Incentive Share Plan

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

INCENTIVE SHARE PLAN

The Company’s 2008 Long-Term Equity Incentive Ownership Plan (as amended, the “2008 Plan”) expired in July 2018. At the Company’s annual meeting of shareholders on May 11, 2017, our shareholders voted to approve the 2018 Long-Term Equity Incentive Ownership Plan (the “2018 Plan”). The 2018 Plan provides for the issuance of up to 3,433,831 common shares and OP units pursuant to awards under the 2018 Plan. The 2018 Plan became effective on July 30, 2018, which is the day after the 2008 Plan expired. Pursuant to the 2008 Plan, the maximum aggregate number of common shares that were issuable under the 2008 Plan was increased upon each issuance of common shares by the Company so that at any time the maximum number of shares that were issuable under the 2008 Plan equaled 12.5% of the aggregate number of common shares of the Company and OP units issued and outstanding (other than units issued to or held by the Company).

The Compensation Committee administered the 2008 Plan and administers the 2018 Plan except, in each case, with respect to awards to non-employee trustees, for which the 2008 Plan was and the 2018 Plan is administered by the board of trustees. The Compensation Committee is authorized to grant share options, including both incentive share options and non-qualified share options, as well as share appreciation rights, either with or without a related option. The Compensation Committee is also authorized to grant restricted common shares, restricted common share units, performance awards and other share-based awards. On September 6, 2017, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of an aggregate of 965,000 performance-based restricted common share units under the 2008 Plan which only vest immediately prior to the consummation of a Change in Control (as defined in the 2008 Plan) that occurs on or before September 30, 2024 (the “CIC Units”) to certain of our employees. Continued employment is required through the vesting date. If a Change in Control does not occur on or before September 30, 2024, the CIC Units shall be immediately forfeited. The Company considers a Change in Control on or before September 30, 2024 to be improbable, and no expense has been recognized for the CIC Units. If a Change in Control occurs, any outstanding CIC Units would be expensed immediately on the date of the Change in Control using the grant date fair value. The grant date fair value for each CIC Unit of $13.05 was determined based on the Company’s closing share price on the grant date.

On March 16, 2018, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of an aggregate of 387,499 time-based restricted common share units under the 2008 Plan, which vest annually in three equal installments, and 4,300 performance-based restricted common share units to certain of our employees.

On December 1, 2018, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of an aggregate of 229,684 performance-based restricted common share units with market-based vesting conditions (“TSR Units”) under the 2018 Plan to certain of our employees.. Vesting is contingent upon achieving Total Shareholder Return relative to the peer group defined in the TSR Unit award agreements over a three-year performance period. At the end of the performance period, the number of common shares awarded for each vested TSR Unit will vary from 0% to 200% depending on the Company’s TSR Peer Group Ranking. Continued employment is required through the vesting date. The grant date fair value for each TSR Unit of $14.89 was determined using the Monte Carlo simulation method and is being recognized as share-based compensation expense ratably from the December 1, 2018 grant date to the end of the performance period, December 31, 2020. The Monte Carlo simulation model utilizes multiple input variables that determine the probability of satisfying the market condition stipulated in the award grant and calculates the fair value of the award. Expected volatilities utilized in the model were estimated using a historical period consistent with the performance period of approximately three years. The risk-free interest rate was based on the United States Treasury rate for a term commensurate with the expected life of the grant.

On June 30, 2019, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of an aggregate of 405,417 TSR Units and 317,184 time-based restricted common share units under the 2018 Plan to certain of our employees. On September 30, 2019, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of 17,069 time-based restricted common share units under the 2018 Plan to certain of our employees. Vesting of the TSR Units is contingent upon achieving Total Shareholder Return relative to the peer group defined in the TSR Unit award agreements over a three-year performance period. At the end of the performance period, the number of common shares awarded for each vested TSR Unit will vary from 0% to 200% depending on the Company’s TSR Peer Group Ranking. Continued employment is required through the vesting date. The grant date fair value for each TSR

Unit of $8.22 was determined using the Monte Carlo simulation method and is being recognized as share-based compensation expense ratably from the June 30, 2019 grant date to the end of the performance period, December 31, 2021. The Monte Carlo simulation model utilizes multiple input variables that determine the probability of satisfying the market condition stipulated in the award grant and calculates the fair value of the award. Expected volatilities utilized in the model were estimated using a historical period consistent with the performance period of approximately three years. The risk-free interest rate was based on the United States Treasury rate for a term commensurate with the expected life of the grant. The time-based restricted common share units have a grant date fair value of $10.63 and $11.69 and vest annually in three equal installments for the June 30, 2019 and September 30, 2019 grants, respectively.

On July 31, 2020, the Compensation Committee approved the grant of an aggregate of 545,000 TSR Units and 530,000 time-based restricted common share units under the 2018 Plan to certain of our employees. Vesting of the TSR Units is contingent upon achieving Total Shareholder Return relative to the peer group defined in the TSR Unit award agreements over a three-year performance period. At the end of the performance period, the number of common shares awarded for each vested TSR Unit will vary from 0% to 200% depending on the Company’s TSR Peer Group Ranking. Continued employment is required through the vesting date. The grant date fair value for each TSR Unit of $5.55 was determined using the Monte Carlo simulation method and is being recognized as share-based compensation expense ratably from the July 31, 2020 grant date to the end of the performance period, December 31, 2022. The Monte Carlo simulation model utilizes multiple input variables that determine the probability of satisfying the market condition stipulated in the award grant and calculates the fair value of the award. Expected volatilities utilized in the model were estimated using a historical period consistent with the performance period of approximately three years. The risk-free interest rate was based on the United States Treasury rate for a term commensurate with the expected life of the grant. The time-based restricted common share units have a grant date fair value of $5.83 and vest annually in three equal installments.

A summary of the share-based incentive plan activity as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 is as follows:


	Shares	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Non-vested at January 1, 2020	2,339,932	$	11.52
Granted	1,075,000	5.69
Vested	(478,607)	11.07
Forfeited	(32,479)	10.80
Non-vested at September 30, 2020	2,903,846	9.45
Available for grant at September 30, 2020	409,344

A summary of our non-vested and vested shares activity for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is presented below:


	Shares Granted			Shares Vested
	Non-Vested Shares Issued	Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value		Vested Shares	Total Vest-Date Fair Value
					(in thousands)
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020	1,075,000	$	5.69	(478,607)	$	5,297
Year Ended December 31, 2019	762,630	$	9.46	(284,964)	$	3,352
Year Ended December 31, 2018	653,472	$	11.07	(560,126)	$	7,978

Total compensation recognized in earnings for share-based payments was $1,645,000 and $1,719,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $4,167,000 and $4,770,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Based on our current financial projections, we expect approximately 100% of the unvested awards, exclusive of 890,000 CIC Units, to vest over the next 34 months. As of September 30, 2020, there was approximately $4.8 million in unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding non-vested TSR Units, which are expected to vest over a period of 28 months, and approximately $5.5 million in unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding non-vested time-based shares, which are expected to be recognized over a period of approximately 34 months beginning on October 1, 2020.

We expect to record approximately $6.0 million in non-cash share-based compensation expense in 2020 and $8.4 million subsequent to 2020. The unrecognized share-based compensation cost is expected to vest over a weighted average period of 24 months. The dilutive impact of the performance-based shares will be included in the denominator of the earnings per share calculation beginning in the period that the performance conditions are expected to be met. The dilutive impact of the TSR Units is based on the Company’s TSR Peer Group Ranking as of the reporting date and weighted according to the number of days outstanding in the period. The TSR Units issued in 2017 vested at 200% attainment based on the TSR Peer Group Ranking, and, as of September 30, 2020, the TSR Peer Group Ranking called for 100% attainment for the shares issued in 2018, 0% attainment for the shares issued in 2019, and 50% attainment for the shares issued in 2020. The dilutive impact of the CIC Units is based on the probability of a Change in Control. Because the Company considers a Change in Control on or before September 30, 2024 to be improbable, no CIC Units are included in the Company’s dilutive shares.