Cousins Properties Incorporated 2006 Annual Report - SNL Financial
Cousins Properties Incorporated 2006 Annual Report - SNL Financial
Cousins Properties Incorporated 2006 Annual Report - SNL Financial
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COUSINS PROPERTIES INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES<br />
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS<br />
1. ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION<br />
Organization: <strong>Cousins</strong> <strong>Properties</strong> <strong>Incorporated</strong> (“<strong>Cousins</strong>”), a Georgia corporation, is a self-administered<br />
and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”). <strong>Cousins</strong> Real Estate Corporation and its subsidiaries<br />
(“CREC”) is a taxable entity wholly-owned by and consolidated with <strong>Cousins</strong>. CREC owns, develops, and manages<br />
its own real estate portfolio and performs certain real estate related services for other parties.<br />
Description of Business: <strong>Cousins</strong>, CREC and their subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) actively invest<br />
in office, multi-family, retail, industrial and land development projects. As of December 31, <strong>2006</strong>, the Company’s<br />
portfolio consisted of interests in 7.2 million square feet of office space, 4.2 million square feet of retail space,<br />
2.0 million square feet of industrial space, a 529-unit for-sale multi-family project under development, interests in<br />
24 residential communities under development, over 9,000 acres of strategically located land tracts held for<br />
investment or future development, and significant land holdings for development of single-family residential<br />
communities. The Company also provides leasing and management services to third-party investors; its clientservices<br />
portfolio comprises 14.8 million square feet of office and retail space.<br />
Basis of Presentation: The Consolidated <strong>Financial</strong> Statements include the accounts of <strong>Cousins</strong>, its consolidated<br />
partnerships and wholly owned subsidiaries and CREC and its consolidated subsidiaries.<br />
The Company evaluates all partnership interests or other variable interests to determine if the venture is a<br />
variable interest entity (“VIE”), as defined in <strong>Financial</strong> Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation<br />
No. 46R. If a venture is a VIE and the Company is determined to be the primary beneficiary, the Company<br />
consolidates the assets, liabilities and results of operations of the VIE.<br />
In December <strong>2006</strong>, the Company formed a joint venture with Callaway Gardens Resorts, Inc. for the<br />
development of residential lots within the Callaway Gardens Resort. The joint venture is considered a VIE, and the<br />
Company was determined to be the primary beneficiary. As of December 31, <strong>2006</strong>, the VIE has total assets of<br />
$1.6 million, which are consolidated in the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, <strong>2006</strong>.<br />
Additionally, the Company holds a 50% ownership interest in Charlotte Gateway Village, LLC (“Gateway”), a<br />
VIE which owns and operates an office building complex in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Company determined it<br />
is not the primary beneficiary. The Company’s investment in Gateway was $10.5 million at December 31, <strong>2006</strong>,<br />
which is its maximum exposure. See Note 6 for further discussion of Gateway.<br />
For entities that are not considered VIEs, the Company uses Statement of <strong>Financial</strong> Accounting Standards<br />
(“SFAS”) No. 94, “Consolidation of All Majority-Owned Subsidiaries,” Accounting Research Bulletin (“ARB”)<br />
No. 51, “Consolidated <strong>Financial</strong> Statements,” and Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) No. 04-5, “Determining<br />
Whether a General Partner, or the General Partners as a Group, Controls a Limited Partnership or Similar Entity<br />
When the Limited Partners Have Certain Rights” to determine the appropriate consolidation and presentation. A<br />
description of the Company’s investments accounted for under the equity method is included in Note 6.<br />
The Company recognizes Minority Interest on its Consolidated Balance Sheets for non-wholly owned entities<br />
that the Company consolidates. The minority partner’s share of current operations is reflected in Minority Interest in<br />
Income of Consolidated Subsidiaries on the Consolidated Statements of Income.<br />
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES<br />
Long-Lived Assets<br />
Cost Capitalization: Costs related to planning, developing, leasing and constructing a property are capitalized<br />
and classified with <strong>Properties</strong> in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, in accordance with SFAS No. 67,<br />
“Accounting for Costs and Initial Rental Operations of Real Estate Projects.” Costs for development personnel who<br />
work directly on projects under construction are capitalized during the construction period. An estimate of time is<br />
obtained directly from such personnel and the Company applies a percentage of their actual salaries plus an estimate<br />
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