FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC 820 also provides guidance for using fair value to measure financial assets and liabilities. The Codification requires disclosure of the level within the fair value hierarchy in which the fair value measurements fall, including measurements using quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1), quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active (Level 2), and significant valuation assumptions that are not readily observable in the market (Level 3).

The following table presents the carrying amounts and estimated fair values of the Company’s financial instruments in accordance with ASC 820 at December 31, 2016 and 2015.



	December 31,
	2016			2015
	Carrying Amount ⁽¹⁾		Fair Value	Carrying Amount ⁽¹⁾	Fair Value
	(In thousands)
Financial Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	522	522	48	48
Mortgage loans receivable	4,752		4,747	4,875	4,896
Interest rate swap assets	4,546		4,546	400	400
Financial Liabilities:
Unsecured bank credit facilities - variable rate ⁽²⁾	112,020		111,923	150,836	150,670
Unsecured bank credit facilities - fixed rate ⁽²⁾	80,000		79,998	—	—
Unsecured debt ⁽²⁾	655,000		623,147	530,000	509,326
Secured debt ⁽²⁾	258,594		266,585	351,401	366,491
Interest rate swap liabilities	2,578		2,578	3,960	3,960


(1)	Carrying amounts shown in the table are included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets under the indicated captions, except as indicated in the notes below.


(2)	Carrying amounts and fair values shown in the table exclude debt issuance costs (see Notes 1(o), 6 and 7 for additional information).

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments:

Cash and cash equivalents: The carrying amounts approximate fair value due to the short maturity of those instruments.

Mortgage loans receivable (included in Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets): The fair value is estimated by discounting the future cash flows using the current rates at which similar loans would be made to borrowers with similar credit ratings and for the same remaining maturities (Level 2 input).

Interest rate swap assets (included in Other assets on the Consolidated Balances Sheets): The instruments are recorded at fair value based on models using inputs, such as interest rate yield curves, LIBOR swap curves and OIS curves, observable for substantially the full term of the contract (Level 2 input). See Note 13 for additional information on the Company's interest rate swaps.

Unsecured bank credit facilities: The fair value of the Company’s unsecured bank credit facilities is estimated by discounting expected cash flows at current market rates (Level 2 input), excluding the effects of debt issuance costs.

Unsecured debt: The fair value of the Company’s unsecured debt is estimated by discounting expected cash flows at the rates currently offered to the Company for debt of the same remaining maturities, as advised by the Company’s bankers (Level 2 input), excluding the effects of debt issuance costs.

Secured debt: The fair value of the Company’s secured debt is estimated by discounting expected cash flows at the rates currently offered to the Company for debt of the same remaining maturities, as advised by the Company’s bankers (Level 2 input), excluding the effects of debt issuance costs.

Interest rate swap liabilities (included in Other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets): The instruments are recorded at fair value based on models using inputs, such as interest rate yield curves, LIBOR swap curves and OIS curves, observable for substantially the full term of the contract (Level 2 input). See Note 13 for additional information on the Company's interest rate swaps.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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