UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 10-K

 

 

Commission file number 1-10524 (UDR, Inc.)
Commission file number 333-156002-01 (United Dominion Realty, L.P.)

 

UDR, INC.
United Dominion Realty, L.P.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

1745 Shea Center Drive, Suite 200, Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80129
(Address of principal executive offices) (zip code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (720) 283-6120

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
(Title of Class)

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  o

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

 

The aggregate market value of the shares of common stock of UDR, Inc. held by non-affiliates on June 30, 2010 was approximately $1.9 billion. This calculation excludes shares of common stock held by the registrant’s officers and directors and each person known by the registrant to beneficially own more than 5% of the registrant’s outstanding shares, as such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status should not be deemed conclusive for any other purpose. As of February 17, 2011 there were 182,496,330 shares of UDR, Inc’s common stock outstanding.

 

There is no public trading market for the partnership units of United Dominion Realty, L.P. As a result, an aggregate market value of the partnership units of United Dominion Realty, L.P. cannot be determined.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

The information required by Part III of this Report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated by reference from UDR, Inc.’s definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 12, 2011.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

 

This report combines the annual reports on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 of UDR, Inc. a Maryland corporation, and United Dominion Realty, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, of which UDR is the parent company and sole general partner. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this Report to “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company”, “UDR” or UDR, Inc. refer collectively to UDR, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries and joint ventures, including the Operating Partnership. Unless the context otherwise requires, the references in this Report to the “Operating Partnership” refer to United Dominion Realty, L.P. together with its consolidated subsidiaries. “Common stock” refers to the common stock of UDR and “stockholders” means the holders of shares of UDR’s common stock and preferred stock. The limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership are referred to as “OP Units” and the holders of the OP Units are referred to as “unitholders”. This combined Form 10-K is being filed separately by UDR and the Operating Partnership.

 

There are a number of differences between our company and our operating partnership, which are reflected in our disclosure in this report. UDR is a real estate investment trust (a “REIT”), whose most significant asset is its ownership interest in the Operating Partnership. UDR also conducts business through other subsidiaries and operating partnerships, including its subsidiary RE³, which focuses on development, land entitlement and short-term hold investments. UDR does not conduct business itself, other than by acting as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, holding interests in other operating partnerships, subsidiaries and joint ventures, issuing securities from time to time and guaranteeing debt of certain of our subsidiaries. The Operating Partnership conducts the operations of a substantial portion of the business and is structured as a partnership with no publicly traded equity securities. The Operating Partnership has guaranteed certain outstanding securities of UDR.

 

As of December 31, 2010, UDR owned 110,883 units of the general partnership interests of the Operating Partnership and 174,736,557 units (or approximately 97.2%) of the limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership (the “OP Units”). UDR conducts a substantial amount of its business and holds a substantial amount of its assets through the Operating Partnership, and, by virtue of its ownership of the OP Units and being the Operating Partnership’s sole general partner, UDR has the ability to control all of the day-to-day operations of the Operating Partnership. Separate financial statements and accompanying notes, as well as separate discussions under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchasers of Equity Securities” and “Controls and Procedures” are provided for each of UDR and the Operating Partnership. In addition, certain disclosures in “Business” are separated by entity to the extent that the discussion relates to UDR’s business outside of the Operating Partnership.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements concerning property acquisitions and dispositions, development activity and capital expenditures, capital raising activities, rent growth, occupancy, and rental expense growth. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results of operations or plans expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, unanticipated adverse business developments affecting us, or our properties, adverse changes in the real estate markets and general and local economies and business conditions. Although we believe that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore such statements included in this Annual Report may not prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the results or conditions described in such statements or our objectives and plans will be achieved. For a further discussion of these and other factors that could impact future results, performance or transactions, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” elsewhere in this Annual Report.

 

Forward-looking statements and such risks, uncertainties and other factors speak only as of the date of this Annual Report, and we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein, to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, or any other change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except to the extent otherwise required by law.

 

 

General

 

UDR is a self administered real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns, acquires, renovates, develops, redevelops, and manages apartment communities in select markets throughout the United States. At December 31, 2010, our consolidated apartment portfolio included 172 communities located in 23 markets, with a total of 48,553 completed apartment homes, which are held through our operating partnerships, including the Operating Partnership and Heritage Communities L.P., our subsidiaries and consolidated joint ventures. In addition, we have an ownership interest in 37 communities containing 9,891 completed apartment homes through unconsolidated joint ventures.

 

At December 31, 2010, the Operating Partnership’s consolidated apartment portfolio included 81 communities located in 19 markets, with a total of 23,351 completed apartment homes. The Operating Partnership owns, acquires, renovates, develops, redevelops, manages, and disposes of multifamily apartment communities generally located in high barrier-to-entry markets located in the United States. The high barrier-to-entry markets are characterized by limited land for new construction, difficult and lengthy entitlement process, expensive single-family home prices and significant employment growth potential. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, revenues of the Operating Partnership represented approximately 55% of our total rental revenues.

 

UDR elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which we refer to in this Report as the “Code”. To continue to qualify as a REIT, we must continue to meet certain tests which, among other things, generally require that our assets consist primarily of real estate assets, our income be derived primarily from real estate assets, and that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (other than our net capital gains) to our stockholders annually. As a qualified REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes at the corporate level on our net income to the extent we distribute such

net income to our stockholders annually. In 2010, we declared total distributions of $0.730 per common share and paid dividends of $0.725 per common share.

 

 

UDR was formed in 1972 as a Virginia corporation. In June 2003, we changed our state of incorporation from Virginia to Maryland. The Operating Partnership was formed in 2004 as Delaware limited partnership. The Operating Partnership is the successor-in-interest to United Dominion Realty, L.P., a limited partnership formed under the laws of Virginia, which commenced operations in 1995. Our corporate offices are located at 1745 Shea Center Drive, Suite 200, Highlands Ranch, Colorado and our telephone number is (720) 283-6120. Our website is located at www.udr.com.

 

As of February 17, 2011, we had 1,547 full-time associates and 85 part-time associates, all of whom were employed by UDR.

 

Reporting Segments

 

We report in two segments: Same Communities and Non-Mature/Other Communities. Our Same Communities segment includes those communities acquired, developed, and stabilized prior to January 1, 2009, and held as of December 31, 2010. These communities were owned and had stabilized occupancy and operating expenses as of the beginning of the prior year, there is no plan to conduct substantial redevelopment activities, and the community is not held for disposition within the current year. A community is considered to have stabilized occupancy once it achieves 90% occupancy for at least three consecutive months. Our Non-Mature/Other Communities segment includes those communities that were acquired or developed in 2008, 2009 or 2010, sold properties, redevelopment properties, properties classified as real estate held for disposition, condominium conversion properties, joint venture properties, properties managed by third parties, and the non-apartment components of mixed use properties. For additional information regarding our operating segments, see Note 15 to UDR’s consolidated financial statements and Note 12 to the Operating Partnership’s consolidated financial statements.

 

Business Objectives

 

Our principal business objective is to maximize the economic returns of our apartment communities to provide our stockholders with the greatest possible total return and value. To achieve this objective, we intend to continue to pursue the following goals and strategies:

 

 

2010 Highlights

 

 

Other than the following, there were no significant changes to the Operating Partnership’s business during 2010 (the above 2010 highlights relate to UDR or other subsidiaries of UDR):

 

 

Our Strategies and Vision

 

We previously announced our vision to be the innovative multifamily public real estate investment trust of choice. We identified the following strategies to guide decision-making and growth:

 

1. Strengthen our portfolio

 

2. Continually improve operations

 

3. Maintain access to low-cost capital

 

Strengthen our Portfolio

 

We are focused on increasing our presence in markets with favorable job formation, low single-family home affordability, and a favorable demand/supply ratio for multifamily housing. Portfolio decisions consider internal analyses and third-party research, taking into account job growth, multifamily permitting and housing affordability.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2010, approximately 55.7% of our same store net operating income was provided by our communities located in California, Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Oregon and Washington state.

 

Operating Partnership Strategies and Vision

 

The Operating Partnership’s long-term strategic plan is to achieve greater operating efficiencies by investing in fewer, more concentrated markets. As a result, the Operating Partnership has sought to expand its interests in communities located in California, Metropolitan Washington D.C. and the Washington state markets over the past years. Prospectively, we plan to continue to channel new investments into those markets we believe will continue to provide the best investment returns. Markets will be targeted based upon defined criteria including favorable job formation, low single-family home affordability and favorable demand/supply ratio for multifamily housing.

 

Acquisitions and Dispositions

 

During 2010, in conjunction with our strategy to strengthen our portfolio, we acquired five operating communities with 1,374 apartment homes for approximately $412 million.

 

When evaluating potential acquisitions, we consider:

 

 

 

We regularly monitor our assets to increase the quality and performance of our portfolio. Factors we consider in deciding whether to dispose of a property include:

 

 

During 2010, we sold one 149 apartment home community. This apartment home community was not owned by the Operating Partnership.

 

The following table summarizes our apartment community acquisitions, apartment community dispositions and our consolidated year-end ownership position for the past five years (dollars in thousands):

 

 

The following table summarizes our apartment community acquisitions, apartment community dispositions and our year-end ownership position of the Operating Partnership for the past five years (dollars in thousands):

 

 

Development Activities

 

The following wholly owned projects were under development as of December 31, 2010:

 

None of these projects are held by the Operating Partnership.

 

Redevelopment Activities

 

During 2010, we continued to redevelop properties in targeted markets where we concluded there was an opportunity to add value. During the year ended December 31, 2010, we incurred $30.8 million in major renovations, which include major structural changes and/or architectural revisions to existing buildings.

 

Joint Venture Activities

 

In 2010, we completed the development of an apartment community located in Bellevue, Washington with 274 apartment homes, 45,394 square feet of retail space and a carrying value of $122.3 million. On October 16, 2009, our partner in the joint venture (“Elements Too”) in this property resigned as managing member and appointed us as managing member. In addition, our partner relinquished its voting rights and approval rights and its ability to substantively participate in the decision-making process of the joint venture. As a result of UDR’s control of the joint venture, we were required to consolidate the joint venture. On December 30, 2009, we entered into an agreement with our partner to purchase its 49% interest in Elements Too for $3.2 million, which was paid in 2010. At closing, our interest in Elements Too increased to 98%.

 

We are a partner with an unaffiliated third party in a joint venture (“989 Elements”) which owns and operates a 23-story, 166 home high-rise apartment community in the central business district of Bellevue, Washington. At closing, UDR owned 49% of the joint venture. Our initial investment was $11.8 million. On December 31, 2009, our partner resigned as managing member and appointed us as managing member. In addition, our partner relinquished its voting rights and approval rights and its ability to substantively participate in the decision-making process of the joint venture. Concurrently, we entered into an agreement with our partner to purchase its 49% interest in 989 Elements for $7.7 million, which was paid in 2010. At closing, our interest in 989 Elements increased to 98%.

 

We are a partner with an unaffiliated third party in a joint venture (“Bellevue Plaza”) which owns an operating retail site in Bellevue, Washington. We initially planned to develop a 430 home high rise apartment building with ground floor retail on an existing operating retail center. However, during the year ended December 31, 2009, the joint venture decided to continue to operate the retail property as opposed to developing a high rise apartment building on the site. On December 30, 2009, our partner relinquished its voting rights and approval rights and its ability to substantively participate in the decision-making process of the joint venture. Our partner also resigned as managing member and appointed us as managing member. Concurrently, we entered into an agreement with our partner to purchase its 49% interest in Bellevue Plaza for $5.2 million, which was paid in 2010. At closing, our interest in Bellevue Plaza increased from 49% to 98%.

 

For additional information regarding these consolidated joint ventures, see Note 5, Joint Ventures to the Consolidated Financial Statements of UDR, Inc. included in this Report.

 

In November 2010, we acquired The Hanover Company’s (“Hanover”) partnership interests in the Hanover/MetLife Master Limited Partnership (the “UDR/MetLife Partnership”). The UDR/MetLife Partnership owns a portfolio of 26 operating communities containing 5,748 homes and 11 land parcels with the potential to develop approximately 2,300 additional homes. Under the terms of the UDR/MetLife Partnership, we will act as the general partner and earn fees for property and asset management and financing transactions. We acquired ownership interests of 12.27% in the operating communities and 4.14% in the land parcels for $100.8 million. Our initial investment of $100.8 million consists of $71.8 million in cash, which includes associated transaction costs, and a $30 million payable (includes discount of $1 million) to Hanover. We agreed to pay the $30 million balance to Hanover in two interest free installments in the amounts of $20 million and $10 million on the first and second anniversaries of the closing, respectively. Our investment at December 31, 2010 was $122.2 million.

 

In October 2010, the Company entered into a venture with an affiliate of Hanover to develop a 240 apartment home community in the metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts area. At the closing and at

December 31, 2010, UDR owned a noncontrolling interest of 95% in the joint venture. Our initial investment was $10 million and our investment at December 31, 2010 was $10.3 million.

 

During 2009, we and an unaffiliated third party formed a joint venture for the investment of up to $450 million in multi-family properties located in key, high barrier to entry markets. The partners will contribute equity of $180 million of which our maximum equity will be 30% or $54 million when fully invested. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the joint venture acquired its first property (151 homes) located in Metropolitan Washington D.C. for $43.1 million. At closing and at December 31, 2010, we owned 30% of the joint venture. Our investment at December 31, 2010 and 2009 was $5.2 million and $242,000, respectively.

 

The Operating Partnership is not a party to any of the joint venture activities described above.

 

Continually Improve Operations

 

We continue to make progress on automating our business as a way to drive operating efficiencies and to better meet the changing needs of our residents. Since its launch in January 2009, our residents have been utilizing the resident internet portal on our website. Our residents have access to conduct business with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to pay rent on line and to submit service requests. In July 2010, we completed the roll out of online renewals throughout our entire portfolio. As a result of transforming operations through technology our residents get the convenience they want and our operating teams have become more efficient. These improvements in adopting the web as a way to conduct business with us have also resulted in a decline in marketing and advertising costs, improved cash management, and improved capabilities to better manage pricing of our available apartment homes.

 

In 2010, we launched an enhanced www.udr.com website along and a new Modern Living website that highlights our premier urban-style location communities. Both UDR.com and Modern Living feature innovative point-of-view walking tours (at select locations), social media content sharing and a new “save to favorites” feature that entices first-time visitors to revisit www.udr.com. In addition to improvements to www.udr.com, we also increased our suite of mobile and tablet device offerings with the addition of an iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Palm Pre apartment search applications. These overall enhancements have contributed to increasing our web visitor traffic to over 2.3 million visitors (up 24%) and almost 1.5 million organic search engine visitors (up 30%) which contributed to a 20% year-over-year lead stream increase.

 

Maintaining Access to Low-Cost Capital

 

We seek to maintain a capital structure that allows us to seek, and not just react to, opportunities available in the marketplace. We have structured our borrowings to stagger our debt maturities and to be able to opportunistically access both secured and unsecured debt.

 

Special Dividend

 

On November 5, 2008, our Board of Directors declared a dividend on a pre-adjusted basis of $1.29 per share (“the Special Dividend”). The Special Dividend was paid on January 29, 2009 to stockholders of record on December 9, 2008. The dividend represented our fourth quarter recurring distribution of $0.33 per share and an additional special distribution of $0.96 per share due to taxable income arising from our dispositions occurring during the year. Subject to our right to pay the entire Special Dividend in cash, stockholders had the option to make an election to receive payment in cash or in shares, however, the aggregate amount of cash payable to stockholders, other than cash payable in lieu of fractional shares, would not be less than $44.0 million.

 

The Special Dividend, totaling $177.1 million, was paid on 137,266,557 shares issued and outstanding on the record date. Approximately $133.1 million of the Special Dividend was paid through the issuance of 11,358,042 shares of common stock, which was determined based on the volume weighted average closing sales price of our common stock of $11.71 per share on the NYSE on January 21, 2009 and January 22, 2009. In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update 2010-01, Accounting for Distributions to Shareholders with Components of Stock and Cash (“ASU 2010-01”),

which considers distributions that contain components of cash and stock and allows shareholders to select their preferred form of distribution as a stock dividend. Such a distribution is treated as a stock issuance on the date the dividend is paid. At December 31, 2008, we accrued $133.1 million of distribution payable related to the Special Dividend. ASU 2010-01 is effective for the Company on December 15, 2009 and should be applied on a retrospective basis. As a result, we reversed the effect of the issuance of additional shares of common stock pursuant to the Special Dividend, which was retroactively reflected in each of the historical periods presented within the Company’s Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the “SEC” on May 22, 2009, and effectively issued these shares on January 29, 2009 (the payment date of the Special Dividend).

 

Financing Activities

 

As part of our plan to strengthen our capital structure, we utilized proceeds from debt and equity offerings and refinancings to extend maturities, pay down existing debt and acquire apartment communities. The following is a summary of our major financing activities in 2010:

 

 

Markets and Competitive Conditions

 

At December 31, 2010, 55.7% of our consolidated same store net operating income and 76% of the Operating Partnership’s same store net operating income was generated from apartment homes located in California, Metropolitan Washington D.C., Oregon, and Washington state. We believe that this diversification increases investment opportunity and decreases the risk associated with cyclical local real estate markets and economies, thereby increasing the stability and predictability of our earnings.

 

Competition for new residents is generally intense across all of our markets. Some competing communities offer features that our communities do not have. Competing communities can use concessions or lower rents to obtain temporary competitive advantages. Also, some competing communities are larger or newer than our communities. The competitive position of each community is different depending upon many factors including sub-market supply and demand. In addition, other real estate investors compete with us to acquire existing properties and to develop new properties. These competitors include insurance companies, pension and investment funds, public and private real estate companies, investment companies and other public and private apartment REITs, some of which may have greater resources, or lower capital costs, than we do.

 

We believe that, in general, we are well-positioned to compete effectively for residents and investments. We believe our competitive advantages include:

 

 

Moving forward, we will continue to emphasize aggressive lease management, improved expense control, increased resident retention efforts and the alignment of employee incentive plans tied to our bottom line performance. We believe this plan of operation, coupled with the portfolio’s strengths in targeting renters across a geographically diverse platform, should position us for continued operational improvement in spite of the difficult economic environment.

 

Communities

 

At December 31, 2010, our apartment portfolio included 172 consolidated communities having a total of 48,553 completed apartment homes and an additional 930 apartment homes under development, which included the Operating Partnership’s apartment portfolio of 81 consolidated communities having a total of 23,351 completed apartment homes. The overall quality of our portfolio enables us to raise rents and to attract residents with higher levels of disposable income who are more likely to absorb expenses, such as water and sewer costs, from the landlord to the resident. In addition, it potentially reduces recurring capital expenditures per apartment home, and therefore should result in increased cash flow in the future.

 

Same Store Community Comparison

 

We believe that one pertinent qualitative measurement of the performance of our portfolio is tracking the results of our same store community’s net operating income (“NOI”), which is total rental revenue, less rental expenses excluding property management and other operating expenses. Our same store community population are operating communities which we own and have stabilized occupancy, revenues and expenses as of the beginning of the prior year.

For the year ended December 31, 2010, our same store NOI decreased by $6.2 million or 1.7% compared to the prior year. The decrease in NOI for the 40,699 apartment homes which make up the same store population was driven by a decrease in rental rates and an increase in expenses which was partially offset by increased occupancy.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2010, the Operating Partnership’s same store NOI decreased by $6.0 million or 2.7% compared to the prior year. The decrease in NOI for the 22,104 apartment homes which make up the same store population was driven by a decrease in revenue rental rates and increase in operating expenses which was partially offset by increased occupancy.

 

Revenue growth in 2011 may be impacted by general adverse conditions affecting the economy, reduced occupancy rates, increased rental concessions, increased bad debt and other factors which may adversely impact our ability to increase rents.

 

Tax Matters

 

UDR has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Code. To continue to qualify as a REIT, UDR must continue to meet certain tests that, among other things, generally require that our assets consist primarily of real estate assets, our income be derived primarily from real estate assets, and that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (other than net capital gains) to our stockholders annually. Provided we maintain our qualification as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes at the corporate level on our net income to the extent such net income is distributed to our stockholders annually. Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT, we will continue to be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and property.

 

We may utilize taxable REIT subsidiaries to engage in activities that REITs may be prohibited from performing, including the provision of management and other services to third parties and the conduct of certain nonqualifying real estate transactions. Taxable REIT subsidiaries generally are taxable as regular corporations and therefore are subject to federal, state and local income taxes.

 

The Operating Partnership intends to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, the Operating Partnership generally is not a taxable entity and does not incur federal income tax liability. However, any state or local revenue, excise or franchise taxes that result from the operating activities of the Operating Partnership are incurred at the entity level.

 

Inflation

 

We believe that the direct effects of inflation on our operations have been immaterial. While the impact of inflation primarily impacts our results through wage pressures, utilities and material costs, substantially all of our leases are for a term of one year or less, which generally enables us to compensate for any inflationary effects by increasing rents on our apartment homes. Although an extreme escalation in energy and food costs could have a negative impact on our residents and their ability to absorb rent increases, we do not believe this has had a material impact on our results for the year ended December 31, 2010.

 

Environmental Matters

 

Various environmental laws govern certain aspects of the ongoing operation of our communities. Such environmental laws include those regulating the existence of asbestos-containing materials in buildings, management of surfaces with lead-based paint (and notices to residents about the lead-based paint), use of active underground petroleum storage tanks, and waste-management activities. The failure to comply with such requirements could subject us to a government enforcement action and/or claims for damages by a private party.

 

To date, compliance with federal, state and local environmental protection regulations has not had a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. We have a property management plan for hazardous materials. As part of the plan, Phase I environmental site investigations and reports have been completed for each property we acquire. In addition, all proposed acquisitions are inspected prior to

acquisition. The inspections are conducted by qualified environmental consultants, and we review the issued report prior to the purchase or development of any property. Nevertheless, it is possible that our environmental assessments will not reveal all environmental liabilities, or that some material environmental liabilities exist of which we are unaware. In some cases, we have abandoned otherwise economically attractive acquisitions because the costs of removal or control of hazardous materials have been prohibitive or we have been unwilling to accept the potential risks involved. We do not believe we will be required to engage in any large-scale abatement at any of our properties. We believe that through professional environmental inspections and testing for asbestos, lead paint and other hazardous materials, coupled with a relatively conservative posture toward accepting known environmental risk, we can minimize our exposure to potential liability associated with environmental hazards.

 

Federal legislation requires owners and landlords of residential housing constructed prior to 1978 to disclose to potential residents or purchasers of the communities any known lead paint hazards and imposes treble damages for failure to provide such notification. In addition, lead based paint in any of the communities may result in lead poisoning in children residing in that community if chips or particles of such lead based paint are ingested, and we may be held liable under state laws for any such injuries caused by ingestion of lead based paint by children living at the communities.

 

We are unaware of any environmental hazards at any of our properties that individually or in the aggregate may have a material adverse impact on our operations or financial position. We have not been notified by any governmental authority, and we are not otherwise aware, of any material non-compliance, liability, or claim relating to environmental liabilities in connection with any of our properties. We do not believe that the cost of continued compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations will have a material adverse effect on us or our financial condition or results of operations. Future environmental laws, regulations, or ordinances, however, may require additional remediation of existing conditions that are not currently actionable. Also, if more stringent requirements are imposed on us in the future, the costs of compliance could have a material adverse effect on us and our financial condition.

 

Insurance

 

We carry comprehensive general liability coverage on our communities, with limits of liability customary within the industry to insure against liability claims and related defense costs. We are also insured, with limits of liability customary within the industry, against the risk of direct physical damage in amounts necessary to reimburse us on a replacement cost basis for costs incurred to repair or rebuild each property, including loss of rental income during the reconstruction period.

 

Executive Officers of the Company

 

UDR is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. The following table sets forth information about our executive officers as of February 17, 2011. The executive officers listed below serve in their respective capacities at the discretion of our Board of Directors.

 

 

Set forth below is certain biographical information about our executive officers.

Mr. Toomey spearheads the vision and strategic direction of the Company and oversees its executive officers. He joined us in February 2001 as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to joining us, Mr. Toomey was with Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO), where he served as Chief Operating Officer for two years and Chief Financial Officer for four years. During his tenure at AIMCO, Mr. Toomey was instrumental in the growth of AIMCO from 34,000 apartment homes to 360,000 apartment homes. He has also served as a Senior Vice President at Lincoln Property Company, a national real estate development, property management and real estate consulting company, from 1990 to 1995. He currently serves as a member of the board of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC), a member of the Real Estate Roundtable, a member of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), an Urban Land Institute Governor and a trustee of the Oregon State University Foundation.

 

Mr. Troupe oversees all financial, treasury, tax and legal functions of the Company. He joined us in March 2008 as Senior Executive Vice President. In May 2008, he was appointed the Company’s Corporate Compliance Officer and in October 2008 he was named the Company’s Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining us, Mr. Troupe was a partner with Morrison & Forester LLP from 1997 to 2008, where his practice focused on all aspects of corporate finance including, but not limited to, public and private equity offerings, traditional loan structures, debt placements to subordinated debt financings, workouts and recapitalizations. While at Morrison & Forester LLP he represented both public and private entities in connection with merger and acquisition transactions, including tender offers, hostile proxy contests and negotiated acquisitions. He currently is a member of NMHC, PREA and the Urban Land Institute.

 

Mr. Giannotti oversees redevelopment projects and acquisition efforts and development projects in the mid-Atlantic region. He joined us in September 1985 as Director of Development and Construction. He was appointed Assistant Vice President in 1988, Vice President in 1989, and Senior Vice President in 1996. In 1998, he was assigned the additional responsibilities of Director of Development for the Eastern Region. In 2003, Mr. Giannotti was promoted to Executive Vice President.

 

Mr. Akin oversees the Company’s acquisition and disposition efforts. He joined us in 1996 in connection with the merger with SouthWest Property Trust, where he had been a Financial Analyst since 1994. He was promoted to Due Diligence Analyst in April 1998 and to Asset Manager for the Western Region in 1999. Mr. Akin was promoted to Vice President, Senior Business Analyst in September 2000 and his focus shifted to acquisitions for the Western Region. In May 2004 he was promoted to Vice President — Acquisitions, and in August 2006 he was promoted to Senior Vice President — Acquisitions and Dispositions.

 

Mr. Alcock oversees the Company’s acquisitions, dispositions, redevelopment and asset management in the company’s east coast markets. He joined us in December 2010 as Senior Vice President — Asset Management. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Alcock was with AIMCO for over 16 years, serving most recently as Executive Vice President, co-Head of Transactions and Asset Management. He was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Investment officer in 1999, a position he held through 2007. Mr. Alcock established and chaired the company’s Investment Committee, established the portfolio management function and at various times ran the property debt and redevelopment departments. Prior to the formation of AIMCO, from 1992 to 1994, Mr. Alcock was with Heron Financial and PDI, predecessor companies to AIMCO. From 1988 to 1992 he worked for Larwin Company, a national homebuilder. Mr. Alcock holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from San Jose State University.

 

Mr. Culwell oversees all aspects of in-house development, joint venture development and pre-sale opportunities. He joined us in June 2006 as Senior Vice President — Development. Prior to joining us, Mr. Culwell served as Regional Vice President of Development for Gables Residential, where he established a $300 million pipeline of new development and redevelopment opportunities. Before joining Gables Residential, Mr. Culwell had over 30 years of real estate experience, including working for Elsinore Group, LLC, Lexford Residential Trust, Cornerstone Housing Corporation and Trammell Crow Residential Company, where his development and construction responsibilities included site selection and acquisition, construction oversight, asset management, as well as obtaining financing for acquisitions and rehabilitations.

Mr. Davis oversees property operations, human resources and technology. He originally joined us in March 1989 as Controller and subsequently moved into Operations as an Area Director and in 2001, he accepted the position of Chief Operating Officer of JH Management Co., a California-based apartment company. He returned to the Company in March 2002 and in 2008, Mr. Davis was promoted to Senior Vice President — Property Operations. He began his career in 1984 as a Staff Accountant for Arthur Young & Co.

 

Mr. Etezadi oversees all aspects of the company’s technology infrastructure and strategy. He joined us in June 2010 as Senior Vice President — Chief Information Officer. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Etezadi was with Amazon.com from 2007 to 2010, where he served as Senior Manager, overseeing domestic and international teams of software engineers responsible for global payment processing and order placement systems. From 1996 to 2007 Mr. Etezadi was with Microsoft Corporation where he began as a Software Design Engineer and Test Lead working on Windows NT4 and Windows 2000. In 2000 he began three years in Sweden as part of a technical leadership team focused on transforming a company Microsoft acquired into an integrated subsidiary. In 2003, upon his return to the U.S., he led various teams in developing mobile web technologies, speech recognition software, and mobile computing hardware. Mr. Etezadi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry from Rice University and an MBA from the University of Washington.

 

Mr. Messenger oversees the areas of accounting, risk management, financial planning and analysis, property tax administration and SEC reporting. He joined us in August 2002 as Vice President and Controller. In March 2006, Mr. Messenger was appointed Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer and in January 2007, while retaining the Chief Accounting Officer title, he was promoted to Senior Vice President. Prior to joining the company in 2002, Mr. Messenger was owner and President of TRC Management Company, a restaurant management company, in Chicago. Mr. Messenger began his career in real estate and financial services with Ernst & Young LLP, as a manager in their Chicago real estate division.

 

Ms. Miles-Ley oversees employee relations, organizational development, succession planning, staffing and recruitment, compensation, training and development, benefits administration, HRIS and payroll. She joined us in June 2007 as Senior Vice President — Human Resources. Prior to joining us, Ms. Miles-Ley was with Starz Entertainment Group LLC from 2001 to 2007 where she served as Vice President, Human Resources & Organizational Development. Ms. Miles-Ley had over twenty years of experience with both domestic and international work forces. Ms. Miles-Ley holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Relations from Golden Gate University and an MBA from the University of Denver.

 

Available Information

 

Both UDR and the Operating Partnership file electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission their respective annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You may obtain a free copy of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports on the day of filing with the SEC on our website at www.udr.com, or by sending an e-mail message to ir@udr.com.

 

 

There are many factors that affect our business and our results of operations, some of which are beyond our control. The following is a description of important factors that may cause our actual results of operations in future periods to differ materially from those currently expected or discussed in forward-looking statements set forth in this report relating to our financial results, operations and business prospects.

 

Risks Related to Our Real Estate Investments and Our Operations

 

Unfavorable Apartment Market and Economic Conditions Could Adversely Affect Occupancy Levels, Rental Revenues and the Value of Our Real Estate Assets.  Unfavorable market conditions in the areas in which we operate and unfavorable economic conditions generally may significantly affect our occupancy levels, our rental rates and collections, the value of the properties and our ability to strategically acquire or

dispose of apartment communities on economically favorable terms. Our ability to lease our properties at favorable rates is adversely affected by the increase in supply in the multifamily market and is dependent upon the overall level in the economy, which is adversely affected by, among other things, job losses and unemployment levels, recession, personal debt levels, the downturn in the housing market, stock market volatility and uncertainty about the future. Some of our major expenses, including mortgage payments and real estate taxes, generally do not decline when related rents decline. We would expect that declines in our occupancy levels, rental revenues and/or the values of our apartment communities would cause us to have less cash available to pay our indebtedness and to distribute to our stockholders, which could adversely affect our financial condition and the market value of our securities. Factors that may affect our occupancy levels, our rental revenues, and/or the value of our properties include the following, among others:

 

 

Continued Economic Weakness Following the Economic Recession that the U.S. Economy Recently Experienced May Materially and Adversely Affect our Financial Condition and Results of Operations.  The U.S. economy continues to experience weakness following a severe recession, which has resulted in increased unemployment, decreased consumer spending and a decline in residential and commercial property values. Although the U.S. economy has emerged from the recession, high levels of unemployment have persisted. If the economic recovery slows or stalls, we may experience adverse effects on our occupancy levels, our rental revenues and the value of our properties, any of which could adversely affect our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Substantial International, National and Local Government Spending and Increasing Deficits May Adversely Impact Our Business, Financial Condition and Results of Operations.  The values of, and the cash flows from, the properties we own are affected by developments in global, national and local economies. As a result of the recent recession and the significant government interventions, federal, state and local governments have incurred record deficits and assumed or guaranteed liabilities of private financial institutions or other private entities. These increased budget deficits and the weakened financial condition of federal, state and local governments may lead to reduced governmental spending, tax increases, public sector job losses, increased interest rates, currency devaluations or other adverse economic events, which may directly or indirectly adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Risk of Inflation/Deflation.  Substantial inflationary or deflationary pressures could have a negative effect on rental rates and property operating expenses. Neither inflation nor deflation has materially impacted our operations in the recent past. The general risk of inflation is that our debt interest and general and administrative expenses increase at a rate higher than our rental rates. The predominant effects of deflation include high unemployment and credit contraction. Restricted lending practices could impact our ability to obtain financing or refinancing for our properties. High unemployment may have a negative effect on our occupancy levels and our rental revenues.

We Are Subject to Certain Risks Associated with Selling Apartment Communities, Which Could Limit Our Operational and Financial Flexibility.  We periodically dispose of apartment communities that no longer meet our strategic objectives, but adverse market conditions may make it difficult to sell apartment communities like the ones we own. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property for the price or on the terms we set, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We also cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property. Furthermore, we may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. These conditions may limit our ability to dispose of properties and to change our portfolio promptly in order to meet our strategic objectives, which may in turn have a materially adverse effect on our financial condition and the market value of our securities. We are also subject to the following risks in connection with sales of our apartment communities:

 

 

Competition Could Limit Our Ability to Lease Apartment Homes or Increase or Maintain Rents.  Our apartment communities compete with numerous housing alternatives in attracting residents, including other apartment communities, condominiums and single-family rental homes, as well as owner occupied single-and multi-family homes. Competitive housing in a particular area could adversely affect our ability to lease apartment homes and increase or maintain rents.

 

We May Not Realize the Anticipated Benefits of Past or Future Acquisitions, and the Failure to Integrate Acquired Communities and New Personnel Successfully Could Create Inefficiencies.  We have selectively acquired in the past, and if presented with attractive opportunities we intend to selectively acquire in the future, apartment communities that meet our investment criteria. Our acquisition activities and their success are subject to the following risks:

 

 

We do not expect to acquire apartment communities at the rate we have in prior years, which may limit our growth and have a material adverse effect on our business and the market value of our securities. In the past, other real estate investors, including insurance companies, pension and investment funds, developer partnerships, investment companies and other public and private apartment REITs, have competed with us to acquire existing properties and to develop new properties, and such competition in the future may make it more difficult for us to pursue attractive investment opportunities on favorable terms, which could adversely affect growth.

 

Development and Construction Risks Could Impact Our Profitability.  In the past we have selectively pursued the development and construction of apartment communities, and we intend to do so in the future as appropriate opportunities arise. Development activities have been, and in the future may be, conducted through wholly owned affiliated companies or through joint ventures with unaffiliated parties. Our development and construction activities are subject to the following risks:

 

 

In some cases in the past, the costs of upgrading acquired communities exceeded our original estimates. We may experience similar cost increases in the future. Our inability to charge rents that will be sufficient to offset the effects of any increases in these costs may impair our profitability.

 

Bankruptcy of Developers in Our Development Joint Ventures Could Impose Delays and Costs on Us With Respect to the Development of Our Communities and May Adversely Affect Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations.  The bankruptcy of one of the developers in any of our development joint ventures could materially and adversely affect the relevant property or properties. If the relevant joint venture through which we have invested in a property has incurred recourse obligations, the discharge in bankruptcy of the developer may require us to honor a completion guarantee and therefore might result in our ultimate liability for a greater portion of those obligations than we would otherwise bear.

 

Property Ownership Through Joint Ventures May Limit Our Ability to Act Exclusively in Our Interest.  We have in the past and may in the future develop and acquire properties in joint ventures with other persons

or entities when we believe circumstances warrant the use of such structures. If we use such a structure, we could become engaged in a dispute with one or more of our joint venture partners that might affect our ability to operate a jointly-owned property. Moreover, joint venture partners may have business, economic or other objectives that are inconsistent with our objectives, including objectives that relate to the appropriate timing and terms of any sale or refinancing of a property. In some instances, joint venture partners may have competing interests in our markets that could create conflicts of interest.

 

Some Potential Losses May Not Be Adequately Covered by Insurance.  We have a comprehensive insurance program covering our property and operating activities. We believe the policy specifications and insured limits of these policies are adequate and appropriate. There are, however, certain types of extraordinary losses which may not be adequately covered under our insurance program. In addition, we will sustain losses due to insurance deductibles, self-insured retention, uninsured claims or casualties, or losses in excess of applicable coverage.

 

If an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, we could lose all or a portion of the capital we have invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future revenue from the property. In such an event, we might nevertheless 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. If one or more of our significant properties were to experience a catastrophic loss, it could seriously disrupt our operations, delay revenue and result in large expenses to repair or rebuild the property. Such events could adversely affect our cash flow and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

 

Failure to Succeed in New Markets May Limit Our Growth.  We have acquired in the past, and we may acquire in the future if appropriate opportunities arise, apartment communities that are outside of our existing markets. Entering into new markets may expose us to a variety of risks, and we may not be able to operate successfully in new markets. These risks include, among others:

 

 

Potential Liability for Environmental Contamination Could Result in Substantial Costs.  Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, as a current or former owner or operator of real estate, we could be required to investigate and remediate the effects of contamination of currently or formerly owned real estate by hazardous or toxic substances, often regardless of our knowledge of or responsibility for the contamination and solely by virtue of our current or former ownership or operation of the real estate. In addition, we could be held liable to a governmental authority or to third parties for property damage and for investigation and clean-up costs incurred in connection with the contamination. These costs could be substantial, and in many cases environmental laws create liens in favor of governmental authorities to secure their payment. The presence of such substances or a failure to properly remediate any resulting contamination could materially and adversely affect our ability to borrow against, sell or rent an affected property.

 

In addition, our properties are subject to various federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws, including laws governing the management of wastes and underground and aboveground storage tanks. Noncompliance with these environmental, health and safety laws could subject us to liability. Changes in laws could increase the potential costs of compliance with environmental laws, health and safety laws or increase liability for noncompliance. This may result in significant unanticipated expenditures or may otherwise materially and adversely affect our operations.

 

As the owner or operator of real property, we may also incur liability based on various building conditions. For example, buildings and other structures on properties that we currently own or operate or those we acquire or operate in the future contain, may contain, or may have contained, asbestos-containing material, or ACM. Environmental, health and safety laws require that ACM be properly managed and maintained and may impose fines or penalties on owners, operators or employers for non-compliance with those requirements.

These requirements include special precautions, such as removal, abatement or air monitoring, if ACM would be disturbed during maintenance, renovation or demolition of a building, potentially resulting in substantial costs. In addition, we may be subject to liability for personal injury or property damage sustained as a result of exposure to ACM or releases of ACM into the environment.

 

We cannot assure you that costs or liabilities incurred as a result of environmental issues will not affect our ability to make distributions to our shareholders, or that such costs or liabilities will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our Properties May Contain or Develop Harmful Mold or Suffer from Other Indoor Air Quality Issues, Which Could Lead to Liability for Adverse Health Effects or Property Damage or Cost for Remediation.  When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Indoor air quality issues can also stem from inadequate ventilation, chemical contamination from indoor or outdoor sources, and other biological contaminants such as pollen, viruses and bacteria. Indoor exposure to airborne toxins or irritants can be alleged to cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold or other airborne contaminants or to increase ventilation. In addition, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants could expose us to liability from our tenants or others if property damage or personal injury occurs.

 

Compliance or Failure to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or Other Safety Regulations and Requirements Could Result in Substantial Costs.  The Americans with Disabilities Act generally requires that public buildings, including our properties, be made accessible to disabled persons. Noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines by the federal government or the award of damages to private litigants. From time to time claims may be asserted against us with respect to some of our properties under this Act. If, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, we are required to make substantial alterations and capital expenditures in one or more of our properties, including the removal of access barriers, it could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our properties are subject to various federal, state and local regulatory requirements, such as state and local fire and life safety requirements. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we could incur fines or private damage awards. We do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether compliance with future requirements will require significant unanticipated expenditures that will affect our cash flow and results of operations.

 

Real Estate Tax and Other Laws.  Generally we do not directly pass through costs resulting from compliance with or changes in real estate tax laws to residential property tenants. We also do not generally pass through increases in income, service or other taxes, to tenants under leases. These costs may adversely affect net operating income and the ability to make distributions to stockholders. Similarly, compliance with or changes in (i) laws increasing the potential liability for environmental conditions existing on properties or the restrictions on discharges or other conditions or (ii) rent control or rent stabilization laws or other laws regulating housing, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, may result in significant unanticipated expenditures, which would adversely affect funds from operations and the ability to make distributions to stockholders.

 

Risk of Damage from Catastrophic Weather Events.  Certain of our communities are located in the general vicinity of active earthquake faults, mudslides and fires, and others where there are hurricanes, tornadoes or risks of other inclement weather. The adverse weather events could cause damage or losses that may be greater than insured levels. In the event of a loss in excess of insured limits, we could lose our capital invested in the affected community, as well as anticipated future revenue from that community. We would also continue to be obligated to repay any mortgage indebtedness or other obligations related to the community. Any such loss could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition and results of operations.

Actual or Threatened Terrorist Attacks May Have an Adverse Effect on Our Business and Operating Results and Could Decrease the Value of Our Assets.  Actual or threatened terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. Attacks that directly impact one or more of our apartment communities could significantly affect our ability to operate those communities and thereby impair our ability to achieve our expected results. Further, our insurance coverage may not cover all losses caused by a terrorist attack. In addition, the adverse effects that such violent acts and threats of future attacks could have on the U.S. economy could similarly have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

We May Experience a Decline in the Fair Value of Our Assets and Be Forced to Recognize Impairment Charges, Which Could Materially and Adversely Impact Our Financial Condition, Liquidity and Results of Operations and the Market Price of Our Common Stock.  A decline in the fair value of our assets may require us to recognize an impairment against such assets under GAAP if we were to determine that, with respect to any assets in unrealized loss positions, we do not have the ability and intent to hold such assets to maturity or for a period of time sufficient to allow for recovery to the amortized cost of such assets. If such a determination were to be made, we would recognize unrealized losses through earnings and write down the amortized cost of such assets to a new cost basis, based on the fair value of such assets on the date they are considered to be impaired. Such impairment charges reflect non-cash losses at the time of recognition; subsequent disposition or sale of such assets could further affect our future losses or gains, as they are based on the difference between the sale price received and adjusted amortized cost of such assets at the time of sale. If we are required to recognize asset impairment charges in the future, these charges could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and the per share trading price of our common stock.

 

Any Weaknesses Identified in Our Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Could Have an Adverse Effect on Our Stock Price.  Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires us to evaluate and report on our internal control over financial reporting. If we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

 

Our Success Depends on Our Senior Management.  Our success depends upon the retention of our senior management, whose continued service in not guaranteed. We may not be able to find qualified replacements for the individuals who make up our senior management if their services should no longer be available to us. The loss of services of one or more members of our senior management team could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We May be Adversely Affected by New Laws and Regulations.  The current United States administration and Congress have enacted, or called for consideration of, proposals relating to a variety of issues, including with respect to health care, financial regulation reform, climate control, executive compensation and others. We believe that these and other potential proposals could have varying degrees of impact on us ranging from minimal to material. At this time, we are unable to predict with certainty what level of impact specific proposals could have on us.

 

Certain rulemaking and administrative efforts that may have an impact on us focus principally on the areas perceived as contributing to the global financial crisis and the continuing economic downturn. These initiatives have created a degree of uncertainty regarding the basic rules governing the real estate industry and many other businesses that is unprecedented in the United States at least since the wave of lawmaking and regulatory reform that followed in the wake of the Great Depression. The federal legislative response in this area has culminated most recently in the enactment on July 21, 2010 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). Many of the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act have extended implementation periods and delayed effective dates and will require extensive rulemaking by regulatory authorities; thus, the impact on us may not be known for an extended period of time. The Dodd-Frank Act, including future rules implementing its provisions and the interpretation of those rules, along with other legislative and regulatory proposals that are proposed or pending in the United States Congress, may

limit our revenues, impose fees or taxes on us, and/or intensify the regulatory framework in which we operate in ways that are not currently identifiable.

 

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure in particular, including certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, have created uncertainty for public companies like ours and could significantly increase the costs and risks associated with accessing the U.S. public markets. Because we are committed to maintaining high standards of internal control over financial reporting, corporate governance and public disclosure, our management team will need to devote significant time and financial resources to comply with these evolving standards for public companies. We intend to continue to invest appropriate resources to comply with both existing and evolving standards, and this investment has resulted and will likely continue to result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities.

 

Changes in the System for Establishing U.S. Accounting Standards May Materially and Adversely Affect Our Reported Results of Operations.  Accounting for public companies in the United States has historically been conducted in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as in effect in the United States (“GAAP”). GAAP is established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), an independent body whose standards are recognized by the SEC as authoritative for publicly held companies. The International Accounting Standards Board (the “IASB”) is a London-based independent board established in 2001 and charged with the development of International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). IFRS generally reflects accounting practices that prevail in Europe and in developed nations around the world.

 

IFRS differs in material respects from GAAP. Among other things, IFRS has historically relied more on “fair value” models of accounting for assets and liabilities than GAAP. “Fair value” models are based on periodic revaluation of assets and liabilities, often resulting in fluctuations in such values as compared to GAAP, which relies more frequently on historical cost as the basis for asset and liability valuation.

 

The SEC has proposed the mandatory adoption of IFRS by United States public companies starting in 2015, with early adoption permitted before that date. It is unclear at this time how the SEC will propose that GAAP and IFRS be harmonized if the proposed change is adopted. In addition, switching to a new method of accounting and adopting IFRS will be a complex undertaking. We may need to develop new systems and controls based on the principles of IFRS. Since these are new endeavors, and the precise requirements of the pronouncements ultimately adopted are not now known, the magnitude of costs associated with this conversion are uncertain.

 

We are currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of IFRS on our financial position and results of operations. Such evaluation cannot be completed, however, without more clarity regarding the specific IFRS standards that will be adopted. Until there is more certainty with respect to the IFRS standards to be adopted, prospective investors should consider that our conversion to IFRS could have a material adverse impact on our reported results of operations.

 

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness and Financings

 

Insufficient Cash Flow Could Affect Our Debt Financing and Create Refinancing Risk.  We are subject to the risks normally associated with debt financing, including the risk that our operating income and cash flow will be insufficient to make required payments of principal and interest, or could restrict our borrowing capacity under our line of credit due to debt covenant restraints. Sufficient cash flow may not be available to make all required principal payments and still satisfy UDR’ Inc.’s distribution requirements to maintain its status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. In addition, the full limits of our line of credit may not be available to us if our operating performance falls outside the constraints of our debt covenants. We are also likely to need to refinance substantially all of our outstanding debt as it matures. We may not be able to refinance existing debt, or the terms of any refinancing may not be as favorable as the terms of the existing debt, which could create pressures to sell assets or to issue additional equity when we would otherwise not choose to do so. In addition, our failure to comply with our debt covenants could result in a requirement to

repay our indebtedness prior to its maturity, which could have an adverse effect on our cash flow, increase our financing costs and impact our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

 

Failure to Generate Sufficient Revenue Could Impair Debt Service Payments and Distributions to Stockholders.  If our apartment communities do not generate sufficient net rental income to meet rental expenses, our ability to make required payments of interest and principal on our debt securities and to pay distributions to UDR, Inc.’s stockholders will be adversely affected. The following factors, among others, may affect the net rental income generated by our apartment communities:

 

 

Expenses associated with our investment in an apartment community, such as debt service, real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, are generally not reduced when circumstances cause a reduction in rental income from that community. If a community is mortgaged to secure payment of debt and we are unable to make the mortgage payments, we could sustain a loss as a result of foreclosure on the community or the exercise of other remedies by the mortgage holder.

 

Debt Level May Be Increased.  Our current debt policy does not contain any limitations on the level of debt that we may incur, although our ability to incur debt is limited by covenants in our bank and other credit agreements. We manage our debt to be in compliance with these debt covenants, but subject to compliance with these covenants, we may increase the amount of our debt at any time without a concurrent improvement in our ability to service the additional debt.

 

Financing May Not Be Available and Could Be Dilutive.  Our ability to execute our business strategy depends on our access to an appropriate blend of debt financing, including unsecured lines of credit and other forms of secured and unsecured debt, and equity financing, including common and preferred equity. We and other companies in the real estate industry have experienced limited availability of financing from time to time. If we issue additional equity securities to finance developments and acquisitions instead of incurring debt, the interests of our existing stockholders could be diluted.

 

Disruptions in Financial Markets May Adversely Impact Availability and Cost of Credit and Have Other Adverse Effects on Us and the Market Price of Our Stock.  Our ability to make scheduled payments or to refinance debt obligations will depend on our operating and financial performance, which in turn is subject to prevailing economic conditions and to financial, business and other factors beyond our control. During the past few years, the United States stock and credit markets have experienced significant price volatility, dislocations and liquidity disruptions, which have caused market prices of many stocks to fluctuate substantially and the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. These circumstances have materially impacted liquidity in the financial markets, making terms for certain financings less attractive, and in some cases have resulted in the unavailability of financing. Continued uncertainty in the stock and credit markets may negatively impact our ability to access additional financing for acquisitions, development of our properties and other purposes at reasonable terms, which may negatively affect our business. Additionally, due to this uncertainty, we may be unable to refinance our existing indebtedness or the terms of any refinancing may not

be as favorable as the terms of our existing indebtedness. If we are not successful in refinancing this debt when it becomes due, we may be forced to dispose of properties on disadvantageous terms, which might adversely affect our ability to service other debt and to meet our other obligations. A prolonged downturn in the financial markets may cause us to seek alternative sources of potentially less attractive financing, and may require us to adjust our business plan accordingly. These events also may make it more difficult or costly for us to raise capital through the issuance of our common or preferred stock. The disruptions in the financial markets have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on the market value of our common shares and other adverse effects on us and our business.

 

Prospective buyers of our properties may also experience difficulty in obtaining debt financing which might make it more difficult for us to sell properties at acceptable pricing levels. Tightening of credit in financial markets and high unemployment rates may also adversely affect the ability of tenants to meet their lease obligations and for us to continue increasing rents on a prospective basis. Disruptions in the credit and financial markets may also have other adverse effects on us and the overall economy.

 

A Change in U.S. Government Policy Regarding Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Could Have a Material Adverse Impact on Our Business.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a major source of financing for secured multifamily rental real estate. We and other multifamily companies depend heavily on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance growth by purchasing or guaranteeing apartment loans. In September 2008, the U.S. government assumed control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and placed both companies into a government conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Administration has recently proposed potential options for the future of mortgage finance in the U.S. that could involve the phase out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While we believe Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue to provide liquidity to our sector, should they discontinue doing so, have their mandates changed or reduced or be disbanded or reorganized by the government, it would significantly reduce our access to debt capital and adversely affect our ability to finance or refinance existing indebtedness at competitive rates and it may adversely affect our ability to sale assets. Uncertainty in the future activity and involvement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a source of financing could negatively impact our ability to make acquisitions and make it more difficult or not possible for us to sell properties or may adversely affect the price we receive for properties that we do sell, as prospective buyers may experience increased costs of debt financing or difficulties in obtaining debt financing.

 

The Soundness of Financial Institutions Could Adversely Affect Us.  We have relationships with many financial institutions, including lenders under our credit facilities, and, from time to time, we execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry. As a result, defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, could result in losses or defaults by these institutions. In the event that the volatility of the financial markets adversely affects these financial institutions or counterparties, we or other parties to the transactions with us may be unable to complete transactions as intended, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

Changing Interest Rates Could Increase Interest Costs and Adversely Affect Our Cash Flow and the Market Price of Our Securities.  We currently have, and expect to incur in the future, interest-bearing debt at rates that vary with market interest rates. As of December 31, 2010, UDR, Inc. had approximately $1 billion of variable rate indebtedness outstanding, which constitutes approximately 29% of total outstanding indebtedness as of such date. As of December 31, 2010, the Operating Partnership had approximately $304 million of variable rate indebtedness outstanding, which constitutes approximately 28% of total outstanding indebtedness as of such date. An increase in interest rates would increase our interest expenses and increase the costs of refinancing existing indebtedness and of issuing new debt. Accordingly, higher interest rates could adversely affect cash flow and our ability to service our debt and to make distributions to security holders. The effect of prolonged interest rate increases could negatively impact our ability to make acquisitions and develop properties. In addition, an increase in market interest rates may lead our security holders to demand a higher annual yield, which could adversely affect the market price of our common and preferred stock and debt securities.

 

Interest Rate Hedging Contracts May Be Ineffective and May Result in Material Charges.  From time to time when we anticipate issuing debt securities, we may seek to limit our exposure to fluctuations in interest

rates during the period prior to the pricing of the securities by entering into interest rate hedging contracts. We may do this to increase the predictability of our financing costs. Also, from time to time we may rely on interest rate hedging contracts to limit our exposure under variable rate debt to unfavorable changes in market interest rates. If the terms of new debt securities are not within the parameters of, or market interest rates fall below that which we incur under a particular interest rate hedging contract, the contract is ineffective. Furthermore, the settlement of interest rate hedging contracts has involved and may in the future involve material charges. In addition, our use of interest rate hedging arrangements may expose us to additional risks, including a risk that a counterparty to a hedging arrangement may fail to honor its obligations. Developing an effective interest rate risk strategy is complex and no strategy can completely insulate us from risks associated with interest rate fluctuations. There can be no assurance that our hedging activities will have desired beneficial impact on our results of operations or financial condition. Termination of these hedging agreements typically involves costs, such as transaction fees or breakage costs.

 

Risks Related to Tax Laws

 

We Would Incur Adverse Tax Consequences if UDR Failed to Qualify as a REIT.  UDR has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Code. Our qualification as a REIT requires us to satisfy numerous requirements, some on an annual and quarterly basis, established under highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations, and involves the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. We intend that our current organization and method of operation enable us to continue to qualify as a REIT, but we may not so qualify or we may not be able to remain so qualified in the future. In addition, U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs and other corporations and the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended at any time, potentially with retroactive effect. Future legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT or adversely affect our stockholders.

 

If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax (including any applicable alternative minimum tax) on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and would not be allowed to deduct dividends paid to our stockholders in computing our taxable income. Also, unless the Internal Revenue Service granted us relief under certain statutory provisions, we could not re-elect REIT status until the fifth calendar year after the year in which we first failed to qualify as a REIT. The additional tax liability from the failure to qualify as a REIT would reduce or eliminate the amount of cash available for investment or distribution to our stockholders. This would likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of our securities and our ability to raise additional capital. In addition, we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders. Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT, we will continue to be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and property.

 

REITs May Pay a Portion of Dividends in Common Stock.  In December 2009, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Procedure 2010-12, which expanded previously issued temporary guidance relating to certain stock distributions made by publicly traded REITs to satisfy their tax-related distribution requirements. This expanded temporary guidance is intended to permit REITs to limit cash distributions in order to maintain liquidity during the current downturn in economic conditions. Under this expanded guidance, for stock dividends declared on or after January 1, 2008 and before December 31, 2012, with respect to a taxable year ending on or before December 31, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service will treat a distribution of stock by a publicly traded REIT, pursuant to certain stockholder elections to receive either stock or cash, as a taxable distribution of property, provided that, among other conditions, (i) the total amount of cash available for distribution is not less than 10% of the aggregate declared distribution, and (ii) if too many stockholders elect to receive cash, each stockholder electing to receive cash will receive a pro rata amount of cash corresponding to its respective entitlement under the declaration, but in no event will any such electing stockholder receive less than 10% of the stockholder’s entire entitlement in money. The amount of such stock distribution will generally be treated as equal to the amount of cash that could have been received instead. If we pay a portion of our dividends in shares of our common stock pursuant to this temporary guidance, our stockholders may receive less cash than they received in distributions in prior years and the market value of our securities may decline.

UDR May Conduct a Portion of Our Business Through Taxable REIT Subsidiaries, Which are Subject to Certain Tax Risks.  We have established several taxable REIT subsidiaries. Despite UDR’s qualification as a REIT, its taxable REIT subsidiaries must pay income tax on their taxable income. In addition, we must comply with various tests to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, and our income from and investments in our taxable REIT subsidiaries generally do not constitute permissible income and investments for these tests. While we will attempt to ensure that our dealings with our taxable REIT subsidiaries will not adversely affect our REIT qualification, we cannot provide assurance that we will successfully achieve that result. Furthermore, we may be subject to a 100% penalty tax, we may jeopardize our ability to retain future gains on real property sales, or our taxable REIT subsidiaries may be denied deductions, to the extent our dealings with our taxable REIT subsidiaries are not deemed to be arm’s length in nature or are otherwise not respected.

 

REIT Distribution Requirements Limit Our Available Cash.  As a REIT, UDR is subject to annual distribution requirements, which limit the amount of cash we retain for other business purposes, including amounts to fund our growth. We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our net REIT taxable income, excluding any net capital gain, in order for our distributed earnings not to be subject to corporate income tax. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the requirements of the Code. However, differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash could require us to sell assets or borrow funds on a short-term or long-term basis to meet the 90% distribution requirement of the Code.

 

Certain Property Transfers May Generate Prohibited Transaction Income, Resulting in a Penalty Tax on Gain Attributable to the Transaction.  From time to time, we may transfer or otherwise dispose of some of our properties. Under the Code, any gain resulting from transfers of properties that we hold as inventory or primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business would be treated as income from a prohibited transaction and subject to a 100% penalty tax. Since we acquire properties for investment purposes, we do not believe that our occasional transfers or disposals of property are prohibited transactions. However, whether property is held for investment purposes is a question of fact that depends on all the facts and circumstances surrounding the particular transaction. The Internal Revenue Service may contend that certain transfers or disposals of properties by us are prohibited transactions. If the Internal Revenue Service were to argue successfully that a transfer or disposition of property constituted a prohibited transaction, then we would be required to pay a 100% penalty tax on any gain allocable to us from the prohibited transaction and we may jeopardize our ability to retain future gains on real property sales. In addition, income from a prohibited transaction might adversely affect UDR’s ability to satisfy the income tests for qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes.

 

We Could Face Possible State and Local Tax Audits and Adverse Changes in State and Local Tax Laws.  As discussed in the risk factors above, because UDR is organized and qualifies as a REIT it is generally not subject to federal income taxes, but it is subject to certain state and local taxes. From time to time, changes in state and local tax laws or regulations are enacted, which may result in an increase in our tax liability. A shortfall in tax revenues for states and municipalities in which we own apartment communities may lead to an increase in the frequency and size of such changes. If such changes occur, we may be required to pay additional state and local taxes. These increased tax costs could adversely affect our financial condition and the amount of cash available for the payment of distributions to our stockholders. In the normal course of business, entities through which we own real estate may also become subject to tax audits. If such entities become subject to state or local tax audits, the ultimate result of such audits could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

 

The Operating Partnership Intends to Qualify as a Partnership, But Cannot Guarantee That It Will Qualify.  The Operating Partnership intends to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes at any such time that the Operating Partnership admits additional limited partners other than UDR, Inc. If classified as a partnership, the Operating Partnership generally will not be a taxable entity and will not incur federal income tax liability. However, the Operating Partnership would be treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes if it were a “publicly traded partnership,” unless at least 90% of the Operating Partnership’s income was qualifying income as defined in the Code. A “publicly traded partnership” is a partnership whose

partnership interests are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market (or the substantial equivalent thereof). Although the Operating Partnership’s partnership units are not traded on an established securities market, because of the redemption right, the Operating Partnership’s units held by limited partners could be viewed as readily tradable on a secondary market (or the substantial equivalent thereof), and the Operating Partnership may not qualify for one of the “safe harbors” under the applicable tax regulations. Qualifying income for the 90% test generally includes passive income, such as real property rents, dividends and interest. The income requirements applicable to REITs and the definition of qualifying income for purposes of this 90% test are similar in most respects. The Operating Partnership may not meet this qualifying income test. If the Operating Partnership were to be taxed as a corporation, it would incur substantial tax liabilities, and UDR, Inc. would then fail to qualify as a REIT for tax purposes, unless it qualified for relief under certain statutory savings provisions, and our ability to raise additional capital would be impaired.

 

Risks Related to Our Organization and Ownership of UDR, Inc.’s Stock

 

Changes in Market Conditions and Volatility of Stock Prices Could Adversely Affect the Market Price of Our Common Stock.  The stock markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, on which we list UDR, Inc’s common stock, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. As a result, the market price of our common stock could be similarly volatile, and investors in our common stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. In addition to the risks listed in this “Risk Factors” section, a number of factors could negatively affect the price per share of our common stock, including:

 

 

 

Many of the factors listed above are beyond our control. These factors may cause the market price of shares of our common stock to decline, regardless of our financial condition, results of operations, business or our prospects.

 

We May Change the Dividend Policy for Our Common Stock in the Future.  The decision to declare and pay dividends on UDR’s common stock, as well as the timing, amount and composition of any such future dividends, will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, funds from operations, liquidity, financial condition, capital requirements, contractual prohibitions or other limitations under our indebtedness, the annual distribution requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code, state law and such other factors as our board of directors considers relevant. Any change in our dividend policy could have a material adverse effect on the market price of UDR’s common stock.

 

Maryland Law May Limit the Ability of a Third Party to Acquire Control of Us, Which May Not be in Our Stockholders’ Best Interests.  Maryland business statutes may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us. As a Maryland corporation, we are subject to various Maryland laws which may have the effect of discouraging offers to acquire our Company and of increasing the difficulty of consummating any such offers, even if our acquisition would be in our stockholders’ best interests. The Maryland General Corporation Law restricts mergers and other business combination transactions between us and any person who acquires beneficial ownership of shares of our stock representing 10% or more of the voting power without our board of directors’ prior approval. Any such business combination transaction could not be completed until five years after the person acquired such voting power, and generally only with the approval of stockholders representing 80% of all votes entitled to be cast and 662/3% of the votes entitled to be cast, excluding the interested stockholder, or upon payment of a fair price. Maryland law also provides generally that a person who acquires shares of our equity stock that represents 10% (and certain higher levels) of the voting power in electing directors will have no voting rights unless approved by a vote of two-thirds of the shares eligible to vote.

 

Limitations on Share Ownership and Limitations on the Ability of Our Stockholders to Effect a Change in Control of Our Company Restricts the Transferability of Our Stock and May Prevent Takeovers That are Beneficial to Our Stockholders.  One of the requirements for maintenance of our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes is that no more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock may be owned by five or fewer individuals, including entities specified in the Code, during the last half of any taxable year. Our charter contains ownership and transfer restrictions relating to our stock primarily to assist us in complying with this and other REIT ownership requirements; however, the restrictions may have the effect of preventing a change of control, which does not threaten REIT status. These restrictions include a provision that generally limits ownership by any person of more than 9.9% of the value of our outstanding equity stock, unless our board of directors exempts the person from such ownership limitation, provided that any such exemption shall not allow the person to exceed 13% of the value of our outstanding equity stock. Absent such an exemption from our board of directors, the transfer of our stock to any person in excess of the applicable ownership limit, or any transfer of shares of such stock in violation of the ownership requirements of the Code for REITs, will be considered null and void, and the intended transferee of such stock will acquire no rights in such shares. These provisions of our charter may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing someone from taking control of us, even though a change of control might involve a premium price for our stockholders or might otherwise be in our stockholders’ best interests.

 

 

None.

 

At December 31, 2010, our consolidated apartment portfolio included 172 communities located in 23 markets, with a total of 48,553 completed apartment homes.

 

We lease approximately 35,000 square feet of office space in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, for our corporate headquarters and lease an additional 39,000 square feet for two regional offices located in Dallas, Texas and Richmond, Virginia. The lease term on 21,000 square feet in Richmond, Virginia expires in February 2011.

 

The tables below set forth a summary of real estate portfolio by geographic market of the Company and of the Operating Partnership at December 31, 2010.

 

SUMMARY OF REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO BY GEOGRAPHIC MARKET AT DECEMBER 31, 2010

 

UDR, INC.

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO BY GEOGRAPHIC MARKET AT DECEMBER 31, 2010

 

UNITED DOMINION REALTY, L.P.

 

 

 

We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of business. We cannot determine the ultimate liability with respect to such legal proceedings and claims at this time. We believe that such liability, to the extent not provided for through insurance or otherwise, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.

 

 

 

MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

UDR, Inc.

 

Common Stock

 

UDR, Inc.’s common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UDR” since May 7, 1990. The following tables set forth the quarterly high and low sale prices per common share reported on the NYSE for each quarter of the last two fiscal years. Distribution information for common stock reflects distributions declared per share for each calendar quarter and paid at the end of the following month.

 

 

On February 17, 2011, the closing sale price of our common stock was $23.82 per share on the NYSE and there were 4,804 holders of record of the 182,496,330 outstanding shares of our common stock.

 

We have determined that, for federal income tax purposes, approximately 95% of the distributions for 2010 represented ordinary income, 3% represented long-term capital gain, and 2% represented unrecaptured section 1250 gain.

 

UDR pays regular quarterly distributions to holders of its common stock. Future distributions will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our actual funds from operations, financial condition and capital requirements, the annual distribution requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code, and other factors. The annual distribution payment for calendar year 2010 necessary for us to maintain our status as a REIT was $0.002 per share of common stock. We declared total distributions of $0.73 per share of common stock for 2010.

 

Series E Preferred Stock

 

The Series E Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series E”) has no stated par value and a liquidation preference of $16.61 per share. Subject to certain adjustments and conditions, each share of the Series E is convertible at any time and from time to time at the holder’s option into one share of our common stock prior to the Special Dividend. The holders of the Series E are entitled to vote on an as-converted basis as a single class in combination with the holders of common stock at any meeting of our stockholders for the election of directors or for any other purpose on which the holders of common stock are entitled to vote. The Series E has no stated maturity and is not subject to any sinking fund or any mandatory redemption. In connection with the Special Dividend, the Company reserved for issuance upon conversion of the Series E additional shares of common stock to which a holder of the Series E would have received if the holder had converted the Series E immediately prior to the record date for the Special Dividend.

 

Distributions declared on the Series E in 2010 were $1.33 per share or $0.3322 per quarter. The Series E is not listed on any exchange. At December 31, 2010, a total of 2,803,812 shares of the Series E were outstanding.

 

Series F Preferred Stock

 

We are authorized to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of our Series F (“Series F”) Preferred Stock. The Series F Preferred Stock may be purchased by holders of our Operating Partnership Units, or OP Units, described below under “Operating Partnership Units,” at a purchase price of $0.0001 per share. OP Unitholders are entitled to subscribe for and purchase one share of the Series F for each OP Unit held. At December 31,

2010, a total of 3,208,706 shares of the Series F were outstanding at a value of $321. Holders of the Series F are entitled to one vote for each share of the Series F they hold, voting together with the holders of our common stock, on each matter submitted to a vote of security holders at a meeting of our stockholders. The Series F does not entitle its holders to any other rights, privileges or preferences.

 

Series G Preferred Stock

 

In May 2007, UDR issued 5,400,000 shares of our 6.75% Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock (“Series G”). The Series G has no stated par value and a liquidation preference of $25 per share. The Series G generally has no voting rights except under certain limited circumstances and as required by law. The Series G has no stated maturity and is not subject to any sinking fund or mandatory redemption and is not convertible into any of our other securities. The Series G is not redeemable prior to May 31, 2012. On or after this date, the Series G may be redeemed for cash at our option, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $25 per share plus accrued and unpaid dividends. During the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company repurchased 27,400 shares of Series G, for less than the liquidation preference of $25 per share resulting in a $25,000 benefit to our net loss attributable to common stockholders. Distributions declared on the Series G for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $1.69 per share. The Series G is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “UDRPrG.” At December 31, 2010, a total of 3,405,562 shares of the Series G were outstanding.

 

Distribution Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan

 

We have a Distribution Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan under which holders of our common stock may elect to automatically reinvest their distributions and make additional cash payments to acquire additional shares of our common stock. Stockholders who do not participate in the plan continue to receive distributions as declared. As of February 17, 2011, there were approximately 2,707 participants in the plan.

 

United Dominion Realty, L.P.

 

Operating Partnership Units

 

There is no established public trading market for United Dominion Realty, L.P.’s Operating Partnership Units. From time to time we issue shares of our common stock in exchange for OP Units tendered to the Operating Partnership, for redemption in accordance with the provisions of the Operating Partnership’s limited partnership agreement. At December 31, 2010, there were 179,909,408 OP Units outstanding in the Operating Partnership, of which 174,847,440 OP Units or 97.2% were owned by UDR and 5,061,968 OP Units or 2.8% were owned by limited partners. Under the terms of the Operating Partnership’s limited partnership agreement, the holders of OP Units have the right to require the Operating Partnership to redeem all or a portion of the OP Units held by the holder in exchange for a cash payment based on the market value of our common stock at the time of redemption. However, the Operating Partnership’s obligation to pay the cash amount is subject to the prior right of the Company to acquire such OP Units in exchange for either the cash amount or the number of shares of our common stock equal to the number of OP Units being redeemed. During 2010, we issued a total of 924,624 shares of common stock upon redemption of OP Units.

 

Purchases of Equity Securities

 

In February 2006, UDR’s Board of Directors authorized a 10,000,000 share repurchase program. In January 2008, UDR’s Board of Directors authorized a new 15,000,000 share repurchase program. Under the two share repurchase programs, UDR may repurchase shares of our common stock in open market purchases, block purchases, privately negotiated transactions or otherwise. As reflected in the table below, no shares of common stock were repurchased under these programs during the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The following tables set forth certain information regarding our common stock repurchases during the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

 

 

 

Comparison of One-, Three- and Five- year Cumulative Total Returns

 

The following graphs compare the one-, three- and five-year cumulative total returns for UDR common stock with the comparable cumulative return of the NAREIT Equity REIT Index, Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index, the NAREIT Equity Apartment Index and the MSCI US REIT Index. Each graph assumes that $100 was invested on December 31 (of the initial year shown in the graph), in each of our common stock and the indices presented. Historical stock price performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance. The comparisons assume that all dividends are reinvested.

 

 

 

 

One-year

 

 

Three-year

 

 

 

Five-year

 

 

The performance graph, and the related chart and text, are being furnished solely to accompany this Annual Report on Form 10-K pursuant to Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K, and are not being filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of ours, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.

 

The following tables set forth selected consolidated financial and other information of UDR, Inc. and of the Operating Partnership as of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2010. The table should be read in conjunction with each of UDR, Inc.’s and the Operating Partnership’s respective consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, and Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, included elsewhere in this Report.