NEW ENGLAND REALTY ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
New England Realty Associates Limited Partnership ("NERA" or the "Partnership"), a Massachusetts Limited Partnership, was formed on August 12, 1977 as the successor to five real estate limited partnerships (collectively, the "Colonial Partnerships"), which filed for protection under Chapter XII of the Federal Bankruptcy Act in September 1974. The bankruptcy proceedings were terminated in late 1984. In July 2004, the General Partner extended the termination date of the Partnership until 2057, as allowed in the Partnership Agreement.
The authorized capital of the Partnership is represented by three classes of partnership units ("Units"). There are two categories of limited partnership interests ("Class A Units" and "Class B Units") and one category of general partnership interests (the "General Partnership Units"). The Class A Units were initially issued to creditors and limited partners of the Colonial Partnerships and have been registered under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Each Class A Unit is exchangeable for 30 publicly traded depositary receipts ("Receipts"), which are currently listed on the NYSE Amex Exchange and are registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act. The Class B Units were issued to the original general partners of the Partnership. The General Partnership Units are held by the current general partner of the Partnership, NewReal, Inc. (the "General Partner"). The Class A Units represent an 80% ownership interest, the Class B Units represent a 19% ownership interest, and the General Partnership Units represent a 1% ownership interest.
The Partnership is engaged in the business of acquiring, developing, holding for investment, operating and selling real estate. The Partnership, directly or through 24 subsidiary limited partnerships or limited liability companies, owns and operates various residential apartment buildings, condominium units and commercial properties located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As used herein, the Partnership's subsidiary limited partnerships and limited liabilities companies are each referred to as a "Subsidiary Partnership" and are collectively referred to as the "Subsidiary Partnerships."
The Partnership owns between a 99.67% and 100% interest in each of the Subsidiary Partnerships, except in nine limited liability companies (the "Investment Properties" or "Joint Ventures") in which the Partnership has between a 40% and 50% ownership interest. The majority shareholder of the General Partner indirectly owns between 43.2% and 57%, the President of Hamilton owns between 2.5% and 4.5%, and five other management employees of Hamilton own collectively between 0% and 2.3%, respectively. The Partnership's interest in the Investment Properties is accounted for on the equity method in the Consolidated Financial Statements. See Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements—"Principles of Consolidation." See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements—"Investment in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures" for a description of the properties and their operations. Of those Subsidiary Partnerships not wholly owned by the Partnership, except for the Investment Properties, the remaining ownership interest is held by an unaffiliated third party. In each such case, the third party has entered into a lease agreement with the Partnership, pursuant to which any benefit derived from its ownership interest in the applicable Subsidiary Partnerships will be returned to the Partnership.
The long-term goals of the Partnership are to manage, rent and improve its properties and to acquire additional properties with income and capital appreciation potential as suitable opportunities arise. When appropriate, the Partnership may sell or refinance selected properties. Proceeds from any such sales or refinancing will be used to reduce debt, reinvested in acquisitions of other properties,
distributed to the partners, repurchase equity interests, or used for operating expenses or reserves, as determined by the General Partner.
Operations of the Partnership
The Partnership is managed by the General Partner, NewReal, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation wholly owned by Harold Brown and Ronald Brown. The General Partner has engaged The Hamilton Company, Inc. (the "Hamilton Company" or "Hamilton") to perform general management functions for the Partnership's properties in exchange for management fees. The Hamilton Company is wholly owned by Harold Brown and employs Ronald Brown and Harold Brown. The Partnership, Subsidiary Partnerships, and the Investment Properties currently contract with the management company for 47 individuals at the Properties and 19 individuals at the Joint Ventures who are primarily involved in the supervision and maintenance of specific properties. The General Partner has no employees.
As of February 1, 2012, the Partnership and its Subsidiary Partnerships owned 2,251 residential apartment units in 20 residential and mixed-use complexes (collectively, the "Apartment Complexes"). The Partnership also owns 19 condominium units in a residential condominium complex, all of which are leased to residential tenants (collectively referred to as the "Condominium Units"). The Apartment Complexes, the Condominium Units and the Investment Properties are located primarily in the metropolitan Boston area of Massachusetts.
As of February 1, 2012, the Subsidiary Partnerships also owned a commercial shopping center in Framingham, Massachusetts, one commercial building in Newton and one in Brookline, Massachusetts and commercial space in mixed-use buildings in Boston, Brockton and Newton, Massachusetts. These properties are referred to collectively as the "Commercial Properties." See Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, included as a part of this Form 10-K.
Additionally, as of February 1, 2012, the Partnership owned between a 40-50% interest in nine residential and mixed use complexes, the Investment Properties, with a total of 799 residential units, one commercial unit, and a parking lot. See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on these investments.
The Apartment Complexes, Investment Properties, Condominium Units and Commercial Properties are referred to collectively as the "Properties."
Harold Brown and, in certain cases, Ronald Brown, and officers and employees of the Hamilton Company own or have owned interests in certain of the Properties, Subsidiary Partnerships and Joint Ventures. See "Item 13. Certain Relationships, Related Transactions and Director Independence."
The leasing of real estate in the metropolitan Boston area of Massachusetts is highly competitive. The Apartment Complexes, Condominium Units and the Investment Properties must compete for tenants with other residential apartments and condominium units in the areas in which they are located. The Commercial Properties must compete for commercial tenants with other shopping malls and office buildings in the areas in which they are located. Thus, the level of competition at each Property depends on how many other similarly situated properties are in its vicinity. See "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Factors that May Affect Future Results."
The Second Amended and Restated Contract of Limited Partnership of the Partnership (the "Partnership Agreement") authorizes the General Partner to acquire real estate and real estate related investments from or in participation with either or both of Harold Brown and Ronald Brown, or their affiliates, upon the satisfaction of certain terms and conditions, including the approval of the Partnership's Advisory Committee and limitations on the price paid by the Partnership for such investments. The Partnership Agreement also permits the Partnership's limited partners and the General Partner to make loans to the Partnership, subject to certain limitations on the rate of interest
that may be charged to the Partnership. Except for the foregoing, the Partnership does not have any policies prohibiting any limited partner, General Partner or any other person from having any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by the Partnership or in any transaction to which the Partnership is a party or has an interest in or from engaging, for their own account, in business activities of the types conducted or to be conducted by the Partnership. The General Partner is not limited in the number or amount of mortgages which may be placed on any Property, nor is there a policy limiting the percentage of Partnership assets which may be invested in any specific Property.
Industry Segments
The Partnership operates in only one industry segment—real estate. The Partnership does not have any foreign operations, and its business is not seasonal. See the Consolidated Financial Statements attached hereto and incorporated by reference herein for financial information relating to our industry segment.
Unit Distributions
Effective January 3, 2012, the Partnership authorized a 3-for-1 forward split of its Depositary Receipts listed on the NYSE Amex and a concurrent adjustment of the exchange ratio of Depositary Receipts for Class A Units of the Partnership from 10-to-1 to 30-to-1, such that each Depositary Receipt represents one-thirtieth (1/30) of a Class A Unit of the Partnership.
All references to Depositary Receipts in the report are reflective of the 3-for-1 forward split.
In 2011 and 2010, the Partnership paid four quarterly distributions of an aggregate of $28.00 per Unit ($0.93 per Receipt) for a total payment of 3,681,566 in 2011 and $3,687,600 in 2010. In February 2012, the Partnership approved a quarterly distribution of $7.50 per Unit ($0.25 per Receipt), payable on March 31, 2012.
On August 20, 2007, NewReal, Inc., the General Partner authorized an equity repurchase program ("Repurchase Program") under which the Partnership was permitted to purchase, over a period of twelve months, up to 300,000 Depositary Receipts (each of which is one-thirtieth of a Class A Unit). On January 15, 2008, the General Partner authorized an increase in the Repurchase Program from 300,000 to 600,000 Depositary Receipts. On January 30, 2008 the General Partner authorized an increase the Repurchase Program from 600,000 to 900,000 Depositary Receipts. On March 6, 2008, the General Partner authorized the increase in the total number of Depositary Receipts that could be repurchased pursuant to the Repurchase Program from 900,000 to1,500,000. On August 8, 2008, the General Partner re-authorized and renewed the Repurchase Program for an additional 12-month period ended August 19, 2009. On March 22, 2010, the General Partner re-authorized and renewed the Repurchase Program that expired on August 19, 2009. Under the terms of the renewed Repurchase Program, the Partnership may purchase up to 1,500,000 Depositary Receipts from the start of the program in 2007 through March 31, 2015. The Repurchase Program requires the Partnership to repurchase a proportionate number of Class B Units and General Partner Units in connection with any repurchases of any Depositary Receipts by the Partnership based upon the 80%, 19% and 1% fixed distribution percentages of the holders of the Class A, Class B and General Partner Units under the Partnership's Second Amended and Restate Contract of Limited Partnership. Repurchases of Depositary Receipts or Partnership Units pursuant to the Repurchase Program may be made by the Partnership from time to time in its sole discretion in open market transactions or in privately negotiated transactions. From August 20, 2007 through December 31, 2011, the Partnership has repurchased 1,194,960 Depositary Receipts at an average price of $24.62 per receipt (or $738.60 per underlying Class A Unit), 1,724 Class B Units and 91 General Partnership Units, both at an average