Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2011

A. Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2011. The results of interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year or any subsequent period. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair statement of financial position, results of operations and cash flows at the dates and for the periods presented have been included.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions in certain circumstances that affect amounts reported in the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes. Some of the critical estimates made by the Company include, but are not limited to, determination of the primary beneficiary of variable interest entities (“VIEs”), estimates of useful lives for long-lived assets, reserves for collection on accounts and notes receivable and other investments, impairment of real estate and other-than-temporary impairments on its equity method investments. As a result of the nature of estimates made by the Company, actual results could differ.

Reclassification

Certain prior year amounts in the accompanying consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year’s presentation. $290,492,000 was reclassified from investments in and advances to affiliates to cash distributions and losses in excess of investments in unconsolidated investments on the consolidated balance sheet as of January 31, 2011.

Restricted Cash and Escrowed Funds

Restricted cash and escrowed funds represent legally restricted amounts with financial institutions for debt service payments, taxes and insurance, collateral, security deposits, capital replacement, improvement and operating reserves, bond funds, development escrows and construction escrows.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The following table summarizes the components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (“accumulated OCI”).


	July 31, 2011			January 31, 2011
	(in thousands)
Unrealized losses on securities	$	489		$	485
Unrealized losses on foreign currency translation		1,283			1,516
Unrealized losses on interest rate contracts ⁽¹⁾		171,808			153,432

		173,580			155,433
Noncontrolling interest and income tax benefit		(67,421	)		(61,004	)

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss	$	106,159		$	94,429


(1)		Included in the amounts as of July 31 and January 31, 2011 are $121,459 and $102,387, respectively, of unrealized losses on an interest rate swap associated with New York Times, an office building in Manhattan, New York, on its nonrecourse mortgage debt with a notional amount of $640,000. This swap effectively fixes the mortgage at an all in lender interest rate of 6.40% (5.50% swap rate plus 0.90% lender spread) and expires in September 2017. Approximately $33,168 is expected to be reclassified from accumulated OCI to interest expense within the next twelve months.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying amount of notes and accounts receivable and accounts payable and accrued expenses approximates fair value based upon the short-term nature of the instruments. The Company estimates the fair value of its debt instruments by discounting future cash payments at interest rates that the Company believes approximate the current market. Estimated fair value is based upon market prices of public debt, available industry financing data, current treasury rates and recent financing transactions.

The following table summarizes the fair value of nonrecourse mortgage debt and notes payable, bank revolving credit facility and senior and subordinated debt:


	July 31, 2011				January 31, 2011
	Carrying Value		Fair Value		Carrying Value		Fair Value
	(in thousands)				(in thousands)
Fixed	$	4,462,968	$	4,691,889	$	4,649,129	$	4,802,728
Variable		2,243,550		2,309,148		3,468,924		3,519,566

Total	$	6,706,518	$	7,001,037	$	8,118,053	$	8,322,294

See Note H for fair values of other financial instruments.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

Derivatives are recorded at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of derivatives depends on the intended use of the derivative, whether the Company has elected to designate a derivative in a hedging relationship and it meets the hedge accounting requirements. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to changes in the fair value of an asset, liability, or firm commitment attributable to a particular risk, such as interest rate risk, are considered fair value hedges. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the recognition of the changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk in a fair value hedge or the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge. The Company may enter into derivative contracts that are intended to economically hedge certain of its risks, even though hedge accounting does not apply or the Company elects not to apply hedge accounting.

Variable Interest Entities

The Company’s VIEs consist of joint ventures that are engaged, directly or indirectly, in the ownership, development and management of office buildings, regional malls, specialty retail centers, apartment communities, military housing, supported-living communities, hotels, land development and The Nets, a member of the National Basketball Association (“NBA”) in which the Company accounts for its investment on the equity method of accounting. As of July 31, 2011, the Company determined that it was the primary beneficiary of 33 VIEs representing 22 properties (18 VIEs representing 9 properties in the Residential Group, 13 VIEs representing 11 properties in the Commercial Group and 2 VIEs/properties in the Land Development Group). The creditors of the consolidated VIEs do not have recourse to the Company’s general credit. As of July 31, 2011, the Company held variable interests in 59 VIEs for which it is not the primary beneficiary. The maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with these unconsolidated VIEs is limited to the Company’s recorded investments in those VIEs totaling approximately $97,000,000 at July 31, 2011. In addition, the Company has also determined that it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE which holds collateralized borrowings of $29,000,000 as of July 31, 2011 (refer to Note E — Senior and Subordinated Debt).

During the three months ended July 31, 2011, the Company completed a recapitalization transaction at 8 Spruce Street, an apartment community in Manhattan, New York, whereby the existing noncontrolling partner converted its mezzanine debt to equity and the entity repaid other nonrecourse mortgage debt. Following the transaction, the Company determined the entity no longer qualified as a VIE. Based on the new equity structure, the amended partnership agreements and the substantive participating rights of the outside equity partner, the entity was deconsolidated during the three months ended July 31, 2011. The impact of the deconsolidation of the VIE on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and parenthetical disclosures of the VIE balances were decreases of $744,999,000 to real estate, net, $4,588,000 to cash and equivalents, $66,882,000 to restricted cash and escrowed funds, $18,561,000 to other assets, $670,000,000 to nonrecourse mortgage debt and $35,009,000 to accounts payable and accrued expenses, offset by an increase to investments in and advances to affiliates of $130,021,000.

Noncontrolling Interest

Interests held by partners in consolidated real estate partnerships are reflected in noncontrolling interest, which represents the noncontrolling partners’ share of the underlying net assets of the Company’s consolidated subsidiaries. Noncontrolling interest that is not redeemable is reported in the equity section of the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Noncontrolling interests where the Company may be required to repurchase the noncontrolling interest at fair value under a put option or other contractual redemption requirement are reported in the mezzanine section of the Consolidated Balance Sheets between liabilities and equity, as redeemable noncontrolling interest. The Company adjusts the redeemable noncontrolling interest to redemption value (which approximates fair value) at each balance sheet date with changes recognized as an adjustment to additional paid-in capital (see Note H — Fair Value Measurements).

New Accounting Guidance

The following accounting pronouncements were adopted during the six months ended July 31, 2011:

In December 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an amendment to the accounting guidance on the disclosure of supplementary pro forma information for business combinations. This guidance specifies that if a public entity is required to present pro forma comparative financial statements for business combinations that occurred during the current reporting period, the entity should disclose revenue and earnings of the combined entity as though the business combination(s) that occurred during the current year had occurred as of the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period only. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2010. The adoption of this guidance on February 1, 2011 did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statement disclosures.

In December 2010, the FASB issued an amendment to the accounting guidance on goodwill and other intangible assets. This guidance specifies when to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. For those reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts, an entity is required to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test if it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists. In determining whether it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists, an entity should consider whether there are any adverse qualitative factors indicating that an impairment may exist. The guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010. The adoption of this guidance on February 1, 2011 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

The following new accounting pronouncements will be adopted on their respective required effective dates:

In June 2011, the FASB issued an amendment to the accounting guidance for the presentation of comprehensive income. This guidance provides an entity the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. In addition, this guidance requires an entity to present on the face of the financial statements reclassification adjustments for items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income to net income in the statement(s) where the components of net income and the components of other comprehensive income are presented. This guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this accounting guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued amendments to the accounting guidance on fair value measurement and disclosure requirements. This guidance results in common fair value measurement and disclosure requirements for financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. As a result, this guidance changes the wording used to describe many of the existing requirements for measuring fair value and for disclosing information about fair value measurements, but for many requirements the intent is not to change the existing application. Some of the guidance clarifies the FASB’s intent about the application of existing fair value measurement requirements or may change a particular principle or requirement for measuring fair value or for disclosing information about fair value measurements. This guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of the guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In April 2011, the FASB issued an amendment to the guidance on accounting for transfers and servicing to improve the accounting for repurchase agreements and other agreements that entitle and obligate a transferor to repurchase or redeem financial assets before their maturity. The guidance specifies when an entity may or may not recognize a sale upon the transfer of financial assets subject to repurchase agreements, based upon whether the entity has maintained effective control over the transferred financial assets. This guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning on or after December 15, 2011. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this accounting guidance to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.