12. Stock Based Compensation

In May 2014, the stockholders of the Company approved a stock incentive plan (the “2014 Stock Incentive Plan”), which is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors and replaces all prior active long term stock incentive plans (the "Prior Plans"). After approval of the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, no further awards may be issued under the Prior Plans but outstanding awards previously granted under Prior Plans remained outstanding in accordance with their terms. The number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan is equal to 3.6 million shares plus shares equal to the aggregate number of outstanding awards previously granted under the Prior Plans at the time the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan was approved, resulting in a total of 4.9 million shares that have been reserved for issuance under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan. As of December 31, 2014, awards covering 3.5 million shares of common stock were available to be granted under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan.

Officers, certain employees, our independent directors and our affiliates generally are eligible to participate in the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan. Awards made under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan can be in the form of restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, performance share awards, dividend equivalent rights, non-statutory stock options and stock appreciation rights. Special provisions apply to awards granted under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan in the event of a change in control in the Company.

In September 1994, the Board of Directors approved and we adopted a 401(k)/Profit Sharing Plan. Under our 401(k)/Profit Sharing Plan, all eligible employees may participate by making voluntary contributions. We may make, but are not required to make, matching contributions. For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, total expense recognized for the 401(k)/Profit Sharing Plan related to matching contributions was $387, $300 and $284, respectively.

For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, we awarded 299,805, 284,461 and 565,137 shares, respectively, of restricted stock awards to certain employees, which had a fair value of $5,413, $4,719 and $7,065 on the date of approval by either the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors or the approval date of the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan. These restricted stock awards were issued based upon the achievement of certain corporate performance goals and generally vest over a period of three years. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2014, we awarded 19,250 shares of restricted stock to non-employee members of the Board of Directors, which had a fair value of $350 on the date of approval. These restricted stock awards vest over a one-year period.

Compensation expense is charged to earnings over the vesting periods for the shares expected to vest except if the recipient is not required to provide future service in exchange for vesting of such shares. If vesting of a recipient's restricted stock award is not contingent upon future service, the expense is recognized immediately at the date of grant. During the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, we recognized $1,451, $1,008 and $3,649, respectively, of compensation expense related to restricted stock awards granted to our Chief Executive Officer for which future service was not required.

The Board of Directors adopted the 2013 Long-Term Incentive Program ("LTIP") and, effective July 1, 2013, certain officers and employees were granted 718,960 performance units ("LTIP Unit Awards"). The LTIP Unit Awards had a fair value of $5,411 on the grant date as determined by a lattice-binomial option-pricing model based on a Monte Carlo simulation. The LTIP Unit Awards vest based upon the relative total shareholder return ("TSR") of our common stock compared to the TSRs of the MSCI US REIT Index and the NAREIT Industrial Index. The TSR for half of the granted units is calculated based upon the performance from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014 and the TSR for the other half is calculated based upon the performance from July 1, 2013 through December 31, 2015. Compensation expense is charged to earnings on a straight-line basis over the respective performance periods. At the end of the respective performance periods each participant will be issued shares of our common stock equal to the maximum shares issuable to the participant for the performance period multiplied by a percentage, ranging from 0% to 100% based on our TSR as compared to the TSRs of the MSCI US REIT Index and the NAREIT Industrial Index. The participant is also entitled to dividend equivalents for shares issued pursuant to vested LTIP Unit Awards, which dividend equivalents represent any common dividends that would have been paid with respect to such issued shares after the grant of the LTIP Unit Awards and prior to the date of settlement.

As mentioned above, the fair value of the LTIP Unit Awards at issuance was determined by a lattice-binomial option-pricing model based on a Monte Carlo simulation using the following assumptions:



Expected dividend yield	2.22	%
Expected volatility - range used	24.28% - 34.66%
Expected volatility - weighted average	30.61	%
Risk-free interest rate	0.03% - 0.71%
Expected term	1 - 2.5 years

For the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, we recognized $7,605, $6,202 and $8,559, respectively, in amortization related to restricted stock and unit awards and LTIP Unit Awards, of which $41, $43 and $32 was capitalized in connection with development activities. At December 31, 2014, we had $5,079 in unrecognized compensation related to unvested restricted stock awards and LTIP Unit Awards. The weighted average period that the unrecognized compensation is expected to be recognized is 0.79 years.

Restricted stock and unit award and LTIP Unit Award transactions for the year ended December 31, 2014 are summarized as follows:



	Awards		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2013 (Restricted Stock and Unit and LTIP Unit Awards)	1,281,221		$	9.72
Issued (Restricted Stock Awards)	319,055		$	18.06
Forfeited (Restricted Stock and Unit and LTIP Unit Awards)	(105,346	)	$	5.83
Vested (Restricted Stock and LTIP Unit Awards)	(678,212	)	$	10.69
Outstanding at December 31, 2014 (Restricted Stock and LTIP Unit Awards)	816,718		$	12.68