Net Investments in Properties and Real Estate Under Construction (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Real estate, which consists of land and buildings leased to others, at cost, and which are subject to operating leases, is summarized as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2015			2014
Land	$	560,257		$	513,172
Buildings	2,098,620			1,883,543
Less: Accumulated depreciation	(225,867		)	(175,478		)
	$	2,433,010		$	2,221,237

Operating real estate, which consists of our wholly-owned domestic self-storage operations, at cost, is summarized as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2015			2014
Land	$	66,066		$	66,066
Buildings	209,455			206,793
Less: Accumulated depreciation	(30,308		)	(22,217		)
	$	245,213		$	250,642

Schedule of Future Minimum Rental Payments for Operating Leases

Scheduled future minimum rents, exclusive of renewals and expenses paid by tenants and future CPI-based adjustments, under non-cancelable operating leases at December 31, 2015 are as follows (in thousands):



Years Ending December 31,	Total
2016	$	262,532
2017	263,582
2018	266,243
2019	267,337
2020	270,545
Thereafter	2,806,192
Total	$	4,136,431

Real Estate Under Construction

The following table provides the activity of our Real estate under construction (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2015			2014
Beginning balance	$	110,983		$	127,935
Capitalized funds	20,064			74,420
Placed into service	(130,704		)	(96,807		)
Capitalized interest	2,200			6,661
Foreign currency translation adjustments, building improvements, and other	(1,475		)	(1,226		)
Ending balance	$	1,068		$	110,983

Schedule of Change in Asset Retirement Obligation

The following table provides the activity of our asset retirement obligations, which are included in Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities in the consolidated financial statements (in thousands):



	Years Ended December 31,
	2015			2014
Beginning balance	$	23,271		$	22,076
Additions	825			—
Accretion expense ^(a)	1,467			1,233
Foreign currency translation adjustments and other	(139		)	(38		)
Ending balance	$	25,424		$	23,271

__________


(a)	Accretion of the liability is included in Property expenses in the consolidated financial statements and recognized over the economic life of the properties.