Item 1.
Business
Organization
MHI Hospitality Corporation (the Company) is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment
trust, or REIT, that was formed in August 2004 to own, acquire, renovate and reposition full-service, primarily upper upscale and upscale hotel properties located in primary markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. On
December 21, 2004, we successfully completed our initial public offering and elected to be treated as a self-advised REIT for federal income tax purposes. We conduct our business through MHI Hospitality, L.P., our operating partnership, of
which we are the general partner. Our Company owns approximately 77.6% of the partnership units in our operating partnership. Limited partners (including certain of our officers and directors) own the remaining operating partnership units.
As of March 1, 2013, our portfolio consists of ten full-service, primarily upscale and upper upscale hotels located in
seven states with an aggregate of 2,424 rooms and approximately 120,200 square feet of meeting space. Nine of these hotels are wholly-owned by subsidiaries of our operating partnership and operate under the Hilton Worldwide, InterContinental Hotels
Group and Starwood Hotels and Resorts brands and are managed on a day to day basis by MHI Hotels Services, LLC (MHI Hotels Services). We also own a 25.0% indirect noncontrolling interest in the 311-room Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach
Resort through a joint venture with The Carlyle Group (Carlyle).
In order for us to qualify as a REIT, we cannot
directly manage or operate our hotels. Therefore, we lease our hotel properties to MHI Hospitality TRS, LLC, our TRS Lessee, which in turn has engaged MHI Hotels Services, an eligible independent management company, to manage our hotels. Our TRS
Lessee is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MHI Hospitality TRS Holding, Inc. (MHI Holding, and collectively, MHI TRS). MHI TRS is a taxable REIT subsidiary for federal income tax purposes.
Our corporate office is located at 410 West Francis Street, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185. Our telephone number is (757) 229-5648.
All references in this report to the Company, MHI, we, us and our refer to MHI Hospitality Corporation, its operating partnership and its subsidiaries and predecessors, unless the context
otherwise requires or where otherwise indicated.
Our Properties
In connection with our initial public offering, the Company acquired six hotel properties for aggregate consideration of approximately
$15.0 million in cash, 3,817,036 units of interest in our operating partnership and the assumption of approximately $50.8 million in debt. The six initial hotel properties, the Hilton Philadelphia Airport, the Holiday Inn Brownstone, the Holiday Inn
Downtown Williamsburg, the Hilton Wilmington Riverside, the Hilton Savannah DeSoto and the Holiday Inn Laurel West (formerly the Best Western Maryland Inn), are located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. On
July 22, 2005, we acquired our seventh hotel, the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront (formerly, the Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront) located in Jacksonville, Florida, for $22.0 million.
During 2006, we sold the Holiday Inn Downtown Williamsburg for $4.75 million. We also purchased the Louisville Ramada Riverfront Inn
located in Jeffersonville, Indiana for approximately $7.7 million including transfer costs and, after extensive renovations, re-opened the property in May 2008 as the Sheraton Louisville Riverside.
During 2007, through our joint venture with CRP/MHI Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Carlyle Realty Partners V, L.P., and Carlyle, we
acquired a 25.0% indirect, noncontrolling interest in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort, a 311-room hotel in Hollywood, Florida for approximately $75.8 million including
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transfer costs. We also purchased a hotel formerly known as the Tampa Clarion Hotel in Tampa, Florida for approximately $13.8 million including transfer costs, which, after extensive renovations,
re-opened in March 2009 as the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore.
During 2008, we acquired the Hampton Marina Hotel located in
Hampton, Virginia for approximately $7.8 million, including transfer costs. In October 2008, the hotel was re-branded and renamed the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina.
In connection with our initial public offering, the Company also acquired two leasehold interests in the Shell Island Resort, a 160-unit condominium resort property in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina,
which were purchased for $3.5 million. Our operating partnership entered into sublease arrangements to sublease our entire leasehold interests in the property at Shell Island to affiliates of MHI Hotels Services. Through December 2011, the
management company operated the property as a hotel and managed a rental program for the benefit of the condominium unit owners. Our operating partnership received fixed annual rent and incurred annual lease expenses in connection with the subleases
of such property. Consequent to the cancellation of the management companys contract to manage the condominium rental program and expiration of the underlying leases in December 2011, our operating partnership has and will continue to receive
a reduced set of minimum payments through December 2014.
See Item 2 of this Form 10-K for additional detail on our
properties.
Our Strategy and Investment Criteria
Our strategy is to grow through acquisitions of full-service, upper upscale and upscale hotel properties located in the primary markets of the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. We intend to grow
our portfolio through disciplined acquisitions of hotel properties and believe that we will be able to source significant external growth opportunities through our management teams extensive network of industry, corporate and institutional
relationships that reflect more than 80 years of collective industry experience.
The recessionary economic conditions
existing over the last several years have had a significant negative impact on the financial performance of many hotel properties. We believe that there will be a substantial number of opportunities to acquire hotel properties given the significant
decline in profitability throughout the industry over the last several years, the inability of many property owners to comply with their mortgage loan covenants and the inability of many property owners to refinance existing debt. Our management
will focus on acquiring full-service hotel properties that can be acquired at prices representing a significant discount to estimated replacement cost in our identified geographic markets. By acquiring such properties, we believe we can create
significant value and strong, risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders.
Our investment criteria are further detailed below:
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Geographic Growth Markets
: We focus on the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions of the United States. Our management team has a long history of
operating hospitality assets in these geographic markets and remains confident in the long-term growth potential associated with this part of the United States. These markets have historically been characterized by population growth, economic
expansion, growth in new businesses and growth in the resort, recreation and leisure segments. We will continue to focus on these markets, including coastal locations, and will investigate other markets for acquisitions only if we believe these new
markets will provide similar long-term growth prospects.
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Full-Service Hotels
: We focus our acquisition strategy on the full-service hotel segment. Our full-service hotels fall primarily under the
upscale to upper upscale categories and include such brands as Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton, Sheraton and Crowne Plaza. We do not own economy branded hotels. We believe that full-service hotels, with upscale to upper upscale brands will outperform
the broader U.S. hotel industry as the U.S. enters a period of recovery, and thus offer the highest returns on invested capital.
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Significant Barriers to Entry
: We intend to execute a strategy that entails the acquisition of hotels in prime locations with significant
barriers to entry. We seek to acquire properties that will benefit from the licensing of brands that are not otherwise present in the market and provide us with geographic exclusivity which helps to protect the value of our investment.
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Proximity to Demand Generators
: We seek to acquire hotel properties located near multiple demand generators for both leisure and business
travelers within the respective markets, including large state universities, airports, convention centers, corporate headquarters, sports venues and office parks.
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Since our initial public offering in 2004, we have focused on the acquisition of underperforming hotel properties that could be purchased
at significant discounts to replacement cost and were ideal candidates for renovation, up-branding and repositioning within a given market. In the near term, however, we believe that current market conditions will lead to an increase in hotel loan
foreclosures and distressed asset sales, which will present numerous opportunities to acquire well-positioned, performing upper upscale and upscale hotel properties at attractive prices. We intend to augment our historical acquisition strategy
accordingly.
We typically define underperforming hotels as those that are poorly managed, suffer from significant deferred
maintenance and capital improvement and that are not properly positioned in their respective markets. In pursuing these opportunities, we hope to improve revenue and cash flow and increase the long-term value of the underperforming hotels we
acquire. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a total investment that is substantially less than replacement cost of a hotel or the acquisition cost of a market performing hotel. In analyzing a potential investment in an underperforming hotel property,
we typically characterize the investment opportunity as one of the following:
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Up-branding Opportunity
: The acquisition of properties that can be upgraded physically and enhanced operationally to qualify for what we view as
higher quality franchise brands, including Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton, Crowne Plaza and Sheraton.
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Shallow-Turn Opportunity
: The acquisition of an underperforming but structurally sound hotel that requires moderate renovation to re-establish
the hotel in its market.
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Deep-Turn Opportunity
: The acquisition of a hotel that is closed or functionally obsolete and requires a restructuring of both the business
components of the operations as well as the physical plant of the hotel, including extensive renovation of the building, furniture, fixtures and equipment.
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Typically, in our experience, a deep turn opportunity takes a total of approximately three years from the initial acquisition of a property to achieving full post-renovation stabilization. Therefore, when
evaluating future opportunities in underperforming hotels, we intend to focus on up-branding and shallow-turn opportunities, and to pursue deep-turn opportunities on a more limited basis and in joint venture partnerships if possible.
Investment Vehicles
. In pursuit of our investment strategy, we may employ various traditional and non-traditional investment
vehicles:
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Direct Purchase Opportunity
: Our traditional investment strategy is to acquire direct ownership interests via our operating partnership in
properties that meet our investment criteria, including opportunities that involve full-service, upper upscale and upscale properties in identified geographic growth markets that have significant barriers to entry for new product delivery. Such
properties, or portfolio of properties, may or may not be acquired subject to a mortgage by the seller or third-party.
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Distressed Debt Opportunities
: In sourcing acquisitions for our core growth strategy, we may pursue investments in debt instruments that are
collateralized by hotel properties. In certain circumstances, we believe that owning these debt instruments is a way to (i) ultimately acquire the underlying real estate asset and (ii) provide a non-dilutive current return to our
stockholders in the form of interest payments derived from the ownership of the debt. Our principal goal in pursuing distressed debt opportunities is ultimately to acquire the underlying real estate. By owning the debt, we believe that we may be in
a position to acquire deeds to properties that fit our investment criteria in lieu of foreclosures.
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Joint Venture/Mezzanine Lending Opportunities
: We may, from time to time, undertake a significant renovation and rehabilitation project that we
characterize as a Deep-Turn Opportunity. In such cases, we may acquire a functionally obsolete hotel whose renovation may be very lengthy and require significant capital. In these projects, we may choose to structure such acquisitions as
a joint venture, or mezzanine lending program, in order to avoid severe short-term dilution and loss of current income commonly referred to as the negative carry associated with such extensive renovation programs. We will not pursue
joint venture or mezzanine programs in which we would become a de facto lender to the real estate community.
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Portfolio Management Strategy
. Our core strategy for our portfolio is intended to create value for stockholders by acquiring performing hotel properties at significant discounts to replacement
cost, as well as acquiring underperforming hotels and subsequently renovating, rehabilitating, repositioning and up-branding these assets. Once these assets have benefited from this turnaround strategy, they become part of our core
portfolio. We believe we can optimize performance within the portfolio by superior management practices and by timely and recurring capital expenditures to maintain and enhance the physical property.
In addition, we will seek to leverage our portfolio management expertise by investing in portfolios of hotel properties together with
institutional investors with whom we would enter into a joint venture. We expect that our investment into any such venture will not exceed 49.0% of the equity of such entity. Such portfolios may or may not include properties that fit with our
acquisition strategy. However, we believe the portfolio management fee that such an arrangement would generate, together with returns from well-positioned and well-managed properties, offers the prospect of additional value and strong, risk-adjusted
returns for our stockholders.
In April 2007, we entered into a program agreement and related operating agreements with
Carlyle that provided for the formation of entities to be jointly owned by us and Carlyle, to source, underwrite, acquire, develop and operate hotel assets and/or hotel portfolios. We completed one hotel acquisition through this joint venture.
We have engaged MHI Hotels Services, an eligible independent management company, to operate our hotels. MHI Hotels Services
and its predecessors have been in continuous operation since 1957. By using MHI Hotels Services as the management company, we intend to continue to capitalize on its extensive experience to seek above-average operating results. MHI Hotels Services
has operated for many years in markets where we have a presence, and its operations are driven by a focused sales, marketing and food and beverage strategy that is critical to the success of a full-service hotel.
Asset Disposition Strategy
. When a property no longer fits with our investment objectives, we will pursue traditional and
non-traditional means of disposal:
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Direct Sale
: Most commonly we will dispose of properties through a direct sale of the property for cash so that our investment capital can be
redeployed according to the investment strategies outlined above.
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Capital Recycling
: Under this asset disposition strategy, we will seek to purchase a hotel in connection with the requirements of a tax-free
exchange. Such a strategy may be deployed in order to mitigate the tax consequences to us that a direct sale might cause.
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Our Principal Agreements
Strategic Alliance Agreement
MHI Hotels Services is currently the management company for each of our hotels.
On December 21, 2004, we entered into a ten-year strategic alliance agreement with MHI Hotels Services pursuant to which
(i) MHI Hotels Services agrees to refer to us (on an exclusive basis) hotel acquisition opportunities in the United States presented to MHI Hotels Services, and (ii) unless a majority of our independent directors in good faith concludes
for valid business reasons that another management company should manage a hotel owned by us, we agree to offer MHI Hotels Services or its subsidiaries the right to manage hotel properties that we acquire in the United States.
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In addition, during the term of the agreement, which expires in December 2014, MHI Hotels
Services has the right to nominate one person for election to our board of directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, subject to the approval of such nominee by our Nominating, Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee (the NCGC
Committee) for so long as certain of our officers and directors, Andrew Sims, Kim Sims, and Christopher Sims, and their families and affiliates, hold, in the aggregate, not less than 1.5 million units or shares of our common stock.
Lease Agreements
In order for us to maintain qualification as a REIT, neither our company nor the operating partnership or its subsidiaries can operate our hotels directly. Our wholly-owned hotels are leased to our TRS
Lessee, which has engaged MHI Hotels Services to manage the hotels. Each lease for the wholly-owned hotels has a non-cancelable term of three to ten years, subject to earlier termination upon the occurrence of certain contingencies described in the
lease.
During the term of each lease, our TRS Lessee is obligated to pay a fixed annual base rent plus a percentage rent and
certain other additional charges. Base rent accrues and is paid monthly. Percentage rent is calculated by multiplying fixed percentages by gross room revenues, in excess of certain threshold amounts and is paid monthly or quarterly, according to the
terms of the agreement.
Management Agreements
Pursuant to the terms of two management agreements, we, through our TRS Lessee, have engaged MHI Hotels Services as the property manager for our existing hotel portfolio. One of the management agreements
covers all our wholly-owned hotels in our portfolio, excluding the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore. The second agreement relates to the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore. Except as described below, we intend to offer MHI Hotels Services the opportunity to
manage any hotels we acquire in the future that we lease to our TRS Lessee. In addition, the joint venture entity which leases the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort has also entered into a management agreement with MHI Hotels Services on terms
that vary from those described below. The following terms apply only to our wholly-owned hotels.
Term.
The management
agreements with MHI Hotels Services have initial terms of ten years from the date of commencement of management activities at each property. The term of the management agreements with respect to each hotel may be renewed by MHI Hotels Services for
two successive periods of five years each upon the mutual agreement of MHI Hotels Services and our TRS Lessee, subject to the satisfaction of certain performance tests, provided that at the time the option to renew is exercised, MHI Hotels Services
is not then in default under the management agreements. If at the time of the exercise of any renewal period MHI Hotels Services is in default, then the exercise of the renewal option will be conditional on timely cure of such default, and if such
default is not timely cured, then our TRS Lessee may terminate the management agreements. If MHI Hotels Services desires to exercise any option to renew, it must give our TRS Lessee written notice of its election to renew the management agreements
no less than 90 days before the expiration of the then current term of the management agreements.
Any amendment, supplement
or modification of the management agreements must be in writing signed by all parties and approved by a majority of our independent directors.
Amounts Payable under the Management Agreements.
MHI Hotels Services receives a base management fee, and, if the hotels exceed certain financial thresholds, an additional incentive management fee
for the management of our hotels.
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The base management fee for each of our initial hotels and for any subsequent hotels we
directly acquire will be a percentage of the gross revenues of the hotel and will be due monthly. The applicable percentage of gross revenue for the base management fee for each of our wholly-owned hotels is as follows:
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2015
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2014
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2013
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2012
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2011
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2010
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2009
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Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina
(1)
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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2.0
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%
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2.0
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%
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Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore
(2)
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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2.5
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%
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2.0
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%
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2.0
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%
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Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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DoubleTree by Hilton BrownstoneUniversity
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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Hilton Philadelphia Airport
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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Hilton Savannah DeSoto
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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Hilton Wilmington Riverside
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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Holiday Inn Laurel West
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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Sheraton Louisville Riverside
(3)
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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3.0
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%
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(1)
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In 2010, the management company abated the increase in management fee for the Crowne Plaza Hampton for 2010.
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(2)
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In January 2009, we entered a separate management agreement with MHI Hotels Services for the management of the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore. The provisions of the new
agreement related to base management fee are the same as those contained in the master management agreement. The provisions of the new agreement related to the incentive management fee are the same as those contained in the master management
agreement except that it is calculated separately and not aggregated with the other properties covered by the master management agreement.
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(3)
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Pursuant to the master management agreement, the term for each of the initial properties, which included the Holiday Inn Downtown Williamsburg, was 10 years. The
management company agreed to substitute the Sheraton Louisville Riverside for the Holiday Inn Downtown Williamsburg for remainder of the term of the agreement.
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The base management fee for a hotel acquired in the future which is first leased by our TRS Lessee, other than on the first day of a fiscal year, will be 2.0% for the partial year such hotel is first
leased and for the first full fiscal year such hotel is managed. There is no fee cap on the base management fee.
Subsequently Acquired Hotel Properties
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First full calendar year and any partial calendar year
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2.0
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%
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Second calendar year
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2.5
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%
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Third calendar year and thereafter
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3.0
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%
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The incentive management fee under the master management agreement, if any, will be due annually in
arrears within 90 days of the end of the fiscal year and will be equal to 10.0% of the amount by which the gross operating profit of all our hotels, with the exception of the Tampa property, on an aggregate basis for a given year exceeds the gross
operating profit for the same hotels, on an aggregate basis, for the prior year. The incentive fee may not exceed 0.25% of the aggregate gross revenue of all of the hotels included in the incentive fee calculation for the year in which the incentive
fee is earned. The calculation of the incentive fee will not include results of hotels for the fiscal year in which they are initially leased, or for the fiscal year in which they are sold, and newly acquired or leased hotels will be included in the
calculation beginning in the second full calendar year such hotel is managed. The management agreement for the management of the Tampa property includes a similar provision for payment of an incentive management fee on a stand-alone basis.
Early Termination.
The master management agreement may be terminated with respect to one or more of the hotels earlier
than the stated term, if certain events occur, including:
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a sale of a hotel or the substitution of a newly acquired hotel for an existing hotel;
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the failure of MHI Hotels Services to satisfy certain performance standards with respect to any of the future hotels or with respect to the six initial
hotels after the expiration of the initial 10-year term;
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in the event of a casualty to, condemnation of, or force majeure involving a hotel; or
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upon a default by MHI Hotels Services or us that is not cured prior to the expiration of any applicable cure periods.
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The management agreement for the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore may also be terminated for convenience with ninety days notice to MHI
Hotels Services.
Termination Fees.
In certain cases of early termination of the master management agreement with
respect to one or more of the hotels, we must pay MHI Hotels Services a termination fee, plus any amounts otherwise due to MHI Hotels Services pursuant to the terms of that management agreement. We will be obligated to pay termination fees in such
circumstances provided that MHI Hotels Services is not then in default, subject to certain cure and grace periods. There is no termination fee for the termination of the management agreement for our Tampa property.
New Acquisitions; Strategic Alliance Agreement
. Pursuant to the strategic alliance agreement with MHI Hotels Services, we have
agreed to engage MHI Hotels Services for the management of any hotels acquired in the future unless a majority of our independent directors in good faith concludes, for valid business reasons, that another management company should manage any newly
acquired hotels. If the management agreement terminates as to all of the hotels covered in connection with a default under the management agreement, the strategic alliance agreement will also terminate.
Franchise Agreements
Our hotels operate under franchise licenses from national hotel companies.
We
anticipate that most of the additional hotels we acquire will be operated under franchise licenses. We believe that the publics perception of quality associated with a franchisor is an important feature in the operation of a hotel. Franchisors
provide a variety of benefits for franchisees, which include national advertising, publicity and other marketing programs designed to increase brand awareness, training of personnel, continuous review of quality standards and centralized reservation
systems.
Our TRS Lessee holds the franchise licenses for our wholly-owned hotels. MHI Hotels Services must operate each of
our hotels it manages in accordance with and pursuant to the terms of the franchise agreement for the hotel.
The franchise
licenses generally specify certain management, operational, record keeping, accounting, reporting and marketing standards and procedures with which the franchisee must comply. Under the franchise licenses, the franchisee must comply with the
franchisors standards and requirements with respect to:
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training of operational personnel;
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maintaining specified insurance;
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the types of services and products ancillary to guest room services that may be provided;
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marketing techniques including print media, billboards, and promotions standards; and
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the type, quality and age of furniture, fixtures and equipment included in guest rooms, lobbies and other common areas.
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Additionally, as the franchisee, our TRS Lessee is required to pay the franchise fees
described below.
The following table sets forth certain information for the franchise licenses of our wholly-owned hotel
properties:
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Franchise
Fee
(1)
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Marketing/Reservation
Fee
(1)
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Expiration
Date
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Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina
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5.0
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%
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3.5
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%
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10/07/2018
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Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront
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5.0
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%
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3.5
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%
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04/01/2016
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Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore
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5.0
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%
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3.5
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%
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03/06/2019
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DoubleTree by Hilton Brownstone University
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5.0
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%
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4.0
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%
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11/30/2021
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Hilton Philadelphia Airport
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5.0
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%
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3.5
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%
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10/31/2014
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Hilton Savannah DeSoto
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5.0
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%
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4.0
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%
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07/31/2017
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Hilton Wilmington Riverside
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5.0
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%
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4.0
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%
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03/31/2018
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Holiday Inn Laurel West
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5.0
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%
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2.5
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%
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10/05/2015
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Sheraton Louisville Riverside
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5.0
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%
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3.5
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%
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04/25/2023
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(1)
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Percentage of room revenues payable to the franchisor.
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Tax Status
We elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code) commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2004. In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must meet a number of organizational and operational
requirements, including a requirement that we currently distribute at least 90.0% of our taxable income (excluding net capital gains) to our stockholders. We have adhered to these requirements each taxable year since our formation in 2004 and intend
to continue to adhere to these requirements and maintain our qualification for taxation as a REIT. As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal corporate income tax on that portion of our net income that is distributed to stockholders. If
we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year, and no relief provision applies, we will be subject to federal income taxes at regular corporate rates (including any applicable alternative minimum tax) and we would be disqualified
from re-electing treatment as a REIT until the fifth taxable year after the year in which we failed to qualify as a REIT. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain state and local taxes on our income and property, and
to federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, taxable income from non-REIT activities managed through taxable REIT subsidiaries is subject to federal, state and local income taxes.
Environmental Matters
In connection with the ownership and operation of the hotels, we are subject to various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and
regulations relating to environmental protection. Under these laws, a current or previous owner or operator of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances on, under, or in such property.
Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of hazardous or toxic substances. In addition, the presence of contamination from hazardous or toxic substances, or the
failure to remediate such contaminated property properly, may adversely affect the owners ability to borrow using such property as collateral. Furthermore, a person who arranges for the disposal or treatment of a hazardous or toxic substance
at a property owned by another, or who transports such substance to or from such property, may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of such substance released into the environment at the disposal or treatment facility. The costs of
remediation or removal of such substances may be substantial, and the presence of such substances may adversely affect the owners ability to sell such real estate or to borrow using such real estate as collateral. In connection with the
ownership and operation of the hotels, we may be potentially liable for such costs.
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We believe that our hotels are in compliance, in all material respects, with all federal,
state and local environmental ordinances and regulations regarding hazardous or toxic substances and other environmental matters, the violation of which would have a material adverse effect on us. We have not received written notice from any
governmental authority of any material noncompliance, liability or claim relating to hazardous or toxic substances or other environmental matters in connection with any of our present hotel properties.
Employees
As of
March 1, 2013, we employed seven full-time persons, six of whom work at our corporate office in Williamsburg, Virginia and one who works in our office in Rockville, Maryland. All persons employed in the day-to-day operations of the hotels are
employees of MHI Hotels Services, the management company engaged by our TRS Lessee to operate such hotels.
Available Information
We maintain an Internet site, http://www.mhihospitality.com, which contains additional information concerning MHI
Hospitality Corporation. We make available free of charge through our Internet site all our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, definitive proxy statements and other reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have also posted on this website our Code of Business Conduct and the
charters of our Audit and NCGC Committees of our board of directors. We intend to disclose on our website any changes to, or waivers from, our Code of Business Conduct. Information on our Internet site is neither part of nor incorporated into this
Form 10-K.
Item 1A.
Risk Factors
The risks discussed herein can adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, and financial condition. The risk factors
described below are not the only risks that may affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us also may adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Debt and Preferred Stock Financing and the Recent Economic Crisis
We have substantial financial leverage.
At December 31, 2012,
we had consolidated debt (net of unrestricted cash) of approximately $153.9 million. Historically, we have incurred debt for acquisitions and to fund our renovation, redevelopment and rebranding programs. Limitations upon our access to additional
debt could adversely affect our ability to fund these programs or acquire hotels in the future.
Our financial leverage could
negatively affect our business and financial results, including the following:
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require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing funds available for capital
expenditures, future business opportunities, paying dividends or other purposes;
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limit our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, renovation, redevelopment and rebranding plans, acquisitions, debt service
requirements and other purposes;
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limit our ability to refinance existing debt;
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require us to agree to additional restrictions and limitations on our business operations and capital structure to obtain financing;
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force us to dispose of one or more of our properties, possibly on unfavorable terms;
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increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions, and to interest rate fluctuations;
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force us to issue additional equity, possibly on terms unfavorable to existing shareholders;
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limit our flexibility to make, or react to, changes in our business and our industry; and
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place us at a competitive disadvantage, compared to our competitors that have less debt.
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Holders of our outstanding Preferred Stock have rights that are senior to the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, the rights of
the holders of the Preferred Stock may adversely affect our financial position.
On April 18, 2011, we completed a
$25.0 million private placement pursuant to which we issued 25,000 shares of our Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (Preferred Stock) and a warrant (Warrant) to acquire 1.9 million shares of our common stock.
In June 2012, we redeemed 11,514 shares of Preferred Stock for approximately $12.3 million plus the payment of accrued and unpaid cash and stock dividends.
The Preferred Stock has a mandatory redemption date of April 18, 2016 or upon the earlier occurrence of certain triggering events. In the event of a mandatory redemption, our obligation would be
approximately $14.2 million plus any accrued, but unpaid, dividends as well as any pre-payment fee if redeemed prior to April 18, 2014. In order to satisfy any mandatory redemption, we may be required to borrow money, issue equity securities or
sell assets to meet this obligation, which could impair our ability to raise the funds necessary to operate our business, involve dilution to holders of our common stock or require the disposition of key assets.
In the event the Company is liquidated while the Preferred Stock is outstanding, holders of the Preferred Stock will be entitled to
receive a preferred liquidation distribution, plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends, before holders of common stock receive any distributions.
The holders of the Preferred Stock have a right to payment of a cumulative dividend payable (i) in cash at an annual rate of 10% and (ii) in additional shares of the Preferred Stock at an annual
rate of 2% of the liquidation preference per share. The payment of the cash dividend is expected to continue to result in reduced capital resources available to the Company.
The holders of the Companys Preferred Stock will have the exclusive right, voting separately as a single class, to elect one member of the Companys board of directors. In addition, under
certain circumstances, the holders of the Preferred Stock will be entitled to appoint a majority of the members of the board.
The holders of the Preferred Stock may have different interests from the holders of the common stock and the exercise by the holders of
the Preferred Stock of their rights may be deemed adverse to the holders of the common stock as well as have an adverse effect on our financial position. The exercise price per share of common stock covered by the Warrant will be adjusted from time
to time in the event of cash dividends upon common stock by deducting from such exercise price the per share amount of such cash dividends. Such adjustment does not take into account quarterly dividends declared prior to January 1, 2012.
The exercise of the Warrant may have an adverse effect on the holders of shares of common stock.
The exercise of the Warrant we issued in our recent Preferred Stock private placement could negatively affect the price of our common
stock. The holders of the Warrant may freely exercise the Warrant and such holders will have the right to require the Company, subject to certain limitations, to effect the registration under the Securities Act of all or any portion of the shares of
common stock held by such holders for the sale of the common stock. If the holders of the Warrant elect to exercise the Warrant and sell a material amount of the underlying shares of common stock, the increase in selling activity could negatively
affect the price of our common stock. In addition, the exercise of the Warrant would dilute the ownership interest of our existing holders of our shares of common stock.
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We have debt obligations maturing in 2013 and 2014, and if we are not successful in extending the term
of this indebtedness or in refinancing this debt on acceptable economic terms or at all, our overall financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
We will be required to seek additional capital in the near future to refinance or replace existing long-term mortgage debt that is maturing. Based on current market conditions, the availability of
financing is, and may continue to be, limited. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain future financings on acceptable terms, if at all. In June 2013, the mortgage on the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina matures. In August 2014, our
indebtedness to an affiliate of the Carlyle Group related to our joint venture investment in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort matures. In August 2014, the mortgage on our Hilton Philadelphia Airport matures, but we may extend such mortgage
until March 2017 pursuant to certain terms and conditions.
We will need to, and plan to, renew, replace or extend our
long-term indebtedness prior to their respective maturity dates. We are uncertain whether we will be able to refinance these obligations or if refinancing terms will be favorable. If we are unable to obtain alternative or additional financing
arrangements in the future, or if we cannot obtain financing on acceptable terms, we may not be able to execute our business strategies or we may be forced to dispose of hotel properties on disadvantageous terms. Moreover, the terms of any
additional financing may restrict our financial flexibility, including the debt we may incur in the future, or may restrict our ability to manage our business as we had intended. To the extent we cannot repay our outstanding debt, we risk losing
some or all of our hotel properties to foreclosure and we could be required to invoke insolvency proceedings including, but not limited to, commencing a voluntary case under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
If the current recovery is not sustained or slows, we may have difficulty refinancing existing indebtedness when it matures.
The amount of indebtedness lenders are willing to finance is generally limited to a percentage of a propertys fair market value.
Valuations of hotel properties can be derived from various approaches, but a critical factor in the valuation is the financial performance, or potential financial performance, of the hotel. In June 2013, the mortgage on the Crowne Plaza Hampton
Marina matures. Due to the propertys financial performance, it is unclear whether we will be able to refinance the mortgage under similar terms. We may be required to repay a portion of the indebtedness upon extension or refinance. In August
2014, our indebtedness to an affiliate of the Carlyle Group related to our joint venture investment in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort matures. In August 2014, the mortgage on the Hilton Philadelphia Airport matures, but may be extended
until March 2017 pursuant to certain terms and conditions. If we are unable to extend these loans, we may be required to repay a portion of such indebtedness upon refinance. If we do not have sufficient funds to repay any portion of the
indebtedness, it may be necessary to raise capital through additional debt financing, private or public offerings of debt securities or additional equity financings. If, at the time of any refinancing, prevailing interest rates or other factors
result in higher interest rates on refinancing, increases in interest expense would lower our cash flow, and, consequently, cash available for distribution to our stockholders. If we are unable to refinance our debt on acceptable terms, we may be
forced to dispose of hotel properties on disadvantageous terms, potentially resulting in losses and potentially reducing cash flow from operating activities if the sale proceeds in excess of the amount required to satisfy the indebtedness could not
be reinvested in equally profitable real property investments.
Our liquidity, including access to capital markets and financing, could
be constrained by limitations in the overall credit markets, our creditworthiness and our ability to comply with covenants in our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement.
Our ability to borrow under financial arrangements depends on our compliance with covenants in our Preferred Stock instrument and note
agreement, dated as of April 18, 2011, as amended, by and between the Company and Essex High Income Joint Investment Vehicle, LLC (the Note Agreement). Among other restrictions, these agreements limit the amount of leverage we are
allowed to undertake. To the extent that we are unable to maintain compliance with these and other requirements, due to one or more of the various risk factors discussed herein or otherwise, our ability to borrow, and our liquidity, would be
adversely impacted.
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Our borrowing costs are sensitive to fluctuations in interest rates.
While we have reduced the amount of floating rate debt over the last year, higher interest rates could increase our debt service
requirements and interest expense. Currently, our floating rate debt is limited to the mortgage on the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina, the mortgage on the Hilton Philadelphia Airport, the mortgage on the Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront and the
loan to an affiliate of the Carlyle Group related to our joint venture investment in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort. Each of these mortgages bears interest at rates tied to the 30-day London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and
provide for minimum rates of interest. To the extent that increases in the LIBOR rate of interest cause the interest on the mortgages to exceed the minimum rates of interest, we are exposed to rising interest rates.
Our mortgage on the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina matures over the next six months. Should we obtain new debt financing or refinance
existing indebtedness, we may increase the amount of floating rate debt that currently exists. In addition, adverse economic conditions could also cause the terms on which we borrow to be unfavorable.
Our shares may be delisted from the NASDAQ Global Market if the closing price for our shares is not maintained at $1.00 per share or higher.
NASDAQ imposes, among other requirements, listing maintenance standards as well as minimum bid and public float
requirements. The price of our shares must trade at or above $1.00 to comply with NASDAQs minimum bid requirement for continued listing on the NASDAQ Global Market.
If the closing price of our shares fails to meet NASDAQs minimum bid price requirement for 30 consecutive days, or if we otherwise fail to meet all other applicable requirements of the NASDAQ Global
Market, NASDAQ may make a determination to delist our shares of common stock. Any such delisting could have adverse effects by, among other things:
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Reducing the trading liquidity and market price of our common stock;
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Reducing the number of investors willing to hold or acquire our common stock, thereby restricting our ability to obtain equity financing;
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Causing an event of default under certain of our debt agreements, which could serve to accelerate the indebtedness; and
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Reducing our ability to retain, attract and motivate directors, officers and employees.
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Risks Related to Our Business and Properties
If the economy falls back into a recessionary period or fails to maintain positive growth, our operating performance and financial results may be harmed by declines in occupancy, average daily room
rates and/or other operating revenues.
The performance of the lodging industry and the general economy have
traditionally been closely linked. In an economic downturn, business and leisure travelers may seek to reduce costs by limiting travel and/or reducing costs on their trips. Our hotels, which are all full-service hotels, may be more susceptible to a
decrease in revenue, as compared to hotels in other categories that have lower room rates. A decrease in demand for hotel stays and hotel services will negatively affect our operating revenues, which will lower our cash flow and may affect our
ability to make distributions to stockholders and to maintain compliance with our loan obligations. We incurred a net loss of approximately $5.3 million for our 2012 fiscal year. A renewed economic downturn may produce continued losses. A weakening
of the economy may adversely and materially affect our industry, business and results of operations and we cannot predict the severity or duration of such a downturn. Moreover, reduced revenues as a result of a weakening economy may also reduce our
working capital and impact our long-term business strategy.
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We are subject to risks of increased hotel operating expenses and decreased hotel revenues.
Our leases with our TRS Lessee provide for the payment of rent based in part on gross revenues from our hotels. Our
TRS Lessee is subject to hotel operating risks including decreased hotel revenues and increased hotel operating expenses, including but not limited to the following:
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wage and benefit costs;
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repair and maintenance expenses;
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other operating expenses.
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Any increases in these operating expenses can have a significant adverse impact on our TRS Lessees ability to pay rent and other operating expenses and, consequently, our earnings and cash flow.
In keeping with our investment strategy, we may acquire, renovate and/or re-brand hotels in new or existing geographic markets as part
of our repositioning strategy. Unanticipated expenses and insufficient demand for newly repositioned hotels could adversely affect our financial performance and our ability to comply with covenants in our Preferred Stock instrument and Note
Agreement and to make distributions to our stockholders.
In May 2008, we opened the Sheraton Louisville Riverside
following an extensive 18-month renovation of the hotel. In addition, in April 2008 we acquired the Hampton Marina Hotel in Hampton, Virginia and subsequently renovated the property as a part of its re-branding as the Crowne Plaza Hampton Marina. In
March 2009, we opened the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore following a 16-month renovation of the hotel. In November 2011, our property in Raleigh, North Carolina was rebranded the DoubleTree by Hilton Brownstone University.
We may develop or acquire hotels in geographic areas in which our management may have little or no operating experience. Additionally,
those properties may also be renovated and re-branded as part of a repositioning strategy. Potential customers may not be familiar with our newly renovated hotel or be aware of the brand change. As a result, we may have to incur costs relating to
the opening, operation and promotion of those new hotel properties that are substantially greater than those incurred in other areas. These hotels may attract fewer customers than expected and we may choose to increase spending on advertising and
marketing to promote the hotel and increase customer demand. Unanticipated expenses and insufficient demand at new hotel properties, therefore, could adversely affect our financial performance and our ability to comply with covenants in our
Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and to make distributions to our stockholders.
We do not have the authority to require
any hotel to be operated in a particular manner or to govern any particular aspect of the daily operations of any hotel and as a result, our returns are dependent on the management of our hotels by MHI Hotels Services.
Under the terms of our management agreements with MHI Hotels Services and the REIT qualification rules, our ability to participate in
operating decisions regarding the hotels is limited. We will depend on MHI Hotels Services to operate our hotels as provided in the management agreements. We do not have the authority to require any hotel to be operated in a particular manner or to
govern any particular aspect of the daily operations of any hotel (for instance, setting room rates). Thus, even if we believe our hotels are being operated inefficiently or in a manner that does not result in satisfactory occupancy rates, revenue
per available room, which we refer to as RevPAR, and average daily rates, which we refer to as ADR, we may not be able to force MHI Hotels
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Services to change its method of operation of our hotels. Additionally, in the event that we need to replace MHI Hotels Services or any other management companies in the future, we may be
required by the terms of the applicable management agreement to pay substantial termination fees and may experience significant disruptions at the affected hotels.
Our ability to make distributions to our stockholders is restricted by the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and is subject to fluctuations in our financial
performance, operating results and capital improvements requirements.
As a REIT, we are required to distribute at
least 90.0% of our REIT taxable income, excluding net capital gains, each year to our stockholders. However, several factors may make us unable to declare or pay distributions to our stockholders, including poor operating results and financial
performance or unanticipated capital improvements to our hotels, including capital improvements that may be required by our franchisors.
We lease all of our hotels to our TRS Lessee. Our TRS Lessee is subject to hotel operating risks, including risks of sustaining operating losses after payment of hotel operating expenses, including
management fees. Among the factors which could cause our TRS Lessee to fail to make required rent payments are reduced net operating profits or operating losses, increased debt service requirements and capital expenditures at our hotels, including
capital expenditures required by the franchisors of our hotels. Among the factors that could reduce the net operating profits of our TRS Lessee are decreases in hotel revenues and increases in hotel operating expenses. Hotel revenue can decrease for
a number of reasons, including increased competition from a new supply of hotel rooms and decreased demand for hotel rooms. These factors can reduce both occupancy and room rates at our hotels.
Additionally, our ability to make distributions is constrained by the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement. While
our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement permit the minimum distributions that allow us to maintain our status as a REIT provided that no default or event of default exists at the time of the distribution and we do not incur indebtedness to
make the distribution, they provide additional conditions that must be met before payments in excess of the minimum distributions can be made. The Preferred Stock instrument requires a minimum liquidity position of $7.5 million as a condition to
payment of a dividend on common stock. The Note Agreement further provides that the Company may make additional dividend distributions if the Company has, and will have after giving effect to such distributions, at least $10.0 million in total cash
or cash equivalents. The holders of the Preferred Stock have a right to payment of a cumulative dividend payable (i) in cash at an annual rate of 10.0% and (ii) in additional shares of the preferred stock at an annual rate of 2.0% of the
liquidation preference per share.
Subject to the restrictions of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement, the
amount of any dividend distributions to holders of our common stock is in the sole discretion of our board of directors, which will consider, among other factors, our financial performance, debt service obligations, debt covenants and capital
expenditure requirements. We cannot assure you that we will continue to generate sufficient cash to fund distributions.
Geographic
concentration of our hotels makes our business vulnerable to economic downturns in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States.
Our hotels are located in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. Economic conditions in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States significantly affect our revenues and the value of our hotels.
Business layoffs or downsizing, industry slowdowns, changing demographics and other similar factors may adversely affect the economic climate in these areas. Any resulting oversupply or reduced demand for hotels in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern
United States and in our markets in particular would therefore have a disproportionate negative impact on our revenues and limit our ability to make distributions to stockholders.
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Our investment opportunities and growth prospects may be affected by competition for acquisitions.
We compete for investment opportunities with other entities, some of which have substantially greater financial
resources than we do. This competition may generally limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us, which may limit our ability to grow. This competition may also increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell
to us, making it more difficult for us to acquire new properties on attractive terms or at all.
If we fail to maintain an effective
system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately determine our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial results, which could harm our business and the value of our common
shares.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent
fraud. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires us to evaluate and report on our internal controls over financial reporting. Our internal controls and financial reporting are not subject to attestation by our independent
registered public accounting firm pursuant to the exemption provided to issuers that are not large accelerated filers or accelerated filers under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. While we
have undertaken substantial work to comply with Section 404, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in maintaining adequate internal controls over our financial reporting and financial processes in the future. We may in the future
discover areas of our internal controls that need improvement. Furthermore, as we grow our business, our internal controls will become more complex, and we will require significantly more resources to ensure our internal controls remain effective.
If we or our independent auditors discover a material weakness, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remedied, could reduce the market value of our common shares. Additionally, the existence of any material weakness or significant deficiency
would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant
deficiencies in a timely manner.
Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest of Our Officers and Directors
Conflicts of interest could result in our executive officers and certain of our directors acting in a manner other than in our stockholders
best interest.
Conflicts of interest relating to MHI Hotels Services, the entity that manages the properties, and
the terms of its management agreements may lead to management decisions that are not in the stockholders best interest.
Conflicts of interest relating to MHI Hotels Services may lead to management decisions that are not in the stockholders best interest. Certain of our officers and directors including Andrew M. Sims,
our chairman and chief executive officer and Kim E. Sims, who currently serves on our board of directors, together own a substantial interest in MHI Hotels Services which manages our hotel properties. In addition, until December 2014, unless a
majority of independent directors concludes otherwise, MHI Hotels Services has a right of first offer to manage hotels we acquire in the future, subject to certain exceptions, and receives substantial management fees based on the revenues and
operating profit of our hotels. Our management agreements with MHI Hotels Services, including the financial terms thereof, were not negotiated on an arms-length basis and may be less favorable to us than we could have obtained from third
parties.
Our management agreements establish the terms of MHI Hotels Services management of our hotels. Under certain
circumstances, if we terminate our master management agreement as to one of the hotels, we will be required to pay MHI Hotels Services a termination fee. If we were to terminate the master management agreement with respect to all covered hotels in
connection with a sale of those hotels, the aggregate termination fee would be approximately $4.1 million as of December 31, 2012. There is no termination fee for the termination of the management agreement for our Tampa property. As
significant owners of MHI Hotels
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Services, which would receive any management and management termination fees payable by us under the management agreement, Andrew M. Sims and Kim E. Sims may influence our decisions to sell a
hotel or acquire or develop a hotel when it is not in the best interests of our stockholders to do so. In addition, Andrew M. Sims will have conflicts of interest with respect to decisions to enforce provisions of the management agreement, including
any termination thereof.
There can be no assurance that provisions in our bylaws will always be successful in mitigating
conflicts of interest.
Under our bylaws, a committee consisting of only independent directors must approve any transaction
between us and MHI Hotels Services or its affiliates or any interested director. However, there can be no assurance that these policies always will be successful in mitigating such conflicts, and decisions could be made that might not fully reflect
the interests of all of our stockholders.
Certain of our officers and directors hold units in our operating partnership
and may seek to avoid adverse tax consequences, which could result from transactions that would otherwise benefit our stockholders.
Holders of units in our operating partnership, including members of our management team, may suffer adverse tax consequences upon our sale or refinancing of certain properties. Therefore, holders of
units, including Andrew M. Sims, Kim E. Sims and Edward S. Stein may have different objectives than holders of our common stock regarding the appropriate pricing and timing of a propertys sale, or the timing and amount of a propertys
refinancing. These individuals, together with their affiliates, owned as of December 31, 2012, in the aggregate, approximately 12.0% of the outstanding units in our operating partnership. These individuals may influence us not to sell or
refinance certain properties, even if such sale or refinancing might be financially advantageous to our stockholders, or they may influence us to enter into tax-deferred exchanges with the proceeds of such sales when such a reinvestment might not
otherwise be in our best interest.
Contractual obligations require us to nominate affiliates of the Sims family as two of
our directors.
Pursuant to a strategic alliance agreement we entered into in December 2004, during the term of the
agreement, which expires in 2014, MHI Hotels Services has a contractual right to nominate one person for election as a director, to our board of directors, and, pursuant to his employment agreement with us, Andrew M. Sims has the right to be
nominated as a director. These provisions in effect provide the Sims family and their affiliates the right to nominate two of our directors. As discussed herein, such persons have conflicts of interest with our company.
Our Preferred Stock instrument grants the right for election of one of our directors.
The holders of the Companys Preferred Stock have the exclusive right, voting separately as a single class, to elect one member of
the Companys board of directors. As discussed herein, such person has conflicts of interest with our Company. In addition, under certain circumstances, the holders of the Preferred Stock will be entitled to appoint a majority of the members of
the board of directors.
Our tax indemnification obligations, which were not the result of arms-length negotiations and which
apply in the event that we sell certain properties, could subject us to liability, which we currently estimate to be approximately $9.2 million, and limit our operating flexibility and reduce our returns on our investments.
If we dispose of certain of our initial hotels, we would be obligated to indemnify the original contributors (including their permitted
transferees and persons who are taxable on the income of a contributor or permitted transferee) against certain tax consequences of the sale pursuant to the tax indemnity agreements, the terms of which were not the result of arms-length
negotiations. These original contributors include Andrew M. Sims, our
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chairman and chief executive officer, William J. Zaiser, our former executive vice president and chief financial officer, Kim E. Sims, a current director, and Christopher L. Sims, a former
director. We have agreed to pay a certain amount of a contributors tax liability with respect to gains allocated to such contributor under Section 704(c) of the Code if we dispose of a property contributed by such contributor in a taxable
transaction during a protected period, which continues until the earlier of:
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10 years after the contribution of such property; or
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the date on which the contributor no longer owns, in the aggregate, at least 25.0% of the units we issued to the contributor at the time of its
contribution of property to our operating partnership.
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This tax indemnity will be equal to a certain amount
of the federal and state income tax liability a contributor incurs with respect to the gain allocated to such contributor upon such sale based on a sliding scale percentage. Specifically, we are responsible for indemnifying the contributors for
100.0% of their tax liability during the first five years after contribution and for 50.0% of their tax liability during the sixth year, and will indemnify them for: 40.0%, during the seventh year; 30.0%, during the eighth year; 20.0%, during the
ninth year; and 10.0%, during the tenth year. The terms of the tax indemnity agreements also require us to gross up the tax indemnity payment for the amount of income taxes due as a result of the tax indemnity payment. While the tax indemnities do
not contractually limit our ability to conduct our business in the way we desire, we are less likely to sell any of the contributed properties in a taxable transaction during the protected period because of the significant obligation we would have
to the contributors. Instead, we would likely hold the property for the entire protected period or seek to transfer the property in a tax-deferred like-kind exchange.
As eight years have elapsed since the properties were contributed, if we were to sell, during 2013 in a taxable transaction, the five initial hotels that were contributed to us in our initial public
offering in exchange for units immediately after the closing of our initial public offering, substituting our property in Jeffersonville, Indiana for the property in Williamsburg, Virginia, our estimated total tax indemnification obligation to our
indemnified contributors, including the gross-up payment, would be approximately $9.2 million and decreasing until the end of 2014 at which time the indemnification agreement expires.
Additionally, we agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts during the protected period to make available to certain contributors
opportunities to guarantee liabilities of our operating partnership. By guaranteeing liabilities of the operating partnership, the contributors will be entitled to defer recognition of gain in connection with the contribution of certain hotels. As a
consequence of the allocation of debt to them for tax purposes, by virtue of guaranteeing the liabilities of the operating partnership, contributors will not be deemed to have received a distribution under the applicable provisions of the Code. The
obligation to guarantee opportunities available to the contributors could adversely affect our ability to acquire additional properties in the future by reducing the amount of debt that could be guaranteed by other future contributors.
Our agreements with MHI Hotels Services and its affiliates, including the contribution agreements, management agreements, strategic alliance
agreement, subleases, partnership agreement of our operating partnership and employment agreements, were not negotiated on an arms length basis and may be less favorable to us than we could have obtained from third parties.
In connection with our initial public offering, we entered into various agreements with MHI Hotels Services and its affiliates, including
contribution agreements, a management agreement, a strategic alliance agreement, subleases, the partnership agreement of our operating partnership and employment agreements. In addition, we entered into separate management agreements with MHI Hotels
Services relating to our Tampa, Florida, property and our joint venture for the Hollywood, Florida, property. The terms of all of these agreements were determined by our management team, who had conflicts of interest as described above and ownership
interests in MHI Hotels Services and its affiliates. The terms of all of these agreements may be less favorable to us than we could have obtained from third parties.
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We may realize reduced revenue because our management company may experience conflicts of interest in
connection with the management of its other properties.
MHI Hotels Services may experience conflicts of interest in
connection with the management of other properties located nearby in the same geographic market as our hotel properties. Currently, MHI Hotels Services manages a small city-center property in the same geographic market as one of our initial hotel
properties and also manages another property in the same geographic market as a second initial hotel property. The fees that MHI Hotels Services earns for managing our properties are largely fixed under our management agreements and may be less than
the fees it earns for other properties it manages or may manage in the future. Because MHI Hotels Services oversees the marketing and solicitation of individual and group business, it may have a greater financial incentive to direct prospective
guests and customers to properties that we do not own.
Risks Related to the Hotel Industry
Our ability to comply with the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and
the value of our hotels in general, may be affected by factors in the lodging industry.
Operating Risks
Our hotel properties are subject to various operating risks common to the lodging industry, many of which are beyond our
control, including the following:
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competition from other hotel properties in our markets;
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over-building of hotels in our markets, which adversely affects occupancy and revenues at our hotels;
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dependence on business and commercial travelers and tourism;
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increases in energy costs and other expenses affecting travel, which may affect travel patterns and reduce the number of business and commercial
travelers and tourists;
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increases in operating costs due to inflation and other factors that may not be offset by increased room rates;
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changes in interest rates and in the availability, cost and terms of debt financing;
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changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance with laws and regulations,
fiscal policies and ordinances;
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adverse effects of international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions;
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adverse effects of a downturn in the lodging industry; and
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risks generally associated with the ownership of hotel properties and real estate, as we discuss in detail below.
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These factors could reduce the net income of our TRS Lessee, which in turn could adversely affect the value of our hotels and our ability
to comply with the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and to make distributions to our stockholders.
Competition for Acquisitions
We may compete for investment opportunities with entities that may have substantially greater financial resources than we do. These entities generally may be able to accept more risk than we choose to
prudently manage. This competition may generally limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us. This competition may also increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell to us, making it more difficult for us
to acquire new properties on attractive terms.
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Seasonality of Hotel Business
The hotel industry is seasonal in nature. This seasonality can be expected to cause quarterly fluctuations in our revenues. Our quarterly
earnings may be adversely affected by factors outside our control, including weather conditions and poor economic factors. As a result, we may have to enter into short-term borrowings in certain quarters in order to offset these fluctuations in
revenues and to make distributions to our stockholders.
Investment Concentration in Particular Segments of Single Industry
Our entire business is lodging-related. Therefore, a downturn in the lodging industry, in general, and the segments in
which we operate, in particular, will have a material adverse effect on the value of our hotels, our financial condition and the extent to which cash may be available for distribution to our stockholders.
Capital Expenditures
Our hotel properties have an ongoing need for renovations and other capital improvements, including replacements, from time to time, of furniture, fixtures and equipment. The franchisors of our hotels
also require us to make periodic capital improvements as a condition of keeping the franchise licenses. In addition, several of our mortgage lenders require that we set aside amounts for capital improvements to the secured properties on a monthly
basis. While reserve requirements vary among our lenders, the amount that our lenders would have required us to set aside for capital improvements in fiscal 2012 would have been approximately $2.6 million based on a capital improvements reserve rate
of 3.0% applied to our hotels gross revenues. For the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, we spent approximately $2.9 million and approximately $6.0 million, respectively, on capital improvements to our hotels. Capital improvements
and renovation projects may give rise to the following risks:
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possible environmental problems;
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construction cost overruns and delays;
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a possible shortage of available cash to fund capital improvements and the related possibility that financing for these capital improvements may not be
available to us on affordable terms; and
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uncertainties as to market demand or a loss of market demand after capital improvements have begun.
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The costs of all these capital improvements as well as future capital improvements could adversely affect our financial condition and
amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Operating our hotels under franchise agreements could increase our operating
costs and lower our net income.
Our hotels operate under franchise agreements which subject us to risks in the event
of negative publicity related to one of our franchisors.
The maintenance of the franchise licenses for our hotels is subject
to our franchisors operating standards and other terms and conditions. Our franchisors periodically inspect our hotels to ensure that our lessee, the management company and we follow their standards. Failure by us, our TRS Lessee or the
management company to maintain these standards or other terms and conditions could result in a franchise license being canceled. If a franchise license terminates due to our failure to make required improvements or to otherwise comply with its
terms, we may also be liable to the franchisor for a termination payment, which varies by franchisor and by hotel. As a condition of continuing a franchise license, a franchisor could also possibly require us to make capital expenditures, even if we
do not believe the capital improvements are necessary or desirable or will result in an acceptable return on our investment. Nonetheless, we may risk losing a franchise license if we do not make franchisor-required capital expenditures.
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If a franchisor terminates the franchise license, we may try either to obtain a suitable
replacement franchise license or to operate the hotel without a franchise license. The loss of a franchise license could significantly decrease the revenues at the hotel and reduce the underlying value of the hotel because of the loss of associated
name recognition, marketing support and centralized reservation systems provided by the franchisor. A loss of a franchise license for one or more hotels could materially and adversely affect our revenues. This loss of revenues could, therefore, also
adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations, our ability to comply with the terms of the Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and reduce our cash available for distribution to stockholders.
Hotel re-development is subject to timing, budgeting and other risks that would increase our operating costs and limit our ability to make
distributions to stockholders.
We intend to acquire hotel properties from time to time as suitable opportunities
arise, taking into consideration general economic conditions, and seek to re-develop or reposition these hotels. Redevelopment of hotel properties involves a number of risks, including risks associated with:
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construction delays or cost overruns that may increase project costs;
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receipt of zoning, occupancy and other required governmental permits and authorizations;
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development costs incurred for projects that are not pursued to completion;
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acts of God such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods or fires that could adversely impact a project;
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governmental restrictions on the nature or size of a project.
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We cannot assure you that any re-development project will be completed on time or within budget. Our inability to complete a project on
time or within budget would increase our operating costs and reduce our net income.
The hotel business is capital intensive and our
inability to obtain financing could limit our growth.
Our hotel properties will require periodic capital expenditures
and renovation to remain competitive. Acquisitions or development of additional hotel properties will require significant capital expenditures. In addition, several of our mortgage lenders require that we set aside annual amounts for capital
improvements to the secured property. We may not be able to fund capital improvements or acquisitions solely from cash provided from our operating activities because we must distribute at least 90.0% of our REIT taxable income, excluding net capital
gains, each year to maintain our REIT tax status. As a result, our ability to fund significant capital expenditures, acquisitions or hotel development through retained earnings is very limited. Consequently, we rely upon the availability of debt or
equity capital to fund any significant investments or capital improvements, but due to the recent recession and disruption of capital markets, these sources of funds may not yet be available to us on reasonable terms and conditions. Our ability to
grow through acquisitions or development of hotels will be limited if we cannot obtain satisfactory debt or equity financing which will depend on market conditions. Neither our charter nor our bylaws limit the amount of debt that we can incur.
However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain additional equity or debt financing or that we will be able to obtain such financing on favorable terms.
Uninsured and underinsured losses could adversely affect our operating results and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We maintain comprehensive insurance on each of our hotel properties, including liability, fire and extended coverage, of the type and
amount we believe are customarily obtained for or by hotel owners. There are no
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assurances that current coverage will continue to be available at reasonable rates. Various types of catastrophic losses, like earthquakes and floods, such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in
August 2005, losses from foreign terrorist activities such as those on September 11, 2001, or losses from domestic terrorist activities such as the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, may not be insurable or may not be economically
insurable. We do not intend to obtain terrorism insurance on our hotel properties because it is costly. Lenders may require such insurance and our failure to obtain such insurance could constitute a default under loan agreements. Depending on our
access to capital, liquidity and the value of the properties securing the affected loan in relation to the balance of the loan, a default could reduce our net income and limit our ability to obtain future financing.
In the event of a substantial loss, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover the full current market value or replacement
cost of our lost investment. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, we could lose all or a portion of the capital we have invested in a hotel, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the hotel. In that event, we
might nevertheless remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the property. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors might also keep us from using
insurance proceeds to replace or renovate a hotel after it has been damaged or destroyed. Under those circumstances, the insurance proceeds we receive might be inadequate to restore our economic position on the damaged or destroyed property.
Noncompliance with governmental regulations could adversely affect our operating results.
Environmental Matters
Our hotels may be subject to environmental liabilities. An owner of real property can face liability for environmental contamination created by the presence or discharge of hazardous substances on the
property. We may face liability regardless of:
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our knowledge of the contamination;
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the timing of the contamination;
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the cause of the contamination; or
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the party responsible for the contamination of the property.
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There may be unknown environmental problems associated with our properties. If environmental contamination exists on our properties, we
could become subject to strict, joint and several liability for the contamination by virtue of our ownership interest.
The
presence of hazardous substances on a property may adversely affect our ability to sell the property and we may incur substantial remediation costs. The discovery of environmental liabilities attached to our properties could have a material adverse
effect on our results of operations and financial condition and our ability to comply with our covenants and to pay distributions to stockholders.
Americans with Disabilities Act and Other Changes in Governmental Rules and Regulations
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the ADA, all public accommodations must meet various federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Compliance with the
ADAs requirements could require removal of access barriers, and non-compliance could result in the U.S. government imposing fines or in private litigants winning damages. If we are required to make substantial modifications to our hotels,
whether to comply with the ADA or other changes in governmental rules and regulations, our financial condition, results of operations and ability to comply with the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and to make distributions
to our stockholders could be adversely affected.
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Our hotels may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities which could cause us to incur
substantial costs.
The hotel properties that we acquire may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities for which
we may have no recourse, or only limited recourse, against the sellers. Contingent or unknown liabilities with respect to entities or properties acquired might include:
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liabilities for environmental conditions;
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losses in excess of our insured coverage;
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accrued but unpaid liabilities incurred in the ordinary course of business;
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tax, legal and regulatory liabilities;
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claims of customers, vendors or other persons dealing with the Companys predecessors prior to our formation or acquisition transactions that had
not been asserted or were unknown prior to the Companys formation or acquisition transactions; and
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claims for indemnification by the general partners, officers and directors and others indemnified by the former owners of our properties.
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In general, the representations and warranties provided under the transaction agreements related to the
sales of the hotel properties may not survive the closing of the transactions. While we will likely seek to require the sellers to indemnify us with respect to breaches of representations and warranties that survive, such indemnification may be
limited and subject to various materiality thresholds, a significant deductible or an aggregate cap on losses. As a result, there is no guarantee that we will recover any amounts with respect to losses due to breaches by the sellers of their
representations and warranties. In addition, the total amount of costs and expenses that may be incurred with respect to liabilities associated with these hotels may exceed our expectations, and we may experience other unanticipated adverse effects,
all of which may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Future terrorist activities may adversely affect, and create uncertainty in, our business.
Terrorism in the United States or elsewhere could have an adverse effect on our business, although the degree of impact will depend on a
number of factors, including the U.S. and global economies and global financial markets. Previous terrorist attacks in the United States and subsequent terrorism alerts have adversely affected the travel and hospitality industries over the past
several years. Such attacks, or the threat of such attacks, could have a material adverse effect on our business, our ability to finance our business, our ability to insure our properties and/or our results of operations and financial condition, as
a whole.
We face risks related to pandemic diseases, which could materially and adversely affect travel and result in reduced demand
for our hotels.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected by the effect of a pandemic disease on the
travel industry. For example, the outbreaks of SARS and avian flu in 2003 had a severe impact on the travel industry, and the outbreaks of H1N1 flu threatened to have a similar impact. A prolonged recurrence of SARS, avian flu, H1N1 flu or another
pandemic disease also may result in health or other government authorities imposing restrictions on travel. Any of these events could result in a significant drop in demand for our hotels and adversely affect our financial conditions and results of
operations.
General Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry
Illiquidity of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties and harm our financial condition.
Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, our ability to promptly sell one or more hotel properties in our portfolio in
response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions is limited.
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The real estate market is affected by many factors that are beyond our control, including:
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adverse changes in international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions;
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changes in interest rates and in the cost and terms of debt financing;
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absence of liquidity in credit markets which limits the availability and amount of debt financing;
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changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance with laws and regulations,
fiscal policies and ordinances;
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the ongoing need for capital improvements, particularly in older structures;
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changes in operating expenses; and
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civil unrest, acts of God, including earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in August 2005, which may
result in uninsured losses, and acts of war or terrorism, including the consequences of terrorist acts, such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001.
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We may decide to sell our hotels in the future. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any hotel property for the price or on
the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We also cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a hotel property.
We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a hotel property can be sold. We cannot
assure you that we will have funds available to correct those defects or to make those improvements. In acquiring a hotel property, we may agree to lock-out provisions that materially restrict us from selling that property for a period of time or
impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These factors and any others that would impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties could
have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition, as well as our ability to comply with the terms of our Preferred Stock instrument and Note Agreement and to pay distributions to stockholders.
Future acquisitions may not yield the returns expected, may result in disruptions to our business, may strain management resources and may result
in stockholder dilution.
Our business strategy may not ultimately be successful and may not provide positive returns
on our investments. Acquisitions may cause disruptions in our operations and divert managements attention away from day-to-day operations. The issuance of equity securities in connection with any acquisition could be substantially dilutive to
our stockholders.
Our hotels may contain or develop harmful mold, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of
remediating the problem.
When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may
occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing, as exposure to mold may cause
a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of significant mold at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold
from the affected property, which would reduce our cash available for distribution. In addition, the presence of significant mold could expose us to liability from our guests, employees or the management company and others if property damage or
health concerns arise and could harm our reputation.
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Increases in property taxes would increase our operating costs, reduce our income and adversely affect
our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Each of our hotel properties is subject to real and personal
property taxes. These taxes may increase as tax rates change and as the properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. If property taxes increase, our financial condition, results of operations and our ability to make distributions to
our stockholders could be materially and adversely affected and the market price of our common shares could decline.
Risks Related to Our
Organization and Structure
Our ability to effect a merger or other business combination transaction may be restricted by our
operating partnership agreement.
In the event of a change of control of our company, the limited partners of our
operating partnership will have the right, for a period of 30 days following the change of control event, to cause the operating partnership to redeem all of the units held by the limited partners for a cash amount equal to the cash redemption
amount otherwise payable upon redemption pursuant to the partnership agreement. This cash redemption right may make it more unlikely or difficult for a third party to propose or consummate a change of control transaction, even if such transaction
were in the best interests of our stockholders.
Provisions of our charter may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of
our company.
Aggregate Share and Common Share Ownership Limits
Our charter provides that no person may directly or indirectly own more than 9.9% of the value of our outstanding shares of capital stock
or more than 9.9% of the number of our outstanding shares of common stock. These ownership limitations may prevent an acquisition of control of our company by a third party without our board of directors approval, even if our stockholders
believe the change of control is in their interest. Our board of directors has discretion to waive that ownership limit if, including other considerations, the board receives evidence that ownership in excess of the limit will not jeopardize our
REIT status.
Authority to Issue Stock
Our amended and restated charter authorizes our board of directors to issue up to 49,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, to classify or reclassify any unissued
shares of common stock or preferred stock and to set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. Issuances of additional shares of stock may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our
company, including transactions at a premium over the market price of our stock, even if stockholders believe that a change of control is in their interest. We will be able to issue additional shares of common or preferred stock without stockholder
approval, unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our securities may be listed or traded.
Provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of our company.
Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, or the MGCL, may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change of control under
circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of shares of our common stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of such shares, including:
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business combination provisions that, subject to limitations, prohibit certain business combinations between us and an interested
stockholder (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns 10.0% or more of the voting power of our shares or an affiliate thereof) for five years after the most recent date on which the stockholder becomes an interested stockholder,
and thereafter imposes special appraisal rights and special stockholder voting requirements on these combinations; and
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control share provisions that provide that control shares of our company (defined as shares which, when aggregated with other
shares controlled by the stockholder, entitle the stockholder to exercise one of three increasing ranges of voting power in electing directors) acquired in a control share acquisition (defined as the direct or indirect acquisition of
ownership or control of control shares) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by our stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding all interested
shares.
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We have opted out of these provisions of the MGCL, in the case of the business combination
provisions of the MGCL by resolution of our board of directors, and in the case of the control share provisions of the MGCL pursuant to a provision in our bylaws. However, our board of directors may by resolution elect to opt in to the business
combination provisions of the MGCL and we may, by amendment to our bylaws, opt in to the control share provisions of the MGCL in the future. Our board of directors has the exclusive power to amend our bylaws.
Additionally, Title 8, Subtitle 3 of the MGCL permits our board of directors, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is
currently provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement takeover defenses, some of which (for example, a classified board) we do not currently yet have. These provisions may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition
proposal for our company or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company under the circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our common stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then current
market price.
Provisions in our executive officers employment agreements and the strategic alliance agreement may make a change
of control of our company more costly or difficult.
Our employment agreements with Andrew M. Sims, our chief
executive officer, David R. Folsom, our president and chief operating officer, and Anthony E. Domalski, our chief financial officer, contain provisions providing for substantial payments to these officers in the event of a change of control of our
company. Specifically, if we terminate these executives employment without cause or the executive resigns with good reason, which includes a failure to nominate Andrew M. Sims to our board of directors or his involuntary removal from our
board of directors, unless for cause or by vote of the stockholders, or if there is a change of control, each of these executives is entitled to the following:
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any accrued but unpaid salary and bonuses;
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vesting of any previously issued stock options and restricted stock;
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payment of the executives life, health and disability insurance coverage for a period of five years following termination;
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any unreimbursed expenses; and
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a severance payment equal to three times for Andrew M. Sims, David R. Folsoms and Anthony E. Domalskis respective combined salary and
actual bonus compensation for the preceding fiscal year.
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In addition, these executives will receive additional payments to
compensate them for the additional taxes, if any, imposed on them under Section 4999 of the Code by reason of receipt of excess parachute payments. We will not be able to deduct any of the above amounts paid to the executives for tax purposes.
These provisions may make a change of control of our company, even if it is in the best interests of our stockholders, more
costly and difficult and may reduce the amounts our stockholders would receive in a change of control transaction.
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Our ownership limitations may restrict or prevent you from engaging in certain transfers of our common
stock.
In order to maintain our REIT qualification, we cannot be closely held (i.e., more than 50.0% in value of our
outstanding stock cannot be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals during the last half of any taxable year (other than the first year for which a REIT election is made)). To preserve our REIT qualification, our charter contains
a 9.9% aggregate share ownership limit and a 9.9% common share ownership limit. Generally, any shares of our stock owned by affiliated persons will be added together for purposes of the aggregate share ownership limit, and any shares of common stock
owned by affiliated owners will be added together for purposes of the common share ownership limit.
If anyone transfers
shares in a way that would violate the aggregate share ownership limit or the common share ownership limit, or prevent us from continuing to qualify as a REIT under the federal income tax laws, those shares instead will be transferred to a trust for
the benefit of a charitable beneficiary and will be either redeemed by us or sold to a person whose ownership of the shares will not violate the aggregate share ownership limit or the common share ownership limit. If this transfer to a trust fails
to prevent such a violation or fails to preserve our continued qualification as a REIT, then we will consider the initial intended transfer to be null and void from the outset. The intended transferee of those shares will be deemed never to have
owned the shares. Anyone who acquires shares in violation of the aggregate share ownership limit, the common share ownership limit or the other restrictions on transfer in our charter bears the risk of suffering a financial loss when the shares are
redeemed or sold if the market price of our stock falls between the date of purchase and the date of redemption or sale.
The board of
directors revocation of our REIT status without stockholder approval may decrease our stockholders total return.
Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest
to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse
consequences on our total return to our stockholders.
The ability of our board of directors to change our major corporate policies may
not be in your best interest.
Our board of directors determines our major corporate policies, including our
acquisition, financing, growth, operations and distribution policies. Our board may amend or revise these and other policies from time to time without the vote or consent of our stockholders.
We do not have the ability to control the sale of any hotel properties acquired through our joint venture program with Carlyle.
We own, through our joint venture program with Carlyle, a 25.0% indirect noncontrolling interest in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach
Resort. Carlyle controls all major decisions relating to this investment, including, but not limited to, the sale of the property. We will not be able to control the timing and terms and conditions of sale of our interest in the Crowne Plaza
Hollywood Beach Resort.
Joint venture investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our
reliance on a joint venture partners financial condition and disputes between our joint venture partners and us.
In August 2007, we purchased a 25.0% indirect, noncontrolling interest in the Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort through a joint venture
with Carlyle. Carlyle owns a 75.0% controlling interest in the joint venture and is in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the property including, but not limited to, the method and timing of disposition of the property.
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We may co-invest in the future with Carlyle or other third parties through partnerships,
joint ventures or other entities, acquiring noncontrolling interests in or sharing responsibility for managing the affairs of a property, partnership, joint venture or other entity. In such event, we would not be in a position to exercise sole
decision-making authority regarding the property, partnership, joint venture or other entity. Investments in partnerships, joint ventures or other entities may, under certain circumstances, involve risks not present were a third party not involved,
including the possibility that partners or joint venture partners might become bankrupt or fail to fund their share of required capital contributions. Partners or joint venture partners may have economic or other business interests or goals, which
are inconsistent with our business interests or goals, and may be in a position to take actions contrary to our policies or objectives. Such investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we,
nor the partner or joint venture partner, would have full control over the partnership or joint venture. Disputes between us and partners or joint venture partners may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent
our officers and/or directors from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, actions by, or disputes with, partners or joint venture partners might result in subjecting properties owned by the partnership or joint venture to
additional risk. We may also, in certain circumstances, be liable for the actions of our third-party partners or joint venture partners. For example, we may be required to guarantee indebtedness incurred by a partnership, joint venture or other
entity for the purchase or renovation of a hotel property. Such a guarantee may be on a joint and several basis with our partner or joint venture partner in which case we may be liable in the event such party defaults on its guaranty obligation.
Our success depends on key personnel whose continued service is not guaranteed.
We depend on the efforts and expertise of our chairman and chief executive officer, Andrew M. Sims; our president and chief operating
officer, David R. Folsom; and our chief financial officer, Anthony E. Domalski, to manage our day-to-day operations and strategic business direction. The loss of any of their services could have an adverse effect on our operations.
Federal Income Tax Risks
The
federal income tax laws governing REITs are complex.
We intend to operate in a manner that will maintain our
qualification as a REIT under the federal income tax laws. The REIT qualification requirements are extremely complex, however, and interpretations of the federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT are limited. We have not applied for
or obtained a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) that we qualify as a REIT. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating so we can continue to qualify as a REIT. At any time, new laws,
interpretations or court decisions may change the federal tax laws or the federal income tax consequences of our qualification as a REIT. We cannot predict when or if any new federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or
any amendment to any existing federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders
could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation. We are not aware, however, of any pending tax legislation that would adversely affect our ability to qualify as a
REIT.
Failure to make distributions could subject us to tax.
In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, each year we must pay out to our stockholders in distributions at least 90.0% of our
REIT taxable income, excluding net capital gain. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution minimum, but distribute less than 100.0% of our taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income.
In addition, we will be subject to a 4.0% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than the minimum amount specified under federal tax laws. Our Preferred Stock instrument and Note
Agreement
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allow us to distribute the minimum amount necessary for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT provided that we meet certain conditions, including a requirement that no event of default
exists. Our only source of funds to make these distributions comes from rent and dividends we receive from our TRS Lessee, which in turn receives revenues from hotel operations. Accordingly, we may be required to borrow money or sell assets to make
distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4.0% nondeductible excise tax in a particular year.
Failure to qualify as a REIT would subject us to federal income tax.
If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we will be required to pay federal income tax (including any applicable alternative
minimum tax) on our taxable income at regular corporate rates. The resulting tax liability might cause us to borrow funds, liquidate some of our investments or take other steps that could negatively affect our operating results in order to pay any
such tax. Unless we are entitled to relief under certain statutory provisions, we would be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we lost our qualification. If we lost our REIT status, our net
earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders would be significantly reduced for each of the years involved. In addition, we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders, and any distributions that we do
make will not be deductible by us. This would substantially reduce our earnings, our cash available to pay distributions, and the value of our common stock.
Failure to qualify as a REIT may cause us to reduce or eliminate distributions to our stockholders, and we may face increased difficulty in raising capital or obtaining financing.
If we fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we may have to reduce or eliminate any distributions to our stockholders in
order to satisfy our income tax liabilities. Any distributions that we do make to our stockholders would be treated as taxable dividends to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. This may result in negative investor and
market perception regarding the market value of our common stock, and the value of your shares of our common stock may be reduced. In addition, we may face increased difficulty in raising capital or obtaining financing if we fail to qualify or
remain qualified as a REIT because of the resulting tax liability and potential reduction of our market valuation.
MHI Holding and our
TRS Lessee increase our overall tax liability.
MHI Holding and our TRS Lessee are subject to federal and state income
tax on their taxable income, which will consist of the revenues from the hotels leased by our TRS Lessee, net of the operating expenses for such hotels and rent payments to us. Accordingly, although our ownership of our TRS Lessee will allow us to
participate in the operating income from our hotels in addition to receiving rent, that operating income will be fully subject to income tax. The after-tax net income of our TRS Lessee is available for distribution to us.
We will incur a 100.0% excise tax on transactions with MHI Holding and our TRS Lessee that are not conducted on an arms-length
basis. For example, to the extent that the rent paid by our TRS Lessee to us exceeds an arms-length rental amount, such amount potentially will be subject to this excise tax. We intend that all transactions between us and MHI Holding and our
TRS Lessee will be conducted on an arms-length basis and, therefore, that the rent paid by our TRS Lessee to us will not be subject to this excise tax.
Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.
Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets. For example:
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we will be required to pay tax on undistributed REIT taxable income;
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we may be required to pay alternative minimum tax on our items of tax preference;
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if we have net income from the disposition of foreclosure property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business or other
non-qualifying income from foreclosure property, we must pay tax on that income at the highest corporate rate;
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if we sell a property in a prohibited transaction, our gain from the sale would be subject to a 100.0% penalty tax. A prohibited
transaction would be a sale of property, other than a foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business; and
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MHI Holding is a fully taxable corporation and is required to pay federal and state taxes on its income, which will consist of the revenues from the
hotels leased from our operating partnership, net of the operating expenses for such hotels and rent payments to us.
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Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego attractive opportunities that could otherwise generate strong risk-adjusted returns and
instead pursue less attractive opportunities, or none at all.
To qualify as a REIT for 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 our stock. Thus, compliance with the REIT
requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of generating strong risk-adjusted returns on invested capital for our stockholders.
Complying with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments, which could result in an overall loss on our investments.
To maintain qualification as a REIT, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter at least 75.0% of the value of our assets
consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified REIT real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities of one or more taxable REIT
subsidiaries) generally cannot include more than 10.0% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10.0% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5.0% of the
value of our assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 25.0% of the value of our total assets can
be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct such failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter to avoid losing
our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, and the failure exceeds a de minimis threshold, we may be able to preserve our REIT status if the failure was
due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. In this case, we will be required to dispose of the assets causing the failure within six months after the last day of the quarter in which the failure occurred, and we will be required to pay an
additional tax of the greater of $50,000 or the product of the highest applicable tax rate multiplied by the net income generated on those assets. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
Taxation of dividend income could make our common stock less attractive to investors and reduce the market price of our common stock.
The federal income tax laws governing REITs, or the administrative interpretations of those laws, may be amended at
any time. Any new laws or interpretations may take effect retroactively and could adversely affect us or could adversely affect you as a stockholder. Under recently-enacted legislation, qualified dividends, which include dividends from
domestic C corporations that are paid to non-corporate stockholders, are subject to a reduced rate of tax of 15.0% or 20.0% depending on the taxable income of a non-corporate stockholder and whether such taxable income exceeds certain thresholds.
Because REITs generally do not pay corporate-level taxes as a result of the dividends paid deduction to which they are entitled, dividends from REITs generally are not treated as qualified dividends and thus do not qualify for a reduced tax rate.
Non-corporate investors could view an investment in non-REIT corporations as more attractive than an investment in REITs because the dividends they would receive from non-REIT corporations would be subject to lower tax rates.
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If our operating partnership fails to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, we
could cease to qualify as a REIT and suffer other adverse consequences.
We believe that our operating partnership will
continue to qualify to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, our operating partnership is not subject to federal income tax on its income. Instead, each of its partners, including us, will be required to
pay tax on its allocable share of the operating partnerships income. We cannot assure you, however, that the IRS will not challenge our operating partnerships status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or that a court
would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating our operating partnership as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we could fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs
and, accordingly, cease to qualify as a REIT. Also, the failure of our operating partnership to qualify as a partnership would cause it to become subject to federal and state corporate income tax, which would reduce significantly the amount of cash
available for debt service and for distribution to its partners, including us.
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would have serious
adverse consequences to our stockholders.
We elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the
Code, commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2004. We believe we have operated so as to qualify as a REIT under the Code and believe that our current organization and method of operation comply with the rules and regulations
promulgated under the Code to enable us to continue to qualify as a REIT. However, it is possible that we have been organized or have operated in a manner that would not allow us to qualify as a REIT, or that our future operations could cause us to
fail to qualify. Qualification as a REIT requires us to satisfy numerous requirements (some on an annual and others on a quarterly basis) established under highly technical and complex sections of the Code for which there are only limited judicial
and administrative interpretations, and involves the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. For example, in order to qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy a 75% gross income test pursuant to Code
Section 856(c)(3) and a 95% gross income test pursuant to Code Section 856(c)(2) each taxable year. In addition, we must pay dividends to our stockholders aggregating annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without
regard to the dividends paid deduction and by excluding capital gains) and must satisfy specified asset tests on a quarterly basis. While historically we have satisfied the distribution requirement discussed above by making cash distributions to our
stockholders, we may choose to satisfy this requirement by making distributions of cash or other property, including, in limited circumstances, our stock. For distributions with respect to taxable years ending on or before December 31, 2011,
and in some cases declared as late as December 31, 2012, recent IRS guidance allows us to satisfy up to 90% of this distribution requirement through the distribution of shares of our stock, if certain conditions are met. The provisions of the
Code and applicable Treasury regulations regarding qualification as a REIT are more complicated in our case because we hold our assets through the operating partnership.
In the future we may choose to pay dividends in our stock, in which case you may be required to pay tax in excess of the cash you receive.
We may distribute taxable dividends that are partially payable in cash and partially payable in our stock. Under IRS guidance, up to 90%
of any such taxable dividend with respect to calendar years 2008 through 2011, and in some cases declared as late as December 31, 2012, could be payable in our stock if certain conditions are met. Taxable stockholders receiving such dividends
will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. stockholder may be required to
pay tax with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to
the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a
portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our stock.
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If our TRS Lessee does not qualify as a taxable REIT subsidiary, or if the hotel management company
does not qualify as an eligible independent contractor, we would fail to qualify as a REIT and would be subject to higher taxes and have less cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Rent paid by a lessee that is a related party tenant of ours will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross
income tests applicable to REITs. We currently lease substantially all of our hotels to our TRS Lessee, and expect to continue to do so. So long as our TRS Lessee qualifies as a taxable REIT subsidiary, it will not be treated as a related
party tenant with respect to our properties that are managed by an independent hotel management company that qualifies as an eligible independent contractor. We believe that our TRS Lessee will continue to qualify to be treated as
a taxable REIT subsidiary for federal income tax purposes, but there can be no assurance that the IRS will not challenge the status of our TRS Lessee for federal income tax purposes or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were
successful in disqualifying our TRS Lessee from treatment as a taxable REIT subsidiary, it is possible that we would fail to meet the asset tests applicable to REITs and substantially all of our income would fail to be qualifying income for purposes
of the two gross income tests. If we failed to meet any of the asset or gross income tests, we would likely lose our REIT qualification for federal income tax purposes.
Additionally, if the hotel management company does not qualify as an eligible independent contractor, we would fail to qualify as a REIT. Each hotel management company that enters into a
management contract with our TRS Lessee must qualify as an eligible independent contractor under the REIT rules in order for the rent paid to us by our TRS Lessee to be qualifying income for purposes of the REIT gross income tests. Among
other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor a manager must not own, directly or through its shareholders, more than 35% of our outstanding shares, taking into account certain ownership attribution rules. The
ownership attribution rules that apply for purposes of these 35% thresholds are complex. Although we intend to monitor ownership of our shares by the hotel management company and their owners, there can be no assurance that these ownership levels
will not be exceeded.
Foreign investors may be subject to U.S. tax on the disposition of our stock if we do not qualify as a
domestically controlled REIT.
A foreign person disposing of a U.S. real property interest,
which includes stock of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of U.S. real property interests, is generally subject to U.S. federal income tax under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA) on the
gain recognized on the disposition. Additionally, the transferee will be required to withhold 10% on the amount realized on the disposition. This 10% is creditable against the U.S. federal income tax liability of the foreign transferor in connection
with such transferors disposition of our stock FIRPTA does not apply, however, to the disposition of stock in a REIT if the REIT is domestically controlled (i.e., less than 50% of the REITs capital 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 REITs existence). We cannot be sure that we will
qualify as a domestically controlled REIT. If we do not so qualify, gain realized by foreign investors on a sale of our stock would be subject to U.S. income and withholding tax under FIRPTA, unless our stock were traded on an
established securities market and a foreign investor did not at any time during a specified testing period directly or indirectly own more than 5% of the value of our outstanding stock.
Investors may be subject to a 3.8% tax on net investment income derived with respect to our stock.
Beginning in 2013, a new 3.8% tax will be imposed on the net investment income (i.e., interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, and rents that are not derived in the ordinary course of a
trade or business) of individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly or $125,000 if married filing separately), and of estates and trusts. Prospective investors should consult with their independent advisors as to the
applicability of this new tax to an investment in our stock in light of such investors particular circumstances.
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Foreign investors will be subject to U.S. withholding tax on the receipt of ordinary dividends on our
stock.
The portion of dividends received by a foreign investor payable out of our current and accumulated earnings and
profits which are not attributable to capital gains and which are not effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business of the foreign investor will generally be treated as ordinary income and will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of
30%. This 30% withholding tax may be reduced by an applicable income tax treaty. Proposed FATCA regulations were recently issued by the IRS that are complex and considerable in length. Foreign investors should consult with their independent advisors
as to the U.S. withholding tax consequences to such investors with respect to their investment in our stock in light of their particular circumstances.
Foreign investors may be subject to U.S. withholding tax under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act on the receipt of ordinary dividends on our stock, as well as on the gross proceeds
from the disposition of their shares of our stock.
On March 18, 2010, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment
Act (the HIRE Act) was enacted in the United States. The HIRE Act includes provisions known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that generally impose a 30% U.S. withholding tax on withholdable
payments, which consist of (i) U.S.-source dividends, interest, rents and other fixed or determinable annual or periodical income paid after December 31, 2013 and (ii) certain U.S.-source gross proceeds paid after
December 31, 2016 to (a) foreign financial institutions unless they enter into an agreement with the IRS to collect and disclose to the IRS information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners and
(b) non-financial foreign entities (i.e., foreign entities that are not foreign financial institutions) unless they certify certain information regarding their direct and indirect U.S. owners. Final regulations under FATCA were
issued by the IRS on January 17, 2013. FATCA does not replace the existing U.S. withholding tax regime. However, the FATCA regulations contain coordination provisions to avoid double withholding on U.S.-source income. A foreign financial
institution is broadly defined and includes foreign entities that are engaged (or hold themselves out as being engaged) primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, partnership interests or commodities, or any
interests in such securities, partnership interests or commodities.
A foreign investor that receives ordinary dividends on
our stock or gross proceeds from a disposition of shares of our stock may be subject to FATCA withholding tax with respect to such dividends or gross proceeds.
Foreign investors will be subject to U.S. income tax on the receipt of capital gain dividends on our stock.
Under FIRPTA, distributions that we make to a foreign investor that are attributable to gains from our dispositions of U.S. real property interests (capital gain dividends) will be treated as
income that is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business in the hands of the foreign investor. A foreign investor will be subject to U.S. federal income tax (at the rates applicable to U.S. investors) on any capital gain dividends, and
will also be required to file U.S. federal income tax returns to report such capital gain dividends. Furthermore, capital gain dividends are subject to an additional 30% branch profits tax (which may be reduced by an applicable income
tax treaty) in the hands of a foreign corporate investor.
Legislative or regulatory action could adversely affect you.
Because our operations are governed to a significant extent by the federal tax laws, new legislative or regulatory
action could adversely affect our investors. You are strongly encouraged to consult with your own tax advisor with respect to the status of any legislative, regulatory or administrative developments, announcements and proposals and their potential
impact on your investment in our stock.