SHARE BASED COMPENSATION

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

13. SHARE BASED COMPENSATION

Restricted Share Rights Awards

As of March 31, 2022, 777,423 restricted share rights ("Restricted Share Rights") were outstanding under the Company's long term equity incentive plan. These Restricted Share Rights vest over one to three years from the initial grant dates. The remaining compensation expense to be recognized with respect to these awards at March 31, 2022 was $3.5 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 1.15 years. During the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, the amortization related to outstanding Restricted Share Rights was $2.5 million (of which $0.3 million was capitalized) and $2.3 million (of which $0.3 million was capitalized), respectively. Compensation expense related to outstanding Restricted Share Rights is included in general and administrative expense.

The following table summarizes the Company’s Restricted Share Rights activity during the three months ended March 31, 2022:


	Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Non-vested at January 1, 2022	474,978	$	13.51
Granted	306,555	$	13.30
Vested	(3,440)	$	13.30
Forfeited	(670)	$	14.96
Non-vested at March 31, 2022	777,423	$	13.43

On March 3, 2022, the Compensation Committee of the Parent Company’s Board of Trustees awarded to officers of the Company an aggregate of 258,427 Restricted Share Rights, which vest over three years from the grant date. Each Restricted Share Right entitles the holder to one common share upon settlement. The Parent Company pays dividend equivalents on the Restricted Share Rights prior to the settlement date. Vesting and/or settlement would accelerate if the recipient of the award were to die, become disabled or, in the case of certain of such Restricted Share Rights, retire in a qualifying retirement prior to the vesting or settlement date. Qualifying retirement generally means the recipient’s voluntary termination of employment after reaching at least age 57 and accumulating at least 15 years of service with the Company. In addition, vesting would also accelerate if the Parent Company were to undergo a change of control and, on or before the first anniversary of the change of control, the recipient’s employment were to cease due to a termination without cause or resignation with good reason.

The Restricted Share Rights granted in 2022, 2021, and 2020 to certain senior executives include an “outperformance feature” whereby additional shares may be earned, up to 200% of the shares subject to the basic award, based on the Company’s achievement of earnings-based targets and development, or investment, based targets during a three-year performance period with an additional 366 days of service generally required to fully vest. In addition to the basic award, up to an aggregate of 406,179, 388,840, and 316,236 shares may be awarded under the outperformance feature for the 2022, 2021, and 2020 awards, respectively, to those senior officers whose Restricted Share Rights awards include the "outperformance feature." As of March 31, 2022, the Company has not recognized any compensation expense related to the outperformance feature for the 2020-2022 awards. The Company will continue to evaluate progression towards achievement of the performance metrics on a quarterly basis and recognize compensation expense for the outperformance feature of these awards should it be determined that achievement of these metrics is probable.

In addition, on March 3, 2022, the Compensation Committee awarded non-officer employees an aggregate of 48,128 Restricted Share Rights that generally vest in three equal annual installments. Vesting of these awards is subject to acceleration upon death, disability or termination without cause within one year following a change of control.

In accordance with the accounting standard for share-based compensation, the Company amortizes share-based compensation costs through the qualifying retirement dates for those executives and Trustees who meet the conditions for qualifying retirement during the scheduled vesting period and whose award agreements provide for vesting upon a qualifying retirement.

Restricted Performance Share Units Plan

The Compensation Committee of the Parent Company’s Board of Trustees has granted performance share-based awards (referred to as Restricted Performance Share Units, or RPSUs) to officers of the Parent Company. The RPSUs are settled in common shares, with the number of common shares issuable in settlement determined based on the Company’s total shareholder return over specified measurement periods compared to total shareholder returns of comparative groups over the measurement periods. The table below presents certain information as to unvested RPSU awards.


	RPSU Grant Date
	3/5/2020		3/5/2021		3/3/2022		Total
(Amounts below in shares, unless otherwise noted)
Non-vested at January 1, 2022	314,055		374,161		—		688,216
Granted	—		—		516,852		516,852


Non-vested at March 31, 2022	314,055		374,161		516,852		1,205,068
Measurement Period Commencement Date	1/1/2020		1/1/2021		1/1/2022
Measurement Period End Date	12/31/2022		12/31/2023		12/31/2024
Granted	319,600		380,957		516,852
Fair Value of Units on Grant Date (in thousands)	$	5,389	$	6,389	$	7,551

The Company values each RPSU on its grant date using a Monte Carlo simulation. The fair values of each award are being amortized over the three year performance period. For the 2020 and 2021 awards, dividend equivalents are credited as additional RPSUs during the performance period, subject to the same terms and conditions as the original RPSUs. The performance period will be abbreviated and the determination and delivery of earned shares will be accelerated in the event of a change in control or if the recipient of the award were to die, become disabled or retire in a qualifying retirement prior to the end of the otherwise applicable three year performance period; provided that, in the case of qualifying retirement for the March 2022, 2021 and 2020 grants, the number of shares deliverable will be pro-rated based on the portion of the performance period actually worked before retirement. In accordance with the accounting standard for share-based compensation, the Company amortizes stock-based compensation costs for the February 2019 grant through the qualifying retirement date for those executives who meet the conditions for qualifying retirement during the scheduled vesting period.

For the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company recognized amortization of the 2022, 2021 and 2020 RPSU awards of $1.2 million, of which $0.1 million was capitalized consistent with the Company’s policies for capitalizing eligible portions of employee compensation. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, amortization for the 2021, 2020 and 2019 RPSU awards was $0.8 million, of which $0.1 million was capitalized consistent with the Company’s policies for capitalizing eligible portions of employee compensation.

The remaining compensation expense to be recognized with respect to the non-vested RPSUs at March 31, 2022 was approximately $12.6 million and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 2.01 years.

The Company issued 277,061 common shares on February 1, 2022 in settlement of RPSUs that had been awarded on February 21, 2019 (with a three-year measurement period ended December 31, 2021). Holders of these RPSUs also received a cash dividend of $0.19 per share for these common shares on January 19, 2022.