Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Related-Party Transactions

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Related-Party Transactions
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related-Party Transactions
Related-Party Transactions

Gladstone Management and Gladstone Administration

We are externally managed pursuant to contractual arrangements with our Adviser and our Administrator, which collectively employ all of our personnel and pay their salaries, benefits, and other general expenses directly. Both our Adviser and Administrator are affiliates of ours, as their parent company is owned and controlled by Mr. David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer. Two of our executive officers, Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Terry Lee Brubaker (our vice chairman and chief operating officer) serve as directors and executive officers of our Adviser and our Administrator. Our president, Mr. Robert Cutlip, is an executive managing director of our Adviser. Mr. Michael LiCalsi, our general counsel and secretary, also serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel and secretary. We have entered into an advisory agreement with our Adviser, as amended from time to time (the “Advisory Agreement”), and an administration agreement with our Administrator (the “Administration Agreement”). The services and fees under the Advisory Agreement and Administration Agreement are described below. As of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, $2.5 million and $2.3 million, respectively, were collectively due to our Adviser and Administrator.

Base Management Fee

On January 10, 2017, we entered into a Fourth Amended and Restated Investment Advisory Agreement with the Adviser, effective as of October 1, 2016. Our original entrance into the Advisory Agreement and each subsequent amendment thereof (including the fourth amendment completed in January of 2017) was approved unanimously by our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors also reviews and considers renewing the Advisory Agreement each July. During its July 2018 meeting, our Board of Directors reviewed and renewed the Advisory Agreement for an additional year, through August 31, 2019.

Under the Advisory Agreement, the calculation of the annual base management fee equals 1.5% of our adjusted total stockholders’ equity, which is our total stockholders’ equity plus total mezzanine equity (before giving effect to the base management fee and incentive fee), adjusted to exclude the effect of any unrealized gains or losses that do not affect realized net income (including impairment charges) and adjusted for any one-time events and certain non-cash items (the later to occur for a given quarter only upon the approval of our Compensation Committee). The fee is calculated and accrued quarterly as 0.375% per quarter of such adjusted total stockholders’ equity figure. Our Adviser does not charge acquisition or disposition fees when we acquire or dispose of properties, as is common in other externally managed REITs. Our Adviser may earn fee income from our borrowers, tenants or other sources.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a base management fee of $1.2 million and $3.8 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded a base management fee of $1.3 million and $3.7 million, respectively.

Incentive Fee

Pursuant to the Advisory Agreement, the calculation of the incentive fee rewards the Adviser in circumstances where our quarterly Core FFO (defined at the end of this paragraph), before giving effect to any incentive fee, or pre-incentive fee Core FFO, exceeds 2.0% quarterly, or 8.0% annualized, of adjusted total stockholders’ equity (after giving effect to the base management fee but before giving effect to the incentive fee). We refer to this as the hurdle rate. The Adviser will receive 15.0% of the amount of our pre-incentive fee Core FFO that exceeds the hurdle rate. However, in no event shall the incentive fee for a particular quarter exceed by 15.0% (the cap) the average quarterly incentive fee paid by us for the previous four quarters (excluding quarters for which no incentive fee was paid). Core FFO (as defined in the Advisory Agreement) is GAAP net income (loss) available to common stockholders, excluding the incentive fee, depreciation and amortization, any realized and unrealized gains, losses or other non-cash items recorded in net income (loss) available to common stockholders for the period, and one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded an incentive fee of $0.8 million and $2.2 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded an incentive fee of $0.6 million and $1.8 million, respectively. The Adviser did not waive any portion of the incentive fee for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017, respectively.

Capital Gains Fee

Under the Advisory Agreement, we will pay to the Adviser a capital gains-based incentive fee that will be calculated and payable in arrears as of the end of each fiscal year (or upon termination of the Advisory Agreement). In determining the capital gains fee, we will calculate aggregate realized capital gains and aggregate realized capital losses for the applicable time period. For this purpose, aggregate realized capital gains and losses, if any, equals the realized gain or loss calculated by the difference between the sales price of the property, less any costs to sell the property and the current gross value of the property (which is calculated as the original acquisition price plus any subsequent non-reimbursed capital improvements). At the end of the fiscal year, if this number is positive, then the capital gain fee payable for such time period shall equal 15.0% of such amount. No capital gain fee was recognized during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017.

Termination Fee

The Advisory Agreement includes a termination fee whereby, in the event of our termination thereof without cause (with 120 days’ prior written notice and the vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors), a termination fee would be payable to the Adviser equal to two times the sum of the average annual base management fee and incentive fee earned by the Adviser during the 24-month period prior to such termination. A termination fee is also payable if the Adviser terminates the Advisory Agreement after we have defaulted and applicable cure periods have expired. The Advisory Agreement may also be terminated for cause by us (with 30 days’ prior written notice and the vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors), with no termination fee payable. Cause is defined in the agreement to include if the Adviser breaches any material provisions thereof, the bankruptcy or insolvency of the Adviser, dissolution of the Adviser and fraud or misappropriation of funds.

Administration Agreement

Under the terms of the Administration Agreement, we pay separately for our allocable portion of the Administrator’s overhead expenses in performing its obligations to us including, but not limited to, rent and our allocable portion of the salaries and benefits expenses of our Administrator’s employees, including, but not limited to, our chief financial officer, treasurer, chief compliance officer, general counsel and secretary (who also serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel and secretary), and their respective staffs. Our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses are generally derived by multiplying our Administrator’s total expenses by the approximate percentage of time the Administrator’s employees perform services for us in relation to their time spent performing services for all companies serviced by our Administrator under contractual agreements. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded an administration fee of $0.4 million and $1.2 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded an administration fee of $0.3 million and $1.0 million, respectively.

Gladstone Securities

Gladstone Securities, LLC, (“Gladstone Securities”), is a privately held broker dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Gladstone Securities is an affiliate of ours, as its parent company is owned and controlled by Mr. David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Gladstone also serves on the board of managers of Gladstone Securities.

Mortgage Financing Arrangement Agreement

We entered into an agreement with Gladstone Securities, effective June 18, 2013, for it to act as our non-exclusive agent to assist us with arranging mortgage financing for properties we own (the “Financing Arrangement Agreement”). In connection with this engagement, Gladstone Securities will, from time to time, continue to solicit the interest of various commercial real estate lenders or recommend to us third party lenders offering credit products or packages that are responsive to our needs. We pay Gladstone Securities a financing fee in connection with the services it provides to us for securing mortgage financing on any of our properties. The amount of these financing fees, which are payable upon closing of the financing, are based on a percentage of the amount of the mortgage, generally ranging from 0.15% to a maximum of 1.0% of the mortgage obtained. The amount of the financing fees may be reduced or eliminated, as determined by us and Gladstone Securities, after taking into consideration various factors, including, but not limited to, the involvement of any third party brokers and market conditions. We paid financing fees to Gladstone Securities of $0.02 million and $0.04 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, which are included in mortgage notes payable, net, in the condensed consolidated balance sheets, or 0.15% and 0.12%, respectively, of the mortgage principal secured and extended. We paid financing fees to Gladstone Securities of $0.1 million and $0.2 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, which are included in mortgage notes payable, net, in the condensed consolidated balance sheets, or 0.25% and 0.27%, respectively, of the mortgage principal secured or extended. Our Board of Directors renewed the Financing Arrangement Agreement for an additional year, through August 31, 2019, at its July 2018 meeting.