Real Estate, Operating Real Estate and Assets Held for Sale

Real Estate — Land, Buildings and Improvements

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):



	June 30, 2018			December 31, 2017
Land	$	557,277		$	567,113
Buildings and improvements	2,175,385			2,200,901
Real estate under construction ^(a)	27,958			4,597
Less: Accumulated depreciation	(377,967		)	(354,668		)
	$	2,382,653		$	2,417,943

__________


(a)	Amount as of June 30, 2018 includes accrued capitalized costs of $13.3 million.

During the six months ended June 30, 2018, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the euro, as the end-of-period rate for the U.S. dollar in relation to the euro decreased by 2.8% to $1.1658 from $1.1993. As a result, the carrying value of our real estate decreased by $32.8 million from December 31, 2017 to June 30, 2018.

Depreciation expense, including the effect of foreign currency translation, on our real estate was $16.5 million and $15.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively and $33.8 million and $32.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Real Estate Under Construction

At June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we had two and three build-to-suit investments that were still under construction. During the six months ended June 30, 2018, we completed one of our build-to-suit investments, which had a total cost of $5.8 million and was placed into service. The aggregate unfunded commitment on our build-to-suit investments and certain other tenant improvements totaled approximately $40.2 million and $56.5 million at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

Operating Real Estate — Land, Buildings and Improvements

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



	June 30, 2018			December 31, 2017
Land	$	90,560		$	90,042
Buildings and improvements	254,520			250,730
Real estate under construction ^(a)	3,630			—
Less: Accumulated depreciation	(29,977		)	(26,087		)
	$	318,733		$	314,685

__________


(a)	Primarily represents restoration costs on our hotel property, which was impacted by Hurricane Irma as noted below.

Depreciation expense on our operating real estate was $2.2 million and $1.7 million, for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $3.9 million and $3.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Hurricane Impact Update

Hurricane Irma made landfall in September 2017, which directly impacted our hotel in Miami, Florida, leased to Shelborne Operating Associates, LLC, or the Shelborne Hotel. The hotel sustained damage and has since been operating at less than full capacity. We believe all of the damages are covered by our insurance policy, apart from the estimated insurance deductible of $1.8 million and certain professional fees. In May 2018, in response to a delay in collecting our outstanding insurance receivables, we filed a complaint against our insurance carrier in the State of Florida. As such, we assessed the outstanding insurance receivable for collectability and recorded a reserve for insurance receivables totaling $2.0 million for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 (Note 11), which is included within Operating real estate expenses on our consolidated financial statements. We will continue to assess the collectability of the insurance proceeds on a periodic basis. At June 30, 2018, we had $23.2 million of insurance receivables, net of reserves, in Accounts receivable and other assets on our consolidated financial statements. As a result of filing the complaint, the amount payable to our third-party insurance adjuster was reduced by $1.2 million, as per our contractual arrangement, which we recorded as a reduction to expenses within Other income and (expenses) on our consolidated financial statements during both the three and six months ended June 30, 2018.

Through June 30, 2018, we received $3.2 million of insurance proceeds for remediation and restoration costs. During the second quarter of 2018, we reassessed the estimated allocation of insurance proceeds that we received through June 30, 2018 and determined that these were solely related to property damages. In addition to the above, we have business interruption insurance coverage pertaining to the operating losses that resulted from Hurricane Irma. We will record revenue for covered business interruption when both the recovery is probable and contingencies have been resolved with the insurance carrier.

We are still assessing the impact of the hurricane to the Shelborne Hotel, and as a result, the final damages incurred could vary significantly from our estimate and additional remediation work may be performed. Any changes in estimates for property damage will be recorded in the periods in which they are determined and any additional work will be recorded in the periods in which it is performed.

The aggregate unfunded commitment on the estimated remaining repairs remaining at our Shelborne Hotel totaled approximately $28.2 million at June 30, 2018.

Assets Held for Sale, Net

At June 30, 2018, Assets held for sale consisted of a net-leased property located in Waldaschaff, Germany. On June 15, 2018, we entered into an agreement to sell this property for $7.7 million (amount is based on the exchange rate of the euro on the date of the agreement). There can be no assurance that we will be able to sell this facility for that amount, or at all. At December 31, 2017, we did not have any properties classified as Assets held for sale. See Note 13 for more information for our disposition and properties held for sale.

Below is a summary of our properties held for sale (in thousands):



	June 30, 2018 ^(a)		December 31, 2017
Land, buildings and improvements, net	$	3,189	$	—
Assets held for sale, net	$	3,189	$	—

__________


(a)	Amounts reflect $3.8 million related to an asset retirement obligation that buyer will assume upon consummation of the sale.