CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, RISK FACTORS AND INDUSTRY DATA

This Form 10-K contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth in this Form 10-K. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ from projections include, but are not limited to:

All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this Form 10-K regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenue or losses, projected costs, prospects, current expectations, forecasts, and plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used in this Form 10-K, the words “will,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “should,” “project,” “plan,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Form 10-K. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained in this Form 10-K, except as required by federal securities laws. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K are reasonable, we cannot assure you that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. We have disclosed important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations under the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Form 10-K. These cautionary statements qualify all forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf.

Information regarding market and industry statistics contained in this Form 10-K is included based on information available to us that we believe is accurate. We have not reviewed or included data from all sources, and we cannot assure you of the accuracy or completeness of the data included in this Form 10-K. Forecasts and other forward-looking information obtained from these sources are subject to the same qualifications and the additional uncertainties accompanying any estimates of future market size, revenue and market acceptance of products and services. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking information to reflect actual results or changes in assumptions or other factors that could affect those statements. See the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K for a more detailed discussion of uncertainties and risks that may impact future results.

ITEM 1.

OVERVIEW AND CORPORATE STRUCTURE

Presidio Property Trust, Inc. (“we”, “our”, “us” or the “Company”) is an internally-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”). We were incorporated in the State of California on September 28, 1999, and in August 2010, we reincorporated as a Maryland corporation. In October 2017, we changed our name from “NetREIT, Inc.” to “Presidio Property Trust, Inc.” We are a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, and registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Through the Company, its subsidiaries and its partnerships, we own 12 commercial properties in fee interest and have partial interests in two commercial properties through our interests in various affiliates in which we serve as general partner, member and/or manager. Each of the limited partnerships is referred to as a “DownREIT.” In each DownREIT, we have the right, through put and call options, to require our co-investors to exchange their interests for shares of our Series A Common Stock, or our common stock, at a stated price after a defined period (generally five years from the date they first invested in the entity’s real property), the occurrence of a specified event or a combination thereof. The Company is a limited partner in five partnerships and sole shareholder in one corporation, which entities purchase and leaseback model homes to and from homebuilders.

MARKET AND BUSINESS STRATEGY

The Company invests in a diverse multi-tenant portfolio of real estate assets. Beginning in 2015, we began to focus our commercial portfolio primarily on office and industrial properties (“Office/Industrial Properties”) and model homes (“Model Home Properties”), and have been managing the portfolio to transition out of retail properties. Our commercial properties are currently located in Colorado, North Dakota, California, Maryland and Texas. Our commercial property tenant base is highly diversified and consists of approximately 155 individual commercial tenants with an average remaining lease term of approximately 3.1 years as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, one commercial tenant represented 6.43% of our annualized based rent, while our ten largest tenants represented approximately 34.48% of our annualized base rent.  On December 31, 2022, the lease for our former largest tenant at that time, Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. ("Halliburton"), expired.  Halliburton was located in our Shea Center II property in Colorado, and made up approximately 8.57% of our annual base rent as of December 31, 2022.  Halliburton did not renew the lease, which expired on December 31, 2022, and we placed approximately $1.1 million in a reserve account with our lender to cover future mortgage payments, if necessary, none of which has been utilized as of December 31, 2023.  Our management team is working to fill the 45,535 square foot space as quickly as possible, and has leased approximately 20% of the space to a tenant during 2023 and has reviewed various third party proposals for the remaining 80%.  As of December 31, 2023, none of the third party proposals have fit into our long-term plans. We will continue to work on filling the space during 2024. In addition, our commercial property tenant base has limited exposure to any single industry.   For more information, see Part II - Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Result of Operations included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our main objective is to maximize long-term stockholder value through the management, leasing and selective redevelopment of our existing commercial property portfolio, and selectively acquiring future properties which are anticipated to provide accretive economic returns. We focus on regionally dominant markets across the United States which we believe have attractive growth dynamics driven in part by important economic factors such as strong employment growth; net in-migration of a highly educated workforce; a large student population; the stability provided by major healthcare systems; government or other large institutional employer presence; low rates of unemployment; and lower cost of living versus gateway markets. We seek to maximize returns through investments in markets with limited supply, high barriers to entry, and stable and growing employment drivers. Our model home portfolio supports the objective of maximizing stockholder value by focusing on purchasing new single-family model homes and leasing them back to experienced homebuilders. We operate the model home portfolio in markets where we can diversify by geography, builder size, and model home purchase price.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Significant Transactions in 2023 and 2022

Acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2023:

Acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2022:

We review our portfolio of investment properties for value appreciation potential on an ongoing basis, and dispose of any properties that no longer satisfy our requirements in this regard, taking into account tax and other considerations. The proceeds from any such property sale, after repayment of any associated mortgage or repayment of secured or unsecured indebtedness, are available for investing in properties that we believe will have a greater likelihood of future price appreciation. 

Dispositions during the year ended December 31, 2023:

During year ended December 31, 2023, we disposed of the following properties:

Dispositions during the year ended December 31, 2022:

During year ended December 31, 2022, we disposed of the following properties:

Our Model Home business was started in March 2010 through the acquisition of certain assets and rights from Dubose Model Homes USA. Our model home business (“NetREIT Dubose”) is engaged in the business of acquiring model homes from third party homebuilders in sale-leaseback transactions whereby a homebuilder sells the Model Home to NetREIT Dubose and leases back the Model Home under a triple net lease (“NNN”) for use in marketing its residential development. 

We currently operate six limited partnerships in connection with NetREIT Dubose: Dubose Model Home Investors #202, LP (“DMHI #202”), Dubose Model Home Investors #203, LP (“DMHI #203”), Dubose Model Home Investors #204, LP (“DMHI #204”), Dubose Model Home Investors #205, LP (“DMHI #205”), Dubose Model Home Investors #206, LP (“DMHI #206”), and Dubose Model Home Investors #207, LP (“DMHI #207”). The limited partnerships typically raise private equity to invest in Model Home Properties and lease them back to the homebuilders. When the model homes' lease ends, these properties are sold to independent third parties as residential homes.  As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned:

We provide management services to our limited partnerships through our wholly-owned subsidiaries, NetREIT Advisors, LLC (“NetREIT Advisors”) and Dubose Advisors LLC (“Dubose Advisors”), which we refer to collectively as the Advisors. For their services, each of the Advisors receives ongoing management fees, acquisition fees and has the right to receive certain other fees when a partnership sells or otherwise disposes of a model home. NetREIT Advisors manages NetREIT Dubose and NetREIT Model Homes, Inc. and Dubose Advisors manages DMHI #202, DMHI #203, DMHI #204, DMHI #205, DMHI #206, and DMHI #207.

Share Repurchase Program

While we will continue to pursue value creating investments, the Board of Directors believes there is significant embedded value in our assets that is yet to be realized by the market. Therefore, returning capital to stockholders through a repurchase program is an attractive use of capital currently.  On September 17, 2021, the Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $10 million of outstanding shares of our Series A Common Stock, which expired in September 2022.  On September 15, 2022, the Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $6.0 million of outstanding shares of our Series A Common Stock and up to $4.0 million of our Series D Preferred Stock, which expired in September 2023.  During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company repurchased 196,631 shares of our Series A Common Stock at an average price of approximately $1.59 per share, including a commission of $0.035 per share, and 6,013 shares of our Series D Preferred Stock at an average price of approximately $20.31 per share, including a commission of $0.035 per share, for a total cost of $313,578 for the Series A Common Stock and $122,141 for the Series D Preferred Stock. In November 2023, the Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $6.0 million of outstanding shares of our Series A Common Stock and up to $4.0 million of our Series D Preferred Stock which shall expire in November 2024. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 23,041 shares of our Series D Preferred Stock at an average price of approximately $ 15.97 per share, including a commission of $0.035 per share, and no shares of our Series A Common Stock, for a total cost of $0.2 million for the Series D Preferred Stock. The repurchased shares will be treated as authorized and unissued in accordance with Maryland law and shown as a reduction of stockholders’ equity at cost. 

At-the-Market Offering

On November 8, 2021, we entered into an At-the-Market Offering Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with The Benchmark Company, LLC (the “Manager”) pursuant to which the Manager will act as the Company’s sales agent with respect to the issuance and sale of up to $4,399,000 of our Series A Common Stock from time to time in an at-the-market public offering.  Sales of our common stock, if any, through the Manager, will be by any method that is deemed to be an “at-the-market” equity offering as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including sales made directly on or through Nasdaq or any other existing trading market for the common stock in the U.S. or to or through a market maker. The Manager may also sell the common stock in privately negotiated transactions, subject to our prior approval. The price per share will be at prevailing market prices. The Company will pay the Manager a commission equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds from the sale of the Series A Common Stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement.  As of December 31, 2023, there have been no sales under the  Sales Agreement.

Sponsorship of Special Purpose Acquisition Company

The Company served as the sponsor of Murphy Canyon Acquisition Corp., a former special purpose acquisition company ("Murphy Canyon" or the “SPAC”), since the SPAC’s creation in October 2021 until its initial business combination in September 2023. Certain officers and directors of the Company also served as officers and directors of the SPAC during this period. On September 22, 2023, Murphy Canyon completed its business combination with Conduit Pharmaceuticals Limited (“Conduit Pharma”) and changed its name to Conduit Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Conduit”). Immediately prior to the business combination, the Company owned approximately 65% of the SPAC’s outstanding shares of common stock. Upon consummation of the business combination, the SPAC’s shares of Class B common stock were converted into shares of its Class A common stock and the shares of Class A common stock were then reclassified as a single class of Conduit common stock. As a result of the business combination, the Company was issued (i) 3,306,250 shares of Conduit’s common stock due to the conversion of the shares of the SPAC’s Class B common stock into shares of the SPAC’s Class A common stock and then reclassification into shares of Conduit common stock, (ii) 754,000 shares of Conduit common stock, which prior to the business combination were shares of the SPAC’s Class A common stock and (iii) private warrants to purchase 754,000 shares of Conduit common stock, which prior to the business combination were warrants to purchase 754,000 shares of the SPAC’s Class A common stock. Also in the business combination, shareholders and debtholders of Conduit Pharma were issued 65,000,000 shares of Conduit common stock. Immediately following the consummation of the business combination, the Company transferred 45,000 shares of Conduit common stock and warrants to purchase 45,000 shares of Conduit common stock to the SPAC’s independent directors as compensation for their services. As a result, the Company owned approximately 6.5% of Conduit’s common stock immediately following the business combination and currently owns approximately 6.3% of Conduit’s common stock. In connection with the business combination, the Company’s officers and directors who also served as officers and directors of the SPAC resigned from the SPAC, with the exception of the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer who resigned from the Company.  

Warrant Dividend

In January 2022, we distributed the Series A Warrants to holders of our Series A Common Stock as of the record date of January 14, 2022.  The Series A Warrants and the shares of Series A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Series A Warrants were registered on a registration statement that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and was declared effective January 21, 2022. The Series A Warrants commenced trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “SQFTW” on January 24, 2022 and were distributed on that date to persons who held shares of common stock and existing outstanding warrants as of the January 14, 2022 record date, or who acquired shares of Series A Common Stock in the market following the record date, and who continued to hold such shares at the close of trading on January 21, 2022.  The Series A Warrants give the holder the right to purchase one share of Series A Common Stock at $7.00 per share, for a period of five years. Should warrantholders not exercise the Series A Warrants during that holding period, the Series A Warrants will automatically convert to 1/10 of a share of Series A Common Stock at expiration, rounded down to the nearest number of whole shares.

Preferred Stock Series D

On June 15, 2021, we completed an offering of 800,000 shares of our 9.375% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock ("Series D Preferred Stock") for cash consideration of $25.00 per share to a syndicate of underwriters led by The Benchmark Company, LLC, as representative, resulting in approximately $18.1 million in net proceeds, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and the offering expenses. We granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 120,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock to cover over-allotments, which they exercised on June 17, 2021, resulting in approximately $2.7 million in net proceeds, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and the offering expenses.  In total, we issued 920,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock with net proceeds of approximately $20.5 million, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and the offering expenses.

Holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock are entitled to receive cumulative cash dividends at a rate of 9.375% per annum of the $25.00 per share liquidation preference (equivalent to $2.34375 per annum per share). Dividends are payable monthly on the 15th day of each month (each, a “dividend payment date”), provided that if any dividend payment date is not a business day, then the dividend that would otherwise have been payable on that dividend payment date may be paid on the next succeeding business day without adjustment in the amount of the dividend. Holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock will generally have no voting rights.  However, if the Company does not pay dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock for eighteen or more monthly dividend periods (whether or not consecutive), the holders of the Series D Preferred Stock (voting separately as a class with the holders of all other classes or series of the Company’s preferred stock it may issue upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable and which are entitled to vote as a class with the Series D Preferred Stock in the election referred to below) will be entitled to vote for the election of two additional directors to serve on the Company’s Board of Directors until the Company pays, or declares and sets apart funds for the payment of, all dividends that it owes on the Series D Preferred Stock, subject to certain limitations.  In addition, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Series D Preferred Stock (voting together as a class with all other series of parity preferred stock the Company may issue upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable) is required at any time for the Company to (i) authorize or issue any class or series of its stock ranking senior to the Series D Preferred Stock with respect to the payment of dividends or the distribution of assets on liquidation, dissolution or winding up or (ii) to amend any provision of the Company charter so as to materially and adversely affect any rights of the Series D Preferred Stock or to take certain other actions.

In the event of our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of shares of Series D Preferred Stock will be entitled to be paid out of the assets we have legally available for distribution to our stockholders, subject to the preferential rights of the holders of any class or series of stock we  may issue ranking senior to the Series D Preferred Stock with respect to the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share, plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends to, but not including, the date of payment, before any distribution of assets is made to holders of our common stock or any other class or series of our stock we may issue that ranks junior to the Series D Preferred Stock as to liquidation rights.  Commencing on or after June 15, 2026, we may redeem, at our option, the Series D Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at a cash redemption price equal to $25.00 per share, plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends to, but not including the redemption date. Prior to June 15, 2026, upon a Change of Control (as defined in the Articles Supplementary classifying and designating the Series D Preferred Stock), we may redeem, at our option, the Series D Preferred Stock, in whole or part, at a cash redemption price of $25.00 per share, plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends to, but not including the redemption date. The Series D Preferred Stock has no stated maturity, will not be subject to any sinking fund or other mandatory redemption, and will not be convertible into or exchangeable for any of our other securities.

Use of Leverage

We use mortgage loans secured by our individual properties in order to maximize the return for our stockholders. Typically, these loans are for terms ranging from five to ten years. Currently, the majority of our mortgage loans are structured as non-recourse to us with limited exceptions that would cause a recourse event only upon occurrence of certain fraud, misconduct, environmental, or bankruptcy events. Non-recourse financing limits our exposure to the amount of equity invested in each property pledged as collateral thereby protecting the equity in our other assets. We can provide no assurance that the non-recourse financing will be available to us in the future on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all and there may be circumstances where lenders have recourse to our other assets. To a lesser extent, we use recourse financing. At December 31, 2023, $11.2 million of our total debt contained recourse to the Company, of which $5.9 million was related to the model homes properties.

We have used both fixed and variable interest rate debt to finance our properties. Wherever possible, we prefer to obtain fixed rate mortgage financing as it provides better cost predictability. As of December 31, 2023, none of our mortgage loans included variable interest rate provisions. On August 5, 2023, the lender for our West Fargo Industries property increased the interest rate to 6.70%. The loan agreement states that the lender may, upon not less than sixty (60) days prior, give written notice to the Company to increase the interest rates effective on August 5, 2023, and August 5, 2026, to the rate then being quoted by the lender for new three-year commercial mortgage loans of similar size and quality with like terms and security (provided that in no event shall the new rate be less than the initial rate).

In 2024, we have $13.1 million of principal payments on mortgage notes payable related to the model home properties, including $12.5 million payments related to mortgage notes payable that mature in 2024. We plan to refinance a significant portion of the mortgage notes payable or sell the model home properties to repay the mortgage notes payable. We have $10.4 million of principal payments on mortgage notes payable relating to commercial properties in 2024, one of which is maturing in 2024.  The loan on Dakota Center matures in July 2024 and management has reached out to the lender seeking an extension and additional provision to change the terms of the loan and maturity date.  We have also inquired with other lenders to refinance the property.  If we are unsuccessful in refinancing the property or changing the terms of the original loan, management would consider selling the property and paying the loan in full or surrendering the property to the current lender.

Our short-term liquidity needs include satisfying the debt service requirements of our existing mortgages.  Overall the commercial properties and Model Homes adequately covered their debt servicing needs during the year ended December 31, 2023, and management expect this to continue during the next twelve months.  If our cash flow from operating activities is not sufficient to fund our short-term liquidity needs, we will fund a portion of these needs from additional borrowings of secured or unsecured indebtedness, from real estate sales, from sales of equity or debt securities, or we will reduce the rate of distribution to the stockholders.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, NTR Property Management, Inc., is the primary property manager for all of its properties.  The Company subcontracts with third party property management companies in California and North Dakota to render on-site management services, and internally manages our properties in Colorado, Maryland, and Texas.

COMPETITION

We compete with a number of other real estate investors, many of whom own similar properties in the same geographical markets. Competitors include other REITs, pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds and companies, partnerships and developers. Many of these competitors have substantially greater financial resources than we do and may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage, including risks with respect to the creditworthiness of a tenant or the geographic location of its investments. In addition, many of these competitors have capital structures that allow them to make investments at higher prices than what we can prudently offer while still generating a return to their investors that is commensurate with the returns we are seeking to provide our investors. If our competitors offer space at rental rates below current market rates, or below the rental rates we currently charge our tenants, we may lose potential tenants and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we currently charge or to offer more substantial rent abatements, tenant improvements, early termination rights or below-market renewal options in order to retain tenants when our leases expire. The concentration of our commercial properties in Colorado and North Dakota makes us susceptible to local market conditions in these areas.

To be successful, we must be able to continue to respond quickly and effectively to changes in local and regional economic conditions by adjusting rental rates of our properties as appropriate. If we are unable to respond quickly and effectively, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and pay dividends may be adversely affected.

REGULATION

Our management continually reviews our investment activity and monitors the proportion of our portfolio that is placed in various investments in order to prevent us from coming within the application of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). If at any time the character of our investments could cause us to be deemed an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would be required to comply with the operating restrictions of the Investment Company Act, which are generally inconsistent with our normal operations. As such, we work to ensure that we are not deemed to be an “investment company.”

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

To date, we have not experienced a noticeable effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position as a result of a lack of compliance with federal, state and local environmental protection regulations. All of our proposed acquisitions are inspected prior to such acquisition. These inspections are conducted by qualified environmental consultants, and we review in detail their reports prior to our acquisition 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 may be required to abandon otherwise economically attractive acquisitions because the costs of removal or control of hazardous materials are considered to be prohibitive or we are 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 current 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 minimize our exposure to potential liability associated with environmental hazards.

We are unaware of any environmental hazards at any of our current 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, our financial condition or our 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.

MANAGEMENT OF THE COMPANY

Our Management

We refer to our executive officers and any directors who are affiliated with them as our “Management”.  Our Management is currently comprised of:

Mr. Heilbron has overall responsibility for the day-to-day activities of the Company. Mr. Benten oversees financial matters, including financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, funding activities, tax and insurance. Mr. Hightower is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of Dubose Advisors, NetREIT Advisors and the model homes division. Mr. Heilbron and Mr. Katz are responsible for recommending all Company property acquisitions and dispositions.

Our Board of Directors

Our Management is subject to the direction and supervision of our Board of Directors.  Among other things, our Board of Directors must approve each real property acquisition our Management proposes. As of December 31, 2023, there were six directors comprising our Board of Directors, four of whom are independent directors (“Independent Directors”). Two of our directors, Mr. Heilbron and Mr. Hightower, are not independent.  

OUR REIT STATUS

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2000. To continue to be taxed as a REIT, we must satisfy numerous organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders, as defined in the Code and calculated on an annual basis. As a REIT, we are generally not subject to federal income tax on income that we distribute to our stockholders. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any year, our income will be taxed at regular corporate rates, and we may be precluded from qualifying for treatment as a REIT for the four-year period following our failure to qualify. Even though we qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may still be subject to state and local taxes on our income and property and to federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income. For more information, please see Risks Related to our Status as a REIT and Related Federal Income Tax Matters. We qualified as a REIT for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES

Due to the nature of our business, our performance depends on identifying, attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining a highly skilled workforce in multiple areas, including property management, asset management and strategy, accounting, business development and management. Our human capital management strategy, which we refer to as our people strategy, is tightly aligned with our business needs. During 2023, our human capital efforts were focused on retaining top talent, and continuing to increase our agility to meet the quickly changing needs of the business. We use a variety of human capital measures in managing our business, including: workforce demographics; diversity metrics with respect to representation, attrition, hiring, promotions and leadership; and talent management metrics including retention rates of top talent and hiring metrics.

OFFICE AND EMPLOYEES 

Our office is approximately 9,224 square feet and is located in San Diego, California.

As of December 31, 2023, we had a total of 15 full-time employees.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Access to copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the SEC, including amendments to such filings are available at www.sec.gov or on our website at www.presidiopt.com  as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed with the SEC. They are also available for printing by any stockholder upon request.

Our office is located at 4995 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92123. Our telephone number is 866-781-7721. Our e-mail address is info@presidiopt.com or you may visit our website at www.presidiopt.com.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Summary of Risk Factors

The following is a summary of the principal risk factors associated with an investment in us. The following should be read in conjunction with the more complete discussion of the risk factors we face, which are set forth more fully below.   If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, cash available for distribution, ability to service our debt obligations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the market price of our securities could decline and you may lose some or all of your investment. Some of these risks include:

Risks Related to our Business, Properties and Operations

We face numerous risks associated with the real estate industry that could adversely affect our results of operations through decreased revenues or increased costs.

As a real estate company, we are subject to various changes in real estate conditions, and any negative trends in such real estate conditions may adversely affect our results of operations through decreased revenues or increased costs. These conditions include:

Moreover, other factors may adversely affect our results of operations, including potential liability under environmental and other laws and other unforeseen events, many of which are discussed elsewhere in the following risk factors. Any or all of these factors could materially adversely affect our results of operations through decreased revenues or increased costs.

Inflation may materially and adversely affect our income, cash flow, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, the ability to service our debt obligations, the market price of our securities and our ability to pay dividends and other distributions to our stockholders.

Increased inflation could have a pronounced negative impact on our property operating expenses and general and administrative expenses, as these costs could increase at a rate higher than our rents. While our tenants are generally obligated to pay property-level expenses relating to the properties  they lease from us (e.g., maintenance, insurance and property taxes), we incur other expenses, such as general and administrative expense, interest expense relating to our debt (some of which bears interest at floating rates) and carrying costs for vacant properties. These expenses would increase in an inflationary environment, and such increases may exceed any increase in revenue we receive under our leases.  Inflation could also have an adverse effect on consumer spending which could impact our tenants’ revenues and, in turn, our percentage rents, where applicable, and the willingness and ability of tenants to enter into or renew leases and/or honor their obligations under existing leases.  Additionally, increased inflation may have an adverse impact on our tenants if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in their revenue, which may adversely affect the tenants' ability to pay rent owed to us and meet other lease obligations, such as paying property taxes and insurance and maintenance costs.

Recent inflationary pressures could result in higher interest rates, which would have a negative impact on our business.

Rising inflation and elevated U.S. budget deficits and overall debt levels, including as a result of federal pandemic relief and stimulus legislation and/or economic or market and supply chain conditions, can put upward pressure on interest rates and could be among the factors that could lead to higher interest rates in the future. Higher interest rates could adversely affect our overall business, income, and our ability to pay dividends, including by reducing the fair value of many of our assets and adversely affecting our ability to obtain financing on favorable terms or at all, and negatively impacting the value of properties and the ability of prospective buyers to obtain financing for properties we intend to sell. This may affect our earnings results, reduce our ability to sell our assets, or reduce our liquidity. Furthermore, our business and financial results may be harmed by our inability to accurately anticipate developments associated with changes in, or the outlook for, interest rates.

Conditions in the financial markets could affect our ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms and have other adverse effects on our operations.

The financial markets could tighten with respect to secured real estate financing. Lenders with whom we typically deal may increase their credit spreads resulting in an increase in borrowing costs. Higher costs of mortgage financing may result in lower yields from our real estate investments, which may reduce our cash flow available for distribution to our stockholders. Reduced cash flow could also diminish our ability to purchase additional properties and thus decrease our diversification of real estate ownership.

Disruptions in the financial markets and uncertain economic conditions could adversely affect the value of our real estate investments.

Disruptions in the financial markets could adversely affect the value of our real estate investments. Concerns over economic recession, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, interest rate increases, policy priorities of the U.S. presidential administration, trade wars, labor shortages, or inflation may contribute to increased volatility and diminished expectations for the economy and markets. Additionally, concern over geopolitical issues may also contribute to prolonged market volatility and instability. The economic and geopolitical ramifications of the military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, including sanctions, retaliatory sanctions, nationalism, supply chain disruptions and other consequences, could impact commercial real estate fundamentals and result in lower occupancy, lower rental rates, and declining values in our real estate portfolio and in the collateral securing our loan investments. As a result, the value of our property investments could decrease below the amounts paid for such investments, the value of collateral securing our loans could decrease below the outstanding principal amounts of such loans, and revenues from our properties could decrease due to fewer and/or delinquent tenants or lower rental rates. These factors would significantly harm our revenues, results of operations, financial condition, business prospects and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

A decrease in real estate values could negatively affect our ability to refinance our existing mortgage obligations or obtain larger mortgages.

A decrease in real estate values would decrease the principal amount of secured loans we can obtain on a specific property and our ability to refinance our existing mortgage loans or obtain larger mortgage loans. In some circumstances, a decrease in the value of an existing property which secures a mortgage loan may require us to prepay or post additional security for that mortgage loan. This would occur where the lender’s initial appraised value of the property decreases below the value required to maintain a loan-to-value ratio specified in the mortgage loan agreement. Thus, any sustained period of depressed real estate prices would likely adversely affect our ability to finance our real estate investments.

The recent outbreak of COVID-19, and the resulting volatility it created, has disrupted our business and we expect that any resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic may in the future significantly and adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations, and that other potential pandemics or outbreaks could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Further, the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak caused severe disruptions in the U.S. and global economy and financial markets, and could potentially create additional widespread business continuity issues of an unknown magnitude and duration if there is a resurgence of COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and in the future may continue to have, repercussions across regional and global economies and financial markets. Many countries, including the United States (including the states and cities that comprise the San Diego, California; Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fargo and Bismarck, North Dakota; and other metro regions where we own and operate properties) had instituted quarantines, “shelter in place” mandates, and rules and restrictions on travel and the types of businesses that may continue to operate. While these restrictions have been lifted, new variants of the coronavirus and/or the continued spread of the virus could cause government authorities to extend, reinstitute and/or adopt new restrictions. As a result, the possibility remains that the COVID-19 pandemic may  negatively impact almost every industry, both inside and outside these metro regions, directly or indirectly and has created business continuity issues. For instance, a number of our commercial tenants temporarily closed their offices or stores and requested temporary rent deferral or rent abatement during the pandemic. In addition, jurisdictions where we own and operate properties had implemented rent freezes, eviction freezes, or other similar restrictions. The full extent of the impacts on our business over the long term are   dependent on a number of factors beyond our control.

As a result of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had been impacted and may in the future be impacted by one or more of the following if there is a resurgence of COVID-19 or development of another pandemic:

The financial aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic or any other pandemic are difficult to predict and may not directly correlate to the severity of outbreaks at a particular place or time. For example, there has been significant inflation in the price of lumber, largely as a result of supply shortages specific to the lumber industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, that has affected construction and renovation costs in our industry. Similarly, despite general economic concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been home price inflation in many markets, which may affect our ability to purchase Model Homes at prices we consider to be reasonable.

Our portfolio of marketable securities, including covered call options, is subject to market, interest and credit risk that may reduce its value.

We maintain a portfolio of marketable securities. As of December 31, 2023, we owned common shares of 3 different publicly traded REITs and no written covered call options in any of those same REITs.  The fair market value on our publicly traded REIT securities was $45,149, based on the December 31, 2023 closing prices.  Changes in the value of our portfolio of marketable securities could adversely affect our earnings. In particular, the value of our investments may decline due to increases in interest rates, downgrades of the securities included in our portfolio, instability in the global financial markets that reduces the liquidity of securities included in our portfolio, declines in the value of collateral underlying the securities included in our portfolio and other factors. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical instability and rising inflation have and may continue to adversely affect the financial markets. Each of these events may cause us to record charges to reduce the carrying value of our investment portfolio or sell investments for less than our acquisition cost. Although we attempt to mitigate these risks through diversification of our investments and continuous monitoring of our portfolio’s overall risk profile, the value of our investments may nevertheless decline.

We may be adversely affected by unfavorable economic changes in the geographic areas where our properties are located.

Adverse economic conditions in areas where properties securing or otherwise underlying our investments are located (including business layoffs or downsizing, industry slowdowns, changing demographics and other factors) and local real estate conditions (such as oversupply or reduced demand) may have an adverse effect on the value of our real estate portfolio. The deterioration of any of these local conditions could hinder our ability to profitably operate a property and adversely affect the price and terms of a sale or other disposition of the property.

Competition for properties may limit the opportunities available to us and increase our acquisition costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects and negatively impact our profitability.

The market for property acquisitions continues to be competitive, which may reduce suitable investment opportunities available to us and increase acquisition purchase prices. Competition for properties offering higher rates of returns may intensify if real estate investments become more attractive relative to other investments. In acquiring real properties, we may experience considerable competition from a field of other investors, including other REITs, private equity investors, institutional investment funds, and real estate investment programs. Many of these competitors are larger than we are and have access to greater financial resources and better access to lower costs of capital. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments. This competition may limit our ability to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities that are consistent with our objectives. Our inability to acquire desirable properties on favorable terms could adversely affect our growth prospects, financial condition, our profitability and our ability to pay dividends.

Our inability to sell a property at the time and on the terms we desire could limit our ability to realize a gain on our investments and pay distributions to our stockholders.

Generally, we seek to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of our properties when we determine such action to be in our best interests. Many factors beyond our control affect the real estate market and could affect our ability to sell properties for the price, on the terms or within the time frame that we desire. These factors include general economic conditions, the availability of financing, interest rates, supply and demand, and tax considerations. Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, we have a limited ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. Therefore, our inability to sell properties at the time and on the terms we want could reduce our cash flow, affect our ability to service or reduce our debt obligations, and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Lease default or termination by one of our major tenants could adversely impact our operations and our ability to pay dividends.

The success of our real estate investments depends on the financial stability of our tenants. A default or termination by a significant tenant (or a series of tenants) on its lease payments could cause us to lose the revenue associated with such lease and seek an alternative source of revenue to meet mortgage payments and prevent a foreclosure, if the property is subject to a mortgage. In the event of a significant tenant default or bankruptcy, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment. Additionally, we may be unable to lease the property for the rent previously received or sell the property without incurring a loss. These events could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to our stockholders.

A property that becomes vacant could be difficult to sell or re-lease and could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

We expect portions of our properties to periodically become vacant by reason of lease expirations, terminations, or tenant defaults. If a tenant vacates a property, we may be unable to re-lease the property without incurring additional expenditures, or at all. If the vacancy continues for a long period of time, if the rental rates upon such re-lease are significantly lower than expected, or if our reserves for these purposes prove inadequate, we will experience a reduction in net income and may be required to reduce or eliminate distributions to our stockholders. In addition, because a property’s market value depends principally upon the value of the leases associated with that property, the resale value of a property with high or prolonged vacancies could suffer, which could further reduce our returns.

We may incur substantial costs in improving our properties.

In order to re-lease or sell a property, substantial renovations or remodeling could be required. For instance, we expect that some of our properties will be designed for use by a particular tenant or business. Upon default or termination of the lease by such a tenant, the property might not be marketable without substantial capital improvements. The cost of construction in connection with any renovations and the time it takes to complete such renovations may be affected by factors beyond our control, including material and labor shortages, general contractor and/or subcontractor defaults and delays, permitting issues, weather conditions, and changes in federal, state and local laws. If we experience cost overruns resulting from delays or other causes in any construction project, we may have to seek additional debt financing. Further, delays in construction will cause a delay in our receipt of revenues from that property and could adversely affect our ability to meet our debt service obligations.

Uninsured and/or underinsured losses may adversely affect returns to our stockholders.

Our policy is to obtain insurance coverage for each of our properties covering loss from liability, fire, and casualty in the amounts and under the terms we deem sufficient to insure our losses. Under tenant leases on our commercial properties, we require our tenants to obtain insurance to cover casualty losses and general liability in amounts and under terms customarily obtained for similar properties in the area. However, in certain areas, insurance to cover some losses, generally losses of a catastrophic nature such as earthquakes, floods, wind, hail, terrorism and wars, is either unavailable or cannot be obtained at a reasonable cost. Consequently, we may not have adequate coverage for such losses. If any of our properties incurs a casualty loss that is not fully insured, we could lose some or all of our investment in the property. In addition, other than any working capital reserve or other reserves we may establish, we likely would have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct any uninsured or underinsured property.

Since we are not required to maintain specific levels of cash reserves, we may have difficulty in the event of increased or unanticipated expenses.

We do not currently have, nor do we anticipate that we will establish in the future, a permanent reserve for maintenance and repairs, lease commissions, or tenant improvements of real estate properties. To the extent that existing expenses increase or unanticipated expenses arise and accumulated reserves are insufficient to meet such expenses, we would be required to obtain additional funds through borrowing or the sale of property. There can be no guarantee that such additional funds will be available on favorable terms, or at all.

We may have to extend credit to buyers of our properties and a default by such buyers could have a material adverse effect on our operations and our ability to pay dividends.

In order to sell a property, we may lend the buyer all or a portion of the purchase price. When we provide financing to a buyer, we bear the risk that the buyer may default or that we may not receive full payment for the property sold. Even in the absence of a buyer default, the distribution of the proceeds of the sale to our stockholders, or the reinvestment of the proceeds in other property, will be delayed until the promissory note or collateral we may accept upon a sale is actually paid, sold, refinanced or otherwise disposed.

We may be adversely affected by trends in office real estate.

In 2023, approximately 54% of our net operating income was from our office properties, and approximately 63% in 2022. Work from home, flexible work schedules, open workplaces, videoconferencing, and teleconferencing are becoming more common, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These practices may enable businesses to reduce their office space requirements. There is also an increasing trend among some businesses to utilize shared office spaces and co-working spaces. A continuation of the movement towards these practices could, over time, erode the overall demand for office space and, in turn, place downward pressure on occupancy, rental rates and property valuations.

We may acquire properties in joint ventures, partnerships or through limited liability companies, which could limit our ability to control or liquidate such holdings.

We may hold properties indirectly with others as co-owners (a co-tenancy interest) or indirectly through an intermediary entity such as a joint venture, partnership or limited liability company. Also, we may on occasion purchase an interest in a long-term leasehold estate or we may enter into a sale-leaseback financing transaction (see risk factor titled “In a sale-leaseback transaction, we are at risk that our seller/lessee will default, which could impair our operations and limit our ability to pay dividends.”). Such ownership structures allow us to hold a more valuable property with a smaller investment, but may reduce our ability to control such properties. In addition, if our co-owner in such arrangements experiences financial difficulties or is otherwise unable or unwilling to fulfill its obligations, we may be forced to find a new co-owner on less favorable terms or lose our interest in such property if no co-owner can be found.

As a general partner or member in DownREIT entities, we could be responsible for all liabilities of such entities.

We own three of our properties indirectly through limited liability companies and limited partnerships under a DownREIT structure. In a DownREIT structure, as well as some joint ventures or other investments we may make, we may utilize a limited liability company or a limited partnership as the holder of our real estate investment. We currently own a portion of these interests as a member, general partner and/or limited partner and in the future may acquire all or a greater interest in such entity. As a sole member or general partner, we are or would be potentially liable for all of the liabilities of the entities, even if we do not have rights of management or control over its operations. Therefore, our liability could far exceed the amount or value of investment we initially made, or then had, in such entities.

Our ability to operate a property may be limited by contract, which could prevent us from obtaining the maximum value from such properties.

Some of our properties will likely be contiguous to other parcels of real property, for example, comprising part of the same shopping center development. In some cases, there could exist significant covenants, conditions and restrictions, known as CC&Rs, relating to such property and any improvements or easements related to that property. The CC&Rs would restrict our operation of that property and could adversely affect the value of such property, either of which could adversely affect our operating costs and reduce the amount of funds that we have available to pay dividends.

We may acquire properties “as is,” which increases the risk that we will have to remedy defects or costs without recourse to the seller.

We may acquire real estate properties “as is,” with only limited representations and warranties from the seller regarding matters affecting the condition, use and ownership of the property. If defects in the property or other matters adversely affecting the property are discovered post-closing, we may not be able to pursue a claim for any or all damages against the seller. Therefore, we could lose some or all of our invested capital in the property as well as rental income. Such a situation could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

In a sale-leaseback transaction, we are at risk that our seller/lessee will default, which could impair our operations and limit our ability to pay dividends.

In our model homes business, we frequently lease model home properties back to the seller or homebuilder for a certain period of time. Our ability to meet any mortgage payments is subject to the seller/lessee’s ability to pay its rent and other lease obligations, such as triple net expenses, on a timely basis. A default by the seller/lessee or other premature termination of its leaseback agreement with us and our subsequent inability to release the property could cause us to suffer losses and adversely affect our financial condition and ability to pay dividends.

Our model home business is substantially dependent on the supply and/or demand for single family homes.

Any significant decrease in the supply and/or demand for single family homes could have an adverse effect on our business. Reductions in the number of model home properties built by homebuilders due to fewer planned unit developments, rising construction costs or other factors affecting supply could reduce the number of acquisition opportunities available to us. The level of demand for single family homes may be impacted by a variety of factors, including changes in population density, the health of local, regional and national economies, mortgage rates, and the demand and use of model homes in newly developed communities by homebuilders and developers.

We may be unable to acquire and/or manage additional model homes at competitive prices or at all.

Model homes generally have a short life before becoming residential homes and there are a limited number of model homes at any given time. In addition, as each model home is unique, we need to expend resources to complete our due diligence and underwriting process on many individual model homes, thereby increasing our acquisition costs and possibly reducing the amount that we are able to pay for a particular property. Accordingly, our plan to grow our model home business by acquiring additional model homes to lease back to home builders may not succeed.

There are a limited number of model homes and competition to buy these properties may be significant.

We plan to acquire model homes to lease back to home builders when we identify attractive opportunities and have financing available to complete such acquisitions. We may face competition for acquisition opportunities from other investors. We may be unable to acquire a desired property because of competition from other well capitalized real estate investors, including private investment funds and others. Competition from other real estate investors may also significantly increase the purchase price we must pay to acquire properties.

A significant percentage of our properties are concentrated in a small number of states, which exposes our business to the effects of certain regional events and occurrences.

Our commercial properties are currently located in California, Colorado, Maryland, North Dakota and Texas. Our model home portfolio consists of properties currently located in five states, although a significant concentration of our model homes is located in Texas. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 91% of our model homes were located in Texas. This concentration of properties in a limited number of markets may expose us to risks of adverse economic developments that are greater than if our portfolio were more geographically diverse. These economic developments include regional economic downturns and potentially higher local property, sales and income taxes in the geographic markets in which we are concentrated. In addition, our properties are subject to the effects of adverse acts of nature, such as winter storms, hurricanes, hailstorms, strong winds, earthquakes and tornadoes, which may cause damage, such as flooding, to our properties. Additionally, we cannot assure you that the amount of casualty insurance we maintain would entirely cover damages caused by any such event, or in the case of our model homes portfolio or commercial triple net leases, that the insurance maintained by our tenants would entirely cover damages caused by any such event.

As a result of our geographic concentration of properties, we will face a greater risk of a negative impact on our revenues in the event these areas are more severely impacted by adverse economic and competitive conditions and extreme weather than other areas in the United States.

We may be required under applicable accounting principles and standards to make impairment charges against one or more of our properties.

Under current accounting standards, requirements, and principles, we are required to periodically evaluate our real estate investments for impairment based on a number of indicators. Impairment indicators include real estate markets, leasing rates, occupancy levels, mortgage loan status, and other factors which affect the value of a particular property. For example, a tenant’s default under a lease, the upcoming termination of a long-term lease, the pending maturity of a mortgage loan secured by a property, and the unavailability of replacement financing are all impairment indicators. The presence of any of these indicators may require us to make a material impairment charge against the property so affected. If we determine an impairment has occurred, we are required to make an adjustment to the net carrying value of the property which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition for the period in which the impairment charge is recorded.

Discovery of toxic mold on our properties may adversely affect our results of operation.

Litigation and concern about indoor exposure to certain types of toxic molds have been increasing as the public becomes more aware that exposure to mold can cause a variety of health effects and symptoms, including allergic reactions. Toxic molds can be found almost anywhere; when excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth will often occur, particularly if the moisture remains undiscovered or unaddressed. We attempt to acquire properties where there is no toxic mold or where there has not been any proceeding or litigation with respect to the presence of toxic mold. However, we cannot provide assurances that toxic mold will not exist on any of our properties or will not subsequently develop. The presence of toxic mold at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property. In addition, the presence of toxic mold could expose us to liability from our tenants, employees of our tenants, and others if property damage or health concerns arise.

Our long-term growth may depend on obtaining additional equity capital.

Historically, we relied on cash from the sale of our equity securities to fund the implementation of our business plan, including property acquisitions and building our staff and internal management and administrative capabilities. Our continued ability to fund real estate investments, our operations, and payment of dividends to our stockholders will likely be dependent upon our obtaining additional capital through the additional sales of our equity and/or debt securities. Without additional capital, we may not be able to grow our asset base to a size that is sufficient to support our planned growth, current operations, or to pay dividends to our stockholders at rates or at the levels required to maintain our REIT status (see risk factor titled “We may be forced to borrow funds on a short-term basis, to sell assets or to issue securities to meet the REIT minimum distribution or other requirements or for working capital purposes.”). There is no assurance as to when and under what terms we could successfully obtain additional funding through the sale of our equity and/or debt securities. Our access to additional equity or debt capital depends on a number of factors, including general market conditions, the market’s perception of our growth potential, our expected future earnings, and our debt levels.  If we are unable to obtain such additional equity capital, it could have an adverse impact on our growth aspects and the market price of our outstanding securities.

We currently are dependent on internal cash from our operations, financing and proceeds from property sales to fund future property acquisitions, meet our operational costs and pay dividends to our stockholders.

To the extent the cash we receive from our real estate investments and re-financing of existing properties is not sufficient to pay our costs of operations, our acquisition of additional properties, or our payment of dividends to our stockholders, we would be required to seek capital through additional measures. We may incur additional debt or issue additional preferred and common stock for various purposes, including, without limitation, to fund future acquisitions and operational needs. Other measures of generating or preserving capital could include decreasing our operational costs through reductions in personnel or facilities, reducing or suspending our acquisition of real estate, and reducing or suspending dividends to our stockholders.

Reducing or suspending our property acquisition program would prevent us from fully implementing our business plan and reaching our investment objectives. Reducing or suspending the payment of dividends to our stockholders would decrease our stockholders’ return on their investment and possibly prevent us from satisfying the minimum distribution or other requirements of the REIT provisions (see risk factor titled “We may be forced to borrow funds on a short-term basis, to sell assets or to issue securities to meet the REIT minimum distribution or other requirements requirement or for working capital purposes.”). Any of these measures would likely have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition, the value of our common stock, and our ability to raise additional capital.

There can be no assurance that distributions will be paid, maintained or increased over time.

There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to our stockholders. Distributions are expected to be based upon our funds from operations, or FFO, financial condition, cash flows and liquidity, debt service requirements and capital or other expenditure requirements for our properties, and any distributions will be authorized at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors out of funds legally available therefor, and their form, timing and amount, if any, will be affected by many factors, such as our ability to acquire profitable real estate investments and successfully manage our real estate properties and our operating expenses. Other factors may be beyond our control. We can therefore provide no assurance that we will be able to pay or maintain distributions or that distributions will increase over time. For example, our distributions were suspended for the periods from the third quarter of 2017 through the third quarter of 2018 and for the final three quarters of 2019 through the third quarter of 2020.  We have made quarterly distribution to our holders of Series A Common Stock since the fourth quarter of 2020 through the fourth quarter of 2023.  If we do not have sufficient cash available for distributions, we may need to fund the shortage out of working capital or borrow to provide funds for such distributions, which would reduce the amount of proceeds available for real estate investments and increase our future interest costs. Our inability to pay distributions, or to pay distributions at expected levels, could result in a decrease in the per share trading price of our Series A Common Stock, Series D Preferred Stock or Series A Warrants.

If we are unable to find suitable investments, we may not be able to achieve our investment objectives or continue to pay distributions.

Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions on a regular basis is dependent upon our acquisition of suitable property investments and obtaining satisfactory financing arrangements. We cannot be sure that our management will be successful in finding suitable properties on financially attractive terms. If our management is unable to find such investments, we will hold the proceeds available for investment in an interest-bearing account or invest the proceeds in short-term, investment-grade investments. Holding such short-term investments will prevent us from making the long-term investments necessary to generate operating income to pay distributions. As a result, we will need to raise additional capital to continue to pay distributions until such time as suitable property investments become available (see risk factor titled “We may be forced to borrow funds on a short-term basis, to sell assets or to issue securities to meet the REIT minimum distribution or other requirements or for working capital purposes.”). In the event that we are unable to do so, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.

We depend on key personnel, and the loss of such persons could impair our ability to achieve our business objectives.

Our success substantially depends upon the continued contributions of certain key personnel in evaluating and securing investments, selecting tenants and arranging financing. Our key personnel include Jack K. Heilbron, our Chief Executive Officer and President, Ed Bentzen, our Chief Financial Officer, and Gary Katz, our Chief Investment Officer, each of whom would be difficult to replace. If either of these individuals or any of the other members of our management team were to leave, the implementation of our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and our operating results could suffer.

We also believe that our future success depends, in large part, upon our ability to hire and retain skilled and experienced managerial and operational personnel. Competition for skilled and experienced professionals has intensified, and we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be successful in attracting and retaining such personnel.

We rely on third-party property managers to manage most of our properties and brokers or agents to lease our properties.

We rely on various third-party property managers to manage most of our properties and local brokers or agents to lease vacant space. These third-party property managers have significant decision-making authority with respect to the management of our properties. Although we are significantly engaged with our third-party property managers, our ability to direct and control how our properties are managed on a day-to-day basis may be limited. Major issues encountered by our property managers, broker or leasing agents could adversely impact the operation and profitability of our properties and, consequently, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, cash available for distributions and our ability to service our debt obligations.

We may change our investment and business policies without stockholder consent, and such changes could increase our exposure to operational risks.

Our Board of Directors may change our investment and business policies, including our policies with respect to investments, acquisitions, growth, operations, indebtedness, capitalization and distributions, at any time without the consent of our stockholders. Although our independent directors review our investment policies at least annually to determine that the policies we are following are in the best interests of our Company, a change in such policies could result in our making investments different from, and possibly riskier than, investments made in the past. A change in our investment policies may, among other things, increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk and real estate market fluctuations, all of which could materially affect our ability to achieve our investment objectives.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our stockholders’ investment return may be reduced.

We are not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, based on exceptions we believe are available to us. If at any time the character of our investments could cause us to be deemed an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we could be required to register under the Investment Company Ac. Compliance with the Investment Company Ac, as a registered investment company, would require us to significantly alter our business and could impair our ability to operate as REIT, with potential adverse impacts on our business, and, thus, our stockholders.

Provisions of Maryland law may limit the ability of a third party to acquire control of us by requiring our Board of Directors or stockholders to approve proposals to acquire our Company or effect a change in control.

Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (“MGCL”) may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change in control under circumstances that otherwise could provide our stockholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of their shares of common stock, including:

By resolution, our Board of Directors has exempted business combinations between us and any other person, provided that the business combination is first approved by our Board of Directors (including a majority of our directors who are not affiliates or associates of such person). We cannot assure you that our Board of Directors will not amend or repeal this resolution in the future. In addition, pursuant to a provision in our bylaws we have opted out of the control share provisions of the MGCL.

In addition, the “unsolicited takeover” provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL permit our Board of Directors, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses, including adopting a classified board or increasing the vote required to remove a director. Such takeover defenses may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us under the circumstances that otherwise could provide our common stockholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price.

Our Board of Directors may approve the issuance of stock, including preferred stock, with terms that may discourage a third party from acquiring us.

Other than as set forth therein, our charter permits our Board of Directors, without any action by our stockholders, to authorize the issuance of stock in one or more classes or series. Our Board of Directors may also classify or reclassify any unissued preferred stock and set or change the preferences, conversion and other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends and other distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption of any such stock, which rights may be superior to those of our common stock. Thus, our Board of Directors could authorize the issuance of shares of a class or series of stock with terms and conditions which could have the effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction in which holders of some or a majority of our outstanding common stock might receive a premium for their shares over the then current market price of our common stock.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited.

Our charter eliminates the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages to the maximum extent permitted under Maryland law. Under current Maryland law and our charter, our directors and officers will not have any liability to us or our stockholders for money damages other than liability resulting from:

Our charter authorizes us and our bylaws obligate us to indemnify each of our directors or officers who is or is threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, a proceeding by reason of his or her service in those or certain other capacities, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, from and against any claim or liability to which such person may become subject or which such person may incur by reason of his or her status as a present or former director or officer of us or serving in such other capacities. In addition, we may be obligated to pay or reimburse the expenses incurred by our present and former directors and officers without requiring a preliminary determination of their ultimate entitlement to indemnification. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights to recover money damages from our directors and officers than might otherwise exist absent these provisions in our charter and bylaws or that might exist with other companies, which could limit your recourse in the event of actions that are not in our or your best interests.

Our management faces certain conflicts of interest with respect to their other positions and/or interests outside of our Company, which could hinder our ability to implement our business strategy and to generate returns to our stockholders.

We rely on our management, including Mr. Heilbron, our Chief Executive Officer and President, for implementation of our investment policies and our day-to-day operations. Although the majority of his business time is spent working for our Company, Mr. Heilbron engages in other investment and business activities in which we have no economic interest. His responsibilities to these other entities could result in action or inaction that is detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our business strategy. He may face conflicts of interest in allocating his time among us and his other business ventures and in meeting his obligations to us and those other entities. His determinations in these situations may be more favorable to other entities than to us.

Possible future transactions with our management or their affiliates could create a conflict of interest, which could result in actions that are not in the long-term best interests of our stockholders.

Under prescribed circumstances, we may enter into transactions with affiliates of our management, including the borrowing and lending of funds, the purchase and sale of properties and joint investments. Currently, our policy is not to enter into any transaction involving sales or purchases of properties or joint investments with management or their affiliates, or to borrow from or lend money to such persons. However, our policies in each of these regards may change in the future.

We face system security risks as we depend on automated processes and the Internet.

We are increasingly dependent on automated information technology processes. While we attempt to mitigate this risk through offsite backup procedures and contracted data centers that include, in some cases, redundant operations, we could be severely impacted by a catastrophic occurrence, such as a natural disaster or a terrorist attack.

In addition, an increasing portion of our business operations are conducted over the Internet, putting us at risk from cybersecurity attacks, including attempts to make unauthorized transfers of funds, gain unauthorized access to our confidential data or information technology systems, viruses, ransomware, and other electronic security breaches. Such cyber-attacks may involve more sophisticated security threats that could impact day-to-day operations. While we employ a number of measures to prevent, detect and mitigate these threats, there is no guarantee such efforts will be successful at preventing a cyber-attack. Cybersecurity incidents could compromise confidential information of our tenants, employees and vendors and cause system failures and disruptions of operations.

Risks related to cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions and other security breaches.

We face risks associated with security breaches, whether through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusions over the Internet, malware, computer viruses, attachments to e-mails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. In addition, the risk of cyber-attack or cyber intrusion has increased and become more costly to monitor and manage with more of our employees and the employees of our vendors, customers or other business partners working remotely as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day-to-day operations (including managing our building systems). We make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our IT networks and systems and have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption. However, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. A security breach or other significant disruption involving our IT networks and related systems could result in unauthorized access to proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information, significantly disrupt our business operations, cause damage to our reputation and subject us to additional unforeseen costs and require significant time and resources to remedy. Any or all of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Current legislative uncertainty and discourse could cause significant economic impact on markets, including the availability and access to capital markets and other funding sources, adverse changes in real estate values and increased interest rates. Such impacts could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results from operation and growth prospects.

In 2022 and 2023, the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates multiple times and may raise interest rates in 2024 as well. An increase in the federal funds effective rate could cause an increase in rates related to lending for commercial real estate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to pay distributions. Further, the  outcome of congressional and other elections creates uncertainty with respect to legal, tax and regulatory regimes in which we operate. These changes could result in sweeping reform in many laws and regulations, including without limitation, those relating to taxes and small business aid. In addition, political discourse continues to be abrasive and an inability of the legislative and executive branches to engage in bipartisan politics may lead to instability on legislative, economic and social matters. These factors could have significant economic impacts on the markets, including without limitation, the stability, availability and access to capital markets and other funding sources, reduced real estate values and increases to interest rates. Such impacts could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results from operation and growth prospects.

If any of the banking institutions in which we deposit funds ultimately fails, we may lose any amounts of our deposits over federally insured levels which could reduce the amount of cash we have available to distribute or invest and could result in a decline in our value.

Continued uncertainty in the banking industry and additional bank failures could adversely impact our ability to maintain our business or access company funds. The banking industry is currently facing instability. We expect that the banking industry, particularly smaller banks, may continue to face potential failures. We currently hold a majority of our funds at a Western Alliance bank. We may need to coordinate and diversify banking relationships in order to have business continuity. If a bank where we hold funds experiences at bank failure, we may not be able to access funds or may lose funds which would have a negative impact on the financial condition of the business and our ability to conduct business.

We have deployed significant capital to own equity of Conduit, and the value of our equity investment in Conduit may decline due to factors outside of our control, which would likely have a material adverse effect on our future expansion, revenues, and profits. 

In connection with our sponsorship of the SPAC, we purchased founder shares in the SPAC for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in 2021 and in connection with the SPAC’s IPO in 2022, we purchased 754,000 private placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,540,000. Following the SPAC’s business combination with Conduit Pharma, we currently own approximately 6.3% of Conduit’s outstanding shares.

The value of our equity investment in Conduit, as carried on the consolidated balance sheet included in the financial statements accompanying this Form 10-K, is approximately $7.56 million, which we have computed in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), and which constitutes approximately 41% of the carrying value of our total assets as reflected on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023. We can provide no assurance that the value of our equity investment in Conduit will not decline significantly based upon a variety of factors wholly outside of our control, including, without limitation, the performance of Conduit’s business, general market and economic conditions and stockholder dilution resulting from any capital raises or other financing transactions undertaken by Conduit.

Risks Related to our Indebtedness

We have significant outstanding indebtedness, which requires that we generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy the payment and other obligations under the terms of our debt and exposes us to the risk of default under the terms of our debt.

Our total gross indebtedness as of December 31, 2023 was approximately $108.5 million. We may incur additional debt for various purposes, including, without limitation, to fund future acquisitions and operational needs.

The terms of our outstanding indebtedness provide for significant principal and interest payments. Our ability to meet these and other ongoing payment obligations of our debt depends on our ability to generate significant cash flow in the future. Our ability to generate cash flow, to some extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors, as well as other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate cash flow from operations, or that capital will be available to us, in amounts sufficient to enable us to meet our payment obligations under our loan agreements and to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are not able to generate sufficient cash flow to service these obligations, we may need to refinance or restructure our debt, sell unencumbered assets subject to defeasance or yield maintenance costs (which we may be limited in doing in light of the relatively illiquid nature of our properties), reduce or delay capital investments, or seek to raise additional capital. If we are unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may not be able to meet these payment obligations, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity. Our outstanding indebtedness, and the limitations imposed on us by the agreements that govern our outstanding indebtedness, could have significant adverse consequences, including the following:

If any one of these events was to occur, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be materially adversely affected.

Mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings increase our operational risks.

Loans obtained to fund property acquisitions will generally be secured by mortgages on our properties. The more we borrow, the higher our fixed debt payment obligations will be and the greater the risk that we will not be able to timely meet these payment obligations. At December 31, 2023, excluding our model home properties, we had a total of approximately $73.7 million of secured financing on our properties. If we are unable to make our debt payments as required, due to a decrease in rental or other revenues or an increase in our other costs, a lender could charge us a default rate of interest and/or foreclose on the property or properties securing its debt. This could cause an adverse effect on our results of operations and/or cause us to lose part or all of our investment, adversely affecting our financial condition by lowering the value of our real estate portfolio.

Lenders often require restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which adversely affects our flexibility and may affect our ability to achieve our investment objectives.

Some of our mortgage loans impose restrictions that affect our distribution and operating policies, our ability to incur additional debt and our ability to resell interests in properties. A number of loan documents contain covenants requiring us to maintain cash reserves or letters of credit under certain circumstances and limiting our ability to further mortgage the property, discontinue certain insurance coverage, replace the property manager, or terminate certain operating or lease agreements related to the property. Such restrictions may limit our ability to achieve our investment objectives.

Financing arrangements involving balloon payment obligations may adversely affect our ability to pay distributions.

Some of our mortgage loans  require us to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity. We may finance more properties that we acquire in this manner. Our ability to make a balloon payment at maturity could be uncertain and may depend upon our ability to obtain additional financing, to refinance the debt or to sell the property. When the balloon payment is due, we may not be able to refinance debt on favorable terms or sell the property at a price that would cover the balloon payment. The effect of a refinancing or sale could affect the rate of return to stockholders and the value of our common stock.

In addition, making a balloon payment may leave us with insufficient cash to pay the distributions that are required to maintain our qualification as a REIT. At December 31, 2023, excluding our model homes business, we have no mortgage that requires a balloon payment in 2023. The model homes division pays off the balance of its mortgages using proceeds from the sale of the underlying homes. Any deficiency in the sale proceeds would have to be paid from existing cash, reducing the amount available for distributions and operations.

Risks Related to our Status as a REIT and Related Federal Income Tax Matters

Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our operations and our ability to pay distributions.

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2001.  We believe that we have been organized and have operated in a manner that has allowed us to qualify for taxation as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with such taxable year, and we expect to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. However, the federal income tax laws governing REITs are extremely complex, and interpretations of the federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT are limited. Qualifying as a REIT requires us to meet various tests regarding the nature of our assets and our income, the ownership of our outstanding stock, and the amount of our distributions on an ongoing basis. While we intend to continue to operate so that we will qualify as a REIT, given the highly complex nature of the rules governing REITs, the ongoing importance of factual determinations, including the tax treatment of certain investments and dispositions, and the possibility of future changes in our circumstances, no assurance can be given that we will qualify for any particular year. If we lose our REIT qualification, we would be subject to federal corporate income taxation on our taxable income, and we could also be subject to increased state and local taxes. Additionally, we would not be allowed a deduction for distributions paid to stockholders. Moreover, unless we are entitled to relief under applicable statutory provisions, we could not elect to be taxed as a REIT for four taxable years following the year during which we were disqualified. The income tax consequences could be substantial and would reduce our cash available for distribution to stockholders and investments in additional real estate. We could also be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax. If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we would not be required to make distributions to our stockholders.

As a REIT, we may be subject to tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.

Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to federal, state and local taxes on our income or property, including the following:

Our ownership of taxable REIT subsidiaries is subject to certain restrictions, and we will be required to pay a 100% penalty tax on certain income or deductions if our transactions with our taxable REIT subsidiaries are not conducted on arm’s length terms.

We own and may acquire direct or indirect interests in one or more entities that have elected or will elect, together with us, to be treated as our taxable REIT subsidiaries. A taxable REIT subsidiary is a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) other than a REIT in which a REIT directly or indirectly holds stock, and that has made a joint election with such REIT to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. If a taxable REIT subsidiary owns more than 35% of the total voting power or value of the outstanding securities of another corporation, such other corporation will also be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Other than some activities relating to lodging and health care facilities, a taxable REIT subsidiary may generally engage in any business, including the provision of customary or non-customary services to tenants of its parent REIT. A taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular C corporation. In addition, a 100% excise tax will be imposed on certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s length basis.

A REIT’s ownership of securities of a taxable REIT subsidiary is not subject to the 5% or 10% asset tests applicable to REITs. Not more than 25% of the value of our total assets could be represented by securities, including securities of taxable REIT subsidiaries, other than those securities includable in the 75% asset test. Further, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, not more than 20% of the value of our total assets may be represented by securities of taxable REIT subsidiaries. We anticipate that the aggregate value of the stock and other securities of any taxable REIT subsidiaries that we own will be less than 20% of the value of our total assets, and we will monitor the value of these investments to ensure compliance with applicable asset test limitations. In addition, we intend to structure our transactions with any taxable REIT subsidiaries that we own to ensure that they are entered into on arm’s length terms to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with these limitations or avoid application of the 100% excise tax discussed above.

We may be forced to borrow funds on a short-term basis, to sell assets or to issue securities to meet the REIT minimum distribution or other requirements or for working capital purposes.

To qualify as a REIT, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the nature and diversification of our assets, the sources of our income and the amounts we distribute to our stockholders. In order to maintain our REIT status or avoid the payment of income and excise taxes, we may need to borrow funds on a short-term basis to meet the REIT distribution requirements, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings. To qualify as a REIT, in general, we must distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding net capital gains) each year. We have and intend to continue to make distributions to our stockholders. However, our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected by the risk factors described elsewhere herein. In the event of a decline in our operating results and financial performance or in the value of our asset portfolio, we may not have cash sufficient for distribution. Therefore, to preserve our REIT status or avoid taxation, we may need to borrow funds, sell assets or issue additional securities, even if the then-prevailing market conditions are not favorable. Moreover, we may be required to liquidate or forgo otherwise attractive investments in order to satisfy the REIT asset and income tests or to qualify under certain statutory relief provisions. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to meet any of these asset, income or distribution tests, or to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with one or more of the requirements applicable to REITs or may be subject to a 100% tax on any resulting gain if such sales constitute prohibited transactions.

In addition, we require a minimum amount of cash to fund our daily operations. Due to the REIT distribution requirements, we may be forced to make distributions when we otherwise would use the cash to fund our working capital needs. Therefore, we may be forced to borrow funds, to sell assets or to issue additional securities at certain times for our working capital needs.

The tax imposed on REITs engaging in “prohibited transactions” may limit our ability to engage in transactions that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% penalty tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. Although we do not intend to hold any properties that would be characterized as held for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our business unless a sale or disposition qualifies under certain statutory safe harbors, such characterization is a factual determination and no guarantee can be given that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) would agree with our characterization of our properties or that we will always be able to make use of the available safe harbors.

Legislative or other actions affecting REITs could have a negative effect on our investors or us.

The rules dealing with federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Changes to the tax laws, with or without retroactive application, could adversely affect our investors or us. We cannot predict how changes in the tax laws might affect our investors or us. New legislation, Treasury Regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify as a REIT, the federal income tax consequences of such qualification, or the federal income tax consequences of an investment in us. Also, the law relating to the tax treatment of other entities, or an investment in other entities, could change, making an investment in such other entities more attractive relative to an investment in a REIT.

The stock ownership limit imposed by the Code for REITs and our charter may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price for our stockholders.

In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT, no more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (including certain types of entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year. To ensure that we do not fail to qualify as a REIT under this test, our charter restricts ownership by one person or entity to no more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock or more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate outstanding shares of all classes and series of our capital stock. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock.

Dividends payable by REITs generally are taxed at the higher ordinary income rate, which could reduce the net cash received by stockholders and may be detrimental to our ability to raise additional funds through any future sale of our common stock.

Income from “qualified dividends” payable to U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is generally subject to tax at reduced rates. However, dividends payable by REITs to its stockholders generally are not eligible for the reduced rates for qualified dividends and are taxed at ordinary income rates (but U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates generally may deduct 20% of ordinary dividends from a REIT for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026). Although these rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, to the extent that the reduced rates continue to apply to regular corporate qualified dividends, investors that are individuals, trusts and estates may perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could materially and adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including the per share trading price of our common stock, and could be detrimental to our ability to raise additional funds through the future sale of our common stock.

Tax-exempt stockholders will be taxed on our distributions to the extent such distributions are unrelated business taxable income.

Generally, neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions should constitute unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) to tax-exempt entities, such as employee pension benefit trusts and individual retirement accounts. Our payment of distributions to a tax-exempt stockholder will constitute UBTI, however, if the tax-exempt stockholder has incurred debt to acquire its shares. Therefore, tax-exempt stockholders are not assured all dividends received will be tax-free.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If our remediation of this material weakness is not effective, or if we experience additional material weakness in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting in the future, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock, and our financial performance may be adversely impacted.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, requires that we maintain internal control over financial reporting that meets applicable standards. We may err in the design or operation of our controls, and all internal control systems, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because there are inherent limitations in all control systems, there can be no assurance that all control issues have been or will be detected.

As of the end of the period covered by this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our Management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. In connection with the preparation and audit of the financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, a certain material weakness was identified in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. This material weakness is primarily related to a non-recuring significant transaction for income tax provision and comprises the following:

If this material weakness is not remediated, it could potentially result in a misstatement of account balances or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

The above material weakness will not be considered remediated until our remediation plan has been fully implemented. We cannot predict the success of such efforts to remediate the material weakness. Our efforts may not remediate this material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or additional material weaknesses may be identified in the future. A failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in a restatement of our financial statements and could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, any of which could diminish investor confidence in us and cause a decline in the price of our common stock. As a result of this failure, we could also become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, and become subject to litigation from investors and stockholders, which could harm our reputation, financial condition or divert financial and management resources from our core business, and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to our Common Stock, Preferred Stock and Series A Warrants

If we are unable to comply with the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market, our common stock could be delisted, which could affect our common stock's market price and liquidity and reduce our ability to raise capital.

We are required to meet certain qualitative and financial tests to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. As of the date of this report, we are in compliance with all of Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements. As previously disclosed, the Company received a written notice from Nasdaq on June 6, 2023 notifying the Company that it had failed to meet the $1.00 per share minimum bid price requirement for continued inclusion on Nasdaq. On December 21, 2023, the Company announced that it received formal notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC stating that the Company had regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). 

There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement or will otherwise be in compliance with other Nasdaq listing criteria. If we are unable to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted, making it more difficult to buy or sell our securities and to obtain accurate quotations, and the price of our securities could suffer a material decline. Delisting could also impair our ability to raise capital.

Our Series D Preferred Stock is subordinate to our existing and future debt, and your interests could be diluted by the issuance of additional preferred stock and by other transactions.

The Series D Preferred Stock ranks junior to all of our existing and future debt and to other non-equity claims on us and our assets available to satisfy claims against us, including claims in bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceedings. Our future debt may include restrictions on our ability to pay distributions to preferred stockholders. Our charter currently authorizes the issuance of up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more classes or series. Subject to limitations prescribed by Maryland law and our charter, our Board of Directors is authorized to issue, from our authorized but unissued shares of stock, preferred stock in such classes or series as our Board of Directors may determine and to establish from time to time the number of shares of preferred stock to be included in any such class or series. The issuance of additional shares of Series D Preferred Stock or another series of preferred stock designated as ranking on parity with the Series D Preferred Stock would dilute the interests of the holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, and the issuance of shares of any class or series of our stock expressly designated as ranking senior to the Series D Preferred Stock or the incurrence of additional indebtedness could affect our ability to pay distributions on, redeem or pay the liquidation preference on the Series D Preferred Stock. The Series D Preferred Stock does not contain any terms relating to or limiting our indebtedness or affording the holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock protection in the event of a highly leveraged or other transaction, including a merger or the sale, lease or conveyance of all or substantially all our assets, that might adversely affect the holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, so long as the rights, preferences, privileges or voting power of the Series D Preferred Stock or the holders thereof are not materially and adversely affected.

As a holder of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, you have extremely limited voting rights.

Your voting rights as a holder of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock will be limited. Our shares of common stock are the only class of our securities carrying full voting rights. Voting rights for holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock exist primarily with respect to adverse changes in the terms of the Series D Preferred Stock and the creation of additional classes or series of preferred shares that are senior to the Series D Preferred Stock. Other than these limited voting rights described herein, holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock will not have any voting rights.

Our cash available for distributions may not be sufficient to pay distributions on the Series D Preferred Stock at expected levels, and we cannot assure you of our ability to pay distributions in the future. We may use borrowed funds or funds from other sources to pay distributions, which may adversely impact our operations.

We have paid and intend to pay regular monthly distributions to holders of our Series D Preferred Stock. Distributions declared by us are and will be authorized by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion out of assets legally available for distribution and will depend upon a number of factors, including our earnings, our financial condition, restrictions under applicable law, our need to comply with the terms of our existing financing arrangements, the capital requirements of our Company and other factors as our Board of Directors may deem relevant from time to time. We may be required to fund distributions from working capital, proceeds of our equity offerings or a sale of assets to the extent distributions exceed earnings or cash flows from operations. Funding distributions from working capital would restrict our operations. If we are required to sell assets to fund distributions, such asset sales may occur at a time or in a manner that is not consistent with our disposition strategy. If we borrow to fund distributions, our leverage ratios and future interest costs would increase, thereby reducing our earnings and cash available for distribution from what they otherwise would have been. We may not be able to pay distributions in the future. In addition, some of our distributions may be considered a return of capital for income tax purposes. If we decide to make distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, such distributions would generally be considered a return of capital for federal income tax purposes to the extent of the holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares. A return of capital is not taxable, but it has the effect of reducing the holder’s adjusted tax basis in its investment. If distributions exceed the adjusted tax basis of a holder’s shares, they will be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such stock.

We could be prevented from paying cash dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock due to prescribed legal requirements.

Holders of shares of Series D Preferred Stock do not receive dividends on such shares unless authorized by our Board of Directors and declared by us. Under Maryland law, cash dividends on stock may only be paid if, after giving effect to the dividends, our total assets exceed our total liabilities and we are able to pay our indebtedness as it becomes due in the ordinary course of business. Unless we operate profitably, our ability to pay cash dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock may be negatively impacted. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to enable us to pay dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock when payable. Further, even if we meet the applicable solvency tests under Maryland law to pay cash dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock described above, we may not have sufficient cash to pay dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock.

Furthermore, no dividends on Series D Preferred Stock shall be authorized by our Board of Directors or paid, declared or set aside for payment by us at any time when the authorization, payment, declaration or setting aside for payment would be unlawful under Maryland law or any other applicable law.

We may redeem the Series D Preferred Stock and you may not receive dividends that you anticipate if we redeem the Series D Preferred Stock.

On or after June 15, 2026, we may, at our option, redeem the Series D Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at any time or from time to time. Also, upon the occurrence of a Change of Control, we may, at our option, redeem the Series D Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, within 120 days after the first date on which such Change of Control occurred. We may have an incentive to redeem the Series D Preferred Stock voluntarily if market conditions allow us to issue other preferred stock or debt securities at a rate that is lower than the dividend rate on the Series D Preferred Stock. If we redeem the Series D Preferred Stock, from and after the redemption date, dividends will cease to accrue on shares of Series D Preferred Stock, the shares of Series D Preferred Stock shall no longer be deemed outstanding and all rights as a holder of those shares will terminate, except the right to receive the redemption price plus accumulated and unpaid dividends, if any, payable upon redemption.

Holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock should not expect us to redeem the Series D Preferred Stock on or after the date they become redeemable at our option.

The Series D Preferred Stock is a perpetual equity security. This means that it has no maturity or mandatory redemption date and is not redeemable at the option of the holders. The Series D Preferred Stock may be redeemed only by us at our option either in whole or in part, from time to time, at any time on or after June 15, 2026, or within 120 days following the occurrence of a Change of Control. Any decision we may make at any time to propose a redemption of the Series D Preferred Stock will depend upon, among other things, our evaluation of our capital position, the composition of our stockholders’ equity and general market conditions at that time.

The Series D Preferred Stock is not convertible into shares of our common stock, and investors will not realize a corresponding upside if the price of the common stock increases.

The Series D Preferred Stock is not convertible into shares of our common stock and earns dividends at a fixed rate. Accordingly, an increase in market price of our common stock will not necessarily result in an increase in the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock. The market value of the Series D Preferred Stock may depend more on dividend and interest rates for other preferred stock, commercial paper and other investment alternatives and our actual and perceived ability to pay dividends on, and in the event of dissolution satisfy the liquidation preference with respect to, the Series D Preferred Stock.

The Change of Control right may make it more difficult for a party to acquire us or discourage a party from acquiring us.

The Change of Control right allowing us to redeem the Series D Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, any time from time to time, for cash at a redemption price equal to $25.00 per share , plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends thereon to, but not including, the date of fixed redemption, may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing certain of our change of control transactions under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our Series D Preferred Stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price of such equity securities or that stockholders may otherwise believe is in their best interests.

Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with the Company.

Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, will be the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of any duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders, (c) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the MGCL or our charter or bylaws or (d) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This forum selection provision in our bylaws may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or any our directors, officers or other employees.

Listing on Nasdaq does not guarantee an active market for the Series D Preferred Stock and the market price and trading volume of the Series D Preferred Stock may fluctuate significantly.

The Series D Preferred Stock is trading on Nasdaq but there is no guarantee that an active and liquid trading market to sell the Series D Preferred Stock will be sustained. Because the Series D Preferred Stock has no stated maturity date, investors seeking liquidity may be limited to selling their shares in the secondary market. If an active trading market is not sustained, the market price and liquidity of the Series D Preferred Stock may be adversely affected. Even if an active public market continues to exist, we cannot guarantee you that the market price for the Series D Preferred Stock will equal or exceed the price you pay for your Series D Preferred Stock.

The market determines the trading price for the Series D Preferred Stock and may be influenced by many factors, including our history of paying distributions on the Series D Preferred Stock, variations in our financial results, the market for similar securities, investors’ perception of us, our issuance of additional preferred equity or indebtedness and general economic, industry, interest rate and market conditions. Because the Series D Preferred Stock carries a fixed distribution rate, its value in the secondary market will be influenced by changes in interest rates and will tend to move inversely to such changes. In particular, an increase in market interest rates may result in higher yields on other financial instruments and may lead purchasers of Series D Preferred Stock to demand a higher yield on the price paid for the Series D Preferred Stock, which could adversely affect the market price of the Series D Preferred Stock.

If the Series D Preferred Stock is delisted, the ability to transfer or sell shares of the Series D Preferred Stock may be limited and the market value of the Series D Preferred Stock will likely be materially adversely affected.

The Series D Preferred Stock does not contain provisions that are intended to protect investors if the Series D Preferred Stock is delisted from Nasdaq. If the Series D Preferred Stock is delisted from Nasdaq, investors’ ability to transfer or sell shares of the Series D Preferred Stock will be limited and the market value of the Series D Preferred Stock will likely be materially adversely affected. Moreover, since the Series D Preferred Stock has no stated maturity date, investors may be forced to hold shares of the Series D Preferred Stock indefinitely while receiving stated dividends thereon when, as and if authorized by our Board of Directors and paid by us with no assurance as to ever receiving the liquidation value thereof.

Market interest rates may have an effect on the value of the Series D Preferred Stock.

One of the factors that will influence the price of the Series D Preferred Stock will be the distribution yield on the Series D Preferred Stock (as a percentage of the market price of the Series D Preferred Stock) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates may lead prospective purchasers of the Series D Preferred Stock to expect a higher distribution yield (and higher interest rates would likely increase our borrowing costs and potentially decrease funds available for distribution payments). Thus, higher market interest rates could cause the market price of the Series D Preferred Stock to decrease and reduce the amount of funds that are available and may be used to make distribution payments.

In the event of a liquidation, you may not receive the full amount of your liquidation preference.

In the event of our liquidation, the proceeds will be used first to repay indebtedness and then to pay holders of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock and any other class or series of our stock ranking senior to or on parity with the Series D Preferred Stock as to liquidation the amount of each holder’s liquidation preference and accrued and unpaid distributions through the date of payment. In the event we have insufficient funds to make payments in full to holders of the shares of the Series D Preferred Stock and any other class or series of our stock ranking on parity with the Series D Preferred Stock as to liquidation, such funds will be distributed ratably among such holders and such holders may not realize the full amount of their liquidation preference.

We are generally restricted from issuing shares of other series of preferred stock that rank senior the Series D Preferred Stock as to dividend rights or rights to the distribution of assets upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, but may do so with the requisite consent of the holders of the Series D Preferred Stock; and, further, no such consent is required for an increase in the number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or the issuance of additional shares of Series D Preferred Stock or series of preferred stock ranking pari passu with the Series D Preferred Stock.

We are allowed to issue shares of other series of preferred stock that rank senior to the Series D Preferred Stock as to dividend payments and rights upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, only with the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding Series D Preferred Stock. However, we are allowed to increase the number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or additional series of preferred stock that would rank equally to the Series D Preferred Stock as to dividend payments and rights upon our liquidation or winding up of our affairs without first obtaining the approval of the holders of our Series D Preferred Stock. The issuance of additional shares of Series D Preferred Stock or additional series of preferred stock could have the effect of reducing the amounts available to the Series D Preferred Stock upon our liquidation or dissolution or the winding up of our affairs. It also may reduce dividend payments on the Series D Preferred Stock if we do not have sufficient funds to pay dividends on all outstanding shares of Series D Preferred Stock and other classes or series of stock with equal or senior priority with respect to dividends. Future issuances and sales of senior or pari passu preferred stock, or the perception that such issuances and sales could occur, may cause prevailing market prices for the Series D Preferred Stock and our common stock to decline and may adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital in the financial markets at times and prices favorable to us.

The market price of the Series D Preferred Stock could be substantially affected by various factors.

The market price of the Series D Preferred Stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to numerous factors. The price of the Series D Preferred Stock in the market may be higher or lower than the price holders of the Series D Preferred stock paid for it depending on many factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance.

These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

As a result of these and other factors, investors who purchase our Series D Preferred Stock may experience a decrease, which could be substantial and rapid, in the market price of the Series D Preferred Stock, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects.

The market price and trading volume of our Series D Preferred Stock may be volatile, and you could experience a loss if you sell your shares.

The market price of our Series D Preferred Stock may be volatile. In addition, the trading volume in our Series D Preferred Stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock declines significantly, you may be unable to sell your shares at or above the public offering price. We cannot assure you that the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.

Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our Series D Preferred Stock include:

If a substantial number of shares become available for sale and are sold in a short period of time, the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock could decline.

A large volume of sales of shares of our Series D Preferred Stock could further decrease the prevailing market price of such shares and could impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities in the future. Even if sales of a substantial number of shares of our Series D Preferred Stock are not effectuated, the perception of the possibility of these sales could depress the market price for such shares and have a negative effect on our ability to raise capital in the future.

If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our Series D Preferred Stock in the public market, the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock could decrease significantly. The perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell shares of Series D Preferred Stock could also depress our market price. A decline in the price of shares of our Series D Preferred Stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our Series D Preferred Stock or other equity securities and could result in a decline in the value of the shares of our Series D Preferred Stock.

Broad market fluctuations could negatively impact the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock.

Stock market price and volume fluctuations could affect the market price of many companies in industries similar or related to ours and that have been unrelated to these companies’ operating performance. These fluctuations could reduce the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock. Furthermore, our results of operations and prospects may be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors or may be lower than those of companies with comparable market capitalizations. Either of these factors could lead to a material decline in the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock.

The market price of our Series D Preferred Stock could be adversely affected by our level of cash distributions.

The market’s perception of our growth potential and our current and potential future cash distributions, whether from operations, sales or refinancing, as well as the real estate market value of the underlying assets, may cause our Series D Preferred Stock to trade at prices that differ from our net asset value per share. If we retain operating cash flow for investment purposes, working capital reserves or other purposes, these retained funds, while increasing the value of our underlying assets, may not correspondingly increase the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock. Our failure to meet the market’s expectations with regard to future earnings and cash distributions likely would adversely affect the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock.

Future offerings of debt, which would be senior to our Series D Preferred Stock upon liquidation, and any preferred equity securities that may be issued and be senior to our Series D Preferred Stock for purposes of dividend distributions or upon liquidation, may adversely affect the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock.

In the future, we may seek additional capital and commence offerings of debt or preferred equity securities, including medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes and preferred stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Future shares of preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay a dividend or make another distribution to the holders of our Series D Preferred. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, and consequently, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting their stock holdings in us.

A future issuance of stock could dilute the value of our Series D Preferred Stock.

We may sell additional shares of Series D Preferred Stock, or securities convertible into or exchangeable for such shares, in subsequent public or private offerings. Future issuance of any new shares could cause further dilution in the value of our outstanding shares of Series D Preferred Stock. We cannot predict the size of future issuances of our Series D Preferred Stock, or securities convertible into or exchangeable for such shares, or the effect, if any, that future issuances and sales of shares of our Series A Common Stock or Series D Preferred Stock will have on the market price of our Series D Preferred Stock. Sales of substantial amounts of our Series D Preferred Stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices of our Series D Preferred Stock.

The Series A Warrants may not have any value.

The Series A Warrants are immediately exercisable and may be exercised in accordance with their terms until their expiration at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the expiration date.

The Series A Warrants have an exercise price of $7.00 per share. This exercise price does not necessarily bear any relationship to established criteria for valuation of our Series A Common Stock, such as book value per share, cash flows, or earnings, and you should not consider this exercise price as an indication of the current or future market price of our Series A Common Stock. There can be no assurance that the market price of our Series A Common Stock will exceed $7.00 per share at any time on the expiration date of the Series A Warrants, January 24, 2027, or at any other time the Series A Warrants may be exercised. If the market price of our Series A Common Stock on such date does not exceed $7.00 per share prior to the expiration of the Series A Warrants, your warrants will be of no value except to the extent that there is a value in their automatic conversion at expiration of 0.1 shares of Series A Common Stock rounded down to the nearest whole share.

An active trading market for our warrants may not continue to exist or remain active.

Although our Series A Warrants were listed on Nasdaq on or around January 24, 2022 under the symbol SQFTW, an active trading market for our warrants may not be sustained. If an active market for our warrants does not continue, it may be difficult for you to sell the Series A Warrants without depressing the market price for such securities.

Holders of our warrants will have no rights as a common stockholder until such holders exercise their warrants and acquire shares of our Series A Common Stock.

Until warrant holders acquire shares of our Series A Common Stock upon exercise of the Series A Warrants, warrant holders will have no rights with respect to the shares of our Series A Common Stock underlying such warrants. Upon the acquisition of shares of our Series A Common Stock upon exercise of the Series A Warrants, the holders thereof will be entitled to exercise the rights of a holder of Series A Common Stock only as to matters for which the record date for the matter occurs after the exercise date of the Series A Warrants.

We could be prevented from paying cash dividends on the Series A Common Stock due to prescribed legal requirements.

Holders of shares of Series A Common Stock will not receive dividends on such shares unless authorized by our Board of Directors and declared by us. Furthermore, no dividends on Series A Common Stock shall be authorized by our Board of Directors or paid, declared or set aside for payment by us at any time when the authorization, payment, declaration or setting aside for payment would be unlawful under Maryland law or any other applicable law. Under Maryland law, cash dividends on stock may only be paid if, after giving effect to the dividends, our total assets exceed our total liabilities and we are able to pay our indebtedness as it becomes due in the ordinary course of business. Unless we operate profitably, our ability to pay cash dividends on the Series A Common Stock may be negatively impacted. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to enable us to pay dividends on the Series A Common Stock when payable. Further, even if we meet the applicable solvency tests under Maryland law to pay cash dividends on the Series A Common Stock described above, we may not have sufficient cash to pay dividends on the Series A Common Stock. Additionally, provisions of the Series D Preferred Stock provide that, subject to certain exceptions, including dividends on the Series D Preferred Stock having been paid or set aside, we are restricted from paying dividends on our Series A Common Stock.

Actions of activist stockholders may cause us to incur substantial costs, divert management’s attention and resources, and have an adverse effect on our business.

Our stockholders may from time to time engage in proxy solicitations, advance shareholder proposals or otherwise attempt to affect changes or acquire control over the Company. For example, on March 13, 2024, a stockholder announced that it intends to file a preliminary proxy statement and accompanying WHITE universal proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission to be used to solicit votes for the election of director nominees at our next annual meeting of stockholders. Activist stockholder activities could adversely affect our business because responding to proxy contests and reacting to other actions by activist stockholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupt our operations and divert the attention of management and our employees. For example, we have or in the future may retain the services of various professionals to advise us on activist stockholder matters, including legal, financial, strategic and communication advisors, the costs of which may negatively impact our future financial results. In addition, perceived uncertainties as to our future direction, strategy or leadership created as a consequence of activist stockholders’ initiatives may result in the loss of potential business opportunities, harm our ability to attract new investors, business partners, and employees, and cause our stock price to experience periods of volatility or stagnation.

Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Requirements

Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations may reduce our net income and the cash available for distributions to our stockholders.

Our properties are subject to various local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including those addressing zoning, environmental and land use, access for disabled persons, and air and water quality. These laws and regulations may impose restrictions on the manner in which our properties may be used or business may be operated, and compliance with these standards may require us to make unexpected expenditures, some of which could be substantial. Additionally, we could be subject to liability in the form of fines, penalties or damages for noncompliance, and any enforcement actions could reduce the value of a property. Any material expenditures, penalties, or decrease in property value would adversely affect our operating income and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

The presence of contamination, or our failure to properly remediate contamination of our properties, may adversely affect the ability of our tenants to operate the contaminated property, may subject us to liability to third parties, and may inhibit our ability to sell or rent such property or borrow money using such property as collateral. Any of these occurrences would adversely affect our operating income.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act may require us to make unintended expenditures that could adversely impact our results of operations.

Our properties are generally required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the ADA. The ADA has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities,” but generally requires that buildings be made accessible to people with disabilities. Compliance with ADA requirements could require removal of access barriers and non-compliance could result in imposition of fines by the U.S. government or an award of damages to private litigants. The parties to whom we lease properties are obligated by law to comply with the ADA provisions, and we believe that these parties may be obligated to cover costs associated with compliance. If required changes to our properties involve greater expenditures than anticipated, or if the changes must be made on a more accelerated basis than anticipated, our tenants may to be able to cover the costs and we could be required to expend our own funds to comply with the provisions of the ADA. Any funds used for ADA compliance will reduce our net income and the amount of cash available for distributions to our stockholders.

Our property taxes could increase due to property tax rate changes, reassessments or changes in property tax laws, which would adversely impact our cash flows.

We are required to pay property taxes for our properties, which could increase as property tax rates increase or as our properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. In California, under current law, reassessment occurs primarily as a result of a “change in ownership”. A potential reassessment may take a considerable amount of time, during which the property taxing authorities make a determination of the occurrence of a “change of ownership”, as well as the actual reassessed value. In addition, from time to time, there have been proposals to base property taxes on commercial properties on their current market value, without any limit based on purchase price. If any similar proposal were adopted, the property taxes we pay could increase substantially. In California, pursuant to an existing state law commonly referred to as Proposition 13, properties are reassessed to market value only at the time of change in ownership or completion of construction, and thereafter, annual property reassessments are limited to 2% of previously assessed values. As a result, Proposition 13 generally results in significant below-market assessed values over time. From time to time, including recently, lawmakers and political coalitions have initiated efforts to repeal or amend Proposition 13 to eliminate its application to commercial and industrial properties. If successful, a repeal of Proposition 13 could substantially increase the assessed values and property taxes for our properties in California.

We are subject to recently enacted state laws in California that require gender and diversity quotas for boards of directors of public companies headquartered in California.

In September 2018, California enacted Senator Bill 826 (“SB 826”), which generally requires public companies with principal executive offices in California to have at least two female directors on its board of directors if the company has at least five directors, and at least three female directors on its board of directors if the company has at least six directors. SB 826 has been challenged in legal proceedings and on May 13, 2022, the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles entered an order striking down SB 826, holding that the statute violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. The California Secretary of State has appealed the order and such appeal is currently pending. On September 16, 2022, the appellate court ruled to temporarily stay enforcement of the trial court’s order, which prevented the California Secretary of State from collecting diversity data on corporate disclosure forms pursuant to SB 826, pending a further order of the appellate court. On December 1, 2022, the appellate court vacated the temporary stay order and on February 3, 2023, a record on appeal was filed and such appeal is currently pending. To the extent that this ruling of the appellate court permits the Secretary of State of California to collect and report diversity data, we may be required to comply with additional disclosure requirements. However, ultimate enforceability of SB 826 remains uncertain.

Additionally, on September 30, 2020, California enacted Assembly Bill 979 (“AB 979”), which generally requires public companies with principal executive offices in California to include specified numbers of directors from “underrepresented communities”. A director from an “underrepresented community” means a director who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaska Native, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. By December 31, 2021, each public company with principal executive offices in California was required to have at least one director from an underrepresented community. By December 31, 2022, a public company with more than four but fewer than nine directors will be required to have a minimum of two directors from underrepresented communities, and a public company with nine or more directors will need to have a minimum of three directors from underrepresented communities. On April 1, 2022, the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles entered an order striking down AB 979, holding that the statute violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. On June 6, 2022, a notice of appeal was filed. On September 16, 2022, the appellate court ruled to temporarily stay enforcement of the trial court’s order, which prevented the California Secretary of State from collecting diversity data on corporate disclosure forms pursuant to AB 979, pending a further order of the appellate court. On December 1, 2022, the appellate court vacated the temporary stay order and on February 3, 2023, a record on appeal was filed and such appeal is currently pending. To the extent that this ruling of the appellate court permits the Secretary of State of California to collect and report diversity data, we may be required to comply with additional disclosure requirements. In June 2023, the federal district court for the Eastern District of California granted the plaintiffs a summary judgment and determined that AB 979 was unconstitutional on its face. The Eastern District of California’s decision is currently on appeal. Litigation regarding AB 979 will continue.

We cannot assure that we can recruit, attract and/or retain qualified members of our Board and meet gender and diversity quotas under Nasdaq Listing Rules or any California law that may become applicable to the Company, which may expose us to financial penalties and adversely affect our reputation.

The costs of complying with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of defending against claims of environmental liability could adversely affect our operating results.

Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, an owner or operator of real property is responsible for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on its property. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated.

For instance, federal regulations require us to identify and warn, via signs and labels, of potential hazards posed by workplace exposure to installed asbestos-containing materials (“ACMs”), and potential ACMs on our properties. Federal, state, and local laws and regulations also govern the removal, encapsulation, disturbance, handling and disposal of ACMs and potential ACMs, when such materials are in poor condition or in the event of construction, remodeling, renovation or demolition of a property. There are or may be ACMs at certain of our properties. As a result, we may face liability for a release of ACMs and may be subject to personal injury lawsuits by workers and others exposed to ACMs at our properties. Additionally, the value of any of our properties containing ACMs and potential ACMs may be decreased.

Although we have not been notified by any governmental authority and are not otherwise aware of any material noncompliance, liability or claim relating to hazardous substances in connection with our properties, we may be found noncompliant in the future. Environmental laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the release of any hazardous substances. Therefore, we may be liable for the costs of removing or remediating contamination of which we had no knowledge. Additionally, future laws or regulations could impose an unanticipated material environmental liability on any of the properties that we purchase.

The presence of contamination, or our failure to properly remediate contamination of our properties, may adversely affect the ability of our tenants to operate the contaminated property, may subject us to liability to third parties, and may inhibit our ability to sell or rent such property or borrow money using such property as collateral. Any of these occurrences would adversely affect our operating income.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

We have no unresolved staff comments regarding our periodic or current reports.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY

Presidio Property Trust has a cross-departmental approach to addressing cybersecurity risk, including input from senior management, employees, external consultants, and our Board of Directors (the "Board"). Senior management devote significant resources to cybersecurity and risk management processes to adapt to the changing cybersecurity landscape and respond to emerging threats in a timely and effective manner, including providing periodic training to staff and periodic review of the Company’s current posture to protect against threats. The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors oversees the steps taken by Presidio Property Trust’s management to monitor and mitigate cybersecurity risks. Senior management briefs the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors on cybersecurity matters as necessary.

The Company operates almost exclusively in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) IT environment. In addition to assessing our own cybersecurity preparedness, we also consider and evaluate cybersecurity risks associated with the use of third-party service providers. The internal business owners of the hosted applications are required to document quarterly user access reviews and obtain a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 1 or SOC 2 report from our SaaS vendors. With assistance from an external consultant, management conducts an annual review of third-party SOC reports with a specific focus on their data protection procedures. If a third-party vendor is not able to provide a SOC 1 report, management takes additional steps to assess their cybersecurity preparedness and assess our relationship with them on that basis. Our assessment of risks associated with the use of third-party providers is a significant part of the Company’s overall cybersecurity risk management framework.

The Company has also engaged a third-party managed service provider to manage server, network, and email security, including continuous monitoring and industry-leading antivirus software. Presidio Property Trust has robust business continuity and disaster recovery procedures in place, and an insurance policy that provides for network security liability, event response and recovery, direct business interruption, contingent business interruption, cyber extortion, social engineering, and computer fraud should an incident occur.

In addition, we have Company-wide policies and procedures concerning cybersecurity matters, including access security, system change management, development lifecycle, incident management and business continuity/disaster recovery policies. These policies go through an annual internal review process and are approved by appropriate members of management. Presidio Property Trust uses a third-party consultant to assess the Company’s compliance with Sarbanes Oxley.

Presidio Property Trust faces risks from cybersecurity threats that could have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or reputation. The Company has not, to date, experienced cyber incidents in the normal course of its business, nor have prior cybersecurity incidents had a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. For more information about the cybersecurity risks we face, see the risk factor entitled “Risks related to cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions and other security breaches” in Item 1A- Risk Factors.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES  

General Information

We invest in a diverse multi-tenant portfolio of real estate assets primarily consisting of office/industrial, retail, and model home properties located primarily in the western United States. As of December 31, 2023, we owned or had an equity interest in nine office/industrial buildings totaling approximately 758,175 rentable square feet and three retail centers totaling approximately 65,242 rentable square feet. In addition, through our Model Home subsidiary and our investments in six limited partnerships and one corporation, we own a total of  110 Model Home properties located in five states. We directly manage the operations and leasing of our properties. Substantially all of our revenues consist of base rents received under leases that generally have terms that range from one to five years.  The majority of our existing leases as of December 31, 2023 contain contractual rent increases that provide for increases in the base rental payments. Our tenants consist of local, regional and national businesses. Our properties generally attract a mix of diversified tenants creating lower risk in periods of economic fluctuations. Our largest tenant represented approximately 6.43%  of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Geographic Diversification Table

The following table shows a list of properties we owned as of December 31, 2023, grouped by the state where each of our investments is located.

Office/Industrial and Retail Properties:

Model Home Properties:

The following table summarizes information relating to our properties (excluding model homes) at December 31, 2023:

Property Summary

Top Ten Tenants Physical Occupancy Table

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to our top 10 tenants at our Office/Industrial and Retail Properties.