Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AND NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS

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SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AND NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Equity [Abstract]  
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AND NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY AND NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS
Shareholders' Equity
The Company completed its initial public offering on April 28, 2015, pursuant to which it sold 23,000,000 of its common shares, at a price of $13.00 per share, which included 3,000,000 common shares sold upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares. These transactions resulted in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $278.1 million, after deducting the underwriting discount and before additional expenses associated with the offering.
Common Share Offerings
On July 6, 2016, the Company closed a follow-on public offering of 12,046,250 of its common shares, which included 1,571,250 common shares sold upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional common shares, at a public offering price of $20.75 per share. The Company received aggregate net proceeds from the offering of approximately $237.5 million after deducting the underwriting discount and additional expenses associated with the offering. 
On December 16, 2016, the Company closed a follow-on offering of 5,175,000 of its common shares, which included 675,000 common shares sold upon the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional common shares, at an offering price of $20.48 per share. The Company received aggregate net proceeds from the offering of approximately $105.5 million after deducting the underwriting discount and additional expenses associated with the offering. 
At the Market ("ATM") Program
On October 11, 2016, the Company entered into open market sales agreements with four agents, pursuant to which the Company may sell from time to time up to $200 million of the Company's common shares in sales deemed to be "at the market offerings." The Company may offer the common shares through the agents, as sales agents, or to the agents, acting as principals by means of, among others, ordinary brokers’ transactions on the NYSE or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale or at negotiated prices.
During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company sold 1,740,959 of its common shares through the ATM program. The common shares were sold at an average offering price of $19.54 per share, resulting in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $33.6 million after deducting compensation payable by the Company to such agents, but before expenses.
Noncontrolling Interests
All of the limited partner equity interests in the Company's operating partnership not held by the Company are reflected as noncontrolling interests. Noncontrolling interests also include ownership interests in DownREIT partnerships held by entities other than the Company's operating partnership. NSA is the general partner of its operating partnership and is authorized to cause its operating partnership to issue additional partner interests, including OP units and subordinated performance units, at such prices and on such other terms as it determines in its sole discretion. While the Company controls its operating partnership and manages the daily operations of its operating partnership's business, the Company did not have an ownership interest or share in its operating partnership's profits and losses prior to the completion of the Company's initial public offering.
As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, units reflecting noncontrolling interests consisted of the following:
 
December 31,
 
2016
 
2015
OP units
26,125,444

 
21,556,006

Subordinated performance units
11,022,378

 
9,302,989

LTIP units
1,543,905

 
2,784,761

DownREIT units
 
 
 
DownREIT OP units
1,834,786

 
1,834,786

DownREIT subordinated performance units
4,386,999

 
4,386,999

Total
44,913,512

 
39,865,541


OP Units and DownREIT OP units
OP units in the Company's operating partnership are redeemable for cash or, at the Company's option, exchangeable for common shares on a one-for-one basis, and DownREIT OP units are redeemable for cash or, at the Company's option, exchangeable for OP units in its operating partnership on a one-for-one basis, subject to certain adjustments in each case. The holders of OP units are generally not entitled to elect redemption until one year after the later of the closing of the Company's initial public offering or the issuance of the OP units. The holders of DownREIT OP units are generally not entitled to elect redemption until five years after the date of the contributor's initial contribution. Accordingly, these limited partner interests are included in noncontrolling interests within equity in the accompanying balance sheets as of December 31, 2016 and 2015.
The increase in OP Units outstanding from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2016 was due to 4,392,081 OP units issued in connection with the acquisition of self storage properties and 1,302,860 LTIP units which were converted into OP units, as discussed further below, partially offset by the redemption of 1,125,503 OP units.
Subordinated Performance Units and DownREIT Subordinated Performance Units
Subordinated performance units may also, under certain circumstances, be convertible into OP units which are exchangeable for common shares as described above, and DownREIT subordinated performance units may, under certain circumstances, be exchangeable for subordinated performance units on a one-for-one basis. Subordinated performance units are only convertible into OP units after a two year lock-out period and then generally (i) at the holder’s election only upon the achievement of certain performance thresholds relating to the properties to which such subordinated performance units relate or (ii) at the Company's election upon a retirement event of a PRO that holds such subordinated performance units or upon certain qualifying terminations. The holders of DownREIT subordinated performance units are generally not entitled to elect redemption until at least five years after the date of the contributor's initial contribution.
The increase in subordinated performance units outstanding from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2016 was related to the acquisition of self storage properties.
LTIP Units
LTIP units are a special class of partnership interest in the Company's operating partnership that allow the holder to participate in the ordinary and liquidating distributions received by holders of the OP units (subject to the achievement of specified levels of profitability by the Company's operating partnership or the achievement of certain events). LTIP units may also, under certain circumstances, be convertible into OP units on a one-for-one basis, which are then exchangeable for common shares as described above.
LTIP units were first granted under the 2013 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the "2013 Plan"). Some of the granted LTIP units vested immediately or upon completion of the Company's initial public offering. Others vest upon the contribution of self storage properties or along a schedule at certain times through January 1, 2019. LTIP units do not have full parity with OP units with respect to liquidating distributions and do not receive ordinary distributions until such parity is reached pursuant to the terms of the LP Agreement. If such parity is reached under the LP Agreement, upon vesting, vested LTIP units may be converted into an equal number of OP units, and thereafter have all the rights of OP units, including redemption rights. See Note 9 for additional information about the Company's LTIP Units.
The decrease in LTIP units outstanding from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2016 was due to the conversion of 1,302,860 LTIP units into 1,302,860 OP units and the forfeiture of 118,300 LTIP units, partially offset by the issuance of 180,304 compensatory LTIP units to employees, consultants and trustees.
Distributions
The Company is entitled to cause its operating partnership to make distributions to OP unit holders and subordinated performance unit holders in its operating partnership from time to time in its sole discretion. To the extent distributions are made, the holders of OP units are entitled to receive distributions with respect to all of the Company's self storage property portfolio and the holders of each series of subordinated performance units are entitled to receive distributions with respect to the portfolio of self storage properties to which the series of subordinated performance units relates. To the extent that there is available operating cash flow or capital transaction proceeds, subject to maintaining the Company's qualification as a REIT, the Company may cause its operating partnership to make distributions.