XML 34 R17.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.22.4
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
Overview
During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Board of Trustees adopted an amendment and restatement of the Kite Realty Group Trust 2013 Equity Incentive Plan, which became effective as of shareholder approval on May 11, 2022 (the “Equity Plan”). The Equity Plan authorizes the issuance of share options, share appreciation rights, restricted shares and units, long-term incentive plan units (“LTIP units”), “appreciation only” LTIP units (“AO LTIP units”), performance awards and other share-based awards to employees and trustees for up to an additional 3,000,000 common share equivalents of the Company. The Company accounts for its share-based compensation in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions provided in ASC 718, Stock Compensation.
During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, the Company recognized $10.3 million, $7.2 million, and $5.6 million of share-based compensation expense, net of amounts capitalized, respectively, which is included within “General, administrative and other” expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, the Company capitalized $1.3 million, $1.0 million, and $1.2 million of share-based compensation for development activities, respectively. The Company recognizes forfeitures as they occur.
As of December 31, 2022, there were 6,372,430 shares and units available for grant under the Equity Plan.
Share Options
Pursuant to the Equity Plan, the Company may periodically grant options to purchase common shares at an exercise price equal to the grant date fair value of the Company’s common shares. Options granted typically vest over a five-year period and expire 10 years from the grant date. The Company issues new common shares upon the exercise of options.
The following table summarizes the option activity for the year ended December 31, 2022 (dollars in thousands except share and per share data):
OptionsWeighted Average
Exercise Price
Aggregate
Intrinsic Value
Weighted Average Remaining
Contractual Term (in years)
Outstanding as of January 1, 20221,250 $20.20 
Exercised(1,250)20.20 
Outstanding as of December 31, 2022— $— $— 0.00
Exercisable as of December 31, 2022— $— $— 0.00
Exercisable as of December 31, 20211,250 $20.20 
There were no options granted during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 or 2020.
The aggregate intrinsic value of the 1,250, 1,250 and 2,500 options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 was $3,300, $6,550 and $2,000, respectively. 
Restricted Shares
The Equity Plan authorizes the grant of restricted common shares, which are considered outstanding shares from the date of grant and typically vest over a period ranging from three to five years. The Company pays dividends on restricted shares and such dividends are charged directly to shareholders’ equity.
The following table summarizes the restricted share activity to employees and the Board of Trustees for the year ended December 31, 2022:
 Number of
Restricted Shares
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per share
Restricted shares outstanding as of January 1, 2022323,232 $18.27 
Shares granted206,855 21.15 
Shares forfeited(17,674)21.07 
Shares vested(211,580)18.38 
Restricted shares outstanding as of December 31, 2022300,833 $19.98 
The following table summarizes the restricted share grants and vestings during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 (dollars in thousands, except share and per share data):
Number of
Restricted Shares Granted
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per Share
Fair Value of
Restricted Shares Vested
2022206,855 $21.15 $4,459 
2021194,411 $19.85 $3,763 
2020211,476 $13.21 $2,727 
As of December 31, 2022, there was $3.4 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted shares, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.97 years. We expect to incur $2.1 million of this expense in 2023, $1.1 million in 2024, and the remainder in 2025.
Restricted Units
Time-based restricted unit awards were granted on a discretionary basis to the Company’s named executive officers in 2022, 2021 and 2020 based on a review of the prior year’s performance.
The following table summarizes the activity for the restricted unit awards for the year ended December 31, 2022:
 Number of
Restricted Units
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per unit
Restricted units outstanding as of January 1, 2022414,441 $13.24 
Restricted units granted138,505 17.07 
Restricted units vested(145,808)13.60 
Restricted units outstanding at December 31, 2022407,138 $14.41 
The following table summarizes the restricted unit grants and vestings during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 (dollars in thousands, except unit and per unit data):
Number of
Restricted Units Granted
Weighted Average
Grant Date Fair
Value per Unit
Fair Value of
Restricted Units Vested
2022138,505 $17.07 $3,173 
202172,689 $14.26 $2,956 
2020431,913 $13.10 $1,784 
As of December 31, 2022, there was $4.5 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted units, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.4 years. We expect to incur $2.0 million of this expense in 2023, $1.6 million in 2024, and the remainder in 2025.
AO LTIP Units
During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2021, in connection with its annual review of executive compensation and as described in the table below, the Compensation Committee approved an aggregate grant of AO LTIP Units to the Company’s executive officers under the Equity Plan.
 Number of
AO LTIP Units
Participation Threshold
per AO LTIP Unit
Executive2020 Awards2021 Awards2020 Awards2021 Awards
John A. Kite 1,729,729 477,612 $17.76 $16.69 
Thomas K. McGowan 405,405 149,254 $17.76 $16.69 
Heath R. Fear 275,675 119,403 $17.76 $16.69 
The Company entered into award agreements with each executive officer with respect to his awards, which provide terms of vesting, conversion, distribution, and other terms. AO LTIP Units are designed to have economics similar to stock options and allow the recipient, subject to vesting requirements, to realize value above a threshold level set as of the grant date of the award (the “Participation Threshold”). The value of vested AO LTIP Units is realized through conversion into a number of vested Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) Units in the Operating Partnership determined on the basis of how much the value of a common share of the Company has increased over the Participation Threshold.
The AO LTIP Units are only exercisable and convertible into vested LTIP Units of the Operating Partnership to the extent that they become vested AO LTIP Units. The awards of AO LTIP Units are subject to both time-based and stock price performance-based vesting requirements. Subject to the terms of the award agreements, the AO LTIP Units shall vest and become fully exercisable as of the date that both of the following requirements have been met: (i) the grantee remains in continuous service from the grant date through the third anniversary of the grant date; and (ii) at any time during the period beginning in the second year and ending at the end of the fifth year following the grant date for the 2020 and 2021 awards, the reported closing price per common share of the Company appreciates at least 15% for the 2020 and 2021 awards over the applicable Participation Threshold per AO LTIP Unit (as set forth in the table above) for a minimum of 20 consecutive trading days. Any AO LTIP Units that do not become vested will be forfeited and become null and void as of the fifth anniversary of the grant date, but AO LTIP Units may also be forfeited earlier in connection with a corporate transaction or with the holder’s termination of service.
The AO LTIP Units were valued using a Monte Carlo simulation and the resulting compensation expense is being amortized over five years for the 2020 awards and three years for the 2021 awards. Compensation expense for the awards granted in 2020 totaled $3.6 million, of which we recognized $0.6 million, $0.7 million and $0.7 million of compensation expense in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively, and expect to annually incur $0.7 million of this expense in 2023 and 2024 and the remainder in 2025. Compensation expense for the awards granted in 2021 totaled $3.0 million, of which we recognized $0.9 million and $1.0 million of compensation expense in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and expect to incur $1.0 million of this expense in 2023 and the remainder in 2024.
Special Long-Term Equity Award
In January 2022, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Trustees granted 363,883 LTIP Units to the Company’s named executive officers as a special long-term equity award related to the Merger, which are subject to both performance and service conditions. The LTIP Units granted are subject to an approximate three-year performance and service period, from October 23, 2021 through December 31, 2024, and the performance components are as follows: (i) cumulative annualized net operating income for executed new leases from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024, which will be weighted at 60%; (ii) post-Merger cash general and administrative expense synergies achieved as of the end of the performance period, which will be weighted at 20%; and (iii) same property net operating income margin improvement over the performance period, which will be weighted at 20%. Overall performance is further subject to an absolute total shareholder return modifier that has the ability to increase (or decrease) the total number of LTIP Units eligible to vest by 25% (not to exceed the maximum number of LTIP Units). Distributions will accrue during the performance period and will be paid only on LTIP Units that vest at the conclusion of the performance period, and any accrued distributions on vested LTIP Units will be settled in cash at such time.