Item 1A. Risk Factors
The factors described below represent our principal risks. Other factors may exist that we do not consider to be significant based on information that is currently available or that we are not currently able to anticipate.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
The limit on the number of shares a person may own may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders and may hinder a stockholder's ability to dispose of his or her shares.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. In this respect, among other things, unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by the Board, no person (as defined in our charter) may own (i) more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares (of any class or series, including common shares or preferred shares) of stock, or (ii) more than 9.8% (in value or number, whichever is more restrictive) of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of only our common stock. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock, and may make it more difficult for a stockholder to sell or dispose of his or her shares.
Our charter permits the Board to issue stock with terms that may subordinate the rights of common stockholders or discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.
Our charter permits the Board to issue up to 510,000,000 shares of common stock and 100,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Currently, we do not have any preferred stock outstanding. The Board, without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares or the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we have authority to issue. The Board may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock into other classes or series of stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of repurchase of any such stock. Thus, if also approved by a majority of our independent directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, who will have access, at our expense, to our legal counsel or independent legal counsel, the Board could authorize the issuance of additional preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have a priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock. Preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock.
Our stockholders’ interest in us will be diluted if we issue additional shares.
Existing stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Our charter authorizes 610,000,000 shares of stock, of which 510,000,000 shares are classified as common stock and 100,000,000 are classified as preferred stock. Subject to any limitations set forth under Maryland law, the Board may increase the number of authorized shares of stock, increase or decrease the number of shares of any class or series of stock designated, or reclassify any unissued shares without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. All such shares may be issued in the discretion of the Board. Therefore, existing stockholders would experience dilution of their equity investment in us if we (i) sell equity securities in the future, (ii) sell securities that are convertible into shares of our common stock, (iii) issue shares of our common stock in a private offering of securities to institutional investors, (iv) issue restricted shares of our common stock to our independent directors and employees, or (v) issue shares of our common stock in a merger or to sellers of properties acquired by us in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of our Operating Partnership. Because the limited partnership interests of our Operating Partnership may, in the discretion of the Board, be exchanged for shares of our common stock, any merger, exchange or conversion between our Operating Partnership and another entity ultimately could result in the issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders. Because of these and other reasons, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution in their percentage ownership of our shares.
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We may be unable to maintain cash distributions or increase distributions over time.
There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders. The amount of cash available for distributions is affected by many factors, such as our ability to buy properties, rental income from such properties and our operating expense levels, as well as many other variables. Actual cash available for distributions may vary substantially from estimates. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to maintain our current level of distributions or that distributions will increase over time.
Our stockholders are subject to the risk that our business and operating plans may change.
The Board may change our investment objectives, targeted investments, borrowing policies or other corporate policies without stockholder approval. A change in our investment strategy may, among other things, increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk, and real property market fluctuations, all of which could materially and adversely affect our ability to achieve our investment objectives.
Provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or the MGCL, and of our charter and bylaws could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse impact on a stockholder’s ability to exit the investment.
The MGCL, our charter, and our bylaws contain provisions that may discourage, delay or make more difficult a change in control of the Company.
We are subject to the Maryland Business Combination Act, which may discourage third parties from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating such an offer.
In addition, with some exceptions, the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act, provides that a holder of "control shares" of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition has no voting rights, except to the extent approved by a vote of stockholders entitled to cast two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding "control shares" owned by the acquiring person, owned by the Company's officers, and owned by the Company's employees who are also directors. As permitted by the MGCL, however, our bylaws exempt the Company from the application of the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act. If our bylaws are amended to repeal this exemption, the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act would apply and would very likely make it more difficult for a third party to obtain control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating such an offer. Further, the “unsolicited takeover” provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL permit the Board, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses, including adopting a classified board or increasing the vote required to remove a director.
These provisions, as well as other provisions of our charter and bylaws, may delay, defer, or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
General Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate
Our operating results may be affected by political, economic and regulatory changes that have an adverse impact on the global economy or the real estate market in general, which may prevent us from being profitable or from realizing growth in the value of our real estate properties.
Our operating results are subject to risks generally incident to the ownership of real estate, which may prevent us from being profitable, realizing growth or maintaining the value of our real estate properties, including: changes in general economic or local conditions including inflationary and/or recessionary conditions; tenant turnover, technological changes and changes in supply of or demand for similar or competing properties in an area; changes in the cost or availability of insurance; changes in interest rates and availability of permanent mortgage funds that may render the sale of a property difficult or unattractive; and changes in tax, real estate, environmental and zoning laws. In addition, our business may be adversely affected by market and economic volatility due to, among other things, inflation, increased interest rates, volatility in the equity and debt markets, and economic and other conditions, including pandemics, geopolitical instability, geopolitical conflicts, terrorist attacks, sanctions, tariffs and other conditions beyond our control.
If a tenant declares bankruptcy, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases, which would reduce our cash flow from operations and the amount available for distributions to our stockholders.
Any of our tenants, or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations, could be subject to a bankruptcy proceeding. Such a bankruptcy filing would bar all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from these entities or their properties, unless we receive an enabling order from the bankruptcy court. Post-bankruptcy debts would be paid currently. If a lease is assumed, all pre-bankruptcy balances owing under it must be paid in full. If a lease is rejected by a tenant in bankruptcy, we would have a general unsecured claim for damages. If a lease is rejected, it is unlikely we would receive any material payments from the tenant because our claim is capped at the rent reserved under the lease, without acceleration, for the greater of one year or 15%
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of the remaining term of the lease, but not greater than three years, plus rent already due but unpaid. This claim could be paid only if funds were available, and then only in the same percentage as that realized on other unsecured claims.
A tenant or lease guarantor bankruptcy could delay efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases, and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums. Such an event could cause a decrease or cessation of rental payments that would mean a reduction in our cash flow and the amount available for distributions to our stockholders. In the event of a bankruptcy, we cannot give assurance that the tenant or its trustee will assume our lease. If a given lease, or guaranty of a lease, is not assumed, our cash flow and the amounts available for distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected.
Sponsors and owners of tenants at certain of our properties have previously declared bankruptcy. As disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K that we filed with the SEC on June 5, 2023, GenesisCare USA, Inc. and its affiliates, or GenesisCare, the sponsor and owner of the tenant in certain of our real estate properties announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code on June 1, 2023. During the bankruptcy proceedings, GenesisCare sought U.S. bankruptcy court approval to reject certain unexpired real property leases. GenesisCare's lease obligations with us were not included in any motions. On March 27, 2024, we entered into a second amendment to the second amended and restated master lease, or the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease, with GenesisCare in connection with its emergence from bankruptcy on February 16, 2024. Prior to the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease, GenesisCare was a tenant at 17 of our real estate properties pursuant to a first amendment to the second amended and restated master lease, or the GenesisCare Master Lease. The GenesisCare Amended Master Lease removed 10 of our properties from the GenesisCare Master Lease, or the Severed Properties. The seven properties remaining under the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease will continue to be leased to GenesisCare and had no material changes in lease terms pursuant to the GenesisCare Master Lease. As a result of the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease, we entered into lease agreements with new tenants at seven of the Severed Properties during the year ended December 31, 2024. The remaining three Severed Properties were sold during the year ended December 31, 2024.
On May 6, 2024, Steward Health Care System LLC, or Steward, the sponsor and owner of a tenant at the Stoughton Healthcare Facility, announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code, and on September 19, 2024, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved Steward's request to reject our lease. The Stoughton Healthcare Facility is vacant as of December 31, 2024.
Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion on GenesisCare and Steward.
We are subject to risks related to tenant concentration, and an adverse development with respect to a large tenant could materially and adversely affect us.
We had one exposure to tenant concentration that accounted for 10.0% or more of rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024. The leases with tenants under common control of Post Acute Medical LLC accounted for 14.9% of rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024. In the event that a tenant that occupies a significant number of our properties or whose lease payments represent a significant portion of our rental revenue were to experience financial difficulty or file for bankruptcy, it could have a material adverse effect on us. As discussed above, GenesisCare, a sponsor and owner of the tenant in seven of our real estate properties, and Steward, the sponsor and owner of a tenant at the Stoughton Healthcare Facility, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2023 and May 6, 2024, respectively. GenesisCare emerged from bankruptcy on February 16, 2024. See the risk factor above titled “If a tenant declares bankruptcy, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases, which would reduce our cash flow from operations and the amount available for distributions to our stockholders” for more information.
A high concentration of our properties in a particular geographic area would magnify the effects of economic downturns or natural disasters, severe weather and climate change in that geographic area.
There is a geographic concentration of risk subject to fluctuations in the economies of the various markets in which we own properties. As of December 31, 2024, 8.0%, 7.3%, 5.4%, 4.2% and 4.1% of our annualized contractual base rental revenue as of December 31, 2024 was generated by properties with markets in Dallas, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Akron, and Tucson, respectively. Geographic concentration of our properties exposes us to risks related to or arising from economic downturns or natural disasters and severe weather in the areas where our properties are located. A regional or local recession or a natural disaster or severe weather in any of these areas could adversely affect our ability to generate or increase operating revenues, attract new tenants or dispose of unproductive properties.
In addition, climate change may adversely impact our properties directly and may lead to additional compliance obligations and costs, including insurance premiums, taxes and fees. Changes in federal, state and local legislation and regulation on climate change could result in increased operating costs and/or increased capital expenditures to improve the energy efficiency of our existing properties and could also require us to spend more on our new properties without a corresponding increase in revenue and could increase our exposure to new physical risks and liabilities.
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Our investments in properties where the underlying tenant has a below investment grade credit rating, as determined by major credit rating agencies, or unrated tenants, may have a greater risk of default and therefore may have an adverse impact on our returns on that asset and our operating results.
Approximately 38.3% of our annualized contractual base rental revenue as of December 31, 2024 was derived from tenants that had either an investment grade credit rating from a major ratings agency, or had an investment grade rated guarantor or affiliate, 28.6% of our annualized contractual base rental revenue as of December 31, 2024 was derived from tenants that were rated but did not have an investment grade credit rating from a major ratings agency and 33.1% of our annualized contractual base rental revenue as of December 31, 2024 was derived from tenants that were not rated. Our investments with tenants that do not have an investment grade credit rating from a major ratings agency or were not rated and are not affiliated with companies having an investment grade credit rating may have a greater risk of default and bankruptcy than investments in properties leased exclusively to investment grade tenants. When we invest in properties where the tenant does not have a publicly available credit rating, we use certain credit assessment tools and rely on our own estimates of the tenant’s credit rating which include but are not limited to reviewing the tenant’s financial information (i.e., financial ratios, net worth, revenue, cash flows, leverage and liquidity) and monitoring local market conditions. If our lender or a credit rating agency disagrees with our ratings estimates, or our ratings estimates are otherwise inaccurate, we may not be able to obtain our desired level of leverage or our financing costs may exceed those that we projected. This outcome could have an adverse impact on our returns on that asset and hence our operating results.
Properties that have vacancies for a significant period of time could be difficult to sell, which could diminish the return on our stockholders’ investment.
A property may incur vacancies either by the continued default of tenants under their leases or the expiration of tenant leases. If vacancies continue for an extended period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues, resulting in less cash to be distributed to stockholders. In addition, because properties’ market values depend principally upon the value of the properties’ leases, the resale value of properties with prolonged vacancies could suffer, which could further reduce our stockholders’ return. Only one of our real estate properties, the Stoughton Healthcare Facility, was vacant as of December 31, 2024.
Our financial condition may be impacted by our ability to re-lease our space.
Our financial condition depends, in part, on the financial stability of our tenants and our ability to lease our space. Among the factors that could impact our financial condition are our inability to renew leases, lease vacant space or re-let space as leases expire, restrictions related to re-leasing space, co-tenancy constraints if co-tenancy clauses are exercised which limit our ability to lease to certain operators and competition for tenancy of our leases.
As of December 31, 2024, 96.0% of our property portfolio was leased and leases representing 20.3% of our annualized base rent are set to expire within 5 years. We cannot assure that leases will be renewed or that our properties will be re-leased on terms equal to or better than the current terms, or at all. We also may not be able to lease space which is currently not occupied on acceptable terms and conditions, if at all. Portions of our assets may remain vacant for extended periods of time. If the rental rates for our assets decrease, or existing tenants do not renew their leases or we do not re-lease a significant portion of our available space and space for which leases will expire, our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property and would have only limited recourse if our due diligence did not identify any issues that lower the value of our property.
The seller of a property often sells such property in its “as is” condition on a “where is” basis and “with all faults,” without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. As a result, we may have no recourse or limited recourse against the prior owners with respect to unknown liabilities. The purchase of properties with limited warranties increases the risk that we may lose some or all of our invested capital in the property as well as the loss of rental income from that property.
We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant improvements or capital needs, which could adversely impact our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.
When tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, it is usual that, in order to attract replacement tenants, we expend substantial funds for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments to the vacated space. In addition, although we expect that our leases with tenants will require tenants to pay routine property maintenance costs, we will likely be responsible for any major structural repairs, such as repairs to the foundation, exterior walls and rooftops. If we need additional capital to improve or maintain our properties or for any other reason, we will have to obtain financing from sources such as cash flow from operations, borrowings, property sales or future equity offerings. These sources of funding may not be available
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on attractive terms or at all. If we cannot procure additional funding for capital improvements, our investments may generate lower cash flows or decline in value, or both.
Our ability to fully control the maintenance of our net leased properties may be limited.
Our leases generally provide that tenants are responsible for some or all of the maintenance and other day-to-day management of the relevant properties or their premises. If a property is not adequately maintained in accordance with the terms of the applicable lease, we may incur expenses for deferred maintenance or other liabilities, including upon expiration or earlier termination of a lease. We generally visit our properties on a periodic basis, but deferred maintenance items may go unnoticed. In addition, a tenant may refuse or be unable to pay for any required maintenance for a property or its premises, which may result in us needing to cover such costs. While our leases generally provide for protection in these instances, a tenant may defer maintenance and it may be difficult to enforce remedies against such a tenant.
To the extent we are unable to pass along our property operating expenses to our tenants, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively impacted.
Operating expenses associated with owning a property typically include real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance, repair and renovation costs, the cost of compliance with governmental regulation (including zoning) and the potential for liability under applicable laws. We generally lease our properties to tenants pursuant to triple-net leases that require the tenant to pay their proportionate share of substantially all such property operating expenses. However, if there are operating expenses that we are unable to pass along to our tenants, then our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively impacted.
We may not be able to sell a property at a price equal to, or greater than, the price for which we purchased such property, which may lead to a decrease in the value of our assets and a reduction in the value of shares held by our stockholders.
Some of our leases will not contain rental increases over time, the rental increases may be less than the fair market rate at a future point in time, or we may not be able to renew or re-lease space at current rents. Therefore, the value of the property to a potential purchaser may not increase over time, which may restrict our ability to sell a property, or if we are able to sell such property, may lead to a sale price less than the price that we paid to purchase the property.
Real estate-related taxes may increase and if these increases are not passed on to tenants, our income will be reduced.
Some local real property tax assessors may seek to reassess some of our properties as a result of our acquisition of such properties. From time to time our property taxes may increase as property values or assessment rates change or for other reasons deemed relevant by the assessors. An increase in the assessed valuation of a property for real estate tax purposes will result in an increase in the related real estate taxes on that property. Although a substantial portion of our tenant leases may permit us to pass through such tax increases to the tenants for payment, there is no assurance that renewal leases or future leases will be negotiated on the same basis. Increases not passed through to tenants will adversely affect our income, cash available for distributions, and the amount of distributions to our stockholders.
Covenants, conditions and restrictions may restrict our ability to operate our properties.
Some of our properties may be contiguous to other parcels of real property, comprising part of the same commercial center. In connection with such properties, there are significant covenants, conditions and restrictions, or CC&Rs, restricting the operation of such properties and any improvements on such properties, and related to granting easements on such properties. Moreover, the operation and management of the contiguous properties may impact such properties. Compliance with CC&Rs may adversely affect our operating costs and reduce the amount of funds that we have available to pay distributions.
Our operating results may be negatively affected by potential development and construction delays and result in increased costs and risks.
We have acquired and developed properties upon which we will construct improvements. We will be subject to uncertainties associated with re-zoning for development, environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups, and our builder’s ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgeted costs, and timetables. A builder’s performance also may be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builder’s control. Delays in completion of construction could also give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other such factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. In addition, we will be subject to normal lease-up risks relating to newly constructed projects. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a price at the time we acquire a property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and our return on our investment could suffer.
We may invest in unimproved real property. For purposes of this paragraph, "unimproved real property" is real property which has not been acquired for the purpose of producing rental or other operating income, has no development or construction
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in process and on which no construction or development is planned in good faith to commence within one year. Returns from development of unimproved properties are also subject to risks associated with re-zoning the land for development and environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups. Although we intend to limit any investment in unimproved property, our stockholders’ investment nevertheless is subject to the risks associated with investments in unimproved real property.
Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations, including those relating to environmental protection, human health and safety and disability accommodation, may adversely affect our income and the cash available for any distributions.
All real property investments and the operations conducted in connection with such investments are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, human health and safety and disability accommodation. Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on customers, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal. They also may impose restrictions on the manner in which real property may be used or businesses may be operated. We can provide no assurance that we are aware of all potential environmental or other liabilities or the ultimate cost to address them or that our properties will not be affected by tenants or nearby properties or other unrelated third parties and their future uses or conditions.
In addition, new environmental laws and regulations, or changes to such laws and regulations, may result in additional liabilities. Compliance with environmental, social and governance-related, or ESG-related, laws, regulations, expectations or reporting requirements may result in increased costs, as well as additional scrutiny that could heighten all of the risks associated with environmental, social and sustainability matters. For example, in March 2024, the SEC adopted climate-related disclosure rules that would require increased climate change-related disclosure in our periodic reports and other filings with the SEC (which rules have been stayed pending completion of judicial review). Additionally, our California properties may subject us to reporting requirements of Senate Bill 253 and Senate Bill 261.
The costs of complying with these laws and regulations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and ability to make distributions to our stockholders. In addition, if we fail to comply with these new laws, regulations, expectations or reporting requirements, or if we are perceived as failing, our reputation and business could be adversely impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows.
In some instances we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash distributions to stockholders. Even in the absence of a purchaser default, the distribution of the proceeds of sales to our stockholders, or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced or otherwise disposed. In some cases, we may receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price, and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years. If any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.
Our investments in, and acquisitions of, real property may be unsuccessful or fail to meet our expectations and we may not be successful in identifying attractive acquisition opportunities and consummating these transactions.
We cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to identify opportunities or complete transactions on commercially reasonable terms or at all or that we will actually realize any anticipated benefits from such acquisitions or investments. We could encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any acquired properties, including contingent liabilities, and acquired properties may require significant management attention that would otherwise be devoted to our ongoing business. Such expenditures may negatively affect our results of operations. Investments in and acquisitions of healthcare related properties entail risks associated with real estate investments generally, including risks that the investment will not achieve expected returns, that the cost estimates for necessary property improvements will prove inaccurate or that the tenant or operator will fail to meet performance expectations. We may not be able to obtain or assume financing for acquisitions on favorable terms or at all and we may be unable to quickly and efficiently integrate new acquisitions into our existing operations, and this could have a material adverse effect on our business. Acquired properties may be located in new markets, either within or outside the US, where we may face risks associated with a lack of market knowledge or understanding of the local economy, lack of business relationships in the area, and unfamiliarity with local governmental and permitting procedures. As a result, we cannot be sure that we will achieve the economic benefit we expect from acquisitions or investments and may lead to impairment of such assets.
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Our ownership of properties through ground leases exposes us to the loss of such properties upon breach or termination of the ground leases.
We have acquired an interest in certain of our properties by acquiring a leasehold interest in the property on which the building is located, and we may acquire additional properties in the future through the purchase of interests in ground leases. Many of these ground leases impose significant limitations on our uses of the subject properties, restrict our ability to sell or otherwise transfer our interests in the properties or restrict the leasing of the properties. These restrictions may limit our ability to timely sell or exchange the properties, impair the properties’ value or negatively impact our ability to find suitable tenants for the properties. As the lessee under a ground lease, we are exposed to the possibility of losing the property upon termination of the ground lease or an earlier breach of the ground lease by us. In addition, we could be forced to renegotiate such ground leases upon their expiration on terms that are unfavorable to us.
Risks Associated with Investments in the Healthcare Property Sector
Our properties and tenants may be unable to compete successfully, which could result in lower rent payments, reduce our cash flows from operations and the amount available for distributions to our stockholders.
Our current and potential properties and our tenants may face competition from nearby healthcare facilities and other properties that provide comparable services. Some of our competing facilities may be owned by governmental agencies and are supported by tax revenues, and others are owned by non-profit corporations and therefore are supported to a large extent by endowments and charitable contributions and pay little or no taxes. Not all of our properties will be affiliated with non-profit corporations and receive such support. Additionally, the introduction and expansion of new stakeholders competing with traditional providers in the healthcare market and telemedicine are disrupting "agents" in the healthcare industry and could lead to decreased demand for healthcare properties and new trends in payments. The trend of increasing private equity investment in healthcare providers could also increase competition in the healthcare market. Our tenants’ failure to compete successfully with other healthcare providers could adversely affect their ability to make rental payments, which could adversely affect our rental revenues. Further, from time to time and for reasons beyond our control, referral sources, including physicians and managed care organizations, may change their lists of hospitals, physicians or other healthcare providers to which they refer patients or that are permitted to participate in the payer program. This could adversely affect our tenants’ ability to make rental payments, which could adversely affect our rental revenues. Any reduction in rental revenues resulting from the inability of our healthcare properties and our tenants to compete successfully may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Compliance with and changes to healthcare laws and regulations could have an adverse effect on the financial condition of our tenants and, consequently, their ability to make rent payments and meet obligations to us.
Tenants of our healthcare properties may be required to hold appropriate licenses and secure regulatory approvals for initial or continued operation. Operators failing to comply with state licensing laws and regulations may face disciplinary actions from state and regulatory agencies, including restrictions or termination of their privilege to operate within the state. Many states regulate the establishment and construction of healthcare facilities and services, and the expansion of existing healthcare facilities and services through a certificate of need, or CON, laws, which may include regulation of certain licenses, medical equipment, and capital expenditures. Additionally, the transfer of healthcare facilities to successor operators may necessitate regulatory approval, and the replacement of a tenant operator could be delayed due to this process. Failure to secure CON approval for a desired project, failure of tenant operators to maintain proper licensing, and delays in transferring properties to successor operators could negatively impact our tenants' financial conditions, and thus result in an adverse impact on our revenue, operations, and ability to make stockholder distributions.
Our tenants' operations may become subject to legal claims that their services have resulted in patient injury or other adverse effects in violation of applicable laws. Such claims may cause our tenants to incur punitive damages arising from professional liability and general liability claims and/or become subject to governmental investigations, enforcement actions or litigation. Legal claims against our tenants, including any governmental audits or investigations resulting therefrom, could have a negative impact on their financial condition and ability to pay rent. Consequently, such legal claims against our tenants could have an adverse impact on our revenue, operations, and ability to make stockholder distributions. Our tenants’ businesses are generally influenced by government and private payor rates. Reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and other governmental payors may be subject to statutory changes, recovery of overpayments, rate adjustments, administrative decision-making, funding restrictions, and payment delays due to investigations or audits. The effect and timing of any future legislative reforms related to reimbursement to our tenants for their services cannot be ascertained, and we cannot guarantee continued adequate reimbursement levels from either governmental or private payors. Insufficient reimbursement from government and private payors could negatively impact tenants' finances and rent payments, which could have an adverse effect on our revenue, operations, and ability to make stockholder distributions.
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Federal, state, and local laws, statutes, regulatory policies, and any future legislative changes or rulings may impact healthcare providers leasing our properties. These include regulations concerning the quality and medical necessity of care, insurance and patient billing, the security and privacy of patient information, healthcare provider financial interests and conflicts of interest, self-referrals, price transparency, corporate practice of medicine and surprise billing. Relevant laws and regulations include, but are not limited to: the Medicare and Medicaid statutes; the Stark Law; the civil False Claims Act; the federal False Claims Law; the federal Anti-Kickback Statute; state law prohibitions against kickbacks, fraud and abuse, patient brokering, advertising and marketing of healthcare items and services and fee splitting; state laws regulating the corporate practice of medicine; the federal Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act; the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act; the Civil Monetary Penalties Law; the Exclusion Laws; the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act; applicable state laws regarding patient privacy and security of patient health information; the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988; the Travel Act; OIG compliance program elements; and all amendments thereto, including any related regulations or decisions.
Non-compliance with these laws and regulations could have legal and financial consequences that adversely affect our tenants’ ability to make rent payments which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Adverse trends in healthcare provider operations may negatively affect our lease revenues and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The healthcare industry is currently experiencing, among other things: changes in the demand for and methods of delivering healthcare services, particularly as telemedicine and telehealth continue to gain popularity, as well as continued innovation and integration of technological advancements and artificial intelligence; a shift in the provision of healthcare services from inpatient to outpatient settings; changes in third party reimbursement methods and policies, including an increased focus on value-based reimbursement with downside provider risk; consolidation and pressure to integrate within the healthcare industry through acquisitions, joint ventures and managed service organizations; increased scrutiny of billing, referral, and other practices by U.S. federal and state authorities; consolidation of health insurers; competition among healthcare providers including competition for patients among healthcare providers in areas with significant unused capacity; increased expense for uninsured patients; increased expense arising from an older and sicker patient mix; increased liability insurance expenses; increased emphasis on compliance with privacy and security requirements related to health information; pressures on healthcare providers to control or reduce costs; staffing shortages (particularly nursing staff) and increases in wages as well as inflation in the cost of supplies; regulatory and government reimbursement uncertainty, increased price transparency resulting from the Transparency in Coverage rule and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the Hospital Price Transparency regulation of 2021, the No Surprises Act and other healthcare reform laws and court decisions on cases challenging the legality of such laws; federal and state government plans to reduce budget deficits and address debt ceiling limits by lowering healthcare provider Medicaid payment rates; increased scrutiny of control over release of confidential patient medical information and increased attention to compliance with regulations designed to safeguard protected health information and cyberattacks on healthcare entities and their business associates (i.e., vendors who handle patient protected health information); and anticipated increased scrutiny and enforcement of anti-trust laws by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Antitrust Division. These factors may adversely affect demand for healthcare facilities by potential future tenants and/or the economic performance of some or all of our tenants and, in turn, our lease revenues, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to make distributions to our stockholders. In addition, increased federal and state scrutiny of healthcare provider transactions, including those involving real estate investment trusts and required disclosures thereof, could negatively impact projects or prohibit investment or lead to more oversight of our tenants, thus potentially increasing government enforcement activity against them. For example, following the Steward bankruptcy, there was substantial negative press attention regarding certain types of corporate operators of healthcare facilities as well as actual and potential legislation, either or both of which could have negative impacts on our current and potential future tenants which could potentially have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Risks Associated with Debt Financing and Investments
Interest rate exposure could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to stockholders at our current level.
Our revenues are generated by our leases, which typically have fixed rental rates, subject to periodic rent escalators. The generally fixed nature of revenues and the variable rate of debt obligations could create interest rate risk for us. Increases in interest rates may not be matched by increases in our rental income, which could increase our expenses and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to make distributions to our stockholders. During inflationary periods, interest rates have historically increased, which would have a direct effect on the interest expense of our borrowings.
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As of December 31, 2024, we have hedged all of our variable rate debt by using interest rate swaps to effectively fix the interest rate.
Hedging activity may expose us to risks, including the risks that a counterparty will not perform and that the hedge will not yield the economic benefits we anticipate, which may adversely affect us.
We manage exposure to interest rate volatility by using interest rate hedging arrangements. These arrangements involve risk, such as the risk that counterparties may fail to honor their obligations under these arrangements, and that these arrangements will not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest rate changes. In addition, interest rates may change in an unexpected manner and therefore significantly reduce the economic benefits of such arrangements. There can be no assurance that our hedging arrangements will qualify for hedge accounting or that our hedging activities will have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations. Should we terminate a hedging agreement, it may result in significant costs and cash requirements to fulfil our obligations under the hedging arrangement. In addition, failure to effectively hedge against interest rate changes may adversely affect our results of operations.
We have broad authority to incur debt, and high debt levels could hinder our ability to make distributions and could decrease the value of our stockholders’ investments.
High debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges, would result in higher debt service payments, and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. These factors could limit the amount of cash we have available to distribute and could result in a decline in the value of our stockholders’ investments.
We incur borrowings, which may increase our business risks, and could hinder our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We have obtained a credit facility and may obtain other similar financing arrangements in order to acquire properties. We may also decide to later further leverage our properties. We may pledge all or some of our real properties as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire real properties. We may borrow if we need funds to pay a desired distribution rate to our stockholders. We may also borrow if we deem it necessary or advisable to ensure that we qualify and maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from our properties and the cash flow needed to service debt, then the amount available for distribution to our stockholders may be reduced.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to stockholders at our current level.
When providing financing, a lender could impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies, and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to discontinue insurance coverage. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and limit our ability to make distributions to stockholders at our current level.
Disruptions in the credit markets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to stockholders at our current level.
In the past, domestic and international financial markets experienced significant disruptions which were brought about in large part by failures in the U.S. banking system. Additionally, in the past, international conflicts and the resultant U.S. response, including financial sanctions, have disrupted credit markets. These disruptions could severely impact the availability of credit in the market and/or contribute to rising costs associated with obtaining credit. If debt financing is not available on terms and conditions we find acceptable, we may not be able to obtain financing for investments. These disruptions in the credit markets have not thus far affected our ability to borrow monies to finance the purchase of, or other activities related to, real estate assets, but they may do so in the future. If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, we may be forced to reduce the number of properties we can purchase and/or dispose of some of our assets. These disruptions could also adversely affect the return on the properties we purchase. In addition, if we pay fees to lock in a favorable interest rate, falling interest rates or other factors could require us to forfeit these fees. All of these events could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to stockholders at our current level.
U.S. Federal Income Tax Risks
Failure to maintain our qualification as a REIT would adversely affect our operations and ability to make distributions.
In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must satisfy certain requirements set forth in the Code and Treasury Regulations and various factual matters and circumstances that are not entirely within our control. We intend to structure our activities in a manner designed to satisfy all of these requirements. However, if certain of our operations were to
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be recharacterized by the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, such recharacterization could jeopardize our ability to satisfy all of the requirements for qualification as a REIT.
If we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT for any taxable year and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the taxable year in which we lost our REIT status. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional corporate-level tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer qualify for the dividends-paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. If this occurs, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax. Our failure to qualify as a REIT would adversely affect the return of stockholders' investments.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may result in us distributing amounts that may otherwise be used for our operations and which could result in our forgoing otherwise attractive investment opportunities.
To maintain the favorable tax treatment afforded to REITs under the Code, we generally will be required each year to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gain. To the extent that we do not distribute all of our net capital gains or distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, as adjusted, we will have to pay tax on the undistributed amounts at corporate tax rates. Furthermore, if we fail to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of: (a) 85% of our ordinary income for that year; (b) 95% of our capital gain net income for that year; and (c) any undistributed taxable income from prior periods, ((a) through (c), collectively referred to as the Required Distribution), we would have to pay a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the excess of the Required Distribution over the sum of (x) the amounts that we actually distributed; and (y) the amounts we retained and upon which we paid income tax at the corporate level. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on investments in real estate assets, and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds, possibly at unfavorable rates, or sell assets to fund these distributions. In addition, we could pay part of these required distributions in shares of our common stock, which could result in stockholders having tax liabilities from such distributions in excess of the cash they receive. It is possible the taxable share distribution will not count towards our distribution requirement, in which case adverse consequences could apply. Although we intend to continue to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid U.S. federal income and excise taxes, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.
Certain of our business activities are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax, which could reduce the return on our stockholders’ investment.
Our ability to dispose of a property during the first few years following its acquisition may be restricted to a substantial extent as a result of our REIT status. Under applicable provisions of the Code regarding "prohibited transactions" by REITs, we would be subject to a 100% tax on any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) that we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including our Operating Partnership, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Whether property is inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. Properties we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including our Operating Partnership, may, depending on how we conduct our operations, be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Any such taxes we pay would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Our desire to avoid the prohibited transactions tax may cause us to forego disposition opportunities that would otherwise be advantageous if we were not a REIT.
In certain circumstances, we may be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes as a REIT, which would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Even if we maintain our qualification as a REIT, we may be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes. For example, we may be subject to the prohibited transactions tax and/or the excise tax for failing to make (or be deemed to have made) sufficient distributions, as described above. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, either directly or indirectly through our Operating Partnership or other companies through which we indirectly own assets. Any taxes we pay would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
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The use of taxable REIT subsidiaries which may be required for REIT qualification purposes, would increase our overall tax liability and thereby reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Some of our assets may need to be owned by, or operations may need to be conducted through, one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRS. Any of our TRS would be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income tax on its taxable income at applicable corporate rates. The after-tax net income of our TRS would be available for distribution to us. Further, we would incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with our TRS that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. For example, to the extent that the rent paid by one of our TRS exceeds an arm’s-length rental amount, such amount would be potentially subject to a 100% excise tax. While we intend that all transactions between us and our TRS would be conducted on an arm’s-length basis, and therefore, any amounts paid by our TRS to us would not be subject to the excise tax, no assurance can be given that excise tax would not arise from such transactions.
Our use of TRS, may cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT.
The net income of our TRS is not required to be distributed to us, and such undistributed TRS income is generally not subject to our REIT distribution requirements. However, if the accumulation of cash or reinvestment of significant earnings in our TRS causes the fair market value of our securities in those entities, taken together with other non-qualifying assets to exceed 20% of the value of our assets, in each case as determined for REIT asset testing purposes, we would, absent timely responsive action, fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT.
Complying with REIT requirements may force us to forgo and/or liquidate otherwise attractive investment opportunities.
To qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of shares of our common stock. We may be required to forego otherwise attractive investments or make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.
Complying with the REIT asset test requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets, including certain mortgage loans and certain kinds of mortgage-related securities. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities, TRS and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the total voting power of the outstanding securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets can consist of the securities (other than government securities, TRS, and qualified real estate assets) of any one issuer. No more than 20% of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRS, and no more than 25% of the value of our assets may consist of "non-qualified publicly offered REIT instruments." If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate from our portfolio or not make otherwise attractive investments in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
If our leases are not considered as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we could fail to qualify as a REIT.
To qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income tests, under which specified percentages of our gross income must be derived from certain sources, such as “rents from real property.” In order for rent paid to us to qualify as “rents from real property” for purposes of the REIT gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes and not be treated as service contracts, joint ventures, or some other type of arrangement. If our leases are not respected as true leases for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we could fail to qualify as a REIT, which would materially and adversely impact the value of an investment in our shares and in our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.
The failure of a mezzanine loan to qualify as a real estate asset would adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT.
In general, in order for a loan to be treated as a qualifying real estate asset producing qualifying income for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests, the loan must be secured by real property or an interest in real property. We may originate or acquire mezzanine loans that are not directly secured by real property or an interest in real property but instead secured by equity interests in a partnership or limited liability company that directly or indirectly owns real property or an interest in real property. In Revenue Procedure 2003-65, the IRS provided a safe harbor pursuant to which a mezzanine loan that is not secured by real estate would, if it meets each of the requirements contained in the Revenue Procedure 2003-65, be treated by the IRS as a qualifying real estate asset. Although the Revenue Procedure 2003-65 provides a safe harbor on which taxpayers may rely, it does not prescribe rules of substantive tax law and in many cases it may not be possible for us to meet all the requirements of the safe harbor. We cannot provide assurance that any mezzanine loan in which we invest would be treated as a qualifying asset
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producing qualifying income for REIT qualification purposes. If any such loan fails to be a qualifying real estate asset, we may fail either the REIT income or asset tests, and may be disqualified as a REIT.
Legislative or regulatory action could adversely affect the returns to our investors.
In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to investments similar to an investment in shares of our common stock. Additional changes to the tax laws are likely to continue to occur, and we cannot assure you that any such changes will not adversely affect our taxation and our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT or the taxation of a stockholder. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on an investment in our shares or on the market value or the resale potential of our assets.
Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a regular corporation. As a result, our charter provides the Board with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. The Board has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interests of our stockholders.
We urge you to consult with your own tax advisor with respect to the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in shares of our common stock.
Dividends payable by REITs generally are subject to a higher tax rate than regular corporate dividends under current law.
The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate for “qualified dividends” payable to U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates generally is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, are generally not eligible for the reduced rates for qualified dividends and are taxed at ordinary income rates. However, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates generally may deduct 20% of ordinary dividends from a REIT resulting in an effective maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 29.6% on such income. These rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, to the extent that the reduced rates continue to apply to regular corporate qualified dividends; however, investors that are individuals, trusts and estates may perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could materially and adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our common stock.
If our Operating Partnership fails to maintain its status as a partnership, its income may be subject to taxation, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We intend to maintain the status of our Operating Partnership as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of our Operating Partnership as a partnership or disregarded entity for such purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that our Operating Partnership could make to us. This would also result in us losing our REIT status, and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our own income. This would substantially reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the yield on our stockholders’ investment. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which our Operating Partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership and is otherwise not disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to our Operating Partnership. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT status and would have a material adverse impact on us.
Foreign purchasers of our shares may be subject to FIRPTA tax upon the sale of their shares or upon the payment of a capital gain dividend, which would reduce the net amount they would otherwise realize on their investment in our shares.
A foreign person (other than certain foreign pension plans and certain foreign publicly traded entities) disposing of a U.S. real property interest, including shares of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as amended, or FIRPTA, on the gain recognized on the disposition. Such FIRPTA tax does not apply to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is “domestically controlled.” A REIT is "domestically controlled" if less than 50% of the REIT’s stock, by value, has been owned directly or indirectly by persons who are not qualifying U.S. persons during a continuous five-year period ending on the date of disposition or, if shorter, during the entire period of the REIT’s existence. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will qualify as a "domestically controlled" REIT. If we were to fail to so qualify, any gain realized by foreign investors on a sale of our shares would be subject to FIRPTA tax, unless our shares were traded on an established securities market and the foreign investor did not at any time during a specified testing period directly or indirectly own more than 10% of the value of our outstanding common stock.
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A foreign investor also may be subject to FIRPTA tax upon the payment of any capital gain dividend by us, which dividend is attributable to gain from sales or exchanges of U.S. real property interests. We encourage our stockholders to consult their own tax advisor to determine the tax consequences applicable to them if they are a foreign investor.
REIT ownership limitations may restrict or prevent you from engaging in certain transfers of our common stock.
In order to satisfy the requirements for REIT qualification, no more than 50% in value of all classes or series of our outstanding shares of stock may be owned, actually or constructively, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year. Under applicable constructive ownership rules, any shares of stock owned by certain affiliated owners generally would be added together for purposes of the common stock ownership limits, and any shares of a given class or series of preferred stock owned by certain affiliated owners generally would be added together for purposes of the ownership limit on such class or series. Our charter provides for ownership limitations that generally restrict shareholders from owning more than 9.8% of our outstanding shares. For additional information, see the risk factor above titled “The limit on the number of shares a person may own may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders and may hinder a stockholder's ability to dispose of his or her shares.”
ERISA Risks
If our assets are deemed to be ERISA plan assets, we may be exposed to liabilities under Title I of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.
In some circumstances where an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, plan holds an interest in an entity, the assets of the entire entity are deemed to be ERISA plan assets unless an exception applies. This is known as the "look-through rule." Under those circumstances, the obligations and other responsibilities of plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and plan administrators, and of parties in interest and disqualified persons, under Title I of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code, as applicable, may be applicable, and there may be liability under these and other provisions of ERISA and the Code. Nevertheless, we believe that our assets are not ERISA plan assets because the shares should qualify as "publicly-offered securities" that are exempt from the look-through rules under applicable Treasury Regulations. We note, however, that because certain limitations are imposed upon the transferability of shares so that we may qualify as a REIT, and perhaps for other reasons, it is possible that this exemption may not apply. If that is the case, and if we are exposed to liability under ERISA or the Code, our performance and results of operations could be adversely affected. Prior to making an investment in us, you should consult with your legal and other advisors concerning the impact of ERISA and the Code on your investment and our performance.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Trading in our shares following the Listing could experience substantial volatility, and the trading price of our Common Stock could decline significantly due to actual or anticipated sales of our shares by our stockholders or other factors, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Because our Common Stock was not previously listed on any national securities exchange and there was limited ability for our stockholders to liquidate their investments, there may be significant pent-up demand by our stockholders seeking liquidity by selling their Common Stock. Therefore, trading in our shares following the Listing could experience substantial volatility. The trading price of our Common Stock could decline significantly due to the sale of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market by our stockholders, or the perception that such sales could occur, or other factors, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
Furthermore, the U.S. stock markets, including the NYSE, on which we have listed our Common Stock, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. As a result, the market price of our Common Stock is likely to be similarly volatile, and investors in our Common Stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. A number of additional factors could negatively affect the price of our Common Stock or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our Common Stock. We cannot assure you that the market price of our Common Stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.
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General Risk Factors
Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents may adversely affect our business by causing a disruption to our operations, a compromise or corruption of our confidential information, and/or damage to our business relationships, all of which could negatively impact our financial results.
We consider a cyber incident to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our information resources. These incidents may be an intentional attack or an unintentional event and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. The result of these incidents may include disrupted operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, litigation and damage to our tenant and investor relationships. As our reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to our information systems, both internal and those we have outsourced. There is no guarantee that any processes, procedures and internal controls we have implemented, or will implement, will prevent cybersecurity threats that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, as increased regulatory compliance for cybersecurity protocols and disclosures are required by state or federal authorities, there is no guarantee that the increased amount of resources, both time and expense, will not adversely affect our business.
We expect that most of our properties will continue to be located in the continental United States and would be affected by economic downturns, as well as economic cycles and risks inherent to that area.
Our properties are concentrated in, and we expect to continue to acquire commercial real estate located in, the continental United States; however, we may purchase properties in other jurisdictions. Real estate markets are subject to economic downturns, as they have been in the past, and we cannot predict how economic conditions will impact this market in both the short and long term. Declines in the economy or a decline in the real estate market in the continental United States could hurt our financial performance and the value of our properties. The factors affecting economic conditions in the continental United States real estate market include, but are not limited to: financial performance and productivity of, among others, the publishing, advertising, financial, technology, retail, insurance and real estate industries; business layoffs or downsizing; industry slowdowns; potential government shutdowns; relocations of businesses; changing demographics; increased telecommuting and use of alternative workplaces; infrastructure quality; any oversupply of, or reduced demand for, real estate; concessions or reduced rental rates under new leases for properties where tenants defaulted; increased insurance premiums; and increased interest rates.
Distributions paid from sources other than our cash flows from operations, including from the proceeds of any offerings of our securities, will result in us having fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and real estate-related investments, which may adversely affect our ability to fund future distributions with cash flows from operations and may adversely affect a stockholder's overall return.
We have previously paid, and may pay in the future, distributions from sources other than from our cash flows from operations. We may pay, and have no limits on the amounts we may pay, distributions from any source, such as the sale of assets and the sale of additional securities, which may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties or other permitted investments. Funding distributions from the sale of assets may affect our ability to generate cash flows. Funding distributions from the sale of additional securities could dilute stockholders' interest in us if we sell shares of our common stock to third party investors. Funding distributions to our stockholders will result in us having less funds available for acquiring properties or real estate-related investments. Our inability to acquire such properties or investments may have a negative effect on our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations to pay distributions. As a result, the return investors may realize on their investment may be reduced and investors who invested in us before we generated significant cash flow may realize a lower rate of return than later investors. Payment of distributions from any of the aforementioned sources could restrict our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, affect our profitability and/or affect the distributions payable upon a liquidity event, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on an investment in us.
If we lose or are unable to retain key personnel, our ability to implement our business strategies could be delayed or hindered.
We believe that our future success depends, in large part, on our ability to retain and hire highly-skilled managerial and operating personnel. Competition for persons with managerial and operational skills is intense, and we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be successful in retaining or attracting skilled personnel. If we lose or are unable to obtain the services of our executive officers and other key personnel, or we are unable to establish or maintain the necessary strategic relationships, our ability to implement our business strategy could be delayed or hindered.
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We may be subject to litigation that could negatively impact our future cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be a defendant from time to time in lawsuits and regulatory proceedings relating to our business. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation and regulatory proceedings, we may not be able to accurately predict the ultimate outcome of any such litigation or proceedings. A significant unfavorable outcome could negatively impact our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity.
We have developed, implemented, and integrated a cybersecurity program, or the Cybersecurity Program, into our broader risk management structure to protect our information systems by using physical, technical, and administrative safeguards. This includes assessing, identifying, monitoring, reporting, managing and remediating cybersecurity threats. The Cybersecurity Program aims to prevent data ex-filtration, manipulation, and destruction, as well as system and transactional disruption. The Cybersecurity Program utilizes a threat-centric and risk-based approach to identify and assess cybersecurity threats that could affect our business and information systems based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, or the NIST Framework.
Our Cybersecurity Program includes the following processes:
•Annual control reviews, annual policy reviews and annual investments in our security infrastructure;
•Periodic testing of our information systems to assess our vulnerability to cyber risk, which includes targeted penetration testing and vulnerability scanning;
•Collaborating with our internal audit team to evaluate the effectiveness of our information technology security program and communicating results to our executive officers;
•Conducting a comprehensive information security and training program for our employees, including mandatory computer-based training, regular internal communications, and ongoing end-user testing to measure the effectiveness of our information security program. As part of this commitment, we require our employees to acknowledge our Information Security policy each year. In addition, we have an established schedule and process for regular phishing awareness campaigns that are designed to emulate real-world contemporary threats and provide immediate feedback (and, if necessary, additional training or remedial action) to employees;
•Annually assess the Cybersecurity Program against the NIST Framework;
•Maintaining business continuity, contingency and recovery plans to quickly react to cybersecurity incidents;
•Conducting security assessments of all third-party service providers with access to personal, confidential or proprietary information before engagement and maintaining ongoing monitoring by reviewing system and organization controls reports, relevant cyber attestations, and other independent cyber ratings;
•Retaining a third-party cybersecurity provider for emergency incident response services in the event of a serious information security breach; and
•Maintaining cybersecurity risk insurance that could help defray the costs of an information security breach as a backstop to the Cybersecurity Program.
Through our incident response plan, we have designated a cybersecurity management team, or the Cybersecurity Management Team, composed of our executive officers and management representatives. Led by our Vice President of Information Technology & Corporate Facilities, our Cybersecurity Management Team is responsible for the management of the Cybersecurity Program and for the day-to-day investigation of and response to potential information security-related incidents. Pursuant to our incident response plan, incidents meeting specified severity levels are required to be escalated to the Cybersecurity Management Team for review and response. The goals of the incident response plan are to prevent, detect and react to information security incidents, determine their scope and risk, respond appropriately to the incident, communicate the results and risk to relevant stakeholders, and reduce the likelihood of the incident from reoccurring.
Our Vice President of Information Technology & Corporate Facilities has served in this role since 2018. In this role, he manages and oversees the Company's network and information systems. Additionally, he works with the executive officers, management representatives and third-party experts to maintain the Company's Cybersecurity Program. Our Vice President of Information Technology & Corporate Facilities possesses extensive experience in technology and cybersecurity gained over his career spanning more than 25 years, including service as the executive director of Business Applications as well as a senior implementer and business consultant.
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The Board plays a role in overseeing risks associated with cybersecurity threats and has delegated to the Audit Committee primary oversight of the Cybersecurity Program.Our executive officers report on our Cybersecurity Program to the Audit Committee at least four times per year (including as part of our discussions regarding enterprise risk management). Our quarterly updates to the Audit Committee include a discussion of our information security programs and controls, including our internal auditor's review and our internal monitoring of cybersecurity risks. As part of the incident response plan discussed above, in the event we experience a cybersecurity incident that could materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition, our executive officers (who are also a part of the Cybersecurity Management Team) will review the incident with the Audit Committee to consider whether and to what extent disclosure is required under Item 1.05 of Form 8-K.
We face risks from cybersecurity threats that could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, results of operations or financial conditions. See “Risk Factors – General Risk Factors - Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents may adversely affect our business by causing a disruption to our operations, a compromise or corruption of our confidential information, and/or damage to our business relationships, all of which could negatively impact our financial results” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of these risks. To date, we have not experienced a material cybersecurity incident.
Item 2. Properties.
Our principal executive office is located at 1001 Water Street, Suite 800, Tampa, Florida 33602. As of December 31, 2024, we owned a portfolio of 135 real estate properties, composed of approximately 5,263,000 rentable square feet of commercial spaces, and two undeveloped land parcels. As of December 31, 2024, 120 of our real estate properties were leased to a single-tenant, 14 of our real estate properties were leased to multiple tenants, and one of our real estate properties was vacant. As of December 31, 2024, 96.0% of our rentable square feet was leased, with a weighted average remaining lease term of 9.7 years. As of December 31, 2024, all of our real estate investments are in healthcare properties aside from two undeveloped land parcels. We own fee simple interests in all of our land, buildings and improvements except for 19 properties, for which we own leasehold interests subject to the respective ground leases.
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Property Statistics
The following table shows the property statistics of our real estate portfolio as of December 31, 2024:
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Clive Undeveloped Land Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 12/08/2021 — —% — —
Clive Undeveloped Land II Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA 12/08/2021 — —% — —
(1)Property is contributed to the pool of unencumbered properties of our credit facility. As of December 31, 2024, 112 commercial real estate properties were contributed to the pool of unencumbered properties under our credit facility and we had an outstanding principal balance of $525,000,000.
We believe the properties are adequately covered by insurance and are suitable for their respective intended purposes. Real estate assets, other than land, are depreciated on a straight-line basis over each asset's useful life. Tenant improvements are depreciated on a straight-line basis over the shorter of the respective lease term or expected useful life.
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Leases
As of December 31, 2024, the weighted average remaining lease term of our properties was 9.7 years. The properties generally are leased under net leases pursuant to which the tenant bears responsibility for substantially all property costs and expenses associated with ongoing maintenance and operation, including utilities, property taxes and insurance. The majority of our leases provide for fixed increases in rent. Generally, the property leases provide the tenant with one or more multi-year renewal options, subject to generally the same terms and conditions as the initial lease term.
Lease expirations of our real properties based on annualized contractual base rent as of December 31, 2024, for each of the next ten years ending December 31 and thereafter, are as follows:
(1)Annualized contractual base rent is based on leases in effect as of December 31, 2024.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are not aware of any material pending legal proceedings to which we are a party or to which our properties are the subject.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
On June 13, 2024, our Common Stock began trading on the NYSE, under the ticker symbol "SILA". Prior to that time, there was no public market for the shares of our Common Stock. As of February 24, 2025, we had 10,024 stockholders of record.
Reverse Stock Split
On April 8, 2024, in anticipation of the Listing, we amended our charter to effect a one-for-four reverse stock split of each issued and outstanding share of each class of our Common Stock, effective May 1, 2024, and we also amended our charter to decrease the par value of each issued and outstanding share of our Common Stock from $0.04 par value per share to $0.01 par value per share immediately after the Reverse Stock Split. In addition, equitable adjustments were made to the maximum number of shares of our Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to the A&R Incentive Plan to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. The number of shares of our Common Stock subject to outstanding awards under the A&R Incentive Plan were also equitably adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split affected all record holders of our Common Stock uniformly and did not affect any record holder’s percentage ownership interest. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the number of our authorized shares of Common Stock. All references made to share or per share amounts in the accompanying
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consolidated financial statements and applicable disclosures have been retroactively adjusted as though the Reverse Stock Split had been effectuated prior to all periods presented.
DRIP Offering
The DRIP was terminated effective May 1, 2024 in connection with the Listing. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we issued 333,402 shares pursuant to the DRIP, prior to the termination.
Distributions
We are taxed and qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, we make distributions each taxable year equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (computed without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding capital gains). One of our primary goals is to continue to pay distributions to our stockholders, which will be paid quarterly effective in 2025 (as disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K that we filed with the SEC on October 18, 2024). On February 25, 2025, the Board approved and authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per share of Common Stock payable on March 26, 2025, to our stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 12, 2025. The quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per share represents an annualized amount of $1.60 per share.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
There were no unregistered sales of equity securities during the quarter ended December 31, 2024.
Share Repurchases
"Dutch Auction" Tender Offer
On June 13, 2024, in conjunction with the Listing, we commenced the Tender Offer to purchase shares of our Common Stock for cash at a price per share of not greater than $24.00 nor less than $22.60, net to the seller in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest, for a maximum aggregate purchase price of no more than $50,000,000. The Tender Offer expired on July 19, 2024. As a result of the Tender Offer, we accepted for purchase 2,212,389 shares of Common Stock (which represented approximately 3.9% of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of July 19, 2024) at a purchase price of $22.60 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $50,000,000, excluding all related costs and fees. We incurred $2,093,000 of costs and fees related to the Tender Offer which are recorded as a reduction in equity on the accompanying consolidated financial statements. We funded the Tender Offer and related costs and fees with our available cash.
Share Repurchase Program
On August 16, 2024, the Board authorized a share repurchase program of up to the lesser of 1,500,000 shares of our outstanding Common Stock, or $25,000,000 in gross purchase proceeds for a period of 12 months from August 16, 2024, or the Share Repurchase Program. Repurchases of Common Stock under the Share Repurchase Program may be made from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated purchases, in accelerated share repurchase programs or by any other lawful means. The number of shares of Common Stock purchased and the timing of any purchases will depend on a number of factors, including the price and availability of Common Stock and general market conditions. No shares were repurchased under the Share Repurchase Program during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Terminated Share Repurchase Program
Prior to the Listing, we had adopted an Amended and Restated Share Repurchase Program, or the Terminated SRP, that allowed for repurchases of shares of our Common Stock upon meeting certain criteria. Pursuant to the terms of the Terminated SRP, we were permitted to redeem no more than 5% of the number of shares of our Common Stock outstanding on December 31st of the previous calendar year, and we would redeem shares at a price equal to the most recently published net asset value per share. We had discretion as to the timing of our repurchases, but they were generally done quarterly. On April 5, 2024, the Board approved the suspension of the Terminated SRP, effective immediately, and the termination of the Terminated SRP, effective upon the Listing. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we redeemed 210,683 shares under the Terminated SRP.
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During the three months ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased shares of our Common Stock as follows:
(1) Represents the gross purchase proceeds that may be repurchased pursuant to the Share Repurchase Program (announced on August 19, 2024), for a period of 12 months from August 16, 2024. We did not repurchase any shares under the Share Repurchase Program during the three months ended December 31, 2024. Therefore, as of December 31, 2024, up to $25,000,000 of our Common Stock remained available for repurchase under the Share Repurchase Program.
(2) Consists of shares of Common Stock repurchased for the net settlement of withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.
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Performance Graph
The information below shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, other than as provided in Item 201 of Regulation S-K, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically request that such information be treated as soliciting material or specifically incorporate it by reference into a filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The following graph compares the total cumulative stockholder return, assuming reinvestment of dividends, of our Common Stock to the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Index, or the S&P 500, and the MSCI US REIT Index for the period beginning June 13, 2024 (the date our Common Stock began trading on the NYSE) and ending December 31, 2024. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on June 13, 2024. The historical information set forth on the following performance graph and table below is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
Period Ending
Item 6. [Reserved]
Information pertaining to Item 6 is not presented in accordance with amendments to Item 301 of Regulation S-K.
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto and the other financial information appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The discussion contains forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed below and elsewhere in this report, particularly under “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements.” All forward-looking statements in this document are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
This section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses 2024 and 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023. A discussion of the changes in our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 may be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.
Regulation FD Disclosures
We use any of the following to comply with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD: SEC filings; press releases; public conference calls; or our website. We routinely post important information on our website at www.silarealtytrust.com, including information that may be deemed material. We encourage our shareholders and others interested in our company to monitor these distribution channels for material disclosures. The contents of our website address referenced herein is included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K as a textual reference only and is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We invest in high quality properties leased to tenants capitalizing on critical and structural economic growth drivers. We are primarily focused on investing in healthcare facilities across the continuum of care, which we believe typically generate predictable, durable and growing income streams. We may also make other real estate-related investments, which may include equity or debt interests in other real estate entities.
As of December 31, 2024, we owned 135 real estate properties and two undeveloped land parcels.
Recent Developments
New York Stock Exchange Listing and Reverse Stock Split
On June 13, 2024, our Common Stock was listed and began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "SILA". Upon the Listing, all outstanding shares of Class I Common Stock and Class T Common Stock were automatically converted into shares of Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis and authorized but unissued shares of Class I Common Stock, Class T Common Stock and Class T2 Common Stock were reclassified into additional shares of Class A Common Stock. Class A Common Stock was then immediately renamed “Common Stock” and is the sole class of stock traded on the NYSE.
On April 8, 2024, in anticipation of the Listing, we amended our charter to effect a one-for-four reverse stock split, or the Reverse Stock Split, of each issued and outstanding share of each class of our Common Stock, effective May 1, 2024, and we also amended our charter to decrease the par value of each issued and outstanding share of our Common Stock from $0.04 par value per share to $0.01 par value per share immediately after the Reverse Stock Split. In addition, equitable adjustments were made to the maximum number of shares of our Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to the A&R Incentive Plan to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. The number of shares of our Common Stock subject to outstanding awards under the A&R Incentive Plan were also equitably adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split affected all record holders of our Common Stock uniformly and did not affect any record holder’s percentage ownership interest. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the number of our authorized shares of Common Stock.
Share Repurchase Program
On August 16, 2024, the Board authorized a share repurchase program of up to the lesser of 1,500,000 shares of our outstanding Common Stock, or $25,000,000 in gross purchase proceeds for a period of 12 months from August 16, 2024. Repurchases of Common Stock under the Share Repurchase Program may be made from time to time in the open market, in privately negotiated purchases, in accelerated share repurchase programs or by any other lawful means. The number of shares of Common Stock purchased and the timing of any purchases will depend on a number of factors, including the price and availability of Common Stock and general market conditions. We did not repurchase any shares under the Share Repurchase
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Program during the year ended December 31, 2024. Therefore, as of December 31, 2024, up to $25,000,000 of our Common Stock remained available for repurchase under the Share Repurchase Program.
Termination of Share Repurchase Program and Distribution Reinvestment Plan
In light of our intention to pursue the Listing, on April 5, 2024, the Board approved the suspension of the Terminated SRP, effective immediately, and the termination of the Terminated SRP, effective upon the Listing. On April 5, 2024, the Board also approved the termination of the DRIP effective May 1, 2024.
"Dutch Auction" Tender Offer
On June 13, 2024, in conjunction with the Listing, we commenced the Tender Offer to purchase shares of our Common Stock for cash at a price per share of not greater than $24.00 nor less than $22.60, net to the seller in cash, less any applicable withholding taxes and without interest, for a maximum aggregate purchase price of no more than $50,000,000. The Tender Offer expired on July 19, 2024. As a result of the Tender Offer, we accepted for purchase 2,212,389 shares of Common Stock (which represented approximately 3.9% of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of July 19, 2024) at a purchase price of $22.60 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $50,000,000, excluding all related costs and fees. We incurred $2,093,000 of costs and fees related to the Tender Offer which are recorded as a reduction in equity on the accompanying consolidated financial statements. We funded the Tender Offer and related costs and fees with our available cash.
Critical Accounting Estimates
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Changes in these estimates and assumptions could have a significant effect on the financial statements. From time to time, we evaluate our estimates based on historical experience and various assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Although our actual results historically have not deviated materially from those determined using estimates, our results of operations or financial condition could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We consider our critical accounting estimates to be those used in the determination of the reported amounts and disclosure related to the impairment of long-lived assets.
We review our real estate assets on an asset group basis for impairment. Typically, an individual property constitutes an asset group. We identify an asset group based on the lowest level of identifiable cash flows. In the impairment analysis we must determine whether there are indicators of impairment. For operating properties, these indicators could include a reduction in our expected holding period, a tenant having unpaid rent or a delinquency, a significant decline in a property’s leased percentage, a current period operating loss or negative cash flows combined with a history of losses at the property, a significant decline in lease rates for that property or others in the property’s market, a significant change in the market value of the property, or an adverse change in the financial condition of significant tenants. The length of the expected holding period coupled with these other indicators impact the projected undiscounted cash flows.
If we determine that an asset has indicators of impairment, we then determine whether the undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset group over the expected holding period exceed the carrying amount of the asset group. In calculating the undiscounted net cash flows of an asset group, we use considerable judgment to estimate several inputs. We estimate future rental rates, future capital expenditures, future operating expenses, and market capitalization rates for residual values, among other things. In addition, if there are alternative strategies for the future use of the asset, we assess the probability of each alternative strategy and perform a probability-weighted undiscounted cash flow analysis to assess the recoverability of the asset group. If the carrying value of the asset group exceeds the estimated undiscounted cash flows, an impairment loss is recognized to the extent the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the asset group.
In determining the fair value of an asset group, we exercise considerable judgment on several factors. We may determine fair value by using a direct capitalization method, a discounted cash flow method or by utilizing comparable sales information. The direct capitalization method is based on a capitalization rate applied to the underlying asset group's stabilized next twelve-month net operating income at the measurement date. The discounted cash flow method is based on estimated future cash flow projections utilizing discount rates, terminal capitalization rates, and planned capital expenditures. We use judgment to determine an appropriate discount rate to apply to the cash flows in the discounted cash flow calculation. We also use judgment in analyzing comparable market information because no two real estate assets are identical in location and price.
The estimates and judgments used in the impairment process are highly subjective and susceptible to frequent change. Significant increases or decreases in any of these inputs, particularly with regard to the expected holding period, cash flow projections and discount and capitalization rates, would result in a significantly lower or higher fair value measurement of the real estate assets being assessed. Additionally, changes in economic and operating conditions, including changes in the financial
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condition of our tenants, and changes to our intent and ability to hold the related asset, that occur after our impairment assessment could impact the assumptions used in that assessment and could result in future charges to earnings if assumptions regarding those investments differ from actual results.
Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions in 2024
•We purchased eight healthcare properties, comprising approximately 307,000 rentable square feet for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $164,053,000.
•We sold four healthcare properties for an aggregate sale price of $18,700,000 and generated net proceeds of $17,705,000.
Factors That May Influence Results of Operations
We are not aware at this time of any material trends or uncertainties, other than national economic conditions and those discussed below and in Part I. Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, affecting our real estate properties, that may reasonably be expected to have a material impact, favorable or unfavorable, on revenues or income, management and operation of our properties.
Economic and Market Conditions
Our operating results have been and will continue to be generally impacted by global and national economic and market conditions and by the local economic conditions where our real estate properties are located. Increased interest rates, persistent inflation, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and increased volatility in public and private equity and fixed income markets have led to increased costs and have limited the availability of capital. In response to inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022. Though these higher interest rates began to decline in 2024, and there are signs that the limitations on the availability of capital are moderating, there can be no assurances that this will continue to be the case. Higher interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve to address potential inflation may adversely impact our borrowing costs and real estate asset values generally, including our real estate properties. In addition, any tariffs imposed by the current administration or other countries may cause further inflationary pressures in the economy.
To the extent our tenants have also experienced difficulties due to the foregoing economic and market conditions, and if there are changes to government reimbursements, they may be unable or unwilling to make payments or perform their obligations when due. Most of our lease agreements contain provisions designed to mitigate the adverse impact of inflation, including annual rent increases based on stated increases or consumer price index (CPI) increases.
Rental Revenue
The amount of rental revenue generated by our properties depends principally on our ability to maintain the occupancy rates of leased space and to lease available space at existing rental rates. Negative trends in one or more of these factors could adversely affect our rental revenue in future periods. We continually monitor our tenants' ability to meet their lease obligations to pay us rent to determine if any adjustments should be reflected currently. As of December 31, 2024, our properties were 96.0% leased.
PAM Amended Lease Agreements
On December 17, 2024, we entered into 15 amended lease agreements, effective December 1, 2024, with certain subsidiaries of Post Acute Medical, LLC, related to 15 properties. The PAM Amended Lease Agreements extend the term of each lease to a 20-year remaining lease term, with each maturing on November 30, 2044, and no changes to the base rental rate.
Steward Bankruptcy Filing
On May 6, 2024, Steward, the sponsor and owner of a tenant at the Stoughton Healthcare Facility, announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we received $1,392,000 of contractual base rent from Steward, which represents monthly contractual base rent, except for April and May for which Steward did not pay, and prorated rent through September 19, 2024, when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved Steward's request to reject our lease.
On August 12, 2024, we entered into a contract for sale with a buyer for the Stoughton Healthcare Facility; however, the buyer terminated the contract on November 4, 2024. The Stoughton Healthcare Facility is vacant as of December 31, 2024. We are actively marketing the property for sale or lease.
During the three months ended December 31, 2023, due to the ongoing operational and liquidity challenges faced by Steward, we determined the collectability of amounts owed under the contractual terms of Steward's lease were no longer reasonably assured. As a result, we ceased recognizing rent on a straight-line basis and have only recorded rent for Steward to the extent we have received cash. We recorded a write-off of straight-line rent receivables related to Steward of $1,604,000
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during the three months ended December 31, 2023, as a reduction in rental revenue, because the amounts were determined to be uncollectible. In addition, we recorded $10,945,000 of impairment losses (including goodwill impairments of $350,000) on the real estate property leased to Steward during the three months ended December 31, 2023. There were no further impairment losses recorded on the real estate property leased to Steward for the year ended December 31, 2024.
GenesisCare Bankruptcy Filing
As disclosed in the Current Report on Form 8-K that we filed with the SEC on June 5, 2023, GenesisCare, the sponsor and owner of the tenant in certain of our real estate properties announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code on June 1, 2023. During the bankruptcy proceedings, GenesisCare sought U.S. bankruptcy court approval to reject certain unexpired real property leases. GenesisCare's lease obligations with us were not included in any motions. On March 27, 2024, we entered into the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease with GenesisCare in connection with its emergence from bankruptcy on February 16, 2024. Prior to the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease, GenesisCare was a tenant at 17 of our real estate properties pursuant to the GenesisCare Master Lease. The GenesisCare Amended Master Lease removed the Severed Properties from the GenesisCare Master Lease. The seven properties remaining under the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease will continue to be leased to GenesisCare and had no material changes in lease terms pursuant to the GenesisCare Master Lease. As a result of the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease, we entered into lease agreements with new tenants at seven of the Severed Properties during the year ended December 31, 2024. The remaining three Severed Properties were sold during the year ended December 31, 2024. The Fort Myers Healthcare Facilities were sold on September 25, 2024 for a sales price of $15,500,000, generating net proceeds of $14,679,000, excluding real estate tax pro-rations. Additionally, the Yucca Valley Healthcare Facility was sold on December 10, 2024 for a sales price of $1,700,000, generating net proceeds of $1,587,000. In exchange for the Severed Properties, we received a $2,000,000 severance fee from GenesisCare, or the GenesisCare Severance Fee, on March 27, 2024. We will recognize the GenesisCare Severance Fee in rental revenue on a straight-line basis over the remaining GenesisCare Amended Master Lease term. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized $173,000 of amortization of the GenesisCare Severance Fee in rental revenue in the accompanying consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
Due to GenesisCare filing for bankruptcy, we determined the collectability of amounts owed under the contractual terms of the GenesisCare Master Lease were no longer reasonably assured. As a result, effective June 1, 2023, we ceased recognizing rent on a straight-line basis and recorded rent for GenesisCare to the extent we had received cash. Effective October 1, 2024, we commenced recognizing rent on a straight-line basis for the seven properties remaining under the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease that continue to be leased to GenesisCare, as we determined the collectability of amounts owed under the contractual terms were reasonably assured based on our analysis of historical payments. GenesisCare continues to make its lease payments due to us in accordance with the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease and made its lease payments throughout its bankruptcy pursuant to the GenesisCare Master Lease.
We recorded impairment losses of $418,000, for the year ended December 31, 2024, attributable to the Fort Myers Healthcare Facilities, following a reduction in the expected sales price that occurred during the three months ended June 30, 2024. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a loss on disposition of $792,000 attributable to the Fort Myers Healthcare Facilities, related to costs to sell, which is presented in impairment and disposition losses in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a gain on sale of $265,000 attributable to the Yucca Valley Healthcare Facility, which is presented in gain on dispositions of real estate in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded accelerated amortization of in-place lease intangible assets, above-market lease intangible assets and below-market lease intangible liabilities of $4,646,000, $2,667,000, and $2,038,000, respectively, as a result of the GenesisCare Amended Master Lease.
We recorded a write-off of straight-line rent receivables related to GenesisCare of $1,630,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, as a reduction in rental revenue because the collectibility of the amounts was not probable. We recorded impairment losses on certain real estate properties leased or formerly leased to GenesisCare of $9,480,000 (including goodwill impairments of $1,238,000), for the year ended December 31, 2023 as a result of GenesisCare announcing it had filed bankruptcy. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded an impairment of in-place lease and above-market lease intangible assets on certain real estate properties formerly leased to GenesisCare of $1,130,000 and $260,000, respectively.
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Results of Operations
Our results of operations are influenced by the timing of acquisitions and the performance of our real estate properties.
The following table shows the property statistics of our real estate properties as of December 31, 2024 and 2023:
December 31,
Number of real estate properties (1) 135 131
Weighted average percentage of rentable square feet leased 96.0 % 99.4 %
(1)As of December 31, 2024, we owned 135 real estate properties and two undeveloped land parcels. As of December 31, 2023, we owned 131 real estate properties and two undeveloped land parcels.
The following table summarizes our real estate activity for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
Year EndedDecember 31,
Real estate properties acquired 8 2
Real estate properties disposed 4 3
Leased square feet of real estate property additions 307,000 130,000
Leased square feet of real estate property dispositions (2) 71,000 551,000
(1)Includes capitalized acquisition costs associated with transactions determined to be asset acquisitions.
(2)The Fort Myers Healthcare Facilities and the Yucca Valley Healthcare Facility were vacant upon disposition on September 25, 2024 and December 10, 2024, respectively.
This section describes and compares our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. We generate substantially all of our revenue from property operations. In order to evaluate our overall portfolio, management analyzes the results of our same store properties. We define "same store properties" as properties that were owned and operated for the entirety of both calendar periods being compared and exclude properties under development, re-development, or classified as held for sale.
By evaluating the results of our same store properties, management is able to monitor the operations of our existing properties for comparable periods to measure the performance of our current portfolio and readily observe the expected effects of our new acquisitions and dispositions on net income.
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023
The following table details our total rental revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to the comparable period in 2023 (amounts in thousands):
Year EndedDecember 31,
•Same store rental revenue increased primarily due to a $1,604,000 increase in the write-off of straight-line rent receivables in the prior period related to Steward, a $964,000 increase due to the write-off of straight-line rent receivables in the prior period related to GenesisCare, a $769,000 increase as a result of new and renewal leasing activity, a $696,000 increase in accelerated amortization of below-market lease intangible liabilities related to properties formerly leased to GenesisCare,
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a $677,000 increase in rent recognized on cash basis as a result of two tenants with payment uncertainty who were paying less rent in the prior period being compared and had annual base rent escalations in the current year being compared, a $639,000 increase in annual base rent escalations for leases indexed to CPI, a $173,000 increase attributable to the amortization of the GenesisCare Severance Fee and a $140,000 increase due to the write-off of straight-line rent receivables in the prior period related to a tenant at a multi-tenant property, partially offset by a $998,000 decrease resulting from the Steward lease termination, a $483,000 decrease as a result of entering into lease agreements with new tenants for lower rental rates at properties formerly leased to GenesisCare, a $457,000 increase in accelerated amortization of above-market lease intangible assets as a result of lease amendments, and a $428,000 decrease due to certain amended leases with lower rental rates in exchange for longer lease terms.
•Same store tenant reimbursements increased primarily due to higher operating costs in the current year which are generally passed along to our tenants.
•Non-same store rental revenue decreased primarily due to a $18,158,000 decrease from properties sold since January 1, 2023, a $2,407,000 increase in accelerated amortization of above-market lease intangibles related to properties formerly leased to GenesisCare, and a $889,000 decrease related to a re-development property that was formerly leased to GenesisCare, partially offset by a $12,705,000 increase attributable to properties acquired since January 1, 2023, a $1,342,000 increase in accelerated amortization of below-market lease intangible liabilities related to properties formerly leased to GenesisCare, a $666,000 increase due to the write-off of straight-line rent receivables in the prior period related to GenesisCare, and a $465,000 increase due to the write-off of straight-line rent receivables in the prior period as a result of tenant uncertainty. In addition, we recognized lease termination income of $4,098,000 during the year ended December 31, 2024 and $5,650,000 of lease termination income during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•Non-same store tenant reimbursements increased primarily due to properties acquired since January 1, 2023.
•There were no material changes in other operating income.
Changes in our expenses are summarized in the following table (amounts in thousands):
Year EndedDecember 31,
Listing-related expenses 3,012 — 3,012 n/a
•Same store rental expenses increased primarily due to a $631,000 increase in non-reimbursable operating costs resulting from the Steward lease termination, and a $672,000 increase in expenses, certain of which are subject to reimbursement by our tenants, due to higher operating costs in the current period.
•Non-same store rental expenses, certain of which are subject to reimbursement by our tenants, increased primarily due to a $1,870,000 increase from properties acquired since January 1, 2023, partially offset by a $231,000 decrease primarily attributable to properties sold since January 1, 2023.
•Listing-related expenses of $3,012,000 were recorded during the year ended December 31, 2024, consisting of advisory fees for legal, banking, and other advisory services, related to the Listing on June 13, 2024.
•General and administrative expenses increased primarily due to a $2,655,000 increase in personnel costs primarily attributable to separation pay resulting from the departure of our former chief accounting officer and former chief investment officer and performance bonuses, a $618,000 increase in accelerated stock-based compensation as a result of accelerated awards due to severance, and a $463,000 increase in other administrative costs primarily due to audit and tax fees, partially offset by a $1,052,000 decrease in stock-based compensation, a $891,000 decrease in costs primarily attributable to transfer agent and custodial fees as result of the Listing, a $203,000 decrease in legal fees, and a $150,000 decrease in directors and officers insurance expense.
•Depreciation and amortization increased primarily due to a $6,723,000 increase due to properties acquired since January 1, 2023, a $3,516,000 increase in accelerated amortization of in-place lease intangible assets related to properties formerly leased to GenesisCare, and a $181,000 increase due to assets placed in service since January 1, 2023, partially offset by a
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$8,058,000 decrease from property dispositions, a $1,035,000 decrease related to properties impaired in prior periods, and a $866,000 decrease attributable to fully amortized in-place lease intangible assets and fully depreciated tenant improvements.
•Impairment and disposition losses were recorded in the aggregate amount of $1,210,000 during the year ended December 31, 2024, attributable to the disposition of the Fort Myers Healthcare Facilities. We recorded impairment losses on real estate of $20,242,000 during the year ended December 31, 2023, of which $8,242,000 was a result of triggering events at properties leased or formerly leased to GenesisCare, $10,595,000 was recorded relating to Steward, and $1,405,000 was recorded as a result of a property sale. In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded goodwill impairment losses on real estate of $4,010,000, of which $2,422,000 was a result of property sales and tenant related triggering events that occurred at certain properties, $1,238,000 was a result of triggering events at properties leased or formerly leased to GenesisCare, and $350,000 was related to Steward.
Changes in other (expense) income are summarized in the following table (amounts in thousands):
Year EndedDecember 31,
•During the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized a gain on disposition on two real estate properties. On January 31, 2024, we sold one property for a sales price of $1,500,000, resulting in a gain on sale of $76,000. On December 10, 2024, we sold the Yucca Valley Healthcare Facility for a sales price of $1,700,000, resulting in a gain on sale of $265,000. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized a gain on disposition on two real estate properties. On September 29, 2023, we sold one property for a sales price of $250,000, resulting in a gain on sale of $1,000. On March 31, 2023, we sold one property for a sales price of $12,500,000, resulting in a gain on sale of $21,000.
•Interest and other income increased primarily due to increases in dividend income from money market funds.
•Interest expense decreased primarily due to a $1,481,000 decrease related to a reduction in the weighted average outstanding principal balance on our credit facility of $45,631,000 and a decrease of $1,157,000 related to a reduction in the weighted average interest rate on our credit facility, partially offset by a $520,000 increase in amortization of deferred financing costs and a $228,000 increase in loss on extinguishment of debt.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal uses of funds are for acquisitions of real estate and real estate-related investments, capital expenditures, operating expenses, distributions to, and share repurchases from, stockholders, and principal and interest payments on current and future indebtedness. While interest rates on variable rate debt increased in recent years and then declined some due to the recent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, we believe our exposure to increased or fluctuating interest rates is limited at this time due to our hedging strategy, which has effectively fixed 100% of our outstanding debt as of December 31, 2024, and therefore allowed us to reasonably project our liquidity needs. Generally, cash for these items is generated from operations of our current and future investments. Our sources of funds are primarily operating cash flows, our credit facility and other potential borrowings.
When we acquire a property, we prepare a capital plan that contemplates the estimated capital needs of that investment. In addition to operating expenses, capital needs may also include, for example, costs of refurbishment, tenant improvements or other major capital expenditures. The capital plan also sets forth the anticipated sources of the necessary capital, which may include a line of credit, operating cash generated by the investment, additional equity investments from us, and when necessary, capital reserves. The capital plan for each investment will be adjusted through ongoing, regular reviews of our portfolio or, as necessary, to respond to unanticipated additional capital needs.
Short-term Liquidity and Capital Resources
For at least the next twelve months, we expect our principal demands for funds will be for operating expenses, including our general and administrative expenses, as well as the acquisition of real estate and real estate-related investments, including mezzanine loans, and funding of capital improvements and tenant improvements, distributions to, and potential stock repurchases from, stockholders, and interest payments on our credit facility. We expect to meet our short-term liquidity
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requirements through net cash flows provided by operations and borrowings on our credit facility and potential other borrowings.
We believe we will have sufficient liquidity available to meet our obligations in a timely manner, under both normal and stressed conditions, for the next twelve months. In addition, we expect that the Listing will enhance our liquidity given that we now have publicly-traded stock. We may issue such publicly-traded stock within the next twelve months, afterwards, or both to raise funds to meet our liquidity needs.
Long-term Liquidity and Capital Resources
Beyond the next twelve months, we expect our principal demands for funds will be for costs to acquire additional real estate properties, interest and principal payments on our credit facility, long-term capital investment demands for our real estate properties and distributions necessary to maintain our REIT status.
We currently expect to meet our long-term liquidity requirements through proceeds from cash flows from operations and borrowings on our credit facility, potential other borrowings and potential equity offerings.
We expect to pay distributions to our stockholders from cash flows from operations; however, we have used, and may continue to use, other sources to fund distributions, as necessary. To the extent cash flows from operations are lower due to lower-than-expected returns on the properties held or the disposition of properties, distributions paid to stockholders may be lower. We currently expect that substantially all net cash flows from our operations will be used to fund acquisitions, certain capital expenditures identified at acquisition, ongoing capital expenditures, interest and principal payments on outstanding debt and distributions to our stockholders.
Material Cash Requirements
As of December 31, 2024, we had $39,844,000 in cash and cash equivalents. In addition to the cash we need to conduct our normal business operations, we expect to require $44,584,000 in cash over the next twelve months, of which $24,259,000 is related to estimated interest payments on our outstanding debt (calculated based on our effective interest rates as of December 31, 2024), $17,543,000 is related to unfunded loan commitment amounts undrawn on our mezzanine loans, and $2,782,000 is related to our various obligations as lessee. We cannot provide assurances, however, that actual expenditures will not exceed these estimates. In addition, we may provide capital expenditure or tenant improvement allowances in new or renewal leases for the purpose of refurbishing or renovating tenant space. We may also assume tenant improvement obligations included in leases acquired in our real estate acquisitions. Many of these allowances are subject to contingencies that make it difficult to predict when they will be utilized, if at all.
As of December 31, 2024, we had material obligations beyond twelve months in the amount of $679,195,000, inclusive of $564,548,000 related to principal and estimated interest payments on our outstanding debt (calculated based on our effective interest rates as of December 31, 2024) and $114,647,000 related to our various obligations as lessee.
One of our principal liquidity needs is the payment of principal and interest on outstanding indebtedness. As of December 31, 2024, we had $525,000,000 of principal outstanding under our Unsecured Credit Facility (as defined below). We are required by the terms of certain loan documents relating to the Unsecured Credit Facility to meet certain covenants, such as financial ratios and reporting requirements. As of December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all such covenants and requirements on our Unsecured Credit Facility.
As of December 31, 2024, the aggregate notional amount under our derivative instruments was $525,000,000. We have agreements with each derivative counterparty that contain cross-default provisions; if we default on our indebtedness, then we could also be declared in default on our derivative obligations, resulting in an acceleration of payment of any net amounts due under our derivative contracts. As of December 31, 2024, we were in compliance with all such cross-default provisions.
Debt Service Requirements
Credit Facility
As of December 31, 2024, the maximum commitments available under our senior unsecured revolving line of credit with Truist Bank, as Administrative Agent for the lenders, or the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement, were $500,000,000, which may be increased, subject to lender approval, through incremental term loans and/or revolving loan commitments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $1,000,000,000. The maturity date for the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement is February 15, 2026, which, at our election, may be extended for a period of six-months on no more than two occasions, subject to certain conditions, including the payment of an extension fee. As of December 31, 2024, the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement had no outstanding principal balance.
As of December 31, 2024, the maximum commitments available under the 2027 Term Loan Agreement, were $250,000,000, which may be increased, subject to lender approval, to an aggregate amount not to exceed $500,000,000. The
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2027 Term Loan Agreement has a maturity date of March 20, 2027, and, at our election, may be extended for a period of one year on no more than two occasions, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including the payment of an extension fee. The 2027 Term Loan Agreement was entered into on March 20, 2024, to replace our prior senior unsecured term loan with Truist Bank, as Administrative Agent for the lenders, that had a maturity date of December 31, 2024, or the 2024 Term Loan, which was paid off in its entirety upon closing of the 2027 Term Loan Agreement. As of December 31, 2024, the 2027 Term Loan Agreement had an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $250,000,000.
As of December 31, 2024, the maximum commitments available under our senior unsecured term loan with Truist Bank, as Administrative Agent for the lenders, or the 2028 Term Loan Agreement, were $275,000,000, which may be increased, subject to lender approval, to an aggregate amount not to exceed $500,000,000 and has a maturity date of January 31, 2028. The 2028 Term Loan Agreement is pari passu with our 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement and 2027 Term Loan Agreement. As of December 31, 2024, the 2028 Term Loan Agreement had an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $275,000,000.
We refer to the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement, the 2027 Term Loan Agreement and the 2028 Term Loan Agreement, collectively, as the “Unsecured Credit Facility,” which has aggregate commitments available of $1,025,000,000, as of December 31, 2024. Generally, the proceeds of loans made under our Unsecured Credit Facility may be used for acquisition of real estate investments, funding of tenant improvements and leasing commissions with respect to real estate, repayment of indebtedness, funding of capital expenditures with respect to real estate, and general corporate and working capital purposes.
As of December 31, 2024, we had a total pool availability under our Unsecured Credit Facility of $1,025,000,000 and an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $525,000,000; therefore, $500,000,000 was available to be drawn under our Unsecured Credit Facility. We were in compliance with all the financial covenant requirements of the Unsecured Credit Facility as of December 31, 2024.
On February 18, 2025, we entered into a senior unsecured revolving credit agreement, or the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement, with Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent for the lenders, for aggregate commitments available of up to $600,000,000, which may be increased, subject to lender approval, through incremental term loans and/or revolving loan commitments in an aggregate amount not to exceed $1,500,000,000. The maturity date for the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement is February 16, 2029, which, at our election, may be extended for a period of six-months on no more than two occasions, subject to certain conditions, including a payment of an extension fee. The 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement was entered into to replace the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement, which had a maturity date of February 15, 2026, with the option to extend for two six-month periods. We did not exercise the option to extend. Upon closing of the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement, we extinguished all commitments associated with the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement. At the Company’s election, borrowings under the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement may be made as Base Rate loans or Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, loans. The applicable margin for loans that are Base Rate loans is adjustable based on a total leverage ratio, ranging from 0.25% to 0.90%. The applicable margin for loans that are SOFR loans is adjustable based on a total leverage ratio, ranging from 1.25% to 1.90%. In addition to interest, the Company is required to pay a fee on the unused portion of the lenders’ commitments under the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement at a rate per annum equal to 0.20% if the average daily amount outstanding under the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement is less than 50% of the aggregate commitments, or 0.15% if the average daily amount outstanding under the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement is equal to or greater than 50% of the aggregate commitments. The unused fee is payable quarterly in arrears. Additionally, upon closing of the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement, the Company entered into a First Amendment to the 2027 Term Loan Agreement and a Second Amendment to the 2028 Term Loan Agreement, to align certain terms and covenants to the 2029 Revolving Credit Agreement.
Cash Flows
Year Ended December 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2023
Year EndedDecember 31,
Operating Activities
•Net cash provided by operating activities increased primarily due to cash collected for rent resulting from property acquisitions, annual rent increases, dividend income from money market funds and a decrease in interest paid on our credit facility, partially offset by a decrease in cash due to property dispositions, vacancies, and lease terminations with Steward and GenesisCare.
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Investing Activities
Significant investing activities included:
•Investment of $164,053,000 to purchase eight properties in four separate transactions during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to an investment of $69,822,000 to purchase two properties during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•Received $17,705,000 from the sale of four properties during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to receiving $270,306,000 from the sale of three properties during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•Incurred capital expenditures, primarily for tenant improvements, of $2,989,000 during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to incurring $3,177,000 during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Financing Activities
Significant financing activities included:
•Payment of $81,367,000 in cash distributions to common stockholders, including cash distributions on vested performance-based deferred stock unit awards, during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $66,515,000 during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•Tender Offer repurchase of $50,000,000 of Common Stock and $2,093,000 of costs and fees related to the Tender Offer during the year ended December 31, 2024.
•Repurchase of $9,402,000 of Common Stock pursuant to the Terminated SRP and for the net settlement of withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of restricted stock during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $12,374,000 during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•Payment of $2,578,000 in deferred financing costs as a result of entering into the 2027 Term Loan Agreement during the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to $193,000 during the year ended December 31, 2023.
•The following Unsecured Credit Facility related activity during the year ended December 31, 2024:
◦Replacement of $250,000,000 on our prior term loan with borrowings from the 2027 Term Loan Agreement.
◦Draw of $20,000,000 on the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement to fund an acquisition.
◦Repayment of $20,000,000 on the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement with proceeds from dispositions and cash flows from operations.
•The following Unsecured Credit Facility related activity during the year ended December 31, 2023:
◦Repayment of $58,000,000 on the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement with cash flows from operations and proceeds from a disposition.
◦Repayment of $50,000,000 on the 2024 Term Loan Agreement with proceeds from a disposition, the collection of a note receivable related to a disposition and cash flows from operations; and
◦Draw of $50,000,000 on the 2026 Revolving Credit Agreement to fund an acquisition.
Distributions to Stockholders
We have paid, and may continue to pay, distributions from sources other than from our cash flows from operations. For the year ended December 31, 2024, our cash flows provided by operations of approximately $132,847,000 covered 100% of our ordinary distributions paid (total ordinary distributions were approximately $91,346,000, of which $81,367,000 was cash and $9,979,000 was reinvested in shares of our common stock pursuant to the DRIP) during such period. For the year ended December 31, 2023, our cash flows provided by operations of approximately $128,924,000 covered 100% of our ordinary distributions paid (total ordinary distributions were approximately $91,266,000, of which $66,515,000 was cash and $24,751,000 was reinvested in shares of our common stock pursuant to the DRIP) during such period.
We do not currently have any limits on the sources of funding distribution payments to our stockholders. We may pay distributions from any source, such as the sale of assets, the sale of additional securities, offering proceeds, and borrowings, and we do not currently have any limits on the amounts we may pay from such sources. See “Risk Factors – General Risk Factors – Distributions paid from sources other than our cash flows from operations, including from the proceeds of any offerings of our securities, will result in us having fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and real estate-related investments, which may adversely affect our ability to fund future distributions with cash flows from operations and may adversely affect a stockholder’s overall return” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of risks related to funding distribution payments from various sources.
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For federal income tax purposes, distributions to common stockholders are characterized as ordinary dividends, capital gain distributions, or nontaxable distributions. To the extent that we make a distribution in excess of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, such excess will be a nontaxable return of capital, reducing the tax basis in each U.S. stockholder’s shares. Further, the amount of distributions in excess of a U.S. stockholder’s tax basis in such shares will be taxable as a realized gain.
The following table shows the sources of distributions paid during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023:
Year Ended December 31,
Capital gain distributions — % — %
(1)Attributable to Class A shares, Class I shares, and Class T shares of common stock until the Listing and attributable to Common Stock after the Listing for the year ended December 31, 2024. Attributable to Class A shares, Class I shares, and Class T shares of common stock for the year ended December 31, 2023.
The amount of distributions payable to our stockholders is determined by the Board and is dependent on a number of factors, including our funds available for distribution, financial condition, lenders' restrictions and limitations, capital expenditure requirements, corporate law restrictions and the annual distribution requirements needed to maintain our status as a REIT under the Code. The Board must authorize each distribution and may, in the future, authorize lower amounts of distributions or not authorize additional distributions and, therefore, distribution payments are not guaranteed. Additionally, our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from unlimited amounts of any source, and we may use sources other than operating cash flows to fund distributions, which may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties or other permitted investments. We have funded distributions with operating cash flows from our properties and previously through funds equal to amounts reinvested in the DRIP. To the extent that we do not have taxable income, distributions paid will be considered a return of capital to stockholders.
In light of our intention to pursue the Listing, on April 5, 2024, the Board approved the termination of the DRIP, effective May 1, 2024. All participating DRIP stockholders will continue to receive their full declared distributions, which will be payable in cash as opposed to additional shares of Common Stock and will result in an increase in cash used in financing activities.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In the real estate industry, analysts and investors employ certain non-GAAP supplemental financial measures in order to facilitate meaningful comparisons between periods and among peer companies. We believe that these measures are useful to investors to consider because they may assist them to better understand and measure the performance of our business over time and against similar companies. We use the following non-GAAP financial measures: Funds From Operations, or FFO, Core Funds From Operations, or Core FFO, and Adjusted Funds From Operations, or AFFO.
Net Income and FFO, Core FFO and AFFO
A description of FFO, Core FFO, and AFFO and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, are provided below.
The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, or NAREIT, an industry trade group, has promulgated the FFO measure, which we believe is an appropriate additional measure to reflect the operating performance of a REIT. The use of FFO is recommended by the REIT industry as a supplemental performance measure. FFO is not equivalent to our net income as determined under GAAP.