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Business and Organization
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Business and Organization Business and Organization
Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company”) is a commercial real estate (“CRE”) credit real estate investment trust (“REIT”) focused on originating, acquiring, financing and managing a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of CRE debt investments and net leased properties predominantly in the United States. CRE debt investments primarily consist of first mortgage loans, which the Company expects to be its primary investment strategy. Additionally, the Company may selectively originate mezzanine loans and make preferred equity investments, which may include profit participations. The mezzanine loans and preferred investments equity may be in conjunction with the Company’s origination of corresponding first mortgages on the same properties. Net leased properties consist of CRE properties with long-term leases to tenants on a net-lease basis, where such tenants generally will be responsible for property operating expenses such as insurance, utilities, maintenance capital expenditures and real estate taxes. The Company will continue to target net leased equity investments on a selective basis. The Company also currently has investments in CRE debt securities primarily consisting of commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) (including “B-pieces” of a CMBS securitization pool) or CRE collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) (including the junior tranches thereof, collateralized by pools of CRE debt investments).
The Company was organized in the state of Maryland on August 23, 2017. On January 31, 2018, the Company completed the transactions contemplated by that certain Master Combination Agreement, dated as of August 25, 2017, as amended and restated on November 20, 2017 (the “Combination Agreement,” as further discussed below). The Company elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), beginning with its taxable year ended December 31, 2018. Effective June 25, 2018, the Company changed its name from Colony NorthStar Credit Real Estate, Inc. to Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. Also on June 25, 2018, Colony NorthStar, Inc. changed its name to Colony Capital, Inc. The Company conducts all of its activities and holds substantially all of its assets and liabilities through its operating subsidiary, Credit RE Operating Company, LLC (the “Operating Partnership” or “OP”). At September 30, 2020, the Company owned 97.7% of the OP, as its sole managing member. The remaining 2.3% is owned by an affiliate of the Company as noncontrolling interests.
The Company is externally managed and has no employees. The Company is managed by CLNC Manager, LLC (the “Manager”), a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned and indirect subsidiary of Colony Capital Operating Company, LLC (“CLNY OP”), a Delaware limited liability company and the operating company of Colony Capital. Colony Capital manages capital on behalf of its stockholders, as well as institutional and retail investors in private funds, non-traded and traded REITs and registered investment companies.
The Combination
Pursuant to the Combination Agreement, (i) CLNY OP contributed and conveyed to the Company a select portfolio of assets and liabilities (the “CLNY OP Contributed Portfolio”) of CLNY OP (the “CLNY OP Contribution”), (ii) NRF RED REIT Corp., a Maryland corporation and indirect subsidiary of CLNY OP (“RED REIT”) contributed and conveyed to the OP a select portfolio of assets and liabilities (the “RED REIT Contributed Portfolio” and, together with the CLNY OP Contributed Portfolio, the “CLNY Contributed Portfolio”) of RED REIT (the “RED REIT Contribution” and, together with the CLNY OP Contribution, the “CLNY Contributions”), (iii) NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. (“NorthStar I”), a publicly registered non-traded REIT sponsored and managed by a subsidiary of Colony Capital, merged with and into the Company, with the Company surviving the merger (the “NorthStar I Merger”), (iv) NorthStar Real Estate Income II, Inc. (“NorthStar II”), a publicly registered non-traded REIT sponsored and managed by a subsidiary of Colony Capital, merged with and into the Company, with the Company surviving the merger (the “NorthStar II Merger” and, together with the NorthStar I Merger, the “Mergers”), and (v) immediately following the Mergers, the Company contributed and conveyed to the OP the CLNY OP Contributed Portfolio and the equity interests of each of NorthStar Real Estate Income Trust Operating Partnership, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and the operating partnership of NorthStar I, and NorthStar Real Estate Income Operating Partnership II, LP, a Delaware limited partnership and the operating partnership of NorthStar II, then-owned by the Company in exchange for units of membership interest in the OP (the “Company Contribution” and, collectively with the Mergers and the CLNY Contributions, the “Combination”).
On January 18, 2018, the Combination was approved by the stockholders of NorthStar I and NorthStar II. The Combination closed on January 31, 2018 (the “Closing Date”) and the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A common stock”), began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on February 1, 2018 under the symbol “CLNC.”
The Combination is accounted for under the acquisition method for business combinations pursuant to Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 805, Business Combinations, with the Company as the accounting acquirer.
Segment Realignment
During the third quarter of 2019, the Company realigned the business and reportable segment information to reflect how the Chief Operating Decision Makers (“CODM”) regularly review and manage the business. Refer to Note 17, “Segment Reporting” for further detail.
Impact of COVID-19
Through the third quarter of 2020, countries around the world continue to face healthcare and economic challenges arising from the coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19. Efforts to address the pandemic, such as social distancing, closures or reduced capacity of retail and service outlets, hotels, factories and public venues, often mandated by governments, are having a significant impact on the global economy and financial markets across major industries, including many sectors of real estate. In particular, the Company's loans and preferred equity held for investment and real estate investments in the hospitality and retail sectors have experienced or anticipate a myriad of challenges, including, but not limited to: significant declines in operating cash flows of the Company’s investments which in turn affect their ability to meet debt service and covenant requirements on investment-level debt (non-recourse to the Company); flexible lease payment terms sought by tenants; increased property operating costs such as labor and supplies as a result of COVID-19; potential payment defaults on the Company's loans and preferred equity held for investment; and a distressed market affecting real estate values in general. The COVID-19 crisis may also lead to heightened risk of litigation at the investment and corporate level, with an ensuing increase in litigation and related costs.
The sharp decline and volatility in equity and debt markets, and the economic fallout from COVID-19 continue to affect the valuation of the Company’s financial assets, carried at fair value. The Company’s consideration and assessment of impairment is discussed further in Note 3, “Loans and Preferred Equity Held for Investment, net and Loans Held for Sale,” Note 5, “Real Estate Securities, Available for Sale,” Note 6, “Real Estate, net and Real Estate Held for Sale” and Note 14, “Fair Value.”
A prolonged economic downturn as a result of efforts to contain COVID-19 may continue to negatively affect the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. While the extent and duration of the broad effects of COVID-19 on the global economy and the Company remain unclear, the Company believes it has materially addressed overall recoverability in value across its assets based upon external factors known to date and assumptions using the Company’s best estimate at this time. The Company will continue to monitor the progress of the COVID-19 crisis and reassess its effects on the Company’s results of operations and recoverability in value across its assets as conditions change.