolidated co-investment venture acquiring the property and deferred the portion of the gain related to our ownership. For discussion of net gains on contributions to unconsolidated co-investment ventures recognized during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, see Note 3. For deferred gains from partial sales recorded prior to the adoption, we will continue to recognize these gains over the lives of the underlying real estate properties or at the time of disposition to a third party, as discussed in Note 4.

We adopted the practical expedient to only assess the recognition of revenue for open contracts during the transition period and there was no adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings at January 1, 2018. The comparative information has not been restated and continues to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for that period.

New Accounting Standards Issued but not yet Adopted

Leases. In February 2016, the FASB issued an ASU that provides the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases. In July 2018, the FASB issued an additional ASU that provided for targeted improvements to the February 2016 ASU. We refer to both ASUs collectively as the new lease standard.

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As a lessor. The accounting for lessors will remain largely unchanged from current GAAP; however, the new lease standard requires that lessors expense, on an as-incurred basis, certain initial direct costs that are not incremental in negotiating a lease. Under existing standards, these costs are capitalizable and therefore the new lease standard will result in certain of these costs being expensed as incurred after adoption. During the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we capitalized $15.7 million and $17.9 million, respectively, of internal costs related to our leasing activities.

The new lease standard provides lessors a practical expedient to not separate rental recovery revenue from the associated rental revenue if certain criteria are met. We assessed these criteria and concluded that the timing and pattern of transfer for rental recoveries and the associated rental revenue are the same and our leases will continue to qualify as operating leases under which we will recognize rental revenue, and therefore we will account for and present rental revenue and rental recovery revenue as a single component.

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As a lessee. Under the new lease standard, lessees apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases. A lessee is required to record a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months, regardless of their lease classification. We are a lessee of ground leases and office space leases. At September 30, 2018 we had approximately 100 ground and office space leases that will require us to measure and record a ROU asset and a lease liability upon adoption. Details of our future minimum rental payments under ground and office space leases at December 31, 2017 are disclosed in Note 4 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

The new lease standard is effective for us on January 1, 2019 and we will apply it prospectively. We expect to adopt the practical expedients available for implementation. By adopting these practical expedients, we will not be required to reassess the following and therefore we do not expect an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings: (i) whether an expired or existing contract meets the definition of a lease; (ii) the lease classification at the adoption date for existing leases; and (iii) whether costs previously capitalized as initial direct costs would continue to be amortized. This allows us to continue to account for our ground and office space leases as operating leases, however, any new or renewed ground leases may be classified as financing leases unless they meet certain conditions to be considered a lease involving land owned by a government unit or authority. The new lease standard will also require new disclosures within the accompanying notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. We are completing our evaluation of the key drivers, such as the discount rate, in the measurement of the ROU asset and lease liability and the quantitative impact that adoption will have on the Consolidated Financial Statements in the future.

Derivatives and Hedging. In August 2017, the FASB issued an ASU that simplifies the application of hedge accounting guidance in current GAAP and improves the reporting of hedging relationships to better portray the economic results of an entity’s risk management activities in its consolidated financial statements. Among the simplification updates, the ASU eliminates the requirement in current GAAP to separately recognize periodic hedge ineffectiveness. Mismatches between the changes in value of the hedged item and hedging instrument may still occur but they will no longer be separately reported. The ASU requires the presentation of the earnings effect of the hedging instrument in the same income statement line item in which the earnings effect of the hedged item is reported. The ASU is effective for us on January 1, 2019. We do not expect the adoption of this ASU to have a material impact on the Consolidated Financial Statements.