Item 2. PROPERTIES

General

As of December 31, 2017, we owned or had a majority ownership interest in community and neighborhood shopping centers and mixed-used properties which are operated as 104 predominantly retail real estate projects comprising approximately 24.2 million square feet. These properties are located primarily in densely populated and affluent communities in strategic metropolitan markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, California, and South Florida. No single property accounted for over 10% of our 2017 total revenue. We believe that our properties are adequately covered by commercial general liability, fire, flood, earthquake, terrorism and business interruption insurance provided by reputable companies, with commercially reasonable exclusions, deductibles and limits.

Tenant Diversification

As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 3,000 leases, with tenants ranging from sole proprietors to major national and international retailers. No one tenant or affiliated group of tenants accounted for more than 2.9% of our annualized base rent as of December 31, 2017. As a result of our tenant diversification, we believe our exposure to any one bankruptcy filing in the retail sector has not been and will not be significant, however, multiple filings by a number of retailers could have a significant impact.

Geographic Diversification

Our 104 real estate projects are located in 12 states and the District of Columbia. The following table shows the number of projects, the gross leasable area (“GLA”) of commercial space and the percentage of total portfolio gross leasable area of commercial space in each state as of December 31, 2017.

Leases, Lease Terms and Lease Expirations

Our leases are classified as operating leases and typically are structured to require the monthly payment of minimum rents in advance, subject to periodic increases during the term of the lease, percentage rents based on the level of sales achieved by tenants, and reimbursement of a majority of on-site operating expenses and real estate taxes. These features in our leases generally reduce our exposure to higher costs and allow us to participate in improved tenant sales.

Commercial property leases generally range from three to ten years; however, certain leases, primarily with anchor tenants, may be longer. Many of our leases contain tenant options that enable the tenant to extend the term of the lease at expiration at pre-established rental rates that often include fixed rent increases, consumer price index adjustments or other market rate adjustments from the prior base rent. Leases on residential units are generally for a period of one year or less and, in 2017, represented approximately 6.9% of total rental income.

The following table sets forth the schedule of lease expirations for our commercial leases in place as of December 31, 2017 for each of the 10 years beginning with 2018 and after 2027 in the aggregate assuming that none of the tenants exercise future renewal options. Annualized base rents reflect in-place contractual rents as of December 31, 2017.

During 2017, we signed leases for a total of 1,793,000 square feet of retail space including 1,622,000 square feet of comparable space leases (leases for which there was a prior tenant) at an average rental increase of 13% on a cash basis and 26% on a straight-line basis. New leases for comparable spaces were signed for 773,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 19% on a cash basis and 32% on a straight-line basis. Renewals for comparable spaces were signed for 848,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 9% on a cash basis and 21% on a straight-line basis. Tenant improvements and incentives for comparable spaces were $36.00 per square foot, of which, $62.11 per square foot was for new leases and $12.18 per square foot was for renewals in 2017.

During 2016, we signed leases for a total of 1,688,000 square feet of retail space including 1,473,000 square feet of comparable space leases (leases for which there was a prior tenant) at an average rental increase of 13% on a cash basis and 26% on a straight-line basis. New leases for comparable spaces were signed for 543,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 24% on a cash basis and 40% on a straight-line basis. Renewals for comparable spaces were signed for 930,000 square feet at an average rental increase of 7% on a cash basis and 17% on a straight-line basis. Tenant improvements and incentives for comparable spaces were $31.00 per square foot, of which, $66.47 per square foot was for new leases and $10.28 was for renewal leases in 2016.

The rental increases associated with comparable spaces generally include all leases signed in arms-length transactions reflecting market leverage between landlords and tenants during the period. The comparison between average rent for expiring leases and new leases is determined by including minimum rent and percentage rent paid on the expiring lease and minimum rent and in some instances, projections of first lease year percentage rent, to be paid on the new lease. In atypical circumstances, management may exercise judgment as to how to most effectively reflect the comparability of spaces reported in this calculation. The change in rental income on comparable space leases is impacted by numerous factors including current market rates, location, individual tenant creditworthiness, use of space, market conditions when the expiring lease was signed, capital investment made in the space and the specific lease structure.

The leases signed in 2017 generally become effective over the following two years though some may not become effective until 2020 and beyond. Further, there is risk that some new tenants will not ultimately take possession of their space and that tenants for both new and renewal leases may not pay all of their contractual rent due to operating, financing or other matters. However, these increases do provide information about the tenant/landlord relationship and the potential increase we may achieve in rental income over time.

Historically, we have executed comparable space leases for 1.2 to 1.6 million square feet of retail space each year and expect the volume for 2018 will be in line with our historical averages with overall positive increases in rental income. However, changes in rental income associated with individual signed leases on comparable spaces may be positive or negative, and we can provide no assurance that the rents on new leases will continue to increase at the above disclosed levels, if at all.

Retail and Residential Properties

The following table sets forth information concerning all real estate projects in which we owned an equity interest, had a leasehold interest, or otherwise controlled and are consolidated as of December 31, 2017. Except as otherwise noted, we are the sole owner of our retail real estate projects. Principal tenants are the largest tenants in the project based on square feet leased or are tenants important to a project’s success due to their ability to attract retail customers.