Stockholders' Equity And Noncontrolling Interest

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Stockholders' Equity And Noncontrolling Interest [Abstract]

Stockholders' Equity And Noncontrolling Interest

12. STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY AND NONCONTROLLING INTEREST

Recapitalization and Merger

     AmREIT Class C and D common shares were converted into AmREIT Class A common shares in November 2009 pursuant to the AmREIT Declaration of Trust. The AmREIT Class A shares were then simultaneously exchanged on a 1:1 basis for AmREIT, Inc. shares. Upon consummation of the AmREIT recapitalization and the simultaneous merger with REITPlus, AmREIT, Inc. has a single class of common stock outstanding as further described below. See also Note 14.

Common Stock

     Our charter authorizes us to issue 1,050,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 1,000,000,000 shares of capital stock are designated as common stock with a par value of $0.01 per share and 50,000,000 shares of capital stock are designated as preferred stock with a par value of $0.01 per share. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, there were 23,197,917 and 23,113,916 shares of our common stock outstanding, respectively. Our payment of any future dividends to our common stockholders is dependent upon applicable legal and contractual restrictions, as well as our earnings and financial needs.

Deferred Compensation Incentive Plan

     Under the AmREIT, Inc. 1999 Flexible Incentive Plan, 1,391,875 shares of our common stock are available for awards of stock options, restricted stock awards, stock appreciation rights and other awards to our employees and non-employee directors. The number of shares of our common stock that may be issued under the 1999 Flexible Incentive Plan at any time is equal to 6% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock.