Saul Centers, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2022

General

Saul Centers, Inc. (“Saul Centers”) was incorporated under the Maryland General Corporation Law on June 10, 1993. Saul Centers operates as a real estate investment trust (a “REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The Company is required to annually distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (excluding net capital gains) to its stockholders and meet certain organizational and other requirements. Saul Centers has made and intends to continue to make regular quarterly distributions to its stockholders. Saul Centers, together with its wholly owned subsidiaries and the limited partnerships of which Saul Centers or one of its subsidiaries is the sole general partner, are referred to collectively as the “Company.” B. Francis Saul II serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Saul Centers.

The Company’s primary strategy is to continue to focus on diversification of its assets through development of transit-centric, residential mixed-use projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Company’s operating strategy also includes improvement of the operating performance and internal growth of its Shopping Centers and will supplement its development of residential mixed-used projects with selective redevelopment and renovations of its core Shopping Centers.

Saul Centers was formed to continue and expand the shopping center business previously owned and conducted by the B. F. Saul Real Estate Investment Trust (the “Saul Trust”), the B. F. Saul Company and certain other affiliated entities, each of which is controlled by B. Francis Saul II and his family members (collectively, the "Saul Organization”). On August 26, 1993, members of the Saul Organization transferred to Saul Holdings Limited Partnership, a newly formed Maryland limited partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), and two newly formed subsidiary limited partnerships (the “Subsidiary Partnerships,” and collectively with the Operating Partnership, the “Partnerships”), shopping center and mixed-use properties, and the management functions related to the transferred properties. Since its formation, the Company has developed and purchased additional properties. The Company conducts its business through the Operating Partnership and/or directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries.

As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s properties (the “Current Portfolio Properties”) consisted of 50 shopping center properties (the “Shopping Centers”), seven mixed-use properties, which are comprised of office, retail and multi-family residential uses (the “Mixed-Use Properties”) and four (non-operating) development properties.

Management of the Current Portfolio Properties

The Operating Partnership manages the Current Portfolio Properties and will manage any subsequently acquired or developed properties. The management of the properties includes performing property management, leasing, design, renovation, development and accounting duties for each property. The Operating Partnership provides each property with a fully integrated property management capability, with approximately 70 full-time equivalent employees at its headquarters office and 59 full-time employees and nine part-time employees at its properties and with an extensive and mature network of relationships with tenants and potential tenants as well as with members of the brokerage and property owners’ communities. The Company currently does not, and does not intend to, retain third party managers or provide management services to third parties.

The Company augments its property management capabilities by sharing with the Saul Organization certain ancillary functions, at cost, such as information technology and payroll services, benefits administration and in-house legal services. The Company also shares insurance administration expenses on a pro rata basis with the Saul Organization. Management believes that these arrangements result in lower costs than could be obtained by contracting with third parties. These arrangements permit the Company to capture greater economies of scale in purchasing from third party vendors than would otherwise be available to the Company alone and to capture internal economies of scale by avoiding payments representing profits with respect to functions provided internally. The terms of all sharing arrangements with the Saul Organization, including payments related thereto, are specified in a written agreement and are reviewed annually by the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors.

The Company subleases its corporate headquarters space from the Saul Organization at the Company’s share of the cost. A discussion of the lease terms is provided in Note 7, Long Term Lease Obligations, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Principal Offices

The principal offices of the Company are located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1500E, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-6522, and the Company’s telephone number is (301) 986-6200. The Company’s internet web address is www.saulcenters.com (http://www.saulcenters.com). Information contained on the Company’s website is not part of this report. The Company makes available free of charge on its website its annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after the reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We intend to comply with the requirements of Item 5.05 of Form 8-K regarding amendments to and waivers under the code of business conduct and ethics applicable to our Chief Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer by providing such information on our website within four days after effecting any amendment to, or granting any waiver under, that code, and we will maintain such information on our website for at least twelve months. Alternatively, you may access these reports at the SEC’s website: www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov).

Policies with Respect to Certain Activities

The following is a discussion of the Company’s operating strategy and certain of its investment, financing and other policies. These strategies and policies have been determined by the Board of Directors and, in general, may be amended or revised from time to time by the Board of Directors without a vote of the Company’s stockholders.

Operating Strategy

The Company’s primary strategy is to continue to focus on diversification of its assets through development of transit-centric, residential mixed-use projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Company’s operating strategy also includes improvement of the operating performance of its assets, internal growth of its Shopping Centers through the addition of pad sites and supplementing its development pipeline with selective redevelopment and renovations of its core Shopping Centers. Community and neighborhood shopping centers typically provide reliable cash flow and steady long-term growth potential. Management actively manages its property portfolio by engaging in strategic leasing activities, tenant selection, lease negotiation and shopping center expansion and reconfiguration. The Company seeks to optimize its retail tenant mix by selecting tenants for its Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use Properties that provide a broad spectrum of goods and services, consistent with the role of community and neighborhood shopping centers as the source for day-to-day necessities. Management believes that such a synergistic tenanting approach results in increased cash flow from existing tenants by providing the Shopping Centers with consistent traffic and a desirable mix of shoppers, resulting in increased sales and, therefore, increased cash flows.

Management believes there is potential for long term growth in cash flow as existing leases for space in the Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use Properties expire and are renewed, or newly available or vacant space is leased. The Company intends to renegotiate leases where possible and seek new tenants for available space in order to optimize the mix of uses to improve foot traffic through the Shopping Centers. As leases expire, management expects to revise rental rates, lease terms and conditions, relocate existing tenants, reconfigure tenant spaces and introduce new tenants with the goals of increasing occupancy, improving overall retail sales, and ultimately increasing cash flow as economic conditions improve. In those circumstances in which leases are not otherwise expiring, management selectively attempts to increase cash flow through a variety of means, or in connection with renovations or relocations, recapturing leases with below market rents and re-leasing at market rates, as well as replacing financially troubled tenants. When possible, management also will seek to include scheduled increases in base rent, as well as percentage rental provisions, in its leases.

It is management’s intention to hold properties for long-term investment and to place strong emphasis on regular maintenance, periodic renovation and capital improvement. Management believes that characteristics such as cleanliness, lighting and security are particularly important in community and neighborhood shopping centers, which are frequently visited by shoppers during hours outside of the normal work-day. Management believes that the Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use Properties generally are attractive and well maintained. The Shopping Centers and Mixed-Use Properties will undergo expansion, renovation, reconfiguration and modernization from time to time when management believes that such action is warranted by opportunities or changes in the competitive environment of a property. The Company will continue its practice of expanding existing properties by undertaking new construction on outparcels suitable for development as free standing retail or office facilities.

Investment in Real Estate

The Company has a pipeline of entitled sites in its portfolio, some of which are currently shopping center operating properties, for development of up to 3,700 apartment units and 975,000 square feet of retail and office space. All such sites are located proximate to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) red line Metro stations in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Company intends to selectively add free-standing pad site buildings within its Shopping Center portfolio, and replace underperforming tenants with tenants that generate strong traffic, including anchor stores such as supermarkets and drug stores. The Company has executed leases or leases are under negotiation for seven more pad sites.

In recent years, there has been a limited amount of quality properties for sale and pricing of those properties has escalated. Accordingly, management believes acquisition opportunities for investment in existing and new shopping center and mixed-use properties in the near future is uncertain. Nevertheless, because of the Company’s conservative capital structure, including its cash and capacity under its senior unsecured credit facility (the “Credit Facility”), management believes that the Company is positioned to take advantage of additional investment opportunities as attractive properties are identified and market conditions improve. (See “Item 1. Business - Capital Policies”.) It is management’s view that several of the sub-markets in which the Company operates have, or are expected to have in the future, attractive supply/demand characteristics. The Company will continue to evaluate acquisition, development and redevelopment as integral parts of its overall business plan.

In evaluating a particular redevelopment, renovation, acquisition, or development, management will consider a variety of factors, including: (i) the location, size and accessibility of the property, with an emphasis on the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area; (ii) the demographic characteristics of the community, as well as the local real estate market, including potential for growth and potential regulatory impediments to development; (iii) the purchase price; (iv) the non-financial terms of the transaction; (v) the “fit” of the property with the Company’s existing portfolio; (vi) the potential for, and current extent of, any environmental problems; (vii) the current and historical occupancy rates of the property or any comparable or competing properties in the same market; (viii) the quality of construction and design and the current physical condition of the property; (ix) the financial and other characteristics of existing tenants and the terms of existing leases; and (x) the potential for capital appreciation.

Although it is management’s present intention to concentrate future acquisition and development activities on transit-centric, primarily residential mixed-use properties in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area, the Company may, in the future, also acquire other types of real estate in other areas of the country as opportunities present themselves. The Company plans to continue to diversify in terms of property types, locations, size and market, and it does not set any limit on the amount or percentage of assets that may be invested in any one property or any one geographic area.

The Company intends to engage in such future investment and development activities in a manner that enables the Company to qualify and maintain its status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and that will not cause the Company to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Equity investments in acquired properties may be subject to existing mortgage financings and other indebtedness or to new indebtedness which may be incurred in connection with acquiring or refinancing these investments.

Investments in Real Estate Mortgages

While the Company’s current portfolio and business objectives emphasize equity investments in

transit-centric, residential mixed-use properties, neighborhood shopping centers, and other mixed-use properties, the Company may, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, invest in mortgages, participating or convertible mortgages, deeds of trust and other types of real estate interests consistent with its qualification as a REIT. The Company does not presently invest, nor does it intend to invest, in real estate mortgages.

Investments in Securities of or Interests in Persons Engaged in Real Estate Activities and Other Issues

Subject to the requirements to maintain REIT qualification, the Company may invest in securities of other REITs, other entities engaged in real estate activities or securities of other issuers, including for the purpose of exercising control over such entities. The Company does not presently invest, nor does it intend to invest, in any securities of other REITs.

Dispositions

The Company may elect to dispose of properties if, based upon management’s periodic review of the Company’s portfolio, the Board of Directors determines that such action would be in the best interest of the Company’s stockholders.

Capital Policies

The Company has established a debt capitalization policy relative to asset value, which is computed by reference to the aggregate annualized cash flow from the properties in the Company’s portfolio rather than relative to book value. The Company has used a measure tied to cash flow because it believes that the book value of its portfolio properties, which is the depreciated historical cost of the properties, does not accurately reflect the Company’s ability to incur indebtedness. Asset value, however, is somewhat more variable than book value, and may not at all times reflect the fair market value of the underlying properties. As a general policy, the Company intends to maintain a ratio of its total debt to total asset value of 50% or less and to actively manage the Company’s leverage and debt expense on an ongoing basis in order to maintain prudent coverage of fixed charges. Given the Company’s current debt level, it is management’s belief that the ratio of the Company’s debt to total asset value is below 50% as of December 31, 2022.

The organizational documents of the Company do not limit the absolute amount or percentage of indebtedness that it may incur. The Board of Directors may, from time to time, reevaluate the Company’s debt capitalization policy in light of current economic conditions, relative costs of capital, market values of the Company property portfolio, opportunities for acquisition, development or expansion, and such other factors as the Board of Directors then deems relevant. The Board of Directors may modify the Company’s debt capitalization policy based on such a reevaluation, without shareholder approval, and may increase or decrease the Company’s debt to total asset ratio above or below 50% or may waive the policy for certain periods of time, subject to maintaining compliance with financial covenants contained within existing debt agreements. The Company selectively refinances or renegotiates the terms of its outstanding debt in order to extend maturities and obtain generally more favorable loan terms, whenever management determines the financing environment is favorable.

The Company intends to finance future acquisitions and developments and to make debt repayments by utilizing the sources of capital then deemed to be most advantageous. Such sources may include undistributed operating cash flow, secured or unsecured bank and institutional borrowings, proceeds from the Company’s Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan, proceeds from the sale of properties and private and public offerings of debt or equity securities. Borrowings may be at the Operating Partnership or Subsidiary Partnerships level and securities offerings may include (subject to certain limitations) the issuance of Operating Partnership interests convertible into common stock or other equity securities.

Other Policies

The Company has the authority to offer equity or debt securities in exchange for property and to repurchase or otherwise acquire its common stock or other securities in the open market or otherwise, and may engage in such activities in the future. The Company expects, but is not obligated, to issue common stock to holders of units of the Operating Partnership upon exercise of their redemption rights. The Company has not engaged in trading, underwriting or agency distribution or sale of securities of other issuers other than the Operating Partnership and does not intend to do so. The Company has not made any loans to third parties, although the Company may in the future make loans to third parties. In addition, the Company has policies relating to related party transactions discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Competition

As an owner of, or investor in, transit-centric residential mixed-use properties, community and neighborhood shopping centers, and other mixed-use properties, the Company is subject to competition from an indeterminate number of entities in connection with the acquisition, development, ownership and leasing of similar properties. These entities include investors with access to significant capital, such as domestic and foreign corporations and financial institutions, publicly traded and privately held REITs, private institutional investment funds, investment banking firms, life insurance companies and pension funds.

Competition may reduce the number of properties available for acquisition or development or increase the price for raw land or developed properties of the type in which the Company invests. The Company faces competition in providing leases to prospective tenants and in re-letting space to current tenants upon expiration of their respective leases. If tenants decide not to renew or extend their leases upon expiration, the Company may not be able to re-let the space. Even if the tenants do renew or the Company can re-let the space, the terms of renewal or re-letting, including the cost of required renovations, may be less favorable than current lease terms or than expectations for the space. This risk may be magnified if the properties owned by our competitors have lower occupancy rates than the Company’s properties. As a result, these competitors may be willing to make space available at lower prices than the space in the Current Portfolio Properties.

Management believes that success in the competition for ownership and leasing property is dependent in part upon the geographic location of the property, the tenant mix, the performance of property managers, the amount of new construction in the area and the maintenance and appearance of the property. Additional competitive factors impacting the Company’s properties include the ease of access to the properties, the adequacy of related facilities such as parking, and the demographic characteristics in the markets in which the properties compete. Overall economic circumstances and trends and new properties in the vicinity of each of the Current Portfolio Properties are also competitive factors.

Finally, retailers at our Shopping Centers face increasing competition from outlet stores, online retailers, discount shopping clubs and other forms of marketing goods, such as direct mail, internet marketing and telemarketing. This competition may reduce percentage rents payable to us and may contribute to lease defaults or insolvency of tenants.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately 70 full-time equivalent corporate employees and 59 full-time employees and nine part-time employees at its properties. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining unit.

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunities and does not discriminate against any person based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender preference. Employee compensation is competitive, and the Company provides insurance benefits, retirement savings plans, paid time off and childcare benefits for all of its full-time employees. The Company encourages employee wellness in every aspect of life, including physical fitness, mental well-being and social connectedness. We annually hold several in-house training programs that focus on communication, self-awareness, delegation, feedback, accountability, team dynamics and other skills that provide our employees with personal growth opportunities.

We support the continuing education of our employees through (a) reimbursement of the cost of seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees at colleges and universities and (b) reimbursement of costs related to seminars, conferences and workshops. We previously launched a program that we call LEAD that enhances our other training and education programs by providing our talented employees with the tools necessary to effectively lead and manage. We manage an internship program to support the development of future real estate professionals.

Government Regulation Affecting Our Properties

The Current Portfolio Properties are subject to various laws and regulations relating to environmental and pollution controls. The impact upon the Company from the application of such laws and regulations either prospectively or retrospectively is not expected to have a materially adverse effect on the Company’s property operations. As a matter of policy, the Company requires an environmental study be performed with respect to a property that may be subject to possible environmental hazards prior to its acquisition to ascertain that there are no material environmental hazards associated with such property.

See "Item 1A. Risk Factors — Risk Factors Related to our REIT Status and Other Laws and Regulations" for further discussion of potential material effects of our compliance with government regulations, including environmental regulations and the rules governing REITS.

Recent Developments

The Company is developing Twinbrook Quarter Phase I (“Phase I”) located in Rockville, Maryland. Phase I includes an 80,000 square foot Wegmans, approximately 25,000 square feet of small shop space, 450 apartments and a 230,000 square foot office building. The office tower portion of Phase I is not being constructed at this time. In connection with the development of the residential and retail portions of Phase I, we must also invest in infrastructure and other items that will support both Phase I and other portions of the development of Twinbrook Quarter. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $331.5 million, of which $271.4 million is related to the development of the residential and retail portions of Phase I and $60.1 million is related to infrastructure and other items. A portion of the project will be financed by a $145.0 million construction-to-permanent loan. Construction of the structure is ongoing. Concrete is being poured at the 12th level above ground, which is the final above ground level of the residential and retail portions of Phase I. Initial delivery of Phase I is anticipated in late 2024. The development potential of all phases of the entire 18.4 acre Twinbrook Quarter site totals 1,865 residential units, 473,000 square feet of retail space, and 431,000 square feet of office space.

The Company is developing Hampden House, a project located in downtown Bethesda, Maryland that will include up to 366 apartment units and 10,100 square feet of retail space. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $246.4 million, a portion of which will be financed by a $133.0 million construction-to-permanent loan. Excavation is complete and below grade construction of foundation systems is in progress. Construction is expected to be completed during 2025.

RISK FACTORS

Carefully consider the following risks and all of the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto. If any of the events or developments described below were actually to occur, the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

In this section, unless the context indicates otherwise, the terms “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Saul Centers, Inc., and its subsidiaries, including the Operating Partnership.

Risk Factors Related to our Real Estate Investments and Operations

Revenue from our properties may be reduced or limited if the retail operations of our tenants are not successful.

Adverse changes in consumer spending or consumer preferences for particular goods, services or store based retailing could severely impact our tenants’ ability to pay rent. Revenue from our properties depends primarily on the ability of our tenants to pay the full amount of rent due under their leases on a timely basis. The amount of rent we receive from our tenants generally will depend in part on the success of our tenants’ retail operations, making us vulnerable to general economic downturns and other conditions affecting the retail industry. Some tenants may terminate their occupancy due to an inability to operate profitably for an extended period of time, impacting the Company’s ability to maintain occupancy levels.

Any reduction in our tenants’ ability to pay base rent or percentage rent may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Small business tenants and anchor retailers which lease space in the Company’s properties may experience a deterioration in their sales or other revenue, or experience a constraint on the availability of credit necessary to fund operations, which in turn may adversely impact those tenants’ ability to pay contractual base rents and operating expense recoveries. Some of our leases provide for the payment, in addition to base rent, of additional rent above the base amount according to a specified percentage of the gross sales generated by the tenants. Decreasing sales revenue by retail tenants could adversely impact the Company’s receipt of percentage rents required to be paid by tenants under certain leases.

We may be unable to collect balances due from tenants that file for bankruptcy protection.

If a tenant or lease guarantor files for bankruptcy, we may not be able to collect all pre-petition amounts owed by that party. In addition, a tenant that files for bankruptcy protection may terminate our lease in which event we would have a general unsecured claim that would likely be for less than the full amount owed to us for the remainder of the lease term, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to increase our net income depends on the success and continued presence of our shopping center “anchor” tenants and other significant tenants.

Our net income could be adversely affected in the event of a downturn in the business, or the bankruptcy or insolvency, of any anchor store or anchor tenant. Our largest shopping center anchor tenant is Giant Food, which accounted for 5.1% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022. The closing of one or more anchor stores prior to the expiration of the lease of that store or the termination of a lease by one or more of a property’s anchor tenants could adversely affect that property and result in lease terminations by, or reductions in rent from, other tenants whose leases may permit termination or rent reduction in those circumstances or whose own operations may suffer as a result. This could reduce our net income.

We may experience difficulty or delay in renewing leases or leasing vacant space.

We derive most of our revenue directly or indirectly from rent received from our tenants. We are subject to the risks that, upon expiration, leases for space in our properties may not be renewed, the space and other vacant space may not be re-leased, or the terms of renewal or re-lease, including the cost of required renovations or concessions to tenants, may be less favorable than previous lease terms. Constraints on the availability of credit to office and retail tenants, necessary to purchase and install improvements, fixtures and equipment, and fund start-up business expenses, could impact the Company’s ability to procure new tenants for spaces currently vacant in existing operating properties or properties under development. As a result, our results of operations and our net income could be reduced.

Our development activities are inherently risky.

The ground-up development of improvements on real property, which is different from the renovation and redevelopment of existing improvements, presents substantial risks. In addition to the risks associated with real estate investment in general as described elsewhere, the risks associated with our remaining development activities include:

• significant time lag between commencement and completion subjects us to greater risks due to fluctuation in the general economy;
• failure or inability to obtain construction or permanent financing on favorable terms;
• expenditure of money and time on projects that may never be completed;
• inability to achieve projected rental rates or anticipated pace of lease-up;
• higher-than-estimated construction costs, including inflation of labor and material costs; and
• possible delay in completion of the project because of a number of factors, including weather, labor disruptions, supply-chain related delays, construction delays or delays in receipt of zoning or other regulatory approvals, or acts of God (such as fires, earthquakes or floods).

Developments, redevelopments and acquisitions may fail to perform as expected.

Our investment strategy includes the redevelopment and acquisition of community and neighborhood shopping centers that are anchored by supermarkets, drugstores or high volume, value-oriented retailers that provide consumer necessities. The redevelopment and acquisition of properties entails risks that include the following, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to meet our obligations:

• our estimate of the costs to improve, reposition or redevelop a property may prove to be too low, and, as a result, the property may fail to achieve the returns we have projected, either temporarily or for a longer time;
• we may not be able to identify suitable properties to acquire or may be unable to complete the acquisition of the properties we identify;
• we may not be able to integrate new developments or acquisitions into our existing operations successfully;
• properties we redevelop or acquire may fail to achieve the occupancy or rental rates we project at the time we make the decision to invest, which may result in the properties’ failure to achieve the returns we projected;
• our pre-acquisition evaluation of the physical condition of each new investment may not detect certain defects or identify necessary repairs until after the property is acquired, which could significantly increase our total acquisition costs; and
• our investigation of a property or building prior to our acquisition, and any representations we may receive from the seller, may fail to reveal various liabilities, which could reduce the cash flow from the property or increase our acquisition cost.

Our performance and value are subject to general risks associated with the real estate industry.

Our economic performance and the value of our real estate assets, and, consequently, the value of our investments, are subject to the risk that if our properties do not generate revenue sufficient to meet our operating expenses, including debt service and capital expenditures, our cash flow and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected. As a real estate company, we are susceptible to the following real estate industry risks:

• economic downturns in the areas where our properties are located;
• adverse changes in local real estate market conditions, such as oversupply or reduction in demand;
• changes in tenant preferences that reduce the attractiveness of our properties to tenants;
• zoning or regulatory restrictions;
• decreases in market rental rates;
• weather conditions that may increase energy costs and other operating expenses;
• costs associated with the need to periodically repair, renovate and re-lease space; and
• increases in the cost of adequate maintenance, insurance and other operating costs, including real estate taxes, associated with one or more properties, which may occur even when circumstances such as market factors and competition cause a reduction in revenue from one or more properties, although real estate taxes typically do not increase upon a reduction in such revenue.

Geographic concentration of our portfolio may make us particularly susceptible to adverse economic developments in the real estate markets of those areas.

Over 85% of our property operating income is generated by properties in the metropolitan Washington, DC/Baltimore area. As a result, our financial condition, operating results and ability to make distributions could be materially and adversely impacted by significant adverse economic changes affecting the real estate markets in that area. In turn, our common stock is subject to greater risk vis-a-vis other enterprises whose portfolio contains greater geographic diversity.

Our results of operations may be negatively affected by adverse trends in the retail and office real estate sectors.

Tenants at our retail properties face continual competition in attracting customers from online merchants, retailers at other shopping centers, catalogue companies, television shopping networks, warehouse stores, large discounters, outlet malls, wholesale clubs, direct mail and telemarketers. Such competition could have a material adverse effect on our ability to lease space in our retail properties and on the rents we can charge or the concessions we grant. This in turn could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows, and could affect the realizable value of our assets upon sale. Further, as new technologies emerge, the relationships among customers, retailers, and shopping centers are evolving rapidly and it is critical we adapt to such new technologies and relationships on a timely basis. We may be unable to adapt quickly and effectively, which could adversely impact our financial performance.

Some businesses are rapidly evolving to make employee telecommuting, flexible work schedules, open workplaces and teleconferencing increasingly common. These practices enable businesses to reduce their space requirements. A continuation of the movement towards these practices could over time erode the overall demand for office space and, in turn, place downward pressure on occupancy, rental rates and property valuations, each of which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Many real estate costs are fixed, even if income from our properties decreases.

Our financial results depend primarily on leasing space in our properties to tenants on terms favorable to us. Costs associated with real estate investment, such as real estate taxes and maintenance costs, generally are not reduced even when a property is not fully occupied, rental rates decrease, or other circumstances cause a reduction in income from the investment. As a result, cash flow from the operations of our properties may be reduced if a tenant does not pay its rent or we are unable to rent our properties on favorable terms. Under those circumstances, we might not be able to enforce our rights as landlord without delays, and may incur substantial legal costs. Additionally, new properties that we may acquire or develop may not produce any significant revenue immediately, and the cash flow from existing operations may be insufficient to pay the operating expenses and debt service associated with that property until the property is fully leased.

Competition may limit our ability to purchase new properties and generate sufficient income from tenants.

Numerous commercial developers and real estate companies compete with us in seeking tenants for properties and properties for acquisition. This competition may:

• reduce properties available for acquisition;
• increase the cost of properties available for acquisition;
• reduce rents payable to us;
• interfere with our ability to attract and retain tenants;
• lead to increased vacancy rates at our properties; and
• adversely affect our ability to minimize expenses of operation.

Retailers at our shopping center properties also face increasing competition from outlet stores, discount shopping clubs, and other forms of marketing of goods, such as direct mail, internet marketing and telemarketing. This competition may reduce percentage rents payable to us and may contribute to lease defaults and insolvency of tenants. If we are unable to continue to attract appropriate retail tenants to our properties, or to purchase new properties in our geographic markets, it could materially affect our ability to generate net income, service our debt and make distributions to our stockholders.

We may be unable to sell properties when appropriate because real estate investments are illiquid.

Real estate investments generally cannot be sold quickly. In addition, there are some limitations under federal income tax laws applicable to real estate and in particular to REITs that may limit our ability to sell our assets. We may not be able to alter our portfolio promptly in response to changes in economic or other conditions. Our inability to respond quickly to adverse changes in the performance of our investments could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our obligations and make distributions to our stockholders.

Risk Factors Related to our Funding Strategies and Capital Structure

We have substantial relationships with members of the Saul Organization whose interests could conflict with the interests of other stockholders.

Influence of Officers, Directors and Significant Stockholders.

Mr. B. F. Saul II, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, D. Todd Pearson, our President and Chief Operating Officer, and Christine Nicolaides Kearns, our Executive Vice President-Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, are members of the Saul Organization, and persons associated with the Saul Organization constitute five of the eleven members of our Board of Directors. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, Mr. B. F. Saul II had the potential to exercise control over 10,739,407 shares of our common stock representing 44.9% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Mr. B. F. Saul II also beneficially owned, as of December 31, 2022, 8,827,873 units of the Operating Partnership. In general, these units are convertible into shares of our common stock on a one-for-one basis. The ownership limitation set forth in our articles of incorporation is 39.9% in value of our issued and outstanding equity securities (which includes both common and preferred stock). As of December 31, 2022, Mr. B. F. Saul II and members of the Saul Organization owned common stock representing approximately 39.0% in value of all our issued and outstanding equity securities. Members of the Saul Organization are permitted under our articles of incorporation to convert Operating Partnership units into shares of common stock or acquire additional shares of common stock until the Saul Organization’s actual ownership of common stock reaches 39.9% in value of our equity securities. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 411,000 of the 8,827,873 units of the Operating Partnership would have been permitted to convert into additional shares of common stock, and would have resulted in Mr. B. F. Saul II and members of the Saul Organization owning common stock representing approximately 39.9% in value of all our issued and outstanding equity securities.

As a result of these relationships, members of the Saul Organization will be in a position to exercise significant influence over our affairs, which influence might not be consistent with the interests of other stockholders. Except as discussed below, we do not have any written policies or procedures for the review, approval or ratification of transactions with related persons.

Management Time.

Our Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President-Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer are also officers of various entities of the Saul Organization. Although we believe that these officers spend sufficient management time to meet their responsibilities as our officers, the amount of management time devoted to us will depend on our specific circumstances at any given point in time. As a result, in a given period, these officers may spend less than a majority of their management time on our matters. Over extended periods of time, we believe that our Chief Executive Officer will spend less than a majority of his management time on Company matters, while our President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President-Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer may or may not spend less than a majority of their time on our matters.

Exclusivity and Right of First Refusal Agreements.

We will acquire, develop, own and manage shopping center properties and will own and manage other commercial properties, and, subject to certain exclusivity agreements and rights of first refusal to which we are a party, the Saul Organization will continue to develop, acquire, own and manage commercial properties and own land suitable for development as, among other things, shopping centers and other commercial properties. Therefore, conflicts could develop in the allocation of acquisition and development opportunities with respect to commercial properties other than shopping centers and with respect to development sites, as well as potential tenants and other matters, between us and the Saul Organization. The agreement relating to exclusivity and the right of first refusal between us and the Saul

Organization generally requires the Saul Organization to conduct its shopping center business exclusively through us and to grant us a right of first refusal to purchase commercial properties and development sites in certain market areas that become available to the Saul Organization. The Saul Organization has granted the right of first refusal to us, acting through our independent directors, in order to minimize potential conflicts with respect to commercial properties and development sites. We and the Saul Organization have entered into this agreement in order to minimize conflicts with respect to shopping centers and certain of our commercial properties. See Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of related party transactions.

Shared Services.

We share with the Saul Organization certain ancillary functions, such as computer and payroll services, benefits administration and in-house legal services. The terms of all sharing arrangements, including payments related thereto, are reviewed periodically by our Audit Committee, which is comprised solely of independent directors. Included in our general and administrative expenses or capitalized to specific development projects, for the year ended December 31, 2022, are charges totaling $9.6 million, net, related to such shared services, which included rental payments for the Company’s headquarters lease, which were billed by the Saul Organization. Although we believe that the amounts allocated to us for such shared services represent a fair allocation between us and the Saul Organization, we have not obtained a third party appraisal of the value of these services.

The B. F. Saul Insurance Agency of Maryland, Inc., a subsidiary of the B. F. Saul Company and a member of the Saul Organization, is a general insurance agency that receives commissions and counter-signature fees in connection with our insurance program. Such commissions and fees amounted to approximately $286,900 for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Related Party Rents.

We sublease space for our corporate headquarters from a member of the Saul Organization, the building of which is owned by another member of the Saul Organization. The lease commenced in March 2002 and expires in February 2027. The Company and the Saul Organization entered into a shared services agreement whereby each party pays a portion of the total rental payments based on a percentage proportionate to the number of employees employed by each party. The Company’s rent expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $824,300. Although the Company believes that this lease has terms comparable to what would have been obtained from a third-party landlord, it did not seek bid proposals from any independent third parties when entering into its new corporate headquarters lease.

Conflicts Based on Individual Tax Considerations.

The tax basis of members of the Saul Organization in our portfolio properties which were contributed to certain partnerships at the time of our initial public offering in 1993 was substantially less than the fair market value thereof at the time of their contribution. In the event of our disposition of such properties, a disproportionately large share of the gain for federal income tax purposes would be allocated to members of the Saul Organization. In addition, future reductions of the level of our debt, or future releases of the guarantees or indemnities with respect thereto by members of the Saul Organization, would cause members of the Saul Organization to be considered, for federal income tax purposes, to have received constructive distributions. Depending on the overall level of debt and other factors, these distributions could be in excess of the Saul Organization’s basis in their Partnership units, in which case such excess constructive distributions would be taxable.

Consequently, it is in the interests of the Saul Organization that we continue to hold the contributed portfolio properties, that a portion of our debt remains outstanding or is refinanced and that the Saul Organization guarantees and indemnities remain in place, in order to defer the taxable gain to members of the Saul Organization. Therefore, the Saul Organization may seek to cause us to retain the contributed portfolio properties, and to refrain from reducing our debt or releasing the Saul Organization guarantees and indemnities, even when such action may not be in the interests of some, or a majority, of our stockholders. In order to minimize these conflicts, decisions as to sales of the portfolio properties, or any refinancing, repayment or release of guarantees and indemnities with respect to our debt, will be made by the independent directors.

Ability to Block Certain Actions.

Under applicable law and the limited partnership agreement of the Operating Partnership, consent of the limited partners is required to permit certain actions, including the sale of all or substantially all of the Operating Partnership’s assets. Therefore, members of the Saul Organization, through their status as limited partners in the Operating Partnership, could prevent the taking of any such actions, even if they were in the interests of other stockholders.

The amount of debt we have and the restrictions imposed by that debt could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $1.2 billion of debt outstanding, approximately $1.07 billion of which was fixed-rate debt and approximately $164.0 million of which was variable-rate debt outstanding under our Credit Facility.

We currently have a general policy of limiting our borrowings to 50% of asset value, i.e., the value of our portfolio, as determined by our Board of Directors by reference to the aggregate annualized cash flow from our portfolio. Our organizational documents contain no limitation on the amount or percentage of indebtedness which we may incur. Therefore, the Board of Directors could alter or eliminate the current limitation on borrowing at any time. If our debt capitalization policy were changed, we could increase our leverage, resulting in an increase in debt service that could adversely affect our operating cash flow and our ability to make expected distributions to stockholders, and in an increased risk of default on our obligations.

We have established our debt capitalization policy relative to asset value, which is computed by reference to the aggregate annualized cash flow from the properties in our portfolio rather than relative to book value. We have used a measure tied to cash flow because we believe that the book value of our portfolio properties, which is the depreciated historical cost of the properties, does not accurately reflect our ability to borrow. Asset value, however, is somewhat more variable than book value, and may not at all times reflect the fair market value of the underlying properties.

The amount of our debt outstanding from time to time could have important consequences to our stockholders. For example, it could:

• require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing funds available for operations, property acquisitions and other appropriate business opportunities that may arise in the future;
• limit our ability to obtain any additional financing we may need in the future for working capital, debt refinancing, capital expenditures, acquisitions, development or other general corporate purposes;
• make it difficult to satisfy our debt service requirements;
• limit our ability to make distributions on our outstanding common and preferred stock;
• require us to dedicate increased amounts of our cash flow from operations to payments on our variable rate, unhedged debt if interest rates rise;
• limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the factors that affect the profitability of our business, which may place us at a disadvantage compared to competitors with less debt or debt with less restrictive terms; and
• limit our ability to obtain any additional financing we may need in the future for working capital, debt refinancing, capital expenditures, acquisitions, development or other general corporate purposes.

Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on, or to refinance, our indebtedness will depend primarily on our future performance, which to a certain extent is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors described in this section. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from our business in the future to service our debt or meet our other cash needs, we may be required to refinance all or a portion of our existing debt, sell assets or obtain additional financing to meet our debt obligations and other cash needs. Our ability to refinance, sell assets or obtain additional financing may not be possible on terms that we would find acceptable.

We are obligated to comply with financial and other covenants in our debt that could restrict our operating activities, and the failure to comply could result in defaults that accelerate the payment under our debt.

Our secured debt generally contains customary covenants, including, among others, provisions:

• relating to the maintenance of the property securing the debt;
• restricting our ability to assign or further encumber the properties securing the debt; and
• restricting our ability to enter into certain new leases or to amend or modify certain existing leases without obtaining consent of the lenders.

Our unsecured debt generally contains various restrictive covenants. The covenants in our unsecured debt include, among others, provisions restricting our ability to:

• incur additional unsecured debt;
• guarantee additional debt;
• make certain distributions, investments and other restricted payments, including distribution payments on our outstanding stock;
• create certain liens;
• increase our overall secured and unsecured borrowing beyond certain levels; and
• consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets.

Our ability to meet some of the covenants in our debt, including covenants related to the condition of the property or payment of real estate taxes, may be dependent on the performance by our tenants under their leases.

In addition, our Credit Facility requires us and our subsidiaries to satisfy financial covenants. The material financial covenants require us, on a consolidated basis, to:

• limit the amount of debt as a percentage of gross asset value, as defined in the loan agreement, to less than 60% (leverage ratio);
• limit the amount of debt so that interest coverage will exceed 2.0x on a trailing four-quarter basis (interest expense coverage); and
• limit the amount of debt so that interest, scheduled principal amortization and preferred dividend coverage exceeds 1.4x on a trailing four-quarter basis (fixed charge coverage).

As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with all such covenants. If we were to breach any of our debt covenants and did not cure the breach within any applicable cure period, our lenders could require us to repay the debt immediately, and, if the debt is secured, could immediately begin proceedings to take possession of the property securing the loan. Some of our debt arrangements are cross-defaulted, which means that the lenders under those debt arrangements can put us in default and require immediate repayment of their debt if we breach and fail to cure a covenant under certain of our other debt obligations. As a result, any default under our debt covenants could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, our results of operations, our ability to meet our obligations and the market value of our shares.

The market value of our debt and equity securities is subject to various factors that may cause significant fluctuations or volatility.

As with other publicly traded securities, the market price of our debt and equity securities depends on various factors, which may change from time to time and/or may be unrelated to our financial condition, operating performance or prospects that may cause significant fluctuations or volatility in such prices. These factors include, among others:

• general economic and financial market conditions;
• level and trend of interest rates;
• our ability to access the capital markets to raise additional capital;
• the issuance of additional equity or debt securities;
• changes in our funds from operations (“FFO”) or earnings estimates;
• changes in our credit or analyst ratings;
• our financial condition and performance;
• market perception of our business compared to other REITs; and
• market perception of REITs, in general, compared to other investment alternatives.

The phase-out of LIBOR could affect interest rates under our variable rate debt and interest rate swap arrangements.

The U.S. dollar London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) was previously used as a reference rate for our Credit Facility. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority announced it intended to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. On November 30, 2020, the ICE Benchmark Administration announced its plan to extend the date that most LIBOR values would cease being computed and published from December 31, 2021 to June 30, 2023. The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York organized the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, which identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as its preferred alternative to LIBOR in derivatives and other financial contracts. However, SOFR and LIBOR differ in certain important respects. SOFR is a secured overnight rate, while LIBOR is an unsecured rate that represents interbank funding over different maturities. In addition, because SOFR is a transaction-based rate, it is backward-looking, whereas LIBOR is forward-looking. Because of these and other differences, there can be no assurance that SOFR will perform in the same way as LIBOR would have done at any time, and there is no guarantee that it is a comparable substitute for LIBOR. At this time, we cannot predict the long term effect of any discontinuance, modification or other reforms to LIBOR or whether SOFR or another alternative reference rate will attain market traction as a LIBOR replacement. As of October 3, 2022, LIBOR was phased out as a reference rate under our Credit Facility and SOFR replaced it as the benchmark index. SOFR may result in higher interest charges than LIBOR and may result in increased volatility in markets for instruments that previously relied on LIBOR, all of which could negatively impact our cash flow.

Our ability to grow will be limited if we cannot obtain additional capital.

Our growth strategy includes the redevelopment of properties we already own and the acquisition of additional properties. Because we are required to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our taxable income each year to continue to qualify as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for federal income tax purposes, in addition to our undistributed operating cash flow, we rely upon the availability of debt or equity capital to fund our growth, which financing may or may not be available on favorable terms or at all. The debt could include mortgage loans from third parties or the sale of debt securities. Equity capital could include our common stock or preferred stock. Additional financing, refinancing or other capital may not be available in the amounts we desire or on favorable terms. Our access to debt or equity capital depends on a number of factors, including the general state of the capital markets, the market’s perception of our growth potential, our ability to pay dividends, and our current and potential future earnings. Depending on the outcome of these factors, we could experience delay or difficulty in implementing our growth strategy on satisfactory terms, or be unable to implement this strategy.

Risk Factors Related to our REIT Status and Other Laws and Regulations

Environmental laws and regulations could reduce the value or profitability of our properties.

All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations relating to hazardous materials, environmental protection and human health and safety. Under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, we and our tenants may be required to investigate and clean up certain hazardous or toxic substances released on or in properties we own or operate, and also may be required to pay other costs relating to hazardous or toxic substances. This liability may be imposed without regard to whether we or our tenants knew about the release of these types of substances or were responsible for their release. The presence of contamination or the failure to properly remediate contamination at any of our properties may adversely affect our ability to sell or lease those properties or to borrow using those properties as collateral. The costs or liabilities could exceed the value of the affected real estate. We are not aware of any environmental condition with respect to any of our properties that management believes would have a material adverse effect on our business, assets or results of operations taken as a whole. The uses of any of our properties prior to our acquisition of the property and the building materials used at the property are among the property-specific factors that will affect how the environmental laws are applied to our properties. If we are subject to any material environmental liabilities, the liabilities could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to meet our obligations.

We cannot predict what other environmental legislation or regulations will be enacted in the future, how existing or future laws or regulations will be administered or interpreted or what environmental conditions may be found to exist on the properties in the future. Compliance with existing and new laws and regulations may require us or our tenants to spend funds to remedy environmental problems. Our tenants, like many of their competitors, have incurred, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures and other costs associated with complying with these laws and regulations, which will adversely affect their potential profitability. Generally, our tenants must comply with environmental laws and meet remediation requirements. Our leases typically impose obligations on our tenants to indemnify us from any compliance costs we may incur as a result of the environmental conditions on the property caused by the tenant. If a tenant fails to or cannot comply, we could be forced to pay these costs. If not addressed, environmental conditions could impair our ability to sell or re-lease the affected properties in the future or result in lower sales prices or rent payments.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”) could require us to take remedial steps with respect to newly acquired properties.

The properties, as commercial facilities, are required to comply with Title III of the ADA. Investigation of a property may reveal non-compliance with the ADA. The requirements of the ADA, or of other federal, state or local laws, also may change in the future and restrict further renovations of our properties with respect to access for disabled persons. Future compliance with the ADA may require expensive changes to the properties.

The revenue generated by our tenants could be negatively affected by various federal, state and local laws to which they are subject.

We and our tenants are subject to a wide range of federal, state and local laws and regulations, such as local licensing requirements, consumer protection laws and state and local fire, life-safety and similar requirements that affect the use of the properties. The leases typically require that each tenant comply with all regulations. Failure to comply could result in fines by governmental authorities, awards of damages to private litigants, or restrictions on the ability to conduct business on such properties. Non-compliance of this sort could reduce our revenue from a tenant, could require us to pay penalties or fines relating to any non-compliance, and could adversely affect our ability to sell or lease a property.

Failure to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes would cause us to be taxed as a corporation, which would substantially reduce funds available for payment of distributions.

We believe that we are organized and qualified as a REIT, and currently intend to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes under the Code. However, the IRS could successfully assert that we are not qualified as such. In addition, we may not remain qualified as a REIT in the future. Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions. The complexity of these provisions and of the applicable income tax regulations that have been issued under the Code by the United States Department of Treasury is greater in the case of a REIT that holds its assets in partnership form. Certain facts and circumstances not entirely within our control may affect our ability to qualify as a REIT. For example, in order to qualify as a REIT, at least 95% of our gross income in any year must be derived from qualifying rents and other income. Satisfying this requirement could be difficult, for example, if defaults by tenants were to reduce the amount of income from qualifying rents. Also, we must make annual distributions to stockholders of at least 90% of our net taxable income (excluding capital gains). In addition, new legislation, new regulations, new administrative interpretations or new court decisions may significantly change the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of such qualification. If we fail to qualify as a REIT:

• we would not be allowed a deduction for dividend distributions to stockholders in computing taxable income;
• we would be subject to federal income tax at regular corporate rates;
• unless we are entitled to relief under specific statutory provisions, we could not elect to be taxed as a REIT for four taxable years following the year during which we were disqualified;
• we could be required to pay significant income taxes, which would substantially reduce the funds available for investment and for distribution to our stockholders for each year in which we failed to qualify; and
• we would no longer be required by law to make any distributions to our stockholders.

We believe that the Operating Partnership is treated as a partnership, and not as a corporation, for federal income tax purposes. If the IRS were to challenge successfully the status of the Operating Partnership as a partnership for federal income tax purposes:

• the Operating Partnership would be taxed as a corporation;
• we would cease to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; and
• the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders would be substantially reduced.

We may be required to incur additional debt to qualify as a REIT.

As a REIT, we must make annual distributions to stockholders of at least 90% of our REIT taxable income. We are subject to income tax on amounts of undistributed REIT taxable income and net capital gain. In addition, we would be subject to a 4% excise tax if we fail to distribute sufficient income to meet a minimum distribution test based on our ordinary income, capital gain and aggregate undistributed income from prior years. We intend to make distributions to stockholders to comply with the Code’s distribution provisions and to avoid federal income and excise tax. We may need to borrow funds to meet our distribution requirements because:

• our income may not be matched by our related expenses at the time the income is considered received for purposes of determining taxable income; and
• non-deductible capital expenditures or debt service requirements may reduce available cash but not taxable income.

In these circumstances, we might have to borrow funds on unfavorable terms and even if our management believes the market conditions make borrowing financially unattractive.

Legislative, administrative, regulatory or other actions affecting REITs, including positions taken by the IRS, could have a material adverse effect on us and our investors.

The rules dealing with U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process, and by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”). Changes to the tax laws or interpretations thereof by the IRS and the Treasury, with or without retroactive application, could materially and adversely affect us and our investors. In particular, additional technical corrections legislation and implementing regulations may be enacted or promulgated in response to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”), and substantive legislative changes to the Act are also possible. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple pieces of legislation have already been enacted, including the 2020 CARES Act, and there have also been significant issuances of regulatory and other guidance, and further legislative enactments and other IRS or Treasury action is possible. No prediction can be made as to the likelihood of passage of new tax legislation or other provisions, or the direct or indirect effect on us and our shareholders. Accordingly, such new legislation, Treasury regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify to be taxed as a REIT and/or the U.S. federal income tax consequences to us and our investors of such qualification.

To maintain our status as a REIT, we limit the amount of shares any one stockholder can own.

The Code imposes certain limitations on the ownership of the stock of a REIT. For example, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding shares of capital stock may be owned, actually or constructively, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code). To protect our REIT status, our articles of incorporation restrict beneficial and constructive ownership (defined by reference to various Code provisions) to no more than 2.5% in value of our issued and outstanding equity securities by any single stockholder with the exception of members of the Saul Organization, who are restricted to beneficial and constructive ownership of no more than 39.9% in value of our issued and outstanding equity securities.

The constructive ownership rules are complex. Shares of our capital stock owned, actually or constructively, by a group of related individuals and/or entities may be treated as constructively owned by one of those individuals or entities. As a result, a single entity or individual could own less than 2.5% or 39.9% in value of our issued and outstanding equity securities and such ownership could potentially cause a group of related individuals and/or entities to own constructively more than 2.5% or 39.9% in value of the outstanding stock. If that happened, either the transfer or ownership would be void or the shares would be transferred to a charitable trust and then sold to someone who can own those shares without violating the respective ownership limit.

As of December 31, 2022, Mr. B. F. Saul II and members of the Saul Organization owned common stock representing approximately 39.0% in value of all our issued and outstanding equity securities. In addition, members of the Saul Organization beneficially owned Operating Partnership units that are, in general, convertible into our common stock on a one-for-one basis. Members of the Saul Organization are permitted under our articles of incorporation to convert Operating Partnership units into shares of common stock or acquire additional shares of common stock until the Saul Organization’s actual ownership of common stock reaches 39.9% in value of our equity securities.

The Board of Directors may waive these restrictions on a case-by-case basis. The Board has authorized the Company to grant waivers to look-through entities, such as mutual funds, in which shares of equity stock owned by the entity are treated as owned proportionally by individuals who are the beneficial owners of the entity. Even though these entities may own stock in excess of the 2.5% ownership limit, no individual beneficially or constructively would own more than 2.5%. The Board of Directors has agreed to waive the ownership limit with respect to certain mutual funds and similar investors. In addition, the Board of Directors has agreed to waive the ownership limit with respect to certain bank pledgees of shares of our common stock and units issued by the Operating Partnership and held by members of the Saul Organization.

The ownership restrictions may delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of our control that might involve a premium price for our equity stock or otherwise be in the stockholders’ best interest.

General Risk Factors

Financial and economic conditions may have an adverse impact on us, our tenants’ businesses and our results of operations.

Our business may be affected by market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. economy or real estate industry as a whole, by the local economic conditions in the markets in which our properties are located, including the impact of high unemployment, volatility in the public equity and debt markets, and international economic conditions. A prolonged deterioration of economic and other market conditions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or real estate values, as well as the financial condition of our tenants and lenders, which may expose us to increased risks of default by these parties.

Potential consequences of a prolonged deterioration of economic and other market conditions include:

• the financial condition of our tenants, many of which operate in the retail industry, may be adversely affected, which may result in tenant defaults under their leases due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failures or for other reasons;
• the ability to borrow on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, or at all, may be limited, which could reduce our ability to pursue acquisition and development opportunities and refinance existing debt, reduce our returns from acquisition and development activities and increase our future interest expense;
• reduced values of our properties may limit our ability to dispose of assets at attractive prices and may reduce the ability to refinance loans; and
• one or more lenders under our credit facility could fail and we may not be able to replace the financing commitment of any such lenders on favorable terms, or at all.

Loss of our key management could adversely affect performance and the value of our common shares.

We are dependent on the efforts of our key management. Although we believe qualified replacements could be found for any departures of key executives, the loss of their services could adversely affect our performance and the value of our common stock.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), or the future outbreak or pandemic of any other highly infectious or contagious diseases, could have a material and adverse effect on or cause disruption to our business or financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and the market value and trading price of our securities.

The COVID-19 pandemic (or a future pandemic) could have a material and adverse effect on or cause disruption to our business or financial condition, results of operations and cash flows due to, among other factors:

• a complete or partial closure of, or other operational issues at, our properties as a result of government or tenant action;
• declines in or instability of the economy or financial markets that may result in a recession or negatively impact consumer discretionary spending, which could adversely affect retailers and consumers;
• reduction of economic activity that severely impacts our tenants' business operations, financial condition and liquidity and may cause one or more of our tenants to be unable to meet their obligations to us in full, or at all, to default on their lease, or to otherwise seek modifications of such obligations;
• inability to access debt and equity capital on favorable terms, if at all, and a severe disruption and instability in the global financial markets or deteriorations in credit and financing conditions may affect our access to capital necessary to fund business operations, pursue acquisition and development opportunities, refinance existing debt, reduce our ability to make cash distributions to our stockholders and increase our future interest expense;
• a general decline in business activity and demand for real estate transactions could adversely affect our ability to successfully execute investment strategies or expand our property portfolio;
• a significant reduction in our cash flows could impact our ability to continue paying cash dividends to our common and preferred stockholders at expected levels or at all;
• the financial impact of COVID-19 (or a future pandemic) could negatively affect our future compliance with financial and other covenants of our credit facility and other debt instruments, and the failure to comply with such covenants could result in a default that accelerates the payment of such indebtedness;
• the continued service and availability of personnel, including our executive officers and Board of Directors, and our ability to recruit, attract and retain skilled personnel, to the extent our management, Board of Directors or personnel are impacted in significant numbers by the outbreak of pandemic or epidemic disease and are not available or allowed to conduct work, could negatively impact our business and operating results; and
• our ability to ensure business continuity in the event our continuity of operations plan is not effective or is improperly implemented or deployed during a disruption.

The extent to which COVID-19 (or a future pandemic) impacts our operations and those of our tenants will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the scope, severity and duration of the outbreak, the actions taken to contain the outbreak or mitigate its impact, and the direct and indirect economic effects of the outbreak and containment measures, among others.

Our insurance coverage on our properties may be inadequate.

We carry comprehensive insurance on all of our properties, including insurance for liability, earthquake, fire, flood, terrorism and rental loss. These policies contain coverage limitations. We believe this coverage is of the type and amount customarily obtained for or by an owner of real property assets. We intend to obtain similar insurance coverage on subsequently acquired properties.

As a consequence of various terrorist attacks and other significant losses incurred by the insurance industry, the availability of insurance coverage has decreased and the prices for insurance have increased. As a result, we may be unable to renew or duplicate our current insurance coverage in adequate amounts or at reasonable prices. In addition, insurance companies may no longer offer coverage against certain types of losses, such as losses due to terrorist acts and toxic mold, or, if offered, the expense of obtaining these types of insurance may not be justified. We therefore may cease to have insurance coverage against certain types of losses and/or there may be decreases in the limits of insurance available. If an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of our insured limits occurs, we could lose all or a portion of the capital we have invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the property, but still remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the property. Material losses in excess of insurance proceeds may occur in the future. Also, due to inflation, changes in codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors, it may not be feasible to use insurance proceeds to replace a building after it has been damaged or destroyed. Events such as these could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to meet our obligations, including distributions to our stockholders.

Natural disasters and climate change could have an adverse impact on our cash flow and operating results.

Climate change may add to the unpredictability and frequency of natural disasters and severe weather conditions and create additional uncertainty as to future trends and exposures. Certain of our operations are located in areas that are subject to natural disasters and severe weather conditions such as hurricanes, droughts, snow storms, floods and fires. The impact of climate change or the occurrence of natural disasters can delay new development projects, increase investment costs to repair or replace damaged properties, increase operating costs, create additional investment costs to make improvements to existing properties to comply with climate change regulations, increase future property insurance costs, and negatively impact the tenant demand for space. If insurance is unavailable to us or is unavailable on acceptable terms, or if our insurance is not adequate to cover business interruption or losses from these events, our earnings, liquidity or capital resources could be adversely affected.

We cannot assure you we will continue to pay dividends at historical rates.

Our ability to continue to pay dividends on our common stock at historical rates or to increase our common stock dividend rate will depend on a number of factors, including, among others, the following:

• our financial condition and results of future operations;
• the performance of lease terms by tenants;
• the terms of our loan covenants; and
• our ability to acquire, finance, develop or redevelop and lease additional properties at attractive rates.

If we do not maintain or increase the dividend rate on our common stock, it could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and other securities. Payment of dividends on our common stock may be subject to payment in full of the dividends on any preferred stock or depositary shares and payment of interest on any debt securities we may offer.

Certain tax and anti-takeover provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws may inhibit a change of our control.

Certain provisions contained in our articles of incorporation and bylaws and the Maryland General Corporation Law may discourage a third party from making a tender offer or acquisition proposal to us. If this were to happen, it could delay, deter or prevent a change in control or the removal of existing management. These provisions also may delay or prevent the stockholders from receiving a premium for their stock over then-prevailing market prices. These provisions include:

• the REIT ownership limit described above;
• authorization of the issuance of our preferred stock with powers, preferences or rights to be determined by the Board of Directors;
• a staggered, fixed-size Board of Directors consisting of three classes of directors;
• special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of the Board, the president, by a majority of the directors or by stockholders possessing no less than 25% of all the votes entitled to be cast at the meeting;
• the Board of Directors, without a stockholder vote, can classify or reclassify unissued shares of preferred stock;
• a member of the Board of Directors may be removed only for cause upon the affirmative vote of 75% of the Board of Directors or 75% of the then-outstanding capital stock;
• advance notice requirements for proposals to be presented at stockholder meetings; and
• the terms of our articles of incorporation regarding business combinations and control share acquisitions.

Cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents could adversely affect our business, disrupt operations and expose us to liabilities to tenants, employees, capital providers and other third parties.

We use information technology and other computer resources to carry out important operational activities and to maintain our business records. As part of our normal business activities, we collect and store certain personal identifying and confidential information relating to our tenants, employees, vendors and suppliers, and maintain operational and financial information related to our business. We have implemented systems and processes intended to address ongoing and evolving cybersecurity risks, secure our information technology, applications and computer systems, and prevent unauthorized access to or loss of sensitive, confidential and personal data. Although we and our service providers employ what we believe are adequate security, disaster recovery and other preventative and corrective measures, our security measures, taken as a whole, may not be sufficient for all possible situations and may be vulnerable to, among other things, hacking, ransomware, employee error, system error, and faulty password management. Additionally, information technology security breaches may go undetected and persist as a latent threat to our security measures.

Our ability to conduct our business may be impaired if our information technology resources, including our websites or e-mail systems, are compromised, degraded, damaged or fail, whether due to a virus or other harmful circumstance, intentional penetration or disruption of our information technology resources by a third party, natural disaster, hardware or software corruption or failure or error or poor product or vendor/developer selection (including a failure of security controls incorporated into or applied to such hardware or software), telecommunications system failure, service provider error or failure, intentional or unintentional personnel actions, or lost connectivity to our networked resources. A significant and extended disruption could damage our reputation and cause us to lose tenants and revenues; result in the unintended and/or unauthorized public disclosure or the misappropriation of proprietary, personal identifying and confidential information; and require us to incur significant expenses to address and remediate or otherwise resolve these kinds of issues. The release of confidential information may also lead to litigation or other proceedings against us by affected individuals, business partners and/or regulators, and the outcome of such proceedings, which could include losses, penalties, fines, injunctions, expenses and charges recorded against our earnings and cause us reputational harm, could have a material and adverse effect on our business and consolidated financial statements. In addition, the costs of maintaining adequate protection against data security threats, based on considerations of their evolution, increasing sophistication, pervasiveness and frequency and/or government-mandated standards or obligations regarding protective efforts, could be material to our consolidated financial statements in a particular period or over various periods.

We may amend or revise our business policies without your approval.

Our Board of Directors may amend or revise our operating policies without stockholder approval. Our investment, financing and borrowing policies and policies with respect to all other activities, such as growth, debt, capitalization and operations, are determined by the Board of Directors or those committees or officers to whom the Board of Directors has delegated that authority. The Board of Directors may amend or revise these policies at any time and from time to time at its discretion. A change in these policies could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations, and the market price of our securities.

Overview

As of December 31, 2022, the Company is the owner and operator and developer of a real estate portfolio composed of 57 operating properties, totaling approximately 9.8 million square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”), and four development properties. The properties are located primarily in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. The operating property portfolio is composed of 50 neighborhood and community Shopping Centers, and seven predominantly Mixed-Use Properties totaling approximately 7.9 million and 1.9 million square feet of GLA, respectively. One property, Seven Corners, accounted for more than 5% of the total gross leasable area. A majority of the Shopping Centers are anchored by several major tenants and offer primarily day-to-day necessities and services. Thirty-three of the Shopping Centers were anchored by a grocery store. One tenant, Giant Food (5.1%), a tenant at 11 Shopping Centers, individually accounted for 2.5% or more of the Company’s total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The Company expects to hold its properties as long-term investments and it has no maximum period for retention of any investment. It plans to selectively acquire additional income-producing properties and to expand, renovate, and improve its properties when circumstances warrant. See “Item 1. Business—Operating Strategies” and “Business—Capital Policies.”

The Shopping Centers

Community and neighborhood shopping centers typically are anchored by one or more grocery stores, discount department stores or drug stores. These anchors offer day-to-day necessities rather than apparel and luxury goods and, therefore, generate consistent local traffic. By contrast, regional malls generally are larger and typically are anchored by one or more full-service department stores.

In general, the Shopping Centers are seasoned community and neighborhood shopping centers located in well established, highly developed, densely populated, middle and upper income areas. The 2022 average estimated population within a one- and three-mile radius of the Shopping Centers is approximately 15,700 and 82,900, respectively. The 2022 average household income within a one- and three-mile radius of the Shopping Centers is approximately $146,300 and $153,200, respectively, compared to a national average of $105,000. Because the Shopping Centers generally are located in highly developed areas, management believes that there is little likelihood that significant numbers of competing centers will be developed in the future.

The Shopping Center properties range in size from approximately 19,000 to 573,500 square feet of GLA, with six in excess of 300,000 square feet, and average approximately 157,500 square feet.

Lease Expirations of Shopping Center Properties

The following table sets forth, by year of expiration, the aggregate amount of base rent and leasable area for leases in place at the Shopping Centers that the Company owned as of December 31, 2022, for each of the next ten years beginning with 2023, assuming that none of the tenants exercise renewal options and excluding an aggregate of 414,529 square feet of unleased space, which represented 5.3% of the GLA of the Shopping Centers as of December 31, 2022.

Lease Expirations of Shopping Center Properties

(1) Calculated using annualized contractual base rent payable as of December 31, 2022 for the expiring GLA, excluding expenses payable by or reimbursable from tenants.

The Mixed-Use Properties

All of the Mixed-Use Properties are located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and contain an aggregate GLA of approximately 1.9 million square feet, comprised of 1.0 million and 0.1 million square feet of office and retail space, respectively, and 1,006 apartments. The Mixed-Use Properties represent three distinct styles of facilities, are located in differing commercial environments with distinctive demographic characteristics, and are geographically removed from one another. Accordingly, management believes that the Washington, D.C. area Mixed-Use Properties compete for tenants in different commercial and geographic sub-markets of the metropolitan Washington, D.C. market and do not compete with one another.

Lease Expirations of Mixed-Use Properties

The following table sets forth, by year of expiration, the aggregate amount of base rent and leasable area for commercial leases in place at the Mixed-Use Properties that the Company owned as of December 31, 2022, for each of the next ten years beginning with 2023, assuming that none of the tenants exercise renewal options and excluding an aggregate of 198,548 square feet of unleased office and retail space, which represented 17.5% of the GLA of the commercial space within the Mixed-Use Properties as of December 31, 2022.

Commercial Lease Expirations of Mixed-Use Properties

(1) Calculated using annualized contractual base rent payable as of December 31, 2022, for the expiring GLA, excluding expenses payable by or reimbursable from tenants.

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had 967 apartment leases, 859 of which will expire in 2023 and 108 of which will expire in 2024. Annual base rent due under these leases is $20.2 million and $0.8 million for the years ending December 31, 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Current Portfolio Properties

The following table sets forth, at the dates indicated, certain information regarding the Current Portfolio Properties:

26

27

28

(1) Percentage leased is a percentage of rentable square feet leased for commercial space and a percentage of units leased for apartments. Prior year leased percentages, including Total Shopping Centers, Total Mixed-Use Properties and Total Portfolio have been recalculated to exclude the impact of properties sold or removed from service and, therefore, the percentages reported in this table may be different than the percentages previously reported.

(2) Total percentage leased is for commercial space only.

(3) For the purposes of the property count listed elsewhere in this document, residential and commercial are combined. The residential units at Clarendon South, Park Van Ness and The Waycroft are all part of the same building as the commercial tenants at those locations.

In the normal course of business, the Company is involved in litigation, including litigation arising out of the collection of rents, the enforcement or defense of the priority of its security interests, and the continued development and marketing of certain of its real estate properties. In the opinion of management, litigation that is currently pending should not have a material adverse impact on the financial condition or future operations of the Company.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) begins with the Company’s primary business strategy to give the reader an overview of the goals of the Company’s business. This is followed by a discussion of the critical accounting policies that the Company believes are important to understanding the assumptions and judgments incorporated in the Company’s reported financial results. The next section discusses the Company’s results of operations for the past two years. Beginning on page 43, the Company provides an analysis of its liquidity and capital resources, including discussions of its cash flows, debt arrangements, sources of capital and financial commitments. On page 49, the Company discusses funds from operations, or FFO, which is a non-GAAP financial measure of performance of an equity REIT used by the REIT industry.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related footnotes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make statements in this section that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. For a complete discussion of forward-looking statements, see the section in this report entitled "Forward-Looking Statements." Certain risks may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the following discussion. For a discussion of such risk factors, see "Item 1A. Risk Factors."

Impact of COVID-19

If the effects of COVID-19 result in deterioration of economic and market conditions, including supply chain issues, or if the Company’s expected holding period for assets changes, subsequent tests for impairment could result in impairment charges in the future. The Company can provide no assurance that material impairment charges with respect to the Company’s investment properties will not occur during future periods. As of December 31, 2022, we have not identified any impairment triggering events, including the impact of COVID-19 and corresponding tenant requests for rent relief. Therefore, under applicable GAAP guidance, no impairment charges have been recorded. However, we have yet to see the long-term effects of COVID-19 and the extent to which it may impact our tenants in the future. Indications of a tenant’s inability to continue as a going concern, changes in our view or strategy relative to a tenant’s business or industry as a result of COVID-19, or changes in our long-term hold strategies, could be indicative of an impairment triggering event. Accordingly, the Company will continue to monitor circumstances and events in future periods to determine whether impairment charges are warranted.

As of January 31, 2023, payments by tenants of contractual base rent and operating expense and real estate tax recoveries for the 2022 fourth quarter totaled approximately 98.6%.

The Company is and will continue to be actively engaged in collection efforts related to uncollected rent, and the Company will continue to work with certain tenants who request rent deferrals, however, the Company can provide no assurance that such efforts or our efforts in future periods will be successful.

Deferral agreements executed with certain tenants as a result of business disruption that occurred at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic generally deferred 30 to 90 days of rent, operating expense and real estate tax recovery payments until a later time in the lease term with repayment typically occurring over a 12-month period generally commencing in 2021. We continued to accrue rental revenue during the deferral period.

The following is a summary of the Company’s executed rent deferral agreements and repayments as of January 31, 2023, with the exception of amounts due, which are as of December 31, 2022.

Rent Deferral Agreements

(Dollars in thousands)

The extent of the effects of COVID-19 on the Company’s business, results of operations, cash flows, and growth prospects is highly uncertain and will ultimately depend on future developments, none of which can be predicted with any certainty. See Item 1A. Risk Factors. Management and the Board of Directors will continue to actively monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including governmental directives in the jurisdictions in which we operate and the recommendations of public health authorities, and will, as needed, take further measures to adapt the Company’s business in the best interests of our stockholders and personnel. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our operations and those of our tenants will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the scope, severity and duration of the outbreak, the actions taken to contain the outbreak or mitigate its impact, and the direct and indirect economic effects of the outbreak and containment measures, among others.

We anticipate that some tenants eventually will not be able to pay amounts due and we will incur losses against our rent receivables. The extent and timing of the recognition of such losses will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. Management considers reserves established as of December 31, 2022, against such potential losses to be reasonable and adequate. Rent collections during the fourth quarter and rent relief requests to-date may not be indicative of collections or requests in any future period.

Overview

The Company’s primary strategy is to continue to focus on diversification of its assets through development of transit-oriented, residential mixed-use projects in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Company’s operating strategy also includes improvement of the operating performance of its assets, internal growth of its Shopping Centers through the addition of pad sites, and supplementing its development pipeline with selective redevelopment and renovations of its core Shopping Centers. The Company has a pipeline of entitled sites in its portfolio, some of which are currently shopping center operating properties, for development of up to 3,700 apartment units and 975,000 square feet of retail and office space. All such sites are located adjacent to WMATA red line Metro stations in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Company intends to selectively add free-standing pad site buildings within its Shopping Center portfolio, and replace underperforming tenants with tenants that generate strong traffic, including anchor stores such as supermarkets and drug stores. The Company has executed leases or leases are under negotiation for seven more pad sites.

In recent years, there has been a limited amount of quality properties for sale and pricing of those properties has escalated. Accordingly, management believes acquisition opportunities for investment in existing and new shopping center and mixed-use properties in the near future is uncertain. Nevertheless, because of the Company’s conservative capital structure, including its cash and capacity under its revolving credit facility, management believes that the Company is positioned to take advantage of additional investment opportunities as attractive properties are identified and market conditions improve. (See “Item 1. Business - Capital Policies”.) It is management’s view that several of the sub-markets in which the Company operates have, or are expected to have in the future, attractive supply/demand characteristics. The Company will continue to evaluate acquisition, development and redevelopment as integral parts of its overall business plan.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic conditions within the local Washington, DC metropolitan area had remained relatively stable. Issues facing the Federal government relating to taxation, spending and interest rate policy will likely continue to impact the office, retail and residential real estate markets over the coming years. Because the majority of the Company’s property operating income is produced by our Shopping Centers, we continually monitor the implications of government policy changes, as well as shifts in consumer demand between on-line and in-store shopping, on future shopping center construction and retailer store expansion plans. Based on our observations, we continue to adapt our marketing and merchandising strategies in ways to maximize our future performance. The Company's commercial leasing percentage, on a same property basis, which excludes the impact of properties not in operation for the entirety of the comparable periods, increased to 93.2% at December 31, 2022, from 92.0% at December 31, 2021.

The Company maintains a ratio of total debt to total asset value of under 50%, which allows the Company to obtain additional secured borrowings if necessary. As of December 31, 2022, including $100.0 million of hedged variable-rate debt, total fixed-rate debt with staggered maturities from 2023 to 2041 represented approximately 86.8% of the Company’s notes payable, thus minimizing refinancing risk. The Company’s unhedged variable-rate debt consists of $164.0 million outstanding under the Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has availability of approximately $212.1 million under its Credit Facility.

Although it is management’s present intention to concentrate future acquisition and development activities on transit-centric, primarily residential mixed-use properties in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore metropolitan area, the Company may, in the future, also acquire other types of real estate in other areas of the country as opportunities present themselves. The Company plans to continue to diversify in terms of property types, locations, size and market, and it does not set any limit on the amount or percentage of assets that may be invested in any one property or any one geographic area.

The following table sets forth average annualized base rent per square foot and average annualized effective rent per square foot for the Company's commercial properties (all properties except for the apartments within The Waycroft, Clarendon Center and Park Van Ness properties). For purposes of this table, annualized effective rent is annualized base rent minus amortized tenant improvements and amortized leasing commissions.

Critical Accounting Policies

The Company’s consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), which requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reporting of financial position and results of operations. See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this report. The Company has identified the following policies that, due to estimates and assumptions inherent in those policies, involve a relatively high degree of judgment and complexity.

Real Estate Investments

Real estate investment properties are stated at historic cost less depreciation. Although the Company intends to own its real estate investment properties over a long term, from time to time it will evaluate its market position, market conditions, and other factors and may elect to sell properties that do not conform to the Company’s investment profile. Management believes that the Company’s real estate assets have generally appreciated in value since their acquisition or development and, accordingly, the aggregate current value exceeds their aggregate net book value and also exceeds the value of the Company’s liabilities as reported in the financial statements. Because the financial statements are prepared in conformity with GAAP, they do not report the current value of the Company’s real estate investment properties.

If there is an event or change in circumstance that indicates a potential impairment in the value of a real estate investment property, the Company prepares an analysis to determine whether the carrying value of the real estate investment property exceeds its estimated fair value. The Company considers both quantitative and qualitative factors in identifying impairment indicators including recurring operating losses, significant decreases in occupancy, and significant adverse changes in market conditions, legal factors and business climate. If impairment indicators are present, the Company compares the projected cash flows of the property over its remaining useful life, on an undiscounted basis, to the carrying value of that property. The Company assesses its undiscounted projected cash flows based upon estimated capitalization rates, historic operating results and market conditions that may affect the property. If the carrying value is greater than the undiscounted projected cash flows, the Company would recognize an impairment loss equivalent to an amount required to adjust the carrying amount to its then estimated fair value. The fair value of any property is sensitive to the actual results of any of the aforementioned estimated factors, either individually or taken as a whole. Should the actual results differ from management’s projections, the valuation could be negatively or positively affected.

Accounts Receivable, Accrued Income, and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Accounts receivable primarily represent amounts currently due from tenants in accordance with the terms of their respective leases. Individual leases are assessed for collectability and, upon the determination that the collection of rents is not probable, accrued rent and accounts receivable are charged off, and the charge off is reflected as an adjustment to rental revenue. Revenue from leases where collection is not probable is recorded on a cash basis until collectability is determined to be probable. We also assess whether operating lease receivables, at the portfolio level, are appropriately valued based upon an analysis of balances outstanding, effects of tenant bankruptcies, historical levels of bad debt and current economic trends. Additionally, because of the uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our assessment also takes into consideration the types of business conducted by tenants and current discussions with the tenants, as well as recent rent collection experience. Evaluating and estimating uncollectable lease payments and related receivables requires a significant amount of judgment by management and is based on the best information available to management at the time of evaluation. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Legal Contingencies

The Company is subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, which are generally covered by insurance. While the resolution of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company believes the final outcome of current matters will not have a material adverse effect on its financial position or the results of operations. Upon determination that a loss is probable to occur, the estimated amount of the loss is recorded in the financial statements. Both the amount of the loss and the point at which its occurrence is considered probable can be difficult to determine.

Results of Operations

The following is a discussion of the components of revenue and expense for the entire Company. This section generally discusses 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed on February 24, 2022.

Revenue

(Dollars in thousands)

Total revenue increased 2.8% in 2022 compared to 2021 as described below.

Base rent

The $3.3 million increase in base rent in 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily attributable to increased rental rates, lower vacancy and lower concessions at The Waycroft, which had a total impact of $2.8 million.

Expense recoveries

The $1.5 million increase in expense recoveries in 2022 compared to 2021 is primarily attributable to an increase in recoverable property operating expenses.

Other property revenue

The $0.5 million increase in 2022 compared to 2021 is primarily attributable to (a) higher late fees and interest charges of $0.3 million and (b) higher residential move-in fees of $0.1 million.

Credit (losses) recoveries on operating lease receivables, net

Credit (losses) recoveries on operating lease receivables, net during 2022 decreased $0.9 million from 2021. The decrease, which increases income, is primarily due to higher collections in 2022 of previously reserved lease receivables.

Other Revenue

Other revenue increased $0.3 million primarily due to (a) higher parking revenue of $0.6 million, partially offset by (b) lower lease termination fees of $0.3 million.

Expenses

(Dollars in thousands)

Total expenses increased 1.6% in 2022 compared to 2021 as described below.

Property operating expenses

Property operating expenses increased $3.1 million in 2022 compared to 2021 primarily due to (a) increased repairs and maintenance costs across the portfolio of $1.7 million, (b) higher property employee costs of $0.4 million, (c) increased utilities across the portfolio of $0.3 million, (d) higher parking expenses in the Mixed-Use portfolio of $0.3 million, and (e) higher real estate tax appeal fees across the portfolio of $0.2 million.

Interest expense, net and amortization of deferred debt costs

Interest expense, net and amortization of deferred debt costs decreased $1.5 million in 2022 compared to 2021 primarily due to (a) higher capitalization of interest of $4.4 million related to Twinbrook and Hampden House, (b) lower interest incurred of $2.0 million due to a lower weighted average rate over the period, and (c) the extinguishment of the finance lease liability related to the land underlying the leasehold interest for Twinbrook of $0.4 million, partially offset by (d) higher interest incurred of $5.2 million due to higher average outstanding debt balances over the period.

Depreciation and amortization of deferred leasing costs

Depreciation and amortization of deferred leasing costs decreased $1.3 million in 2022 compared to 2021 primarily due to (a) lower depreciation expense of $0.8 million during the period and (b) lower amortization of deferred leasing costs of $0.5 million during the period.

General and administrative

General and administrative costs increased $2.1 million in 2022 compared to 2021 primarily due to (a) higher employee costs of $1.3 million and (b) higher loan administration costs of $0.7 million.

Loss on early extinguishment of debt

Loss on early extinguishment of debt increased $0.6 million due to the early refinance of loans at Great Falls Center and Village Center.

Same property revenue and same property operating income

Same property revenue and same property operating income are non-GAAP financial measures of performance and improve the comparability of these measures by excluding the results of properties which were not in operation for the entirety of the comparable reporting periods.

We define same property revenue as total revenue minus the revenue of properties not in operation for the entirety of the comparable reporting periods, and we define same property operating income as net income plus (a) interest expense, net and amortization of deferred debt costs, (b) depreciation and amortization of deferred leasing costs, (c) general and administrative expenses, (d) change in fair value of derivatives, and (e) loss on the early extinguishment of debt minus (f) gains on sale of property and (g) the operating income of properties that were not in operation for the entirety of the comparable periods.

Other REITs may use different methodologies for calculating same property revenue and same property operating income. Accordingly, our same property revenue and same property operating income may not be comparable to those of other REITs.

Same property revenue and same property operating income are used by management to evaluate and compare the operating performance of our properties, and to determine trends in earnings, because these measures are not affected by the cost of our funding, the impact of depreciation and amortization expenses, gains or losses from the acquisition and sale of operating real estate assets, general and administrative expenses or other gains and losses that relate to ownership of our properties. We believe the exclusion of these items from revenue and operating income is useful because the resulting measures capture the actual revenue generated and actual expenses incurred by operating our properties.

Same property revenue and same property operating income are measures of the operating performance of our properties but do not measure our performance as a whole. Such measures are therefore not substitutes for total revenue, net income or operating income as computed in accordance with GAAP.

The tables below provide reconciliations of property revenue and property operating income under GAAP to same property revenue and same property operating income for the indicated periods. No properties were excluded from same property results for the 2022 Period.

Same property revenue

(in thousands)

The $6.6 million increase in same property revenue in 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily due to (a) higher base rent of $3.4 million, (b) higher expense recoveries of $1.5 million, (c) lower credit losses on operating lease receivables of $0.7 million and (d) higher other property revenue of $0.5 million.

Mixed-Use same property revenue is composed of the following:

(In thousands)

(1) Includes Avenel Business Park, Clarendon Center – North and South Blocks, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Square

(2) Includes The Waycroft and Park Van Ness

(3) Includes Clarendon South Block, The Waycroft and Park Van Ness

Same property operating income

(In thousands)

During the year ended 2022, Shopping Center same property operating income increased 0.9% and Mixed-Use same property operating income increased 5.7%. Shopping Center same property operating income increased primarily due to higher base rent of $1.2 million. Mixed-Use same property operating income increased primarily due to (a) higher base rent of $2.2 million and (b) higher parking income, net of expenses of $0.3 million.

Mixed-Use same property operating income is composed of the following:

(In thousands)

(1) Includes Avenel Business Park, Clarendon Center – North and South Blocks, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Square

(2) Includes The Waycroft and Park Van Ness

(3) Includes Clarendon South Block, The Waycroft and Park Van Ness

Impact of Inflation

The impact of rising operating expenses due to inflation on the operating performance of the Company’s portfolio is partially mitigated by terms in substantially all of the Company’s leases, which contain provisions designed to increase revenues to offset the adverse impact of inflation on the Company’s results of operations. These provisions include upward periodic adjustments in base rent due from tenants, usually based on a stipulated increase, and, to a lesser extent, on the change in the consumer price index, commonly referred to as the CPI.

In addition, substantially all of the Company’s properties are leased to tenants under long-term leases, which provide for reimbursement of operating expenses by tenants. These leases tend to reduce the Company’s exposure to rising property expenses due to inflation. Inflation and increased costs may have an adverse impact on the Company’s tenants if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in their revenue.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash and cash equivalents were $13.3 million and $14.6 million at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The changes in cash and cash equivalents during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were attributable to operating, investing and financing activities, as described below.

(in thousands)

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities represents cash received primarily from rental revenue, plus other revenue, less property operating expenses, leasing costs, normal recurring general and administrative expenses and interest payments on outstanding debt.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities includes property acquisitions, developments, redevelopments, tenant improvements and other property capital expenditures. The $61.0 million increase in cash used in investing activities is primarily due to (a) higher development expenditures of $75.2 million, partially offset by (b) lower acquisitions of real estate investments of $9.0 million and (c) lower additions to real estate investments throughout the portfolio of $5.2 million.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities represents (a) cash received from loan proceeds and issuance of common stock, preferred stock and limited partnership units minus (b) cash used to repay and curtail loans, redeem preferred stock and pay dividends and distributions to holders of common stock, preferred stock and limited partnership units. See Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of financing activity.

Liquidity Requirements

Short-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of normal recurring operating expenses and capital expenditures, debt service requirements (including debt service relating to additional and replacement debt), distributions to common and preferred stockholders, distributions to unit holders and amounts required for expansion and renovation of the Current Portfolio Properties and selective acquisition and development of additional properties. In order to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, the Company must distribute to its stockholders at least 90% of its “real estate investment trust taxable income,” as defined in the Code. The Company expects to meet these short-term liquidity requirements (other than amounts required for additional property acquisitions and developments) through cash provided from operations, available cash and its existing line of credit.

The Company is developing Twinbrook Quarter Phase I (“Phase I”) located in Rockville, Maryland. Phase I includes an 80,000 square foot Wegmans, approximately 25,000 square feet of small shop space, 450 apartments and a 230,000 square foot office building. The office tower portion of Phase I is not being constructed at this time. In connection with the development of the residential and retail portions of Phase I, we must also invest in infrastructure and other items that will support both Phase I and other portions of the development of Twinbrook Quarter. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $331.5 million, of which $271.4 million is related to the development of the residential and retail portions of Phase I and $60.1 million is related to infrastructure and other items. A portion of the project will be financed by a $145.0 million construction-to-permanent loan. Construction of the structure is ongoing. Concrete is being poured at the 12th level above ground, which is the final above ground level of the residential and retail portions of Phase I. Initial delivery of Phase I is anticipated in late 2024. The development potential of all phases of the entire 18.4 acre Twinbrook Quarter site totals 1,865 residential units, 473,000 square feet of retail space, and 431,000 square feet of office space.

The Company is developing Hampden House, a project located in downtown Bethesda, Maryland that will include up to 366 apartment units and 10,100 square feet of retail space. The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $246.4 million, a portion of which will be financed by a $133.0 million construction-to-permanent loan. Excavation is complete and below grade construction of foundation systems is in progress. Construction is expected to be completed during 2025.

Long-term liquidity requirements consist primarily of obligations under our long-term debt and dividends paid to our preferred shareholders. The Company anticipates that long-term liquidity requirements will also include amounts required for property acquisitions and developments. The Company may also redevelop certain of the Current Portfolio Properties and may develop additional freestanding outparcels or expansions within certain of the Shopping Centers. Acquisition and development of properties are undertaken only after careful analysis and review, and management’s determination that such properties are expected to provide long-term earnings and cash flow growth. During the coming year, developments, expansions or acquisitions (if any) are expected to be funded with available cash, bank borrowings from the Company’s credit line, construction and permanent financing, proceeds from the operation of the Company’s Dividend Reinvestment Plan (“DRIP”) or other external debt or equity capital resources available to the Company. Any future borrowings may be at the Saul Centers, Operating Partnership or Subsidiary Partnership level, and securities offerings may include (subject to certain limitations) the issuance of additional limited partnership interests in the Operating Partnership which can be converted into shares of Saul Centers common stock. The availability and terms of any such financing will depend upon market and other conditions.

Contractual Payment Obligations

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had unfunded contractual payment obligations totaling approximately $258.9 million, excluding operating obligations, due within the next 12 months. The table below shows the total contractual payment obligations as of December 31, 2022.

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) See Note 7 to Consolidated Financial Statements. Corporate Headquarters Lease amounts represent an allocation to the Company based upon employees’ time dedicated to the Company’s business as specified in the Shared Services Agreement. Future amounts are subject to change as the number of employees employed by each of the parties to the lease fluctuates.

Dividend Reinvestments

In December 1995, the Company established a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the “Plan”) to allow its common stockholders and holders of limited partnership interests an opportunity to buy additional shares of common stock by reinvesting all or a portion of their dividends or distributions. The Plan provides for investing in newly issued shares of common stock at a 3% discount from market price without payment of any brokerage commissions, service charges or other expenses. All expenses of the Plan are paid by the Company. The Company issued 138,142 and 287,239 shares under the Plan at a weighted average discounted price of $48.56 and $39.17 per share during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company issued 26,659 and 61,009 limited partnership units under the Plan at a weighted average price of $49.81 and $39.74 per unit during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company also credited 5,815 and 6,376 shares to directors pursuant to the reinvestment of dividends specified by the Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan at a weighted average discounted price of $46.74 and $39.31 per share, during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Capital Strategy and Financing Activity

As a general policy, the Company intends to maintain a ratio of its total debt to total asset value of 50% or less and to actively manage the Company’s leverage and debt expense on an ongoing basis in order to maintain prudent coverage of fixed charges. Asset value is the aggregate fair market value of the Current Portfolio Properties and any subsequently acquired properties as reasonably determined by management by reference to the properties’ aggregate cash flow. Given the Company’s current debt level, it is management’s belief that the ratio of the Company’s debt to total asset value was below 50% as of December 31, 2022.

The organizational documents of the Company do not limit the absolute amount or percentage of indebtedness that it may incur. The Board of Directors may, from time to time, reevaluate the Company’s debt capitalization policy in light of current economic conditions, relative costs of capital, market values of the Company property portfolio, opportunities for acquisition, development or expansion, and such other factors as the Board of Directors then deems relevant. The Board of Directors may modify the Company’s debt capitalization policy based on such a reevaluation without shareholder approval and may increase or decrease the Company’s debt to total asset ratio above or below 50% or may waive the policy for certain periods of time. The Company continues to refinance or renegotiate the terms of its outstanding debt in order to extend maturities and obtain generally more favorable loan terms, whenever management determines the financing environment is favorable.

The Company's financing activity is described within Note 5 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The following is a summary of notes payable as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.

(Dollars in thousands)

* Totals computed using weighted averages.

On February 23, 2022, the Company closed on a $133.0 million construction-to-permanent loan, the proceeds of which will be used to partially fund Hampden House. The loan matures in 2040, bears interest at a fixed rate of 3.90%, and requires interest only payments, which will be funded by the loan, until conversion to permanent. The conversion is expected in the first quarter of 2026, and thereafter, monthly principal and interest payments based on a 25-year amortization schedule will be required.

On March 11, 2022, the Company repaid in full the remaining principal balance of $28.3 million of the mortgage loan secured by Lansdowne Town Center, which was scheduled to mature in June 2022.

On June 7, 2022, the Company repaid in full the remaining principal balance of $8.6 million of the mortgage loan secured by Orchard Park, which was scheduled to mature in September 2022.

On August 4, 2022, the Company closed on a 15-year, non-recourse, $25.3 million mortgage secured by Village Center. The loan matures in 2037, bears interest at a fixed-rate of 4.14%, requires monthly principal and interest payments of $135,200 based on a 25-year amortization schedule and requires a final payment of $13.4 million at maturity. Proceeds were used to repay the remaining balance of approximately $11.2 million on the existing mortgage and reduce the outstanding balance of the Credit Facility. A $0.4 million loss on early extinguishment of debt was recognized.

On August 23, 2022, the Company entered into two floating-to-fixed interest rate swap agreements to manage the interest rate risk associated with $100.0 million of its variable-rate debt. Each swap agreement became effective October 3, 2022 and each has a $50.0 million notional amount. One agreement terminates on October 1, 2027 and effectively fixes SOFR at 2.96%. The other agreement terminates on October 1, 2030 and effectively fixes SOFR at 2.91%. Because the interest-rate swaps effectively fix SOFR for $100.0 million of variable-rate debt, unless otherwise indicated, $100.0 million of variable-rate debt will be treated as fixed-rate debt for disclosure purposes beginning September 30, 2022. The Company has designated the agreements as cash flow hedges for accounting purposes.

As of December 31, 2022, the fair value of the interest-rate swaps totaled approximately $4.0 million, which is included in Other assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The increase in value from inception of the swaps is reflected in Other Comprehensive Income in the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

On August 24, 2022, the Company closed on a 7-year, non-recourse, $31.5 million mortgage secured by Great Falls Center. The loan matures in 2029, bears interest at a fixed-rate of 3.91%, requires monthly principal and interest payments of $164,700 based on a 25-year amortization schedule and requires a final payment of $25.7 million at maturity. Proceeds were used to repay the remaining balance of approximately $8.0 million on the existing mortgage and reduce the outstanding balance of the Credit Facility. A $0.2 million loss on early extinguishment of debt was recognized.

On September 6, 2022, the Company closed on a 15-year, non-recourse, $143.0 million mortgage secured by Beacon Center and Seven Corners Center. The loan matures in 2037, bears interest at a fixed-rate of 5.05%, requires monthly principal and interest payments of $840,100 based on a 25-year amortization schedule and requires a final payment of $79.9 million at maturity. Proceeds were used to repay the remaining balance of approximately $85.3 million on the existing mortgages and reduce the outstanding balance of the Credit Facility. This transaction was treated as a modification of the original debt agreement. A prepayment penalty of $5.9 million was incurred, which was deferred and will be amortized as interest expense over the life of the loan and is included as a reduction to notes payable, net in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Funds From Operations

In 2022, the Company reported Funds From Operations (“FFO”)1 available to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests of $103.2 million, a 2.4% increase from 2021 FFO available to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests of $100.7 million. FFO available to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests increased primarily due to (a) higher base rent of $3.4 million, (b) lower interest expense, net and amortization of deferred debt costs of $1.5 million, primarily due to higher capitalized interest and (c) lower credit losses on operating lease receivables and corresponding reserves, collectively, of $0.7 million, partially offset by (d) higher general and administrative costs of $2.1 million and (e) lower recovery income, net of expenses of $1.4 million. The following table presents a reconciliation from net income to FFO available to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests for the periods indicated:

(Dollars in thousands)

(1) The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) developed FFO as a relative non-GAAP financial measure of performance of an equity REIT in order to recognize that income-producing real estate historically has not depreciated on the basis determined under GAAP. FFO is defined by NAREIT as net income, computed in accordance with GAAP, plus real estate depreciation and amortization, and excluding impairment charges on depreciable real estate assets and gains or losses from property dispositions. FFO does not represent cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs, which is disclosed in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the applicable periods. There are no material legal or functional restrictions on the use of FFO. FFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income, its most directly comparable GAAP measure, as an indicator of the Company’s operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows as a measure of liquidity. Management considers FFO a meaningful supplemental measure of operating performance because it primarily excludes the assumption that the value of the real estate assets diminishes predictably over time (i.e. depreciation), which is contrary to what we believe occurs with our assets, and because industry analysts have accepted it as a performance measure. FFO may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other REITs.

(2) Beginning March 5, 2021, fully diluted shares and units includes 1,416,071 limited partnership units held in escrow related to the contribution of Twinbrook Quarter by 1592 Rockville Pike. Half of the units held in escrow were released on October 18, 2021. The remaining units held in escrow are scheduled to be released on October 18, 2023.

Acquisitions and Redevelopments

Management anticipates that during the coming year, the Company may redevelop certain of the Current Portfolio Properties and may develop additional freestanding outparcels or expansions within certain of the Shopping Centers. Acquisition and development of properties are undertaken only after careful analysis and review, and management’s determination that such properties are expected to provide long-term earnings and cash flow growth. During the coming year, any developments, expansions or acquisitions are expected to be funded with bank borrowings from the Company’s credit line, construction financing, proceeds from the operation of the Company’s dividend reinvestment plan or other external capital resources available to the Company.

The Company has been selectively involved in acquisition, development, redevelopment and renovation activities. It continues to evaluate the acquisition of land parcels for retail and mixed-use development and acquisitions of operating properties for opportunities to enhance operating income and cash flow growth. The Company also continues to analyze redevelopment, renovation and expansion opportunities within the portfolio.

Portfolio Leasing Status

The following chart sets forth certain information regarding commercial leases at our properties for the periods indicated. This section generally discusses 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed on February 24, 2022.

The overall commercial portfolio leasing percentage, on a comparative same property basis, increased to 93.2% at December 31, 2022 from 92.0% at December 31, 2021. Included in the 93.2% of space leased as of December 31, 2022, is approximately 241,000 square feet of space, representing 2.7% of total commercial square footage, that has not been occupied by the tenant. Collectively, these leases are expected to produce approximately $5.4 million of additional annualized base rent, an average of $22.41 per square foot, upon tenant occupancy and following any contractual rent concessions.

The Mixed-Use commercial leasing percentage is composed of commercial leases at office mixed-use properties and residential mixed-use properties. The leasing percentage at office mixed-use properties increased to 82.0% at December 31, 2022 from 81.6% at December 31, 2021. The retail leasing percentage at residential mixed-use properties decreased to 91.2% at December 31, 2022 from 92.4% at December 31, 2021.

The following table shows selected data for leases executed in the indicated periods. The information is based on executed leases without adjustment for the timing of occupancy, tenant defaults, or landlord concessions. The base rent for an expiring lease is the annualized contractual base rent, on a cash basis, as of the expiration date of the lease. The base rent for a new or renewed lease is the annualized contractual base rent, on a cash basis, as of the expected rent commencement date. Because tenants that execute leases may not ultimately take possession of their space or pay all of their contractual rent, the changes presented in the table provide information only about trends in market rental rates. The actual changes in rental income received by the Company may be different.

Additional information about commercial leasing activity during the three months ended December 31, 2022, is set forth below. The below information includes leases for space which had not been previously leased during the period of the Company's ownership, either as a result of acquisition or development.

As of December 31, 2022, 1,026,830 square feet of Commercial space was subject to leases scheduled to expire in 2023. Below is information about existing and estimated market base rents per square foot for that space.

The Residential portfolio was 97.2% leased at December 31, 2022, compared to 97.1% at December 31, 2021.

The Company is exposed to certain financial market risks, the most predominant being fluctuations in interest rates and inflation. Interest rate fluctuations are monitored by management as an integral part of the Company’s overall risk management program, which recognizes the unpredictability of financial markets and seeks to reduce the potentially adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations.

The Company is exposed to interest rate fluctuations that will affect the amount of interest expense of its variable-rate debt and the fair value of its fixed-rate debt. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had unhedged variable rate indebtedness totaling $164.0 million. If the interest rates on the Company’s unhedged variable rate debt instruments outstanding at December 31, 2022 had been one percentage point higher or lower, our annual interest expense relating to these debt instruments would have increased or decreased by $1.6 million based on those balances. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had fixed-rate indebtedness totaling $1.07 billion with a weighted average interest rate of 4.8%. If interest rates on the Company’s fixed-rate debt instruments at December 31, 2022 had been one percentage point higher, the fair value of those debt instruments on that date would have decreased by $56.9 million. If interest rates on the Company’s fixed-rate debt instruments at December 31, 2022 had been one percentage point lower, the fair value of those debt instruments on that date would have increased by $62.4 million.

Inflation may impact the Company's results of operations by (a) increasing costs unreimbursed by tenants faster than rents increase and (b) adversely impacting consumer demand at our retail shopping centers, which, in turn, may results in (i) lower percentage rent and/or (ii) the inability of tenants to pay their rent. Inflation may also negatively impact the cost of development projects. While the Company has not been significantly impacted by any of these items in the current year, no assurances can be provided that inflationary pressures will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business in the future.

Quarterly Assessment.

The Company carried out an assessment as of December 31, 2022 of the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures and its internal control over financial reporting. This assessment was done under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer as appropriate. Rules adopted by the SEC require that the Company present the conclusions of the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer about the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and the conclusions of the Company’s management about the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

CEO and CFO Certifications.

Included as Exhibits 31 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K are forms of “Certification” of the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer. The forms of Certification are required in accordance with Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K that you are currently reading is the information concerning the assessment referred to in the Section 302 certifications and this information should be read in conjunction with the Section 302 certifications for a more complete understanding of the topics presented.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures and Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act, such as this Annual Report on Form 10-K, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures are also designed to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, and effected by the Company’s Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U. S. GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that:

• pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Company’s assets;
• provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U. S. GAAP, and that the Company’s receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management or the Company’s Board of Directors; and
• provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements.

Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls.

Management, including the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer, does not expect that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no assessment of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management’s override of the control. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Scope of the Assessments.

The assessment by the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and the assessment by the Company’s management of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting included a review of procedures and discussions with the Company’s Disclosure Committee and others in the Company. In the course of the assessments, management sought to identify data errors, control problems or acts of fraud and to confirm that appropriate corrective action, including process improvements, were being undertaken. Management used the criteria issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) to assess the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. The evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting is done on a quarterly basis so that the conclusions concerning the effectiveness of disclosure controls can be reported in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is also evaluated on an ongoing basis by management, other personnel in the Company’s accounting department and the Company’s internal audit function. The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting is audited by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. We consider the results of these various assessment activities as we monitor the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting and when deciding to make modifications as necessary. Management’s intent in this regard is that the disclosure controls and procedures and the internal control over financial reporting will be maintained and updated (including improvements and corrections) as conditions warrant.

Assessment of Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Based upon the assessments, the Company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, its Senior Vice President-Chief Financial Officer, and its Senior Vice President-Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer have concluded that, as of December 31, 2022, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Assessment of Effectiveness of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Management used the criteria issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) to assess the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Based upon the assessments, the Company’s management has concluded that, as of December 31, 2022, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective. The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm has issued a report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, which appears on page F-2 of this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.

During the three months ended December 31, 2022, there was no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.