Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies.

Commitments and Contingencies

10. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

We are involved from time-to-time in various legal and regulatory proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business, including, but not limited to, commercial disputes, environmental matters, and litigation in connection with transactions such as acquisitions and divestitures. We believe that current proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity or results of operations. We record a liability when a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

Lease Commitments

As of March 31, 2024, we are subject to ground leases that cover all or a portion of 23 of our consolidated properties with termination dates extending through 2090, including periods for which exercising an extension option is reasonably assured.  These ground leases generally require us to make fixed annual rental payments, or a fixed annual rental payment plus a percentage rent component based upon the revenues or total sales of the property.  In addition, we have several regional office locations that are subject to leases with termination dates ranging from 2024 to 2034.  These office leases generally require us to make fixed annual rental payments plus pay our share of common area, real estate taxes, and utility expenses.  Some of our ground and office leases include escalation clauses.  All of our lease arrangements are classified as operating leases.  We incurred ground lease expense and office lease expense, which are included in other expense and home office and regional expense, respectively, as follows:

	For the Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2024		2023
Operating Lease Cost
Fixed lease cost	$	8,867	$	8,123
Variable lease cost		4,012		4,986
Total operating lease cost	$	12,879	$	13,109

	For the Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2024		2023
Other Information
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	12,865	$	13,090
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases		32.7 years		32.5 years
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases		5.31%		4.88%

Minimum lease payments due under these leases for years ending December 31, excluding applicable extension options and renewal options unless reasonably certain of exercise and any sublease income, are as follows:

2024	$	35,222
2025		36,358
2026		36,372
2027		36,401
2028		36,427
Thereafter		959,496
	$	1,140,276
Impact of discounting		(614,595)
Operating lease liabilities	$	525,681

Guarantees of Indebtedness

Joint venture debt is the liability of the joint venture and is typically secured by the joint venture property, which is non-recourse to us. In addition to the guarantee disclosed in Note 6, as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Operating Partnership guaranteed joint venture related mortgage indebtedness of $137.6 million and $139.2 million, respectively.  Mortgages guaranteed by the Operating Partnership are secured by the property of the joint venture which could be sold in order to satisfy the outstanding obligation and which has an estimated fair value in excess of the guaranteed amount.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Our U.S. Malls, Premium Outlets, and The Mills rely upon anchor tenants to attract customers; however, anchors do not contribute materially to our financial results as many anchors own their spaces. All material operations are within the United States and no customer or tenant accounts for 5% or more of our consolidated revenues.