Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Newmark has operating leases for real estate and equipment. These leases have remaining lease terms ranging from 1 to 12 years, some of which include options to extend the leases in 5 to 10 years increments for up to 10 years. Renewal periods are included in the lease term only when renewal is reasonably certain, which is a high threshold and requires management to apply the judgment to determine the appropriate lease term. Certain leases also include periods covered by an option to terminate the lease if Newmark is reasonably certain not to exercise the termination option. The Company measures its lease payments by including fixed rental payments and, where relevant, variable rental payments tied to an index, such as the Consumer Price Index. Payments for leases in place before the date of adoption of ASC 842, Leases were determined based on previous leases guidance. The Company recognizes lease expense for its operating leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term and variable lease expense not included in the lease payment measurement is recognized as incurred. All leases were classified as operating leases as of December 31, 2020.

Pursuant to the accounting policy election, leases with an initial term of twelve months or less are not recognized on the balance sheet. The short-term lease expense over the period reasonably reflects the Company’s short-term lease commitments.

ASC 842, Leases requires the Company to make certain assumptions and judgments in applying the guidance, including determining whether an arrangement includes a lease, determining the term of a lease when the contract has renewal or cancelation provisions, and determining the discount rate.

The Company determines whether an arrangement is a lease or includes a lease at the contract inception by evaluating whether the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. If the Company has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from, and can direct the use of, the identified asset for a period of time, the Company accounts for the identified asset as a lease. The Company has elected the practical expedient to not separate lease and non-lease components for all leases other than real estate leases. The primary non-lease component that is combined with a lease component represents operating expenses such as utilities, maintenance or management fees.

As the rate implicit in the lease is not usually available, the Company used an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the adoption date of the new Leases standard in determining the present value of lease payments for existing leases. The Company has elected to use a portfolio approach for the incremental borrowing rate, applying corporate bond rates to the leases. The Company calculated the appropriate rates with reference to the lease term and lease currency. The Company uses information available at the lease commencement date to determine the discount rate for any new leases.

Operating lease costs were $50.4 million and $47.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively, and are included in “Operating, administrative and other” on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. Operating cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 included payments of $49.0 million and $44.4 million for operating lease liabilities, respectively. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, Newmark did not have any leases that have not yet commenced but that create significant rights and obligations. For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 Newmark had short-term lease expense of $0.8 million and $2.3 million, respectively, and sublease income of $1.3 million and $0.7 million, respectively. During 2020 Newmark recorded a lease impairment charge of $5.1 million to “Operating, administrative and other” on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

The weighted-average discount rate as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 was 7.11% and 7.24% and the remaining weighted-average lease term was 8.2 years and 8.8 years, respectively.

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, Newmark had operating lease ROU assets of $190.5 million and $201.7 million, respectively, and operating lease ROU liabilities of $29.5 million and $27.2 million, respectively, recorded in “Accounts payable, and accrued expenses and other liabilities” and $218.6 million and $227.9 million, respectively, recorded in “Right-of-use liabilities”, on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Rent expense, including the operating lease costs above, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were $49.9 million, $49.4 million and $42.6 million, respectively. Rent expense is included in “Operating, administrative and other” on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Newmark is obligated for minimum rental payments under various non-cancelable operating leases, principally for office space, expiring at various dates through 2032. Certain of these leases contain escalation clauses that require payment of additional rent to the extent of increases in certain operating or other costs.

Minimum lease payments under these arrangements were as follows (in thousands):


	December 31,
	2020		2019
2021	$	45,701	$	44,709
2022	42,072		42,612
2023	40,507		39,812
2024	37,866		38,210
2025	36,520		35,602
Thereafter	126,668		146,463
Total lease payments	329,334		347,408
Less: Interest	81,237		92,282
Present value of lease liability	$	248,097	$	255,126