Property Acquired, Property Sold, Property Held For Sale, Property Held For And Under Development, And Property And Equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Property Acquired, Property Sold, Property Held For Sale, Property Held For And Under Development, And Property And Equipment [Abstract]

Property Acquired, Property Sold, Property Held For Sale, Property Held For And Under Development, And Property And Equipment

Note 6 – Property Acquired, Property Sold, Property Held for Sale, Property Held For and Under Development, and Property and Equipment

Acquisitions

Coachella, California Land Acquisition

     On January 10, 2012, Shadow View Land and Farming, LLC, a limited liability company owned by our Company, acquired a 202-acre property, zoned for the development of up to 843 single-family residential units, located in the City of Coachella, California. The property was acquired at a foreclosure auction for $5.5 million. The property was acquired as a long-term investment in developable land with the intention of using it in the interim for agricultural purposes. Half of the funds used to acquire the land were provided by Mr. James J. Cotter, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder. Upon the approval of our Conflicts Committee, these funds were converted on January 18, 2012 into a 50% interest. The limited liability company is administratively managed by our Company. See Note 14 – Noncontrolling Interests.

Disposals

Taringa

     On February 21, 2012, we sold our three properties in the Taringa area of Brisbane, Australia consisting of approximately 1.1 acres for $1.9 million (AUS$1.8 million).

Property Held For and Under Development

     As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we owned property held for and under development summarized as follows (dollars in thousands):

		March 31,		December
Property Held For and Under Development		2012		31, 2011
Land	$	93,904	$	86,667
Construction-in-progress (including capitalized interest)		5,299		5,031
Property Held For and Under Development	$	99,203	$	91,698

     At the beginning of 2010, we curtailed the development activities of our properties under development and are not currently capitalizing interest expense. As a result, we did not capitalize any interest during the three months ended March 31, 2012 or 2011.

Property and Equipment

     As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we owned investments in property and equipment as follows (dollars in thousands):

		March 31,			December
Property and Equipment		2012			31, 2011
Land	$	65,982		$	65,281
Building and improvements		147,168			144,155
Leasehold interests		41,076			40,855
Construction-in-progress		957			525
Fixtures and equipment		106,568			104,804
Total cost		361,751			355,620
Less: accumulated depreciation		(146,228	)		(140,192	)
Property and equipment, net	$	215,523		$	215,428

     Depreciation expense for property and equipment was $3.8 million and $3.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.