INVESTMENT IN JOINT VENTURES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

INVESTMENT IN JOINT VENTURES

INVESTMENT IN JOINT VENTURES

NOTE 7. INVESTMENT IN JOINT VENTURES

The Company has no investments in joint ventures as of December 31, 2022 or 2021.

Watters Creek Investment. As described in Note 4. “Commercial Loans and Investments,” on April 7, 2022, the Company entered into the Watters Creek Investment. The Watters Creek Investment represents $30.0 million, or approximately 23%, of funding towards the total investment in Watters Creek at Montgomery Farm, a grocery-anchored, mixed-use property located in Allen, Texas (the “Watters Creek Property”). The remaining funding is comprised of a combination of third-party sponsorship equity and a secured first mortgage. The Company’s variable interest in the entity underlying the Watters Creek Investment is primarily due to the inherent credit risk associated with the $30.0 million fixed-return preferred investment. The day-to-day operations, including asset management and leasing, of the Watters Creek Property are managed by an unrelated third-party. Pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 810, Consolidation, the Company determined we are not the primary beneficiary of the entity underlying the Watters Creek Investment; accordingly, the entity was not consolidated. The investment was recorded in the consolidated balance sheets as a commercial loan investment at the time of acquisition. The significant factors related to this determination included, but were not limited to, the Company not having the power to direct the activities of the entity underlying the Watters Creek Investment due to (i) the day-to-day operations being managed by an unrelated third-party and (ii) the Company’s position as minority lender with fixed returns and maturity dates for the repayment of the $30.0 million preferred investment.

Land JV. The Company’s previously held retained interest in the Land JV represented a notional 33.5% stake in the venture, the value of which was realized in the form of distributions based on the timing and the amount of proceeds achieved when the land was ultimately sold by the Land JV. As of September 30, 2021, the Land JV had completed $80.7 million in land sales since its inception in mid-October 2019. On December 10, 2021, the Land JV completed the sale of all of its remaining land holdings to Timberline for $66.3 million. Proceeds to the Company after distributions to the other member of the Land JV, and before taxes, were $24.5 million.

Through December 31, 2021, the Company served as the manager of the Land JV and was responsible for day-to-day operations at the direction of the JV Partners. All Unanimous Actions taken by the manager were approved by the unanimous consent of the JV Partners. Pursuant to the Land JV’s operating agreement, the Land JV paid the manager a management fee in the initial amount of $20,000 per month. The management fee was evaluated quarterly, and as land sales occurred in the Land JV, the basis for our management fee was reduced as the management fee was based on the value of real property that remained in the Land JV. The monthly management fee as of December 31, 2021, was $10,000 per month. No management fees pertaining to the Land JV were earned during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Prior to the Land JV Sale, the investment in joint ventures on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets included the Company’s previously held ownership interest in the Land JV. We concluded the Land JV to be a variable interest entity and therefore, it was accounted for under the equity method of accounting as the Company was not the primary beneficiary as defined in FASB ASC Topic 810, Consolidation. The significant factors related to this determination included, but were not limited to, the Land JV being jointly controlled by the members through the use of unanimous approval for all material actions. Under the guidance of FASB ASC 323, Investments-Equity Method and Joint Ventures, the Company used the equity method to account for the Land JV investment.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recognized impairment charges on its previously held retained interest in the Land JV totaling $17.6 million. The aggregate $17.6 million impairment on the previously held retained interest in the Land JV was a result of eliminating the investment in joint ventures based on the final proceeds received through distributions of the Land JV in connection with the sale of the Land JV’s remaining land.

Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recognized an impairment on its previously held retained interest in the Land JV totaling $7.1 million. The $7.1 million impairment on the Company’s previously held retained interest in the Land JV is the result of a re-forecast of the then anticipated undiscounted future cash flows to be received by the Company based on the estimated timing of future land sales from the Land JV.

The following table provides summarized financial information of the Land JV for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 (in thousands):

	Year Ended
	December 31, 2022		December 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
Revenues	$	—	$	67,367	$	65,446
Direct Cost of Revenues		—		(8,867)		(13,012)
Operating Income	$	—	$	58,500	$	52,434
Other Operating Expenses		—		(376)		(462)
Net Income	$	—	$	58,124	$	51,972

The Company’s share of the Land JV’s net income (loss) was zero for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020. Pursuant to ASC 323, certain adjustments are made when calculating the Company’s share of net income, including adjustments required to reflect the investor’s share of changes in investee’s capital to reflect distributions from the venture. Additionally, basis differences are also considered. The Company recorded the initial retained interest in the Land JV of $48.9 million at the estimated fair market value based on the relationship of the $97.0 million sales price of the 66.5% equity interest to the 33.5% retained interest. The Land JV recorded the assets contributed by the Company at carry-over basis pursuant to ASC 845 which states that transfers of nonmonetary assets should typically be recorded at the transferor’s historical cost basis. Accordingly, the Company’s basis difference in the 33.5% retained equity interest was evaluated each quarter upon determining the Company’s share of the Land JV’s net income. As a result of the Land JV Sale, the liquidation of the Land JV’s assets, and the dissolution of the underlying entities, such evaluation was and will no longer be required as of and subsequent to December 31, 2021.

Mitigation Bank. The mitigation bank transaction completed in June 2018 consisted of the sale of a 70% interest in the entity that owns the Mitigation Bank (the “Mitigation Bank JV”). The purchaser of the 70% interest in the Mitigation Bank JV was comprised of certain funds and accounts managed by an investment advisor subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”). The Company retained a 30% non-controlling interest in the Mitigation Bank JV. A third-party was retained by the Mitigation Bank JV as the day-to-day manager of the Mitigation Bank JV property, responsible for the maintenance, generation, tracking, and other aspects of wetland mitigation credits. Prior to September 30, 2021, the investment in joint ventures included on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets included $6.9 million related to the fair market value of the 30% retained interest in the Mitigation Bank JV.

On September 30, 2021, the Company, through a wholly owned and fully consolidated TRS, purchased the remaining 70% interest in the Mitigation Bank JV from BlackRock for $18.0 million (the “Interest Purchase”) resulting in a net cash payment by the Company of $16.1 million after utilizing the available cash in the Mitigation Bank JV of $1.9 million. As a result of the Interest Purchase, the Mitigation Bank JV is now wholly owned by the Company and is referred to as the Mitigation Bank. Pursuant to ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations: Clarifying the Definition of a Business, the Interest Purchase represents an asset acquisition as substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired are concentrated in a group of similar identifiable assets, i.e. the mitigation credits and mitigation credit rights. Accordingly, the Company recorded the Interest Purchase by allocating the total cost of the asset group to the individual assets acquired. The Company’s total cost of the Interest Purchase totaled $24.9 million which is comprised of (i) the $18.0 million Interest Purchase and (ii) the $6.9 million previously recorded value of the retained interest in the entity that owns the Mitigation Bank. In connection with the Interest Purchase, the previously recorded value of $6.9 million of the retained interest was eliminated and the $24.9 million total cost was allocated as follows: (i) $1.8 million to cash and cash equivalents, (ii) $0.6 million to restricted cash, (iii) $0.9 million to the mitigation credits, and (iv) $21.6 million to the mitigation credit rights.

On December 29, 2022, the Company completed the sale of the entity that owned the Mitigation Bank for a sales price of $8.1 million resulting in a loss on disposition of assets of $11.9 million. A balance of mitigation credits and mitigation credit rights were retained by the Company as part of the sale agreement.

The following table provides summarized financial information of the Mitigation Bank JV for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands).

	Year Ended
	December 31, 2022		December 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
Revenues	$	—	$	512	$	4,109
Direct Cost of Revenues		—		(16)		(167)
Operating Income	$	—	$	496	$	3,942
Other Operating Expenses		—		(162)		(175)
Net Income	$	—	$	334	$	3,767

The Company’s share of the Mitigation Bank JV’s net income (loss) was zero for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020. Pursuant to ASC 323, certain adjustments are made when calculating the Company’s share of net income, including adjustments required to reflect the investor’s share of changes in investee’s capital to reflect distributions from the venture. Additionally, basis differences are also considered. The Company recorded the initial retained interest in the Mitigation Bank JV of $6.8 million in June 2018 at the estimated fair market value based on the relationship of the $15.3 million sales price of the 70% equity interest to the 30% retained interest. The Mitigation Bank JV recorded the assets contributed by the Company at carry-over basis pursuant to ASC 845 which states that transfers of nonmonetary assets should typically be recorded at the transferor’s historical cost basis. Accordingly, the Company’s basis difference in the 30% retained equity interest was evaluated each quarter upon determining the Company’s share of the Mitigation Bank JV’s net income. As a result of the Interest Purchase, such evaluation was and will no longer be required as of and subsequent to December 31, 2021.