Organization and Basis of Presentation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2014

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

Organization and Basis of Presentation

Organization

Liberty Property Trust (the “Trust”) is a self-administered and self-managed Maryland real estate investment trust (a “REIT”). Substantially all of the Trust’s assets are owned directly or indirectly, and substantially all of the Trust’s operations are conducted directly or indirectly, by its subsidiary, Liberty Property Limited Partnership, a Pennsylvania limited partnership (the “Operating Partnership” and, together with the Trust and their consolidated subsidiaries, the “Company”). The Trust is the sole general partner and also a limited partner of the Operating Partnership, owning 97.7% of the common equity of the Operating Partnership at June 30, 2014. The Company provides leasing, property management, development, acquisition, and other tenant-related services. The Company owns and operates industrial properties nationally and owns and operates office properties primarily in Metro Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and certain sunbelt cities. Additionally, the Company owns certain assets in the United Kingdom. Unless otherwise indicated, the notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements apply to both the Trust and the Operating Partnership. The terms the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” mean the Trust and Operating Partnership collectively.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by US GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2013. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements for these interim periods have been included. The results of interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results to be obtained for a full fiscal year. Certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation including reclassifying the accompanying statements of comprehensive income for discontinued operations.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update (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 ("ASU 2014-08"), which changes the requirements for reporting discontinued operations. Under ASU 2014-08, a disposal of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity is required to be reported 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. Generally, the sale of a real estate asset would not meet the discontinued operations criteria and would not be presented as such under ASU 2014-08. ASU 2014-08 also requires 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. The Company has adopted the provisions of ASU 2014-08 effective January 1, 2014, and has applied the provisions prospectively.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) ("ASU 2014-09"), which supersedes nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance. The standard clarifies the required factors that an entity must consider when recognizing revenue. The standard also requires additional disclosures concerning contracts with customers, judgments concerning revenue recognition, and assets recognized for the costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. ASU 2014-09 is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2017. The Company is evaluating the impact ASU 2014-09 will have on its financial position and results of operations.