12. SHARE BASED COMPENSATION, 401(k) PLAN AND DEFERRED COMPENSATION

Restricted Share Awards

As of March 31, 2017, 618,961 restricted shares were outstanding under the Equity Incentive Plan and vest over three years from the initial grant dates. The remaining compensation expense to be recognized at March 31, 2017 was approximately $2.9 million, and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 1.5 years. During the three-month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company recognized compensation expense related to outstanding restricted shares of $1.5 million and $1.2 million, respectively, of which $0.3 million and $0.3 million, respectively, were capitalized as part of the Company’s review of employee salaries eligible for capitalization.

The following table summarizes the Company’s restricted share activity during the three months ended March 31, 2017:

	Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Non-vested at January 1, 2017		488,604		$	14.10	$	8,066,852
Granted		141,751			16.68		2,364,127
Vested		(9,394	)		14.90		153,216
Forfeited		(2,000	)		13.58
Non-vested at March 31, 2017		618,961		$	14.68	$	10,045,737

On March 1, 2017, the Compensation Committee of the Parent Company’s Board of Trustees awarded to officers of the Company an aggregate 109,629 restricted common shares, which cliff vest on April 15, 2020. In addition, on March 7, 2017, the Compensation Committee awarded non-officer employees an aggregate 32,122 restricted common shares, which vest in two equal annual installments on April 15 of 2018 and 2019. Vesting of restricted common shares is subject to acceleration upon certain events, including if the recipient of the award were to die, become disabled or, in certain cases, retire in a qualifying retirement. 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, in the case of the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, vesting would also accelerate if the Company were to terminate him without cause, or if he were to resign for good reason under his employment agreement. In addition, if the Company were to undergo a change of control, then unvested shares would also accelerate if, in connection with the change of control or within a specified period after the change of control, the holder’s employment were to terminate in a qualifying termination or resignation. 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 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
	2/23/2015		2/22/2016		3/1/2017		Total

(Amounts below in shares, unless otherwise noted)
Non-vested at January 1, 2017		147,589		231,388		-		378,977
Units Granted		-		-		174,854		174,854
Units Cancelled		-		-		-		-
Non-vested at March 31, 2017		147,589		231,388		174,854		553,831

Measurement Period Commencement Date	1/1/2015		1/1/2016		1/1/2017
Measurement Period End Date	12/31/2017		12/31/2018		12/31/2019
Units Granted		186,395		231,388		174,854
Fair Value of Units on Grant Date (in thousands)	$	3,933	$	3,558	$	3,735

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 cliff vesting period. The vesting of RPSUs is subject to acceleration upon 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 vesting date. In accordance with the accounting standard for share-based compensation, the Company amortizes stock-based compensation costs through the qualifying retirement date for those executives who meet the conditions for qualifying retirement during the schedule vesting period.

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company recognized total compensation expense for the 2017, 2016 and 2015 RPSU awards of $2.4 million, of which $0.5 million was capitalized consistent with the Company’s policies for capitalizing eligible portions of employee compensation. For the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company recognized total compensation expense for the 2016, 2015 and 2014 RPSU awards of $1.7 million, of which $0.5 million was capitalized consistent with the Company’s policies for capitalizing eligible portions of employee compensation.

The remaining compensation expense to be recognized at March 31, 2017 was approximately $2.9 million, and is expected to be recognized over a weighted average remaining vesting period of 1.9 years.

The Company issued 55,299 common shares on February 1, 2017 in settlement of RPSUs that had been awarded on March 11, 2014 and 12, 2014 (with a three-year measurement period ended December 31, 2016). Holders of these RPSUs also received a cash dividend of $0.16 per share for these common shares on February 6, 2017.