As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, EastGroup held a controlling interest in two joint venture arrangements. In 2019, the Company acquired 6.5 acres of land in San Diego, known by the Company as the Miramar land. Also in 2019, the Company acquired 41.6 acres of land in San Diego, known by the Company as the Otay Mesa land. During the year ended December 31, 2021, EastGroup began construction of a 519,000 square foot building on the Otay Mesa land, known by the Company as Speed Distribution Center. As of both December 31, 2021 and 2020, EastGroup had a 95% controlling interest in the Miramar land and a 99% controlling interest in Speed Distribution Center.

EastGroup, a Maryland corporation, has qualified as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under Sections 856-860 of the Internal Revenue Code and intends to continue to qualify as such. To maintain its status as a REIT, the Company is required to, among other things, distribute at least 90% of its ordinary taxable income to its stockholders. If the Company has a capital gain, it has the option of (i) deferring recognition of the capital gain through a tax-deferred exchange, (ii) declaring and paying a capital gain dividend on any recognized net capital gain resulting in no corporate level tax, or (iii) retaining and paying corporate income tax on its net long-term capital gain, with the shareholders reporting their proportional share of the undistributed long-term capital gain and receiving a credit or refund of their share of the tax paid by the Company. The Company distributed all of its 2021, 2020 and 2019 taxable income to its stockholders. Accordingly, no significant provisions for income taxes were necessary. The Company’s income tax treatment of share distributions is based on its taxable income, calculated in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code, which differs from U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The following table summarizes the federal income tax treatment for all distributions by the Company for the years ended 2021, 2020 and 2019.


	Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020	2019
Common Share Distributions:	(Per share)
Ordinary dividends	$	3.61656	3.32868	3.14000
Nondividend distributions	—		—	—
Unrecaptured Section 1250 capital gain	—		—	—
Other capital gain	—		—	—
Total Common Share Distributions	$	3.61656	3.32868	3.14000

EastGroup applies the principles of Financial Accounting Standards Board “FASB” Accounting Standards Codification “ASC” 740, Income Taxes, when evaluating and accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. With few exceptions, the Company’s 2017 and earlier tax years are closed for examination by U.S. federal, state and local tax authorities. In accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, the Company had no significant uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

The Company’s primary revenue is rental income from business distribution space. Minimum rental income from real estate operations is recognized on a straight-line basis. The straight-line rent calculation on leases includes the effects of rent concessions and scheduled rent increases, and the calculated straight-line rent income is recognized over the lives of the individual leases. The Company maintains allowances for doubtful accounts receivable, including straight-line rents receivable, based upon estimates determined by management. Management specifically analyzes aged receivables, customer credit-

worthiness and current economic trends when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. Reserves for uncollectible accounts are recorded as a reduction to revenue. Revenue is recognized on payments received from tenants for early terminations after all criteria have been met in accordance with ASC 842, Leases.

The Company’s primary revenue is rental income; as such, the Company is a lessor on a significant number of leases. Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASC 842, Leases, and applied its provisions on a prospective basis. The Company continued to account for its leases in substantially the same manner. The most significant changes for the Company related to lessor accounting include: (i) the new standard’s narrow definition of initial direct costs for leases, and (ii) the guidance applicable to recording uncollectible rents, as discussed in the following paragraphs.

Initial direct costs (primarily legal costs related to lease negotiations) are expensed rather than capitalized. EastGroup recorded Indirect leasing costs of $700,000, $661,000 and $411,000 on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

As permitted by ASC 842, Leases, EastGroup made an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset to not separate non-lease components (such as common area maintenance) of a contract from the lease component to which they relate when specific criteria are met. The Company believes its leases meet the criteria.

The Company’s leases with its customers may include various provisions such as scheduled rent increases, renewal options and termination options. The majority of the Company’s leases include defined rent increases rather than variable payments based on an index or unknown rate. In calculating the disclosures presented below, the Company included the fixed, non-cancelable terms of the leases. The following schedule indicates approximate future minimum rental receipts under non-cancelable leases for real estate properties by year as of December 31, 2021:

The Company recognizes gains on sales of real estate in accordance with the principles set forth in the Codification. For each transaction, the Company evaluates whether the guidance in ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or ASC 610, Other Income - Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets, is applicable. Upon closing of real estate transactions, the provisions of the Codification require consideration of whether the seller has a controlling financial interest in the entity that holds the nonfinancial asset after the transaction. In addition, the seller evaluates whether a contract exists under ASC 606 and whether the counterparty obtained control of each nonfinancial asset that is sold. If a contract exists and the counterparty obtained control of each nonfinancial asset, the seller derecognizes the assets at the close of the transaction with resulting gains or losses reflected on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income.

The Company reviews long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to future undiscounted net cash flows (including estimated future expenditures necessary to substantially complete the asset) expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Company did not identify any impairment charges which should be recorded.

Depreciation of buildings and other improvements is computed using the straight-line method over estimated useful lives of generally 40 years for buildings and 3 to 15 years for improvements. Building improvements are capitalized, while maintenance and repair expenses are charged to expense as incurred. Significant renovations and improvements that improve or extend the useful life of the assets are capitalized. Depreciation expense was $104,910,000, $96,290,000 and $86,590,000 for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

For properties under development and value-add properties (defined in Note 1(j)) acquired in the development stage, costs associated with development (i.e., land, construction costs, interest expense, property taxes and other direct and indirect costs associated with development) are aggregated into the total capitalized costs of the property. Included in these costs are management’s estimates for the portions of internal costs (primarily personnel costs) deemed related to such development activities. The internal costs are allocated to specific development projects based on development activity. As the property becomes occupied, depreciation commences on the occupied portion of the building, and costs are capitalized only for the portion of the building that remains vacant. The Company transfers properties from the development and value-add program to Real estate properties as follows: (i) for development properties, at the earlier of 90% occupancy or one year after completion of the shell construction, and (ii) for value-add properties, at the earlier of 90% occupancy or one year after acquisition. Upon the earlier of 90% occupancy or one year after completion of the shell construction, capitalization of development costs, including interest expense, property taxes and internal personnel costs, ceases and depreciation commences on the entire property (excluding the land).

The Company considers a real estate property to be held for sale when it meets the criteria established under ASC 360, Property, Plant and Equipment, including when it is probable that the property will be sold within a year. Real estate properties held for sale are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less estimated costs to sell and are not depreciated while they are held for sale. As of December 31, 2021, the Company owned one operating property, Metro Business Park, that was classified as held for sale on the December 31, 2021 Consolidated Balance Sheet. As discussed in Note 17, the property was sold in the first quarter of 2022, and the Company expects to record a gain on the sale in the three months ended March 31, 2022. The Company did not classify any properties as held for sale as of December 31, 2020.

In accordance with ASU 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205) and Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360), Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity, the Company would report a disposal of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity in discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results when the component or group of components meets the criteria to be classified as held for sale or when the component or group of components is disposed of by sale or other than by sale. In addition, the Company would provide additional disclosures about both discontinued operations and the disposal of an individually significant component of an entity that does not qualify for discontinued operations presentation in the financial statements. EastGroup performs an analysis of properties sold to determine whether the sales qualify for discontinued operations presentation.

EastGroup applies ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, which requires all entities with derivative instruments to disclose information regarding how and why the entity uses derivative instruments and how derivative instruments and related hedged items affect the entity’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows. See Note 12 for a discussion of the Company’s derivative instruments and hedging activities.

Debt origination costs are deferred and amortized over the term of each loan using the effective interest method. Amortization of debt issuance costs was $1,296,000, $1,418,000 and $1,344,000 for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization of facility fees was $751,000, $790,000 and $790,000 for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Upon acquisition of real estate properties, EastGroup applies the principles of ASC 805, Business Combinations. The FASB Codification provides a framework for determining whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions of assets or businesses. Under the guidance, companies are required to utilize an initial screening test to determine whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set is not a business. EastGroup determined that its real estate property acquisitions in 2021, 2020 and 2019 are considered to be acquisitions of groups of similar identifiable assets; therefore, the acquisitions are not considered to be acquisitions of a business. As a result, the Company has capitalized acquisition costs related to its 2021, 2020 and 2019 acquisitions.

The FASB Codification also provides guidance on how to properly determine the allocation of the purchase price among the individual components of both the tangible and intangible assets based on their relative fair values. The allocation to tangible assets (land, building and improvements) is based upon management’s determination of the value of the property as if it were vacant using discounted cash flow models. Land is valued using comparable land sales specific to the applicable market, provided by a third-party. The Company determines whether any financing assumed is above or below market based upon comparison to similar financing terms for similar properties. The cost of the properties acquired may be adjusted based on indebtedness assumed from the seller that is determined to be above or below market rates.

The purchase price is also allocated among the following categories of intangible assets: the above or below market component of in-place leases, the value of in-place leases, and the value of customer relationships. The value allocable to the above or below market component of an acquired in-place lease is determined based upon the present value (using a discount rate reflecting the risks associated with the acquired leases) of the difference between (i) the contractual amounts to be paid pursuant to the lease over its remaining term, and (ii) management’s estimate of the amounts that would be paid using current market rents over the remaining term of the lease.

The amounts allocated to above and below market lease intangibles are included in Other assets and Other liabilities, respectively, on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and are amortized to rental income over the remaining terms of the respective leases. The total amount of intangible assets is further allocated to in-place lease values and customer relationship values based upon management’s assessment of their respective values. Factors considered by management in the allocation include an estimate of foregone rents and avoided leasing costs during the expected lease-up periods considering current market conditions and costs to execute similar leases. These intangible assets are included in Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and are amortized over the remaining term of the existing lease, or the anticipated life of the customer relationship, as applicable.

Amortization of above and below market lease intangibles increased rental income by $1,048,000, $1,451,000 and $1,229,000 in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization expense for in-place lease intangibles was $5,980,000, $5,620,000 and $4,967,000 for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.


	Costs Incurred During the Years Ended December 31,
ACQUIRED ASSETS AND ASSUMED LIABILITIES	2021		2020	2019
	(In thousands)
Land	$	42,554	23,565	76,039
Buildings and building improvements	225,645		42,024	144,301
Tenant and other improvements	4,907		7,971	6,490
Right of use assets — Ground leases (operating)	12,708		—	2,679
Total real estate properties acquired	285,814		73,560	229,509
In-place lease intangibles (1)	9,949		3,257	10,020
Above market lease intangibles (1)	6		104	344
Below market lease intangibles (2)	(3,836)		(403)	(2,685)
Operating lease liabilities — Ground leases (3)	(12,708)		—	(2,679)
Total assets acquired, net of liabilities assumed	$	279,225	76,518	234,509

The Company periodically reviews the recoverability of goodwill (at least annually) and the recoverability of other intangibles (on a quarterly basis) for possible impairment. No impairment of goodwill and other intangibles existed during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

EastGroup applies the provisions of ASC 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, to account for its stock-based compensation plans. ASC 718 requires that the compensation cost relating to share-based payment transactions be recognized in the financial statements and that the cost be measured on the fair value of the equity or liability instruments issued. The cost for market-based awards and awards that only require service are expensed on a straight-line basis over the requisite service periods. The cost for performance-based awards is determined using the graded vesting attribution method which recognizes each separate vesting portion of the award as a separate award on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. This method accelerates the expensing of the award compared to the straight-line method. For awards with a performance condition, compensation expense is recognized when the performance condition is considered probable of achievement.

The total compensation expense for service and performance based awards is based upon the fair market value of the shares on the grant date. The grant date fair value for awards that have been granted and are subject to a future market condition (total shareholder return) are determined using a Monte Carlo simulation pricing model developed to specifically accommodate the unique features of the awards.

During the restricted period for awards no longer subject to contingencies, the Company accrues dividends and holds the certificates for the shares; however, the employee can vote the shares. Share certificates and dividends are delivered to the employee as they vest. Forfeitures of awards are recognized as they occur.

The Company applies ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, which requires companies to present basic and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”). Basic EPS represents the amount of earnings for the period attributable to each share of common stock outstanding during the reporting period. The Company’s basic EPS is calculated by dividing Net Income Attributable to EastGroup Properties, Inc. Common Stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. The weighted average number of common shares outstanding does not include any potentially dilutive securities or any unvested restricted shares of common stock. These unvested restricted shares, although classified as issued and outstanding, are considered forfeitable until the restrictions lapse and will not be included in the basic EPS calculation until the shares are vested.

Diluted EPS represents the amount of earnings for the period attributable to each share of common stock outstanding during the reporting period and to each share that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares for all dilutive potential common shares outstanding during the reporting period. The Company calculates diluted EPS by dividing Net Income Attributable to EastGroup Properties, Inc. Common Stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding plus the dilutive effect of unvested restricted stock. The dilutive effect of unvested restricted stock is determined using the treasury stock method.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses during the reporting period and to disclose material contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

The state of the overall economy can significantly impact the Company’s operational performance and thus impact its financial position. Should EastGroup experience a significant decline in operational performance due to the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic or other general economic conditions, it may affect the Company’s ability to make distributions to its shareholders, service debt, or meet other financial obligations. Although COVID-19 has had an overall minimal impact on the Company in 2020 and 2021, EastGroup remains unable to predict any future impact that it may have on its business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. ASU 2020-04 contains practical expedients for reference rate reform related activities that impact debt, leases, derivatives and other contracts. The guidance in ASU 2020-04 is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur. During 2020, the Company elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future cash flows indexed by London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of these expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of the guidance and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.

The Company classifies changes in book overdraft in which the bank has not advanced cash to the Company to cover outstanding checks as an operating activity. Such amounts are included in Accounts payable, accrued expenses and prepaid rent in the Operating Activities section on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.