Share Options and Awards

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

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

During 2016, 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 from the date of grant. 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:



	Six Months Ended June 30, 2016
	Minimum		Maximum
Dividend yield	0.0	%	4.0	%
Expected volatility ⁽¹⁾	16.0	%	20.4	%
Expected life (in years)	N/A		3
Risk-free interest rate	0.5	%	0.9	%

_______________

(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 six months ended June 30, 2016 is as follows:



	Unvested Restricted Share Awards		Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Outstanding, January 1, 2016	589,906		$	32.05
Granted:
Service-based awards	117,268		34.54
Market-based awards relative to FTSE NAREIT U.S. Shopping Center Index	50,170		37.11
Market-based awards relative to three-year absolute TSR	50,170		24.20
Trust manager awards	24,983		37.63
Vested	(230,834	)	32.00
Forfeited	(9,054	)	33.98
Outstanding, June 30, 2016	592,609		$	32.53

As of June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, there was approximately $3.2 million and $2.2 million, respectively, of total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted shares, which is expected to be amortized over a weighted average of 1.6 years and 0.8 years, respectively.