Stockholders’ Equity of the Company and Partners' Capital of the Operating Partnership

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity of the Company and Partners' Capital of the Operating Partnership

Stockholders’ Equity of the Company and Partners' Capital of the Operating Partnership

Operating Partnership Units

The Operating Partnership has issued General Partner Units, Limited Partner Units and preferred general partnership Units. The General Partner Units resulted from capital contributions from the Company. The Limited Partner Units are issued in conjunction with the acquisition of certain properties. Subject to certain lock-up periods, holders of Limited Partner Units can redeem their Units by providing written notification to the General Partner. Unless the General Partner provides notice of a redemption restriction to the holder, redemption must be made within seven business days after receipt of the holder’s notice. The redemption can be effectuated, as determined by the General Partner, either by exchanging the Limited Partner Units for shares of common stock of the Company on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, or by paying cash equal to the fair market value of such shares. Prior requests for redemption have generally been fulfilled with shares of common stock of the Company, and the Operating Partnership intends to continue this practice. If each Limited Partner Unit of the Operating Partnership were redeemed as of December 31, 2016, the Operating Partnership could satisfy its redemption obligations by making an aggregate cash payment of approximately $113,304 or by issuing 4,039,375 shares of the Company’s common stock. The preferred general partnership Units result from preferred capital contributions from the Company. The Operating Partnership is required to make all required distributions on the preferred general partnership Units prior to any distribution of cash or assets to the holders of the Units. The consent of the holder of the Limited Partner Units is required to alter such holder’s rights as to allocations and distributions, to alter or modify such holder’s rights with respect to redemption, to cause the early termination of the Operating Partnership or to amend the provisions of the partnership agreement which requires such consent.

Preferred Stock or General Partner Preferred Units

On May 27, 2004, the Company issued 50,000 Depositary Shares, each representing 1/100th of a share of the Company's 6.236%, Series F Flexible Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value (the "Series F Preferred Stock"), at an initial offering price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share. The net proceeds from the issuance of the Series F Preferred Stock were contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for 6.236% Series F Cumulative Preferred Units (the "Series F Preferred Units") and are reflected in the Operating Partnerships' financial statements as a general partner preferred unit contribution. The Series F Preferred Stock was redeemable for cash at the Company's option, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share, or $50,000 in the aggregate, plus dividends accrued and unpaid to the redemption date. On March 6, 2014, the Company fully redeemed the Series F Preferred Stock, at a redemption price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share, and paid a pro-rated first quarter dividend of $11.3299 per Depositary Share, totaling $566. An equivalent number of Series F Preferred Units were redeemed on March 6, 2014 as well. The initial offering costs associated with the issuance of the Series F Preferred Stock or Series F Preferred Units, as well as costs associated with the redemption, totaled $949 and are reflected as a deduction from net income in determining earnings per share or earnings per Unit for the year ended December 31, 2014.

On May 27, 2004, the Company issued 25,000 Depositary Shares, each representing 1/100th of a share of the Company's 7.236%, Series G Flexible Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value (the "Series G Preferred Stock"), at an initial offering price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share. The net proceeds from the issuance of the Series G Preferred Stock were contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for 7.236% Series G Cumulative Preferred Units (the "Series G Preferred Units") and are reflected in the Operating Partnerships' financial statements as a general partner preferred unit contribution. The Series G Preferred Stock was redeemable for cash at the Company's option, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share, or $25,000 in the aggregate, plus dividends accrued and unpaid to the redemption date. On March 31, 2014, the Company fully redeemed the Series G Preferred Stock, at a redemption price of $1,000.00 per Depositary Share, and paid a semi-annual dividend of $36.18 per Depositary Share, totaling $905. An equivalent number of Series G Preferred Units were redeemed on March 31, 2014 as well. The initial offering costs associated with the issuance of the Series G Preferred Stock or Series G Preferred Units, as well as costs associated with the redemption, totaled $513 and are reflected as a deduction from net income in determining earnings per share or earnings per Unit for the year ended December 31, 2014.

The Company has 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock authorized. As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no preferred shares or general partner preferred Units outstanding.

Shares of Common Stock or Unit Contributions

For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, 266,332, 68,930 and 222,676 Limited Partner Units, respectively, were converted into an equivalent number of shares of common stock of the Company, resulting in a reclassification of $2,862, $673 and $2,155, respectively, of noncontrolling interest to the Company’s stockholders’ equity.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company issued 5,600,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in an underwritten public offering. Proceeds to the Company, net of the underwriter's discount, were $124,936. The proceeds were contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for General Partner Units and are reflected in the Operating Partnership's financial statements as a general partner contribution.

On March 13, 2014, we entered into distribution agreements with sales agents to sell up to 13,300,000 shares of the Company's common stock, for up to $200,000 aggregate gross sales proceeds, from time to time in "at-the-market" offerings (the "2014 ATM"). During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Company did not issue any shares of common stock under the 2014 ATM. Under the terms of the 2014 ATM, sales are to be made primarily in transactions that are deemed to be "at-the-market" offerings, including sales made directly on the New York Stock Exchange or sales made through a market maker other than on an exchange or by privately negotiated transactions.

The following table is a roll-forward of the Company's shares of common stock outstanding and the Operating Partnership's Units outstanding, including unvested restricted stock or restricted Unit awards (see Note 11), for the three years ended December 31, 2016:

	Shares of Common Stock Outstanding		General Partner and Limited Partner Units Outstanding
Balance at December 31, 2013	109,980,850		114,578,163
Vesting of LTIP Unit Awards (As Defined in Note 11)	219,695		219,695
Issuance of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	319,055		319,055
Repurchase and Retirement of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	(141,410	)	(141,410	)
Conversion of Limited Partner Units	222,676		—
Balance at December 31, 2014	110,600,866		114,975,503
Vesting of LTIP Unit Awards (As Defined in Note 11)	224,990		224,990
Issuance of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	234,360		234,360
Repurchase and Retirement of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	(101,921	)	(101,921	)
Conversion of Limited Partner Units	68,930		—
Balance at December 31, 2015	111,027,225		115,332,932
Issuance of Common Stock/Contribution of General Partner Units	5,600,000		5,600,000
Issuance of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	322,833		322,833
Repurchase and Retirement of Restricted Stock/Restricted Unit Awards	(108,644	)	(108,644	)
Conversion of Limited Partner Units	266,332		—
Balance at December 31, 2016	117,107,746		121,147,121

Dividends/Distributions

The following table summarizes dividends/distributions accrued during the past three years:

	2016 Total Dividend/ Distribution		2015 Total Dividend/ Distribution		2014 Total Dividend/ Distribution
Common Stock/Operating Partnership Units	$	91,318	$	59,014	$	47,263
Series F Preferred Stock/Units (A) (B)	N/A		N/A		$	566
Series G Preferred Stock/Units (A)	N/A		N/A		$	453

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(A)	See the "Preferred Stock or General Partner Preferred Units" section for the redemptions and discussion of pro-rated dividends/distributions for all series of preferred stock or general partner preferred Units occurring during the year ended December 31, 2014.
(B)	The coupon rate of our Series F Preferred Stock or Series F Preferred Units was variable. For the period January 1, 2014 through March 6, 2014 (the redemption date), the coupon rate was 6.275%.