Share Options And Awards

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Share Options and Awards

During 2015, we granted restricted share awards incorporating both service-based and market-based measures to promote share ownership among the participants and to emphasize the importance of total shareholder return ("TSR"). The terms of each grant vary depending upon the participant's responsibilities and position within the Company. We categorize these share awards as either service-based share awards or market-based share awards. All awards were valued at the fair market value on the date of grant and earn dividends throughout the vesting period. Compensation expense is measured at the grant date and recognized over the vesting period. Generally, unvested restricted share awards are forfeited upon the termination of the participant’s employment with us.

The fair value of the market-based share awards was estimated on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo valuation model based on the following assumptions:



	Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
	Minimum		Maximum
Dividend yield	0.0	%	3.6	%
Expected volatility ⁽¹⁾	12.6	%	18.0	%
Expected life (in years)	N/A		3
Risk-free interest rate	0.1	%	1.1	%

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(1) Includes the volatility of the FTSE NAREIT U.S. Shopping Center index and Weingarten Realty Investors.

A summary of the status of unvested restricted share awards for the three months ended March 31, 2015 is as follows:



	Unvested Restricted Share Awards		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding, January 1, 2015	693,805		$	28.76
Granted:
Service-based awards	99,250		36.59
Market-based awards relative to FTSE NAREIT U.S. Shopping Center Index	42,687		37.26
Market-based awards relative to three-year absolute TSR	42,687		27.84
Vested	(254,159	)	25.86
Forfeited	(54	)	30.11
Outstanding, March 31, 2015	624,216		$	31.70

As of March 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, there was approximately $3.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively, of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted shares, which is expected to be amortized over a weighted average of 1.4 years and 0.9 years, respectively.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.

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