Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT (PCOK) Risk Analysis

The deed of trust that governs the terms of the bonds issued to Israeli investors contains various restrictive covenants. Such restrictive covenants may prohibit us from making certain investments, selling properties or taking certain other actions that our board of directors otherwise believes to be in our best interests. Such restrictions may adversely affect our operations and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders or fund redemptions. Under the deed of trust that governs the Series B Bonds, Pacific Oak SOR BVI must meet financial covenants such as (i) a minimum equity of $475 million; (ii) a maximum debt to capital of 75%; (iii) a minimum adjusted net operating income of $35.0 million for the trailing twelve months and (iv) the volume of development projects should not exceed 10% of the total adjusted balance sheet. Additionally, under the deed of trust that governs the Series C Bonds, Pacific Oak SOR BVI must meet financial covenants such as (i) a minimum equity of $450 million; (ii) a maximum debt to capital of 75%; and (iii) a maximum loan to collateral ratio of 75%. A violation of any of the foregoing financial covenants constitute an event of default, result in an increase of the interest rate of the bonds and cause the bonds to become immediately due and payable.

Many factors that are 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 and other factors, including supply and demand. 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. Further, before we can sell a property on the terms we want, it may be necessary to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements. However, we can give no assurance that we will have the funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. We may be unable to sell our properties at a profit. Our inability to sell properties at the time and on the terms we want could reduce our cash flow and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and could reduce the value of our shares.

We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, joint ventures with third parties to make investments. We may also make investments in partnerships or other co-ownership arrangements or participations. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present with other methods of investment, including, for example, the following risks: - that our co-venturer or partner in an investment could become insolvent or bankrupt;- that such co-venturer or partner may at any time have economic or business interests or goals that are or that become inconsistent with our business interests or goals; or - that such co-venturer or partner may be in a position to take action contrary to our instructions or requests or contrary to our policies or objectives. Any of the above might subject us to liabilities and thus reduce our returns on our investment with that co-venturer or partner.

Our charter provides that any tender offer made by a stockholder, including any "mini-tender" offer, must comply with most provisions of Regulation 14D of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). The offering stockholder must provide us with notice of such tender offer at least 10 business days before initiating the tender offer. If the offering stockholder does not comply with these requirements, we will have the right to redeem that stockholder's shares and any shares acquired in such tender offer. In addition, the noncomplying stockholder shall be responsible for all of our expenses in connection with that stockholder's noncompliance. This provision of our charter may discourage a stockholder from initiating a tender offer for our shares and prevent our stockholders from receiving a premium price for their shares in such a transaction.

Under Maryland law, "business combinations" between a Maryland corporation and certain interested stockholders or affiliates of interested stockholders are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. Also under Maryland law, control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent approved by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquirer, an officer of the corporation or an employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation are excluded from the vote on whether to accord voting rights to the control shares. Should our board of directors opt into these provisions of Maryland law, it may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. Similarly, provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the Maryland General Corporation Law could provide similar anti-takeover protection.

Our common stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares we issue in the future. Our charter authorizes us to issue 1,010,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 1,000,000,000 shares are designated as common stock and 10,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock. Our board of directors may increase the number of authorized shares of capital stock without stockholder approval. Our board may elect to (i) sell additional shares in our current or future public offerings, including through our dividend reinvestment plan if we elect to resume it, (ii) issue equity interests in private offerings, (iii) issue shares to our advisor, or its successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation or (iv) issue shares of our common stock to sellers of assets we acquire in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership. To the extent we issue additional equity interests, our stockholders' percentage ownership interest in us will be diluted. In addition, depending upon the terms and pricing of any additional offerings, the use of the proceeds and the value of our investments, our stockholders may also experience dilution in the book value and fair value of their shares and in the earnings and distributions per share.

On November 30, 2023, our board of directors approved an estimated value per share of our common stock of $8.03 based on the estimated value of our assets less the estimated value of our liabilities, or net asset value, divided by the number of shares outstanding as of September 30, 2023. There were no material changes between September 30, 2023 and November 30, 2023 to the net values of our assets and liabilities that materially impacted the overall estimated value per share. We are providing this estimated value per share to assist broker-dealers that participated in our initial public offering in meeting their customer account statement reporting obligations under National Association of Securities Dealers Conduct Rule 2340 as required by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). This valuation was performed in accordance with the provisions of and also to comply with Practice Guideline 2013–01, Valuations of Publicly Registered Non-Listed REITs, issued by the Investment Program Association ("IPA") in April 2013. The estimated value per share was based upon the recommendation and valuation prepared by our advisor. As with any valuation methodology, the methodologies used are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that may not be accurate or complete. Different parties with different assumptions and estimates could derive a different estimated value per share, and these differences could be significant. The estimated value per share is not audited and does not represent the fair value of our assets less our liabilities according to GAAP, nor does it represent a liquidation value of our assets and liabilities or the amount at which our shares of common stock would trade at on a national securities exchange. The estimated value per share does not reflect a discount for the fact that we are externally managed, nor does it reflect a real estate portfolio premium/discount versus the sum of the individual property values. The estimated value per share also does not take into account estimated disposition costs and fees for real estate properties that are not held for sale, debt prepayment penalties that could apply upon the prepayment of certain of our debt obligations or the impact of restrictions on the assumption of debt. The estimated value per share does consider any participation or incentive fees that would be due to our advisor based on our aggregate net asset value and that would be payable in our hypothetical liquidation as of the valuation date in accordance with the terms of our advisory agreement. Accordingly, with respect to the estimated value per share, we can give no assurance that: - a stockholder would be able to resell his or her shares at this estimated value per share;- a stockholder would ultimately realize distributions per share equal to our estimated value per share upon liquidation of our assets and settlement of our liabilities or a sale of the company;- our shares of common stock would trade at the estimated value per share on a national securities exchange;- an independent third-party appraiser or other third-party valuation firm would agree with our estimated value per share; or - the methodology used to estimate our value per share would be acceptable to FINRA or for compliance with ERISA reporting requirements. For a full description of the methodologies and assumptions used to value our assets and liabilities in connection with the calculation of the estimated value per share, see Part II, Item 5, "Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities - Market Information." We currently expect to utilize our advisor and/or an independent valuation firm to update the estimated value per share in December 2024.

Our share redemption program includes numerous restrictions that limit our stockholders' ability to sell their shares. Our stockholders must hold their shares for at least one year in order to participate in the share redemption program, except for redemptions sought upon a stockholder's death, "qualifying disability" or "determination of incompetence." We limit the number of shares redeemed pursuant to the share redemption program as follows: (i) during any calendar year, we may redeem no more than 5% of the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the prior calendar year and (ii) during 2024, we may redeem no more than $2.2 million of shares in connection with a stockholder's death, "qualifying disability" or "determination of incompetence". During the year ended December 31, 2023, we made available $6.0 million for redemptions in connection with a stockholder's death, "qualifying disability", or "determination of incompetence" and are carry forward until depleted. We may increase or decrease this limit upon ten business days' notice to stockholders. Further, we have no obligation to redeem shares if the redemption would violate the restrictions on distributions under Maryland law, which prohibits distributions that would cause a corporation to fail to meet statutory tests of solvency. These limits may prevent us from accommodating all redemption requests made in any year. Our board is free to amend, suspend or terminate the share redemption program upon 10 business days' notice. The price at which we will redeem shares under the program is 95% of our most recent estimated value per share. The most recent estimated value per share of our common stock is $8.03. For a full description of the methodologies and assumptions used to value our assets and liabilities in connection with the calculation of the estimated value per share, see Part II, Item 5, "Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities - Market Information." The value of our shares will fluctuate over time in response to developments related to individual assets in our portfolio and the management of those assets and in response to the real estate and finance markets. As such, the estimated value per share does not take into account developments in our portfolio since November 30, 2023. We currently expect to utilize our advisor and/or an independent valuation firm to update our estimated value per share no later than December 2024. Upon updating our estimated value per share, the redemption price per share will also change. Because of the restrictions of our share redemption program, our stockholders may not be able to sell their shares under the program, and if stockholders are able to sell their shares, depending upon the then current redemption price, they may not recover the amount of their investment in us.

Our board of directors determines our major policies, including our policies regarding financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions. Our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies without a vote of the stockholders. Under Maryland General Corporation Law and our charter, our stockholders have a right to vote only on limited matters. Our board's broad discretion in setting policies and our stockholders' inability to exert control over those policies increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face.

Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries intend to register as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). If we or our subsidiaries were obligated to register as investment companies, we would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act that impose, among other things: - limitations on capital structure;- restrictions on specified investments;- prohibitions on transactions with affiliates; and - compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations that would significantly increase our operating expenses. Under the relevant provisions of Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act, an investment company is any issuer that: - pursuant to section 3(a)(1)(A), is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities (the "primarily engaged test"); or - pursuant to section 3(a)(1)(C), is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire "investment securities" having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such issuer's total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis (the "40% test"). "Investment securities" excludes U.S. government securities and securities of majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) (relating to private investment companies). With respect to the primarily engaged test, we and our Operating Partnership are holding companies and do not intend to invest or trade in securities ourselves. Rather, through the majority-owned subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership, we and our Operating Partnership will be primarily engaged in the non-investment company businesses of these subsidiaries, namely the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring real estate and real estate-related assets. If any of the subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership fail to meet the 40% test, we believe they will usually, if not always, be able to rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act for an exception from the definition of an investment company. Otherwise, they should be able to rely on the exceptions for private investment companies pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) and Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act. As reflected in no-action letters, the SEC staff's position on Section 3(c)(5)(C) generally requires that an issuer maintain at least 55% of its assets in "mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate," or qualifying assets; at least 80% of its assets in qualifying assets plus real estate-related assets; and no more than 20% of the value of its assets in other than qualifying assets and real estate-related assets, which we refer to as miscellaneous assets. To constitute a qualifying asset under this 55% requirement, a real estate interest must meet various criteria based on no-action letters. We expect that any of the subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership relying on Section 3(c)(5)(C) will invest at least 55% of its assets in qualifying assets, and approximately an additional 25% of its assets in other types of real estate-related assets. If any subsidiary relies on Section 3(c)(5)(C), we expect to rely on guidance published by the SEC staff or on our analyses of guidance published with respect to types of assets to determine which assets are qualifying real estate assets and real estate-related assets.

Our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends and other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock. Such preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, 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 to holders of our common stock.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. To help us comply with the REIT ownership requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Internal Revenue Code"), our charter prohibits a person from directly or constructively owning more than 9.8% of our outstanding shares, unless exempted by our board of directors. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, 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.

All of our executive officers, our affiliated directors and the key real estate and debt finance professionals assembled by our advisor are also executive officers, affiliated directors, managers, key professionals and/or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interest in our advisor, our dealer manager, and/or other Pacific Oak-affiliated investment advisors that are the sponsors of other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs or are the advisors of Pacific Oak-advised investors. As a result, they owe fiduciary duties to each of these entities, their stockholders, members and limited partners and these investors, which fiduciary duties may from time-to-time conflict with the fiduciary duties that they owe to us and our stockholders. Their loyalties to these other entities and investors could result in action or inaction that is detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our business strategy and our investment and leasing opportunities. Further, Messrs. Hall and McMillan and existing and future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors generally are not and will not be prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate investments. If we do not successfully implement our business strategy, we may be unable to generate the cash needed to pay distributions to our stockholders and to maintain or increase the value of our assets.

We rely on the key real estate and debt finance professionals of our advisor and its affiliates, including Messrs. Hall and McMillan, to identify suitable investments. Messrs. Hall and McMillan and other real estate professionals are also the key real estate professionals for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors. As such, other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors that have funds available for investment rely on many of the same professionals, as will future programs and investors. Some investment opportunities that are suitable for us may also be suitable for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors. Although there may be some overlap of investment opportunities, we generally do not expect to be in direct competition with these programs due to their specific investment focus and timing of funds available for investment. When these real estate and debt finance professionals direct an investment opportunity to any Pacific Oak-sponsored program or Pacific Oak-advised investors, they, in their sole discretion, will have to determine the program or investor for which the investment opportunity is most suitable based on the investment objectives, portfolio and criteria of each program or investor. As a result, these Pacific Oak real estate and debt finance professionals could direct attractive investment opportunities to other programs or investors. For so long as we are externally advised, our charter provides that it shall not be a proper purpose of the corporation for us to make any significant investment unless our advisor and its affiliates have recommended the investment to us. Thus, the real estate and debt finance professionals of our advisor and its affiliates could direct attractive investment opportunities to other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs or Pacific Oak-advised investors. Such events could result in us investing in properties that provide less attractive returns, which would reduce the level of distributions we may be able to pay our stockholders. We and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors also rely on these real estate professionals to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. If the Pacific Oak team of real estate professionals directs creditworthy prospective tenants to properties owned by another Pacific Oak-sponsored program or Pacific Oak-advised investor when it could direct such tenants to our properties, our tenant base may have more inherent risk and our properties' occupancy may be lower than might otherwise be the case. In addition, we and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors rely on our sponsor and other key real estate professionals at our advisor and its affiliates to sell our properties. These Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors may possess properties in similar locations and/or of the same property types as ours and may be attempting to sell these properties at the same time we are attempting to sell some of our properties. If our advisor and its affiliates direct potential purchasers to properties owned by another Pacific Oak-sponsored program or Pacific Oak-advised investor when it could direct such purchasers to our properties, we may be unable to sell some or all of our properties at the time or at the price we otherwise would, which could limit our ability to pay distributions and reduce our stockholders' overall investment return. Further, existing and future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors and Messrs. Hall and McMillan generally are not and will not be prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, origination, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate-related investments.

We and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors rely on our sponsors and other key real estate professionals at our advisor, including Messrs. Hall and McMillan, to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. If the Pacific Oak team of real estate professionals directs credit-worthy prospective tenants to properties owned by another Pacific Oak-sponsored program or Pacific Oak-advised investor when they could direct such tenants to our properties, our tenant base may have more inherent risk and our properties' occupancy may be lower than might otherwise be the case. Further, Messrs. Hall and McMillan and existing and future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors are generally not prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate investments.

All of our executive officers and some of our directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals are also officers, directors, managers, key professionals and/or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interest in our advisor, Pacific Oak Capital Markets, LLC ("POCM") and other affiliated Pacific Oak entities. Our advisor and its affiliates receive substantial fees from us. These fees could influence our advisor and its affiliates' advice to us. Among other matters, these compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to: - the continuation, renewal or enforcement of our agreements with our advisor and its affiliates, including the advisory agreement;- public offerings of equity by us, which may entitle POCM to dealer-manager fees and may entitle our advisor to asset management fees and certain other fees;- sales of investments, which may entitle our advisor to disposition fees and possible subordinated incentive fees;- acquisitions of investments and originations of loans, which may entitle our advisor to acquisition and origination fees and asset management fees and, in the case of acquisitions of investments from other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs, might entitle affiliates of our advisor to disposition fees and possible subordinated incentive fees in connection with its services for the seller;- borrowings to acquire investments and to originate loans, which borrowings may increase the acquisition and origination fees and asset management fees payable to our advisor;- whether to engage our advisor, which may receive fees in connection with the management of our properties regardless of the quality of the services provided to us, to manage our properties; and - whether we pursue a liquidity event such as a listing of our shares of common stock on a national securities exchange, a sale of the company or a liquidation of our assets, which (i) may make it more likely for us to become self-managed or internalize our management, (ii) could positively or negatively affect the sales efforts for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs, depending on the price at which our shares trade or the consideration received by our stockholders, and/or (iii) affect the advisory fees received by our advisor. The fees our advisor may receive in connection with the acquisition, origination or management of assets are based on the cost of the investment, and not based on the quality of the investment or the quality of the services rendered to us. This may influence our advisor to recommend riskier transactions to us.

We may change our targeted investments and investment guidelines at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in us making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, our targeted investments as described in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For example, we modified our investment objectives and criteria in January 2012 and March 2024 and we may do so again in the future. A change in our targeted investments or investment guidelines may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk and real estate market fluctuations, all of which could adversely affect the value of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in that capacity if he performs his duties in good faith, in a manner he reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Our charter provides that no independent director shall be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages and that we will generally indemnify them for losses unless they are grossly negligent or engage in willful misconduct. As a result, our stockholders and we may have more limited rights against our independent directors than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce our stockholders' and our recovery from these persons if they act in a negligent manner. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our independent directors (as well as by our other directors, officers, employees (if we ever have employees) and agents) in some cases, which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to our stockholders.

Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders with respect to our company, our directors, our officers or our employees (we note we currently have no employees). This exclusive forum provision does not apply to claims under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage meritorious claims from being asserted against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We adopted this provision because we believe it makes it less likely that we will be forced to incur the expense of defending duplicative actions in multiple forums and less likely that plaintiffs' attorneys will be able to employ such litigation to coerce us into otherwise unjustified settlements, and we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this provision is remote, as the General Assembly of Maryland has specifically amended the Maryland General Corporation Law to authorize the adoption of such provisions.

Our charter does not require our directors to seek stockholder approval to liquidate our assets by a specified date, nor does our charter require our directors to list our shares for trading on a national securities exchange by a specified date. There is no public market for our shares and we currently have no plans to list our shares on a national securities exchange. Until our shares are listed, if ever, our stockholders may not sell their shares unless the buyer meets the applicable suitability and minimum purchase standards. In addition, our charter prohibits the ownership of more than 9.8% of our stock, unless exempted by our board of directors, which may inhibit large investors from purchasing our shares. In its sole discretion, our board of directors could amend, suspend or terminate our share redemption program upon ten business days' notice. Further, the share redemption program includes numerous restrictions that would limit a stockholder's ability to sell his or her shares. Therefore, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares promptly or at all. It is also likely that our shares would not be accepted as the primary collateral for a loan. Because of the illiquid nature of our shares, our stockholders should be prepared to hold our shares for an indefinite period of time.

Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. While we intend to elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we may not elect to be treated as a REIT or may terminate our REIT election if we determine that qualifying as a REIT is no longer in our best interests. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our stockholders and on the market price of our common stock.

We may make taxable distributions that are payable in cash and common stock. The IRS has issued private letter rulings to other REITs treating certain distributions that are paid partly in cash and partly in stock as taxable distributions that would satisfy the REIT annual distribution requirement and qualify for the dividends paid deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Those rulings may be relied upon only by taxpayers to whom they were issued, but we could request a similar ruling from the IRS. Accordingly, it is unclear whether and to what extent we will be able to make taxable distributions payable in cash and common stock. If we made a taxable dividend payable in cash and common stock, taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the dividend as taxable income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income tax with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash distributions received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the common stock that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount recorded in earnings with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our common stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in common stock.

Subject to certain exceptions, distributions received from us will be treated as dividends of ordinary income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Such dividends ordinarily will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty, unless the distributions are treated as "effectively connected" with the conduct by the non-U.S. stockholder of a U.S. trade or business. Pursuant to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, or FIRPTA, capital gain distributions attributable to sales or exchanges of "U.S. real property interests," or USRPIs, generally (subject to certain exceptions for "qualified foreign pension funds" and certain "qualified shareholders") will be taxed to a non-U.S. stockholder (other than a qualified foreign pension plan, entities wholly owned by a qualified foreign pension plan and certain publicly traded foreign entities) as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business unless FIRPTA provides an exemption. However, a capital gain dividend will not be treated as effectively connected income if (i) the distribution is received with respect to a class of stock that is regularly traded on an established securities market located in the United States and (ii) the non-U.S. stockholder does not own more than 10% of the class of our stock at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the distribution is received. We do not anticipate that our shares will be "regularly traded" on an established securities market for the foreseeable future, and therefore, this exception is not expected to apply. Gain recognized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or exchange of our common stock generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless such stock constitutes a USRPI under FIRPTA (subject to specific FIRPTA exemptions for certain non-U.S. stockholders). Our common stock will not constitute a USRPI so long as we are a "domestically-controlled qualified investment entity." A domestically-controlled qualified investment entity includes a REIT if at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of such REIT's stock is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. stockholders. Proposed Treasury Regulations issued on December 29, 2022 (the "Proposed Regulations") would modify the existing Treasury Regulations relating to the determination of whether we will be a domestically controlled REIT by providing a look through rule for our stockholders that are non-publicly traded partnerships, REITs, regulated investment companies, or domestic "C" corporations owned 25% or more directly or indirectly by foreign persons ("foreign-owned domestic corporations") and by treating qualified foreign pension funds as foreign persons for this purpose. Although the Proposed Regulations are intended to be effective for transactions occurring on or after the date they are finalized, the preamble to the Proposed Regulations states that the IRS may challenge contrary positions that are taken before the Proposed Regulations are finalized. Moreover, the Proposed Regulations, as currently drafted, would apply to determine whether a REIT was domestically controlled for the entire five-year testing period prior to any disposition of our common stock, rather than applying only to the portion of the testing period beginning on or after the Proposed Regulations are finalized. The Proposed Regulations relating to foreign-owned domestic corporations are inconsistent with prior tax guidance. We cannot predict if or when or in what form the Proposed Regulations will be finalized or what our composition of investors that are treated as domestic under these final regulations will be at the time of enactment. Proposed Treasury Regulations issued on December 29, 2022 (the "Proposed Regulations") would modify the existing Treasury Regulations relating to the determination of whether we will be a domestically controlled REIT by providing a look through rule for our stockholders that are non-publicly traded partnerships, REITs, regulated investment companies, or domestic "C" corporations owned 25% or more directly or indirectly by foreign persons ("foreign-owned domestic corporations") and by treating qualified foreign pension funds as foreign persons for this purpose. Although the Proposed Regulations are intended to be effective for transactions occurring on or after the date they are finalized, the preamble to the Proposed Regulations states that the IRS may challenge contrary positions that are taken before the Proposed Regulations are finalized. Moreover, the Proposed Regulations, as currently drafted, would apply to determine whether a REIT was domestically controlled for the entire five-year testing period prior to any disposition of our common stock, rather than applying only to the portion of the testing period beginning on or after the Proposed Regulations are finalized. The Proposed Regulations relating to foreign-owned domestic corporations are inconsistent with prior tax guidance. We cannot predict if or when or in what form the Proposed Regulations will be finalized or what our composition of investors that are treated as domestic under these final regulations will be at the time of enactment. Proposed Treasury Regulations issued on December 29, 2022 (the "Proposed Regulations") would modify the existing Treasury Regulations relating to the determination of whether we will be a domestically controlled REIT by providing a look through rule for our stockholders that are non-publicly traded partnerships, REITs, regulated investment companies, or domestic "C" corporations owned 25% or more directly or indirectly by foreign persons ("foreign-owned domestic corporations") and by treating qualified foreign pension funds as foreign persons for this purpose. Although the Proposed Regulations are intended to be effective for transactions occurring on or after the date they are finalized, the preamble to the Proposed Regulations states that the IRS may challenge contrary positions that are taken before the Proposed Regulations are finalized. Moreover, the Proposed Regulations, as currently drafted, would apply to determine whether a REIT was domestically controlled for the entire five-year testing period prior to any disposition of our common stock, rather than applying only to the portion of the testing period beginning on or after the Proposed Regulations are finalized. The Proposed Regulations relating to foreign-owned domestic corporations are inconsistent with prior tax guidance. We cannot predict if or when or in what form the Proposed Regulations will be finalized or what our composition of investors that are treated as domestic under these final regulations will be at the time of enactment. We believe, but cannot assure stockholders, that we will be a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity. Even if we do not qualify as a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity at the time a non-U.S. stockholder sells or exchanges our common stock, gain arising from such a sale or exchange would not be subject to U.S. taxation under FIRPTA as a sale of a USRPI if: (a) our common stock is "regularly traded," as defined by applicable Treasury Regulations, on an established securities market, and (b) such non-U.S. stockholder owned, actually and constructively, 10% or less of our common stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale. However, it is not anticipated that our common stock will be "regularly traded" on an established market. We encourage stockholders to consult their tax advisors to determine the tax consequences applicable to them if they are non-U.S. stockholders.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. To help us comply with the REIT ownership requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, among other purposes, our charter prohibits a person from directly or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our stock of any class or series or more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our common stock, unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board of directors. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might otherwise provide a premium price for holders of our shares of common stock.