v3.23.3
Note 1 - The Company
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Notes to Financial Statements  
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Text Block]

1.

The Company

Strategic Overview

 

Gyrodyne, LLC’s (including its subsidiaries, “Gyrodyne”, the “Company” or the “Registrant”) corporate strategy is to pursue entitlements on our two remaining properties, so that they can be sold to one or more developers with increased development flexibility at higher prices, thereby maximizing value and distributions. Gyrodyne intends to dissolve after we complete the disposition of our assets, apply the proceeds to settle debts and claims, and then pay liquidating distributions to our shareholders.

 

Gyrodyne filed subdivision applications in March 2017 with respect to Cortlandt Manor and Flowerfield. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant delays in the regulatory approval process, as state, county and local staff charged with processing our subdivision applications all postponed activity due to work-from-home transitions.

 

On March 30, 2022, the Town of Smithtown Planning Board (the “Planning Board”) unanimously granted Gyrodyne’s application for preliminary approval to divide the Flowerfield property into eight lots, subject to certain conditions (the “Flowerfield Subdivision Application”).

 

On April 26, 2022, the Incorporated Village of Head of the Harbor and certain other parties commenced a special proceeding under Article 78 of New York’s Civil Practice Law & Rules (the “Article 78 Proceeding”) against the Town of Smithtown and certain other parties, including Gyrodyne, seeking to annul the Planning Board’s determinations relating to the Flowerfield Subdivision Application. Specifically, the petition commencing the Article 78 Proceeding (the “Petition”) seeks to annul the Planning Board’s (i) approval of a findings statement pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”), dated September 16, 2021, and adopted by the Planning Board on March 30, 2022, concerning the Flowerfield Subdivision Application, and (ii) preliminary approval on March 30, 2022 of the Flowerfield Subdivision Application. The arguments made in the Petition are substantially similar to those made by opponents of the Flowerfield Subdivision Application during the SEQRA and subdivision process. Gyrodyne and the Town of Smithtown are vigorously defending the Planning Board’s determinations against the Petition. In June 2022, Gyrodyne and the Town of Smithtown filed motions to dismiss the Petition. During the third quarter, the Article 78 Proceeding was re-assigned to a different judge for the second time. Our motion to dismiss the case made in June of 2022 has yet to be decided.

 

The Article 78 Proceeding could take two years or more to run its course given the likelihood of appeal and the impact the pandemic has had on the court system. Nevertheless, Gyrodyne remains confident that the process of negotiating purchase agreements, securing final subdivision approval and final unappealable site plan approval and consummating the sale of our properties could still culminate by year-end 2024, although there can be no assurance that Gyrodyne and the Town of Smithtown will be successful in the defense of the Planning Board’s determinations against the Petition or that other factors beyond our control (i.e., potential contract contingencies including site plan approval for the undeveloped portion of Flowerfield (the developed portion, situated on two separate lots may be sold together or separately upon the resolution of the Article 78 Proceeding and the conclusion of the subdivision, without any site plan approvals)) will not necessitate an extension of the timeline.

 

The Flowerfield subdivision will remain subject to the Article 78 Proceeding unless Gyrodyne and the Town of Smithtown prevail in their defense of the Planning Board’s determinations against the Petition. Nevertheless, the Company will continue its efforts to identify one or more purchasers for Flowerfield and execute purchase agreements, and it is unclear at this time what impact, if any, the Article 78 Proceeding will have on such efforts.

 

On March 20, 2023, the Town of Cortlandt Town Board adopted the SEQRA findings statement and approved local law establishing the Medical Oriented Zoning District (the “MOD”) which includes Gyrodyne’s Cortlandt Manor property. Pursuant to the adopted MOD, Gyrodyne received designation for total density of 154,000 square feet to be comprised of 150,000 square feet of medical use and 4,000 square feet of retail use.

 

Various other factors will continue to impact the timeline to achieve approvals, including the backlog of land use applications, labor shortages and environmental concerns. Nevertheless, we will continue to market the properties and, although there can be no assurances, the Company believes subdivision approval will be received in mid-2024 for Flowerfield, and could be received for Cortlandt Manor in the fourth quarter of 2024, contingent on the timing for entering contracts (which we anticipate will include closing terms conditioned upon receiving subdivision (if requested) and site plan approval which the Company believes can be pursued simultaneously rather than sequentially).

 

Although Gyrodyne believes that selling individual lots will maximize value, it is also pursuing prospective purchasers who may be willing to pay purchase prices for the entire undivided Flowerfield or Cortlandt Manor property, or for the entire company itself, that Gyrodyne finds more attractive from a timing and value perspective.

 

Business

 

Gyrodyne is a limited liability company formed under the laws of the State of New York whose primary business is the management of, and the pursuit of entitlements on, a portfolio of medical office and industrial properties located in Suffolk (“Flowerfield”) and Westchester Counties (“Cortlandt Manor”), New York State.

 

Substantially all of our developed properties are subject to leases in which the tenant reimburses the Company for a portion, all of or substantially all of the costs and/or cost increases for utilities, insurance, repairs, maintenance and real estate taxes. Certain leases provide that the Company is responsible for certain operating expenses.

 

Our efforts to generate the highest values for Flowerfield and Cortlandt Manor may involve in limited circumstances other strategies to manage risk and or enhance the net value of Flowerfield and Cortlandt Manor to maximize the returns for our shareholders. Gyrodyne intends to dissolve after we complete the disposition of all of our real property assets, apply the proceeds of such dispositions first to settle any debts and claims, pending or otherwise, against Gyrodyne, and then pay distributions to holders of Gyrodyne common shares. The process of seeking entitlements and the amount and timing of distributions from proceeds of asset sales involve risks and uncertainties. As such, it is impossible at this time to determine with certainty the ultimate amount of proceeds that will actually be distributed to our shareholders or the timing of such payments. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the distributions will equal or exceed the estimate of net assets presented in our consolidated statements of net assets. The actual nature, amount and timing of all distributions will be determined by Gyrodyne’s Board in its sole discretion and will depend in part upon the Company’s ability to convert our remaining assets into cash in compliance with our obligations under the Stipulation entered into in connection with a class action lawsuit settled in 2015 (See Note 12 – Contingencies) and satisfy our remaining liabilities and obligations. Under Gyrodyne’s Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement (the “LLC Agreement”), such dissolution may be effected upon an election to dissolve the Company by the Board that is approved by the vote of holders of a majority of Gyrodyne common shares or, in the Board’s sole discretion and without any separate approval by the holders of Gyrodyne common shares, at any time the value of Gyrodyne’s assets, as determined by the Board in good faith, is less than $1,000,000.

 

The Company’s remaining real estate investments, each of which is held in a single asset limited liability company wholly owned by the Company, consist of:

 

Cortlandt Manor:13.8 acres in Cortlandt Manor, New York, consisting of the 31,000 square foot Cortlandt Manor Medical Center; and

 

Flowerfield: 63 acres in St. James, New York, including a 14-acre multi-tenanted industrial park comprising 135,000 rentable square feet.