UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

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(RULE 14a-101)

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT

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Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

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SITE Centers Corp.

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LOGO


LOGOLOGO          

Notice of Annual

Meeting of Shareholders


To the Holders of Common Shares of SITE Centers Corp.:

The 20202022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of SITE Centers Corp. will be held as follows:

 

WHEN: 

9:00 a.m. local time, Tuesday,Wednesday, May 12, 2020.11, 2022.

WHERE: 

  Loews Regency Hotel

540 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10065

As part of our contingency planning regarding novel coronavirus(COVID-19), we are preparing for the possibility that the date, time or location of the 2020The Annual Meeting of Shareholders maywill be changed or thatheld in a virtual meeting format only, via live webcast at www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN. You will not be able to physically attend the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders may be held by means of remote communication (sometimes referred to as a “virtual” meeting). If we take this step, we will announce the decision to do so in advance through a press release and public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and details will be available at www.sitecenters.com/investors.person.

ITEMS OF BUSINESS: 

Election of eightseven Directors.

 

Approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers.

 

Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm.

 

Transact such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting.

WHO CAN VOTE: 

Shareholders of record at the close of business on March 20, 202015, 2022 will be entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Annual Meeting or any adjournment of the Annual Meeting.

VOTING BY PROXY: 

Shareholders may complete, date and sign the accompanying Proxy Card and return it in the enclosed envelope; or

 

Vote their shares by telephone or over the Internet as described in the accompanying Proxy Statement.

INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF
PROXY MATERIALS:
 

The Company’s 20202022 Proxy Statement and 20192021 Annual Report to Shareholders are available free of charge atwww.proxydocs.com/sitc.

By order of the Board of Directors,

Aaron M. Kitlowski

Secretary

Dated: April 1, 2020

2022

 

 

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials

for the Shareholder Meeting to be held on May 12, 202011, 2022

 


20202022 Proxy Statement Table of Contents

 

 

1. Proxy Statement Summary

  1 

2. Proposal One: Election of EightSeven Directors

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

2

Nominees for Election at the Annual Meeting

2

Transactions with the Otto Family

6

Independent Directors

6

Director Qualifications and Review of Director Nominees

  7 

Proxy AccessDirector Nominees for Election at the Annual Meeting

  87 

Majority Vote StandardTransactions with the Otto Family

  811 

3. Board GovernanceIndependent Directors

Board Leadership

  911 

MeetingsDirector Qualifications and Review of Our BoardDirector Nominees

  911 

Meetings ofNon-ManagementProxy Access and Independent Directors

9

Committees of Our Board

9

Risk Oversight

  12 

Compensation of DirectorsMajority Vote Standard

  12 

Director Stock Ownership Guidelines3. Board Governance

Board Leadership

  1413 

Security OwnershipMeetings of DirectorsOur Board

13

Meetings of Non-Management and ManagementIndependent Directors

13

Committees of Our Board

13

Risk Oversight

  15 

Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) HighlightsCompensation of Directors

  16 

Director Stock Ownership Guidelines

17

Security Ownership of Directors and Management

18

Environmental, Social and Governance Highlights

19

4. Proposal Two: Approval, on an Advisory Basis, of the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

  1822 

Compensation Committee Report

19

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

19

5. Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Overview

20

Executive Summary

20

Compensation Program Design

  23 

2019 Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

23

5. Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Overview

24

Executive Summary

24

Compensation Program Design

  27 

Stock Ownership Guidelines2021 Compensation Program

  3430 

Hedging and Pledging PolicyStock Ownership Guidelines

34

Tax and Accounting Implications

35

Compensation-Related Risk Analysis

35

6. Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure

2019 Summary Compensation Table

  36 

2019Hedging and Pledging Policy

36

Compensation-Related Risk Analysis

36

6. Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure

2021 Summary Compensation Table

37

2021 Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table

  38 

Outstanding Equity Awards at 20192021 FiscalYear-EndTable

39

2021 Option Exercises and Stock Vested Table

  40 

2019 Option Exercises and Stock Vested2021 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table

40

Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control

  41 

2019 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation TableEmployment Agreements

  4143 

Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in ControlCEO Pay Ratio

  42

Employment Agreements

44

Change in Control Provisions

50

CEO Pay Ratio

5145 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    i


7. Proposal Three: Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

46

Fees Paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

46

Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Auditors

47

Auditor Independence

47

Audit Committee Report

47

8. Corporate Governance and Other Matters

Codes of Ethics

48

Reporting and Non-Retaliation Policy

48

Policy Regarding Related-Party Transactions

49

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners

49

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

50

Shareholder Proposals for 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

50

Householding

51

Other Matters

51

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Why did you send me this Proxy Statement?

52

Who is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting?

52

How do I attend and vote at the virtual Annual Meeting?

52

How many votes do I have?

  53 

Fees Paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLPHow do I vote by proxy?

  53 

Policy on Audit CommitteeMay I revoke my proxy?

53

Pre-ApprovalWho is soliciting my proxy? of Audit and PermissibleNon-Audit Services of Independent Auditors

  54 

Auditor IndependenceCan I receive these proxy materials by email in the future?

  54 

Audit Committee ReportWhat constitutes a quorum?

  54 

8. Corporate Governance and Other Matters

Codes of Ethics

55

Reporting andNon-Retaliation Policy

56

Policy Regarding Related-Party Transactions

56

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners

57

Shareholder Proposals for 2021 Annual Meeting

58

Householding

58

Other Matters

59

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Why did you send me this Proxy Statement?

60

Who is soliciting my proxy?

60

How many votes do I have?

60

How do I vote by proxy?

61

May I revoke my proxy?

61

Can I receive this Proxy Statement by email in the future?

62

What constitutes a quorum?

62

What vote is required to approve each proposal assuming that a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting?

  6254 

ii    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

1. Proxy Statement Summary

 

This Proxy Statement Summary contains highlights and information that can be found elsewhere in this Proxy Statement as indicated by the applicable page references. This summary does not contain all of the information that you should consider, and therefore you should read the entire Proxy Statement.

2022 ANNUAL MEETING DATE, TIME AND LOCATIONOF SHAREHOLDERS

 

 

TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2020 AT 9:00 A.M. LOCAL TIME

Date and Time:Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time
Location:SITE Centers Corp. (“we,” “our,” “us,” the “Company” or “SITE Centers”) will hold its 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “2022 Annual Meeting” or the “Annual Meeting”) in a virtual meeting format via the Internet at www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN. You will not be able to physically attend the Annual Meeting in person. For more information on how to attend and vote at the Annual Meeting, see “Frequently Asked Questions—How do I attend and vote at the virtual Annual Meeting?” on page 52 of this Proxy Statement.
Record Date:March 15, 2022
Mail Date:We will begin mailing this Proxy Statement and the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 2021 Annual Report and Proxy Card on or about April 1, 2022 to all shareholders of record entitled to vote.

Loews Regency Hotel

540 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10065

As part of our contingency planning regarding novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we are preparing for the possibility that the date, time or location of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) may be changed or that the Annual Meeting may be held by means of remote communication (sometimes referred to as a “virtual” meeting). If we take this step, we will announce the decision to do so in advance through a press releaseVoting Matters and public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and details will be available at www.sitecenters.com/investors.Board Recommendations

 

 

PROPOSALS

MATTERPAGEBOARD  RECOMMENDATION
Proposal 1:Election of seven Directors7For each Director nominee
Proposal 2:Approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers22For
Proposal 3:Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm46For

How to Vote

 

 

 Proposal  

 

 

Board

Recommendation

 

Page Reference for

More Information

 

 

 1.

    Election of eight Directors 

 

 

“For”

all nominees

 

 

 

 

2              

 

 

 

 2.

    Approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers 

 

 

 

“For”

 

 

 

 

18              

 

 

 

 3.

    Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm 

 

 

 

“For”

 

 

 

 

53              

 

 

VOTING

YouShareholders of record (i.e., shareholders who own shares in their own name as reflected in the records of our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Computershare”)) may vote if you were a shareholder of record of SITE Centers Corp. (“SITE Centers”, “we”, “us”, “our” or the “Company”) at the close of business on March 20, 2020, the record date for the Annual Meeting. We will begin mailing this Proxy Statement and the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 2019 Annual Report and Proxy Card on or about April 1, 2020 to all shareholders entitled to vote.

You may vote yourtheir shares in person at the Annual Meeting or vote by proxy in any of the following ways:

 

By Internet: To submit a proxy over the Internet, go to www.investorvote.com/sitc. You will need the control number that appears on your Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Card.

LOGO

By Telephone: To submit a proxy by telephone, call toll free 1-800-652-8683. You will need the control number that appears on your Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Card.

LOGO

By Mail: If you received a full paper set of proxy materials, date and sign your Proxy Card and mail it in the enclosed, postage-paid envelope. You do not need to mail the Proxy Card if you are submitting your proxy by Internet or telephone.

LOGO

At the Meeting: To vote at the Annual Meeting, visit www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN. You will need the control number that appears on your Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Card.

LOGO

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement1


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

Shareholders whose shares are held of record by a broker, bank, trust or other nominee may vote their shares by following the instructions provided by such broker, bank, trust or other nominee or at the Annual Meeting. Please note that if your shares are held of record by a broker, bank, trust or other nominee, you must register in advance in order to vote electronically at the Annual Meeting. To register in advance, you must forward a legal proxy from your broker, bank, trust or other nominee holding your shares to Computershare at legalproxy@computershare.com no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 5, 2022. You will receive a confirmation of your registration, with a control number, by email from Computershare. At the time of the meeting, go to www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN and enter your control number.

Even if you intend to attend the Annual Meeting, we encourage you to submit your proxy in advance of the Annual Meeting.

2022 Director Nominees

      

INDEPENDENT

  

CURRENT COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS

DIRECTOR NAME  AGE  SINCE  AUDIT  COMPENSATION  NOMINATING
AND ESG
  DIVIDEND
DECLARATION
  PRICING

Linda B. Abraham

  59  2018  Yes          

Terrance R. Ahern*

  66  2000  Yes    Chair      

Jane E. DeFlorio

  51  2017  Yes  Chair        

David R. Lukes

  52  2017  No        Chair  Chair

Victor B. MacFarlane

  70  2002  Yes      Chair    

Alexander Otto

  54  2015  Yes          

Dawn M. Sweeney

  62  2018  Yes             

*

Chairman of the Board

As a result of an increase in the number of our outstanding common shares and changes in the number of our common shares owned by Alexander Otto and certain members of his family (the “Otto Family”) occurring during 2021, and in accordance with Mr. Otto’s 2009 investor rights agreement, the Otto Family’s ownership as of the record date for the Annual Meeting entitled it to propose one Director for nomination at the Annual Meeting (in comparison to two Directors for nomination at the Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders). The Otto Family has proposed, and the Board of Directors (the “Board”) has nominated, Mr. Otto for election at the Annual Meeting. Dr. Thomas Finne, the Otto Family’s second proposed Director nominee in recent years, will cease to serve as a Director at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

Our Board strives to maintain an independent, balanced and diverse set of Directors that collectively possess the expertise to ensure effective oversight of management. Three of our Director nominees are women and one of our Director nominees is African American.

LOGO

2    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

2021 Performance Highlights

2021 was a transformational year for our Company. We began 2021 focused on mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business but quickly transitioned to leveraging the strength of our operations, leasing platform and balance sheet to build a foundation for sustainable future growth. In the early months of the year, the Company negotiated arrangements with the last group of large tenants that had failed to pay 2020 rents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with tenants to normalize rent collections. Throughout the year, the Company’s leasing team capitalized on the increasing importance of suburban store locations to tenants’ businesses and the improved financial health of national credit tenants to produce leasing volumes well in excess of 2020 levels. Improving transactions markets helped the Company to substantially complete the sale of Retail Value Inc.’s (“RVI”) remaining properties which, in turn, led to RVI’s distribution of $190 million to the Company in October 2021 on account of the Company’s preferred investment. This distribution, together with retained cash from improved operations and proceeds of the Company’s March 2021 equity offering, provided the Company with important capital to consummate significant property acquisitions, finance new anchor tenant buildouts and redevelopment projects, redeem certain of the Company’s preferred shares and repay other indebtedness ahead of scheduled maturities. The Company concluded 2021 with reduced leverage levels, no outstanding balance on its revolving lines of credit and significant immediate liquidity (from both cash on hand and amounts available from settlement of forward equity sales) leaving the Company well positioned to take advantage of future growth and investment opportunities. Details of these accomplishments include:

Operations

Generated strong leasing activity and volumes throughout 2021, benefitting from a continuing trend of national tenants seeking to expand store footprints within the suburban, high household income communities in which our properties are located. The Company leased approximately 3.5 million square feet of space (at pro rata share and including renewals) in 2021, representing a 23% increase over leasing activity in 2020 and a 16% increase over leasing activity in 2019.

As of January 31, 2022, the Company had collected 96% of 2020 rents and 99% of 2021 rents.

Generated net income and operating funds from operations (“Operating FFO”) attributable to common shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2021 well in excess of original Company guidance issued in February 2021 as a result of higher rent collections (including from cash basis tenants on account of prior periods), earlier rent commencement dates, acquisition activity and disciplined general and administrative expense management.

Invested $15.4 million in major and tactical development projects with targeted returns in excess of 10% and commenced construction on a mixture of key redevelopment projects at properties across the Company’s portfolio including West Bay Plaza – Phase II, Nassau Park Pavilion, University Hills and Shoppers World.

Capitals Markets Activity

Issued and sold 17.25 million common shares in March 2021 resulting in net proceeds of approximately $225 million and sold approximately 2.23 million shares during 2021 on a forward basis under the Company’s at-the-market program generating gross proceeds of approximately $35.1 million.

In April 2021, redeemed all $150 million of the Company’s outstanding 6.25% Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, including the associated depositary shares.

During the course of 2021, repaid approximately $176 million of mortgage debt at the Company’s pro rata share, refinanced or extended approximately $50 million of mortgage debt at the Company’s share and assumed $18 million of mortgage debt in connection with acquisitions. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had full availability under its $970 million of revolving lines of credit.

Transactions

Acquired ten shopping centers (including through the acquisition of joint venture partners’ interests), one income-producing parcel and one land parcel for approximately $223 million in the aggregate.

Sold six unconsolidated properties and several wholly-owned land parcels for an aggregate sales price of approximately $167 million, totaling approximately $97 million at the Company’s pro rata share.

Completed the sale of 21 RVI properties resulting in a distribution of $190 million to the Company in October 2021 on account of the Company’s preferred investment.

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement3


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

Corporate Governance Highlights

We are committed to the highest standards of corporate governance, which we believe will ensure that the Company is managed for the long-term benefit of our stakeholders. We monitor developments and best practices in corporate governance and consider feedback from shareholders when evaluating our governance, policies and structure.

Director Elections

Annual election of all Directors

Majority voting for Directors in uncontested elections

Board Practices

Separate independent Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”)

Significant Board oversight of business strategy

Regular executive sessions of independent Directors

Annual executive officer succession planning discussions

Anti-overboarding policy limiting service on other public company boards

Mandatory Director retirement age (76 years)

Annual Director review of enterprise risk assessment

No ability to classify the Board without shareholder consent

Shareholder Rights

Proxy access (3% ownership, 3 years, greater of 2 nominees or 20% of Board)

Ability to amend Articles of Incorporation and Code of Regulations by majority vote

Ability to call special meetings (25% of voting power)

Ability to act by unanimous written consent

Other Policies

Prohibition on pledging, hedging and other derivative transactions in Company securities by Directors and officers

Share ownership requirements for Directors and executive officers

Corporate Values, Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability

Our Company and its 293 employees (as of year-end 2021) are committed to being Fearless, Authentic, Curious and Thoughtful (our “Matters of FACT”) members of the community. We consider social and environmental issues in all aspects of our business, including the well-being of our employees and our impact on the communities in which our properties are located. Recent recognition includes:

By Internet

LOGO

Go to:

www.investorvote.com/sitc

or the web address on

your Proxy Card

LOGO
 Included in Newsweek’s 2020, 2021 and 2022 lists of America’s Most Responsible Companies.    

By Telephone

LOGO

Call toll free:

1-800-652-8683

LOGO
  Green Star rated by Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB)
LOGO 

By MailIncluded in Bloomberg’s 2022 Gender Equality Index. 63% of our employees and 43% of our Director nominees are women.

LOGORecognized as a Green Lease Leader (Silver Level) by U.S. Department of Energy and The Institute for Market Transformation.

Our dedication to our community and the environment is detailed in our seventh annual Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report which was prepared in 2021 in alignment with Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) principles and certain Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) standards. Our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report can be found on our website at www.sitecenters.com/sustainability.

 

LOGO

Sign the enclosed
4    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Card

and return by

pre-paid postage envelope

Statement

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    1


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

Compensation Practices

The Compensation Committee oversees the design and administration of the Company’s executive compensation programs. Our compensation programs reward executives not only for delivering superior returns but also for reducing the risk profile of the Company and achieving financial and non-financial measures of performance that enhance long-term shareholder and stakeholder value. The following are key features of our executive compensation programs.

What We Do

    LOGO

We tie pay to performance by making a
significant portion of compensation “at risk”.

    LOGO

Annual incentive pay is based on multiple performance metrics, which are typically established at the beginning of each year, and individual performance.

    LOGO

A significant portion of the value of long-term performance incentives depends on relative shareholder return.

    LOGO

The Compensation Committee, which is comprised solely of independent Directors, engages an independent compensation consultant to advise it.

What We Don’t Do

    LOGO

We do not guarantee minimum incentive bonus awards.

    LOGO

We do not encourage excessive risk taking as we use different performance metrics for our annual and long-term incentive compensation programs.

    LOGO

We do not pay dividend equivalents on unearned equity awards subject to performance-based vesting.

    LOGO

We do not allow for repricing of stock options without shareholder approval.

    LOGO

We do not include excise tax gross-up provisions in our executive compensation arrangements.

    LOGO

We do not offer excessive perquisites or special health and welfare plans to executives.

Pay Aligned With Performance

Our executive compensation is aligned with Company performance. The majority of the targeted level of annualized compensation for our CEO under his September 2020 employment agreement is variable and “at risk” based on performance.

LOGO

*

Includes the annualized grant date fair value of the service-based restricted share units (“RSUs”) awarded in connection with the execution of Mr. Lukes’ September 2020 employment agreement and the value of service-based RSUs to be granted to Mr. Lukes annually during the term of his employment agreement.

**

Annual incentive is shown at the target level. The annual incentive payout ranges from $0 (below threshold) to $2,250,000 (maximum). Mr. Lukes can elect by October 31 of each year to receive the value of his annual incentive award for such year (payable by March 15 of the following year) in RSUs at a 20% increase.

    SITE Centers Corp.ï ��2022 Proxy Statement5


  PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY  

2021 Executive Compensation

The table below summarizes 2021 compensation awarded or paid to our named executive officers as reported in the 2021 Summary Compensation Table included in this Proxy Statement. Our Compensation Committee typically establishes both quantitative and qualitative performance metrics governing our annual incentive compensation program in the first quarter of each year. In February 2021, our Compensation Committee determined that it was unable at that time to adopt quantitative performance metrics for 2021 due to the uncertainty that continued to exist with respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Company operations. Following improvement in the operating environment during the first quarter of 2021 and management’s release of updated earnings guidance in April 2021, the Compensation Committee established our 2021 annual incentive compensation program in early May 2021.

The 2021 annual compensation program included both quantitative performance metrics, namely Operating FFO and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”), and subjectively-evaluated qualitative performance metrics. The quantitative metrics comprised 60% of the program’s overall assessment of executive performance, and the Compensation Committee set the “target” level of performance for the program’s Operating FFO performance metric within the Operating FFO guidance range issued by management in April 2021 in connection with the disclosure of first quarter financial results. The remaining 40% of the annual incentive award program involved a qualitative assessment of each named executive officer’s individual performance.

Based on the Compensation Committee’s evaluation in early 2022 of executive performance during 2021, including the Company’s achievements outlined in “2021 Performance Highlights” above, Messrs. Lukes (President and CEO), Fennerty (Executive Vice President (“EVP”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”)) and Cattonar (EVP and Chief Investment Officer (“CIO”)) and Ms. Vesy (EVP and Chief Accounting Officer (“CAO”)) were awarded 2021 incentive compensation payouts of $2,250,000, $675,000, $525,000 and $510,000, respectively, which represented the maximum amount of the annual incentive award opportunities provided for under their employment agreements in effect at the end of 2021. All executives received their 2021 incentive compensation payouts in cash.

Of the approximately $6.9 million total compensation reported for Mr. Lukes in the 2021 Summary Compensation Table, approximately $2.6 million consisted of the grant date fair value of an annual award of performance-based RSUs which becomes payable, if at all, based on the percentile rank of the Company’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) measured over a three-year period relative to an identified group of peer companies.

For more details on 2021 executive compensation, including factors considered by our Compensation Committee in evaluating the qualitative elements of the 2021 annual incentive compensation program, see the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” section beginning on page 24 of this Proxy Statement.

NAMED
EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
 POSITION  SALARY   BONUS  STOCK
AWARDS
  NON-EQUITY
INCENTIVE PLAN
COMPENSATION
  ALL OTHER
COMPENSATION
  TOTAL 

David R. Lukes

 

President and CEO

  

$

900,000

 

  

$

0

 

 

$

3,717,683

 

 

$

2,250,000

 

 

$

42,536

 

 

$

6,910,219

 

Conor M. Fennerty

 

EVP and CFO

  

$

443,559

 

  

$

0

 

 

$

1,330,480

 

 

$

675,000

 

 

$

13,148

 

 

$

2,462,187

 

Christa A. Vesy

 

EVP and CAO

  

$

393,645

 

  

$

0

 

 

$

287,371

 

 

$

510,000

 

 

$

11,344

 

 

$

1,202,360

 

John M. Cattonar

 

EVP and CIO

  

$

337,500

 

  

$

0

 

 

$

338,285

 

 

$

525,000

 

 

$

10,999

 

 

$

1,211,784

 

Historical Say-on-Pay Voting Results

LOGO

Shareholders have continued to show strong support for our executive compensation programs with approximately 99%, 96% and 95% of votes cast for the approval of the “say-on-pay” proposals at our 2019, 2020 and 2021 Annual Meetings of Shareholders, respectively.

6    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


2. Proposal One: Election of EightSeven Directors

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

At the Annual Meeting, unless you specify otherwise, the common shares represented by your proxy will be voted to elect the eightseven Director nominees identified below. If any of the Director nominees is not a candidate when the election occurs for any reason (which is not expected) and the size of our Board of Directors (the “Board”) remains unchanged, then our Board intends that proxies will be voted for the election of a substitute Director nominee designated by our Board as recommended by the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee.

 

 

BOARD RECOMMENDATION:

For” All Eight Director NomineesFOR” ALL SEVEN DIRECTOR NOMINEES

 

Director Nominees for Election at the Annual Meeting

Our Board has nominated and recommends that shareholders vote “FOR” the election of each of the following Director nominees, each to serve aone-year term until the next annual meeting of shareholders and until a successor has been duly elected and qualified.

All nominees are currently serving as Directors. As discussed in “Transactions with the Otto Family” below, Dr. Thomas Finne, the Otto Family’s second Director nominee in recent years, will cease to serve as a Director at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2018

     Age: 57

     Independent: Yes

     Committees:

 Audit

 Nominating and

    Corporate

    Governance

LINDA B. ABRAHAM — 

Managing Director of Crimson Capital (early stage technology company investing and consulting)

 

Background: Since 2014, Ms. Abraham has served as Managing Director of Crimson Capital, which invests in and advises a broad range of early stage technology companies spanning data/analytics, cybersecurity, machine learning,e-commerce, educational technology, clean energy and virtual reality.healthcare. From 1999 to 2013, Ms. Abrahamco-founded and served as Executive Vice President of comScore, a leader in digital measurement and analytics which went public in 2007. Prior toco-founding comScore, Ms. Abrahamco-founded Paragren Technologies, which provided software for customer relationship management systems, (today owned by Oracle), and also served in various roles at Procter & Gamble and Information Resources, Inc., where she developed and commercialized a series of data-driven analytical products. Since January 2021, Ms. Abraham also serveshas served as Independent Director and chair of the Vice Chaircompensation committee of Upskill, a virtual realityCarlotz, Inc., an online consignment store company for large scale manufacturing enterprises.used vehicles listed on Nasdaq. Additionally, she serves on the boards of the Data Science Institute at the University of Virginia the International Women’s Forum of Northern California and Tiger 21.21, a member-based organization focused on investment management and education. Ms. Abraham is an active member ofhas been named a Fellow in the World Economic Forum and is a member of the Selection Committee for the Technology Pioneer program.Stanford University Distinguished Careers Institute. Ms. Abraham holds a degree in Quantitative Business Analysis from Penn State University.

 

Qualifications:Ms. Abraham’s qualifications to serve on the Board include extensive experience as a technology entrepreneur and as an expert in consumer analytics, a field that is increasingly critical to the Company’s corporate strategy and efforts to understand shopping patterns and merchandise mix.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2018

AGE: 59

INDEPENDENT: YES

COMMITTEES:

Audit

Nominating and ESG

2    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2000

     Age: 64

     Independent: Yes

     Committees:

     Compensation

          (Chair)

    Audit

     Dividend

          Declaration

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 7


TERRANCE R. AHERN — 

Chairman of the Board, SITE Centers, and Chief Executive Officer, The Townsend Group (institutional real estate consulting)

 

Background: Mr. Ahern isCo-Founder, Principal and Chief Executive Officer of The Townsend Group, an institutional real estate advisory and investment management firm formed in 1986. Mr. Ahern also is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. The Townsend Group serves as adviser to, or invests on behalf of, domestic and offshore public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, and sovereign wealth funds. Mr. Ahern has also served as an Independent Director of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust since 2017. Mr. Ahern is a past member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Pension Real Estate Association (“PREA”), the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”), and the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of PREA and the Board of Editors ofInstitutional Real Estate Securities. Mr. Ahern has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including PREA, NAREIT and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers.

 

Qualifications:Mr. Ahern has over 30 years of real estate industry and institutional real estate consulting experience. This experience includes founding and managing a leading institutional real estate advisory and investment firm whose core skill is analyzing real estate firms and investment opportunities. This role and experience provides Mr. Ahern with unique insight into the structure and operations of both public and private real estate companies, and into the real estate environment and capital markets in which we operate. Through his experience, Mr. Ahern has gained an understanding and knowledge of the opportunities, challenges and risks that face real estate companies, as well as the functions of a board of directors.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2000

AGE: 66

INDEPENDENT: YES

COMMITTEES:

Compensation (Chair)

Audit

Dividend Declaration

Pricing

 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2017

     Age: 49

     Independent: Yes

     Committees:

     Audit(Chair)

    Compensation

     Pricing

JANE E. DEFLORIO — 

Managing Director (Retired), Deutsche Bank AG Retail/Consumer Sector Investment Banking Coverage (global banking and financial services company)

 

Background: Ms. DeFlorio was Managing Director, Deutsche Bank AG Retail/Consumer Sector Investment Banking Coverage, a division of a global banking and financial services company, from 2007 to 2013. While at Deutsche Bank, Ms. DeFlorio covered a range ofmid- tolarge-cap retail clients. Prior to her role at Deutsche Bank, from 2002 to 2007, Ms. DeFlorio held the title of Executive Director in the Investment Banking Consumer and Retail Group at UBS Investment Bank, a business unit of UBS Group AG, and advised on high-profile consumer transactions. Ms. DeFlorio has served as an Independent Director and chair of the audit committee of Vivid Seats since October 2021 and also served as an Independent Director of Perry Ellis International from 2014 to 2018. Ms. DeFlorio is also the Vice Chairmana member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee at The New School University in New York City. She also serves on the BoardBoards of GovernorsDirectors for The Parsons School of Design and the Board of Directors for the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Ms. DeFlorio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Business School.

 

Qualifications: With over 15 years of experience in investment banking, primarily focusing on the retail sector, as well as her recent service on another public company board, Ms. DeFlorio is uniquely qualified to advise our Board in connection with capital structure, capital allocation, strategic direction, risk management, financial matters, shareholder value creation and strategic opportunities.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2017

AGE: 51

INDEPENDENT: YES

COMMITTEES:

Audit (Chair)

Compensation

Pricing

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    3


 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2009

     Age: 61

     Independent: Yes

     Committee:

    Nominating and

          Corporate           Governance

    Dividend

          Declaration

    Pricing

8
 

DR. THOMAS FINNE — Managing Director, KG CURA Vermögensverwaltung G.m.b.H. & Co. (commercial real estate company, Hamburg, Germany)

Background: Dr. Finne is the Managing Director of KG CURA Vermögensverwaltung G.m.b.H. & Co., a commercial real estate company located in Hamburg, Germany, that manages assets in North America and Europe. Prior to joining KG CURA Vermögensverwaltung G.m.b.H. & Co. in 1992, Dr. Finne was responsible for controlling, budgeting, accounting and finance for Bernhard Schulte KG, a ship owner and ship manager located in Hamburg, Germany. He served as a director of Sonae Sierra Brasil S.A., which owns and operates retail real estate assets in Brazil, until August 2019. Dr. Finne graduated with an undergraduate degree in business administration and received his doctorate from the International Tax Institute at the University of Hamburg.

Qualifications:    SITE Centers Corp.  Dr. Finne’s experience in international commercial real estate enables him to contribute an international perspective on the issues impacting a real estate company facing today’s challenges and opportunities. His service on the board of directors of several international real estate companies further provides him with business modeling experience and an appreciable awareness of the most effective and essential functions of a board of directors.

ï  2022 Proxy Statement


LOGO

     Director Since: 2017

     Age: 50

     Independent: No

     Committees:

    Dividend           Declaration  

    Pricing

DAVID R. LUKES — 

President and Chief Executive Officer, SITE Centers

 

Background: Mr. Lukes was named President and Chief Executive Officer of SITE Centers in March 2017. Mr. Lukes most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Equity One, Inc. (“Equity One”), an owner, developer, and operator of shopping centers, as well as a member of Equity One’s Board of Directors, from June 2014 until March 2017. Mr. Lukes also served as Equity One’s Executive Vice President from May 2014 to June 2014. Prior to joining Equity One, Mr. Lukes served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sears Holding Corporation affiliate Seritage Realty Trust, a real estate company, from 2012 through April 2014. In addition, Mr. Lukes served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Olshan Properties (formerly Mall Properties, Inc.), a privately owned real estate firm that specializes in the development, acquisition and management of commercial real estate, from 2010 to 2012. From 2002 to 2010, Mr. Lukes served in various senior management positions at Kimco Realty Corporation, including serving as its Chief Operating Officer from 2008 to 2010. Mr. Lukes also serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Retail Value Inc. (“RVI”),RVI, an owner and operator of shopping centers located in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico managed by SITE Centers, the shares of which are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and as a Director of Citycon Oyj, an owner and operator of shopping centers located in the Nordic region, the shares of which are traded on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Mr. Lukes holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Miami University, a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Mr. Lukes also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of Governors of NAREIT.

 

Qualifications: Mr. Lukes’ qualifications to serve on the Board include his position as a member of the Company’s senior management, his prior experience as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Equity One, his familiarity with the retail real estate investment trust (“REIT”) industry and his extensive expertise and experience in retail real estate development and operations.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2017

AGE: 52

INDEPENDENT: NO

COMMITTEES:

Dividend Declaration

Pricing

4    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2002

     Age: 68

     Independent: Yes

     Committees:

    Nominating and

          Corporate           Governance (Chair)

VICTOR B. MACFARLANE — 

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MacFarlane Partners (real estate investments)

 

Background: Mr. MacFarlane is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MacFarlane Partners, which he founded in 1987 to provide real estate investment management services to institutional investors. Mr. MacFarlaneinvestors and has more than 3540 years of real estate investment experience. He sits on the Advisory BoardMr. MacFarlane has served as an Independent Director of the Robert Toigo FoundationVeris Residential, Inc. (formerly Mack-Cali Realty Corporation) since June 2021, and is a co-founder and emeritus board member of the Real Estate Executive Council. He is a member and former Trustee of the Urban Land Institute;Institute and a member and former Director of PREA; and a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Chief Executives Organization and the World Presidents’ Organization.PREA.

 

Qualifications:Mr. MacFarlane brings to our Board three decades of experience as a chief executive officer of a real estate investment and advisory firm and over 3540 years of experience in the areas of real estate investment, corporate finance, portfolio management and risk management. His extensive managerial experience as well as his knowledge of the real estate and private capital industries provide our Board with an expansive view on issues impacting the Company and our corporate strategy.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2002

AGE: 70

INDEPENDENT: YES

COMMITTEES:

Nominating and ESG (Chair)

 

LOGO

     Director Since: 2015

     Age: 52

     Independent: Yes

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 9


ALEXANDER OTTO — 

Chief Executive Officer, ECE Projektmanagement G.m.b.H.Group GmbH & Co. KG (commercial real estate company, Hamburg, Germany)

 

Background: Mr. Otto has served as the Chief Executive Officer of ECE Projektmanagement G.m.b.H.Group GmbH & Co. KG, a commercial real estate company based in Hamburg, Germany that manages assets in Europe, since 2000. Mr. Otto is a graduate of St. Clare’s, Oxford and studied at Harvard University and Harvard Business School.

 

Mr. Otto is a member of the boards of directors, or equivalent governing bodies, of publicly traded company Deutsche EuroShop AG as well as the privately held companies Otto Group and Peek & Cloppenburg KG. Mr. Otto served as a director of Sonae Sierra Brasil S.A., which owns and operates retail real estate assets in Brazil, until September 2019. Additionally, Mr. Otto is the Chairman of Lebendige Stadt (Vibrant City) Foundation, HSV Campus gemeinnützige GmbH and the Alexander Otto Sportstiftung Foundation, is a member of the board of the Harvard Business School Foundation of Germany and, together with his wife, established the Dorit and Alexander Otto Foundation.

 

Qualifications: Mr. Otto has more than 25 years of experience in the shopping center business. This experience includes serving as a real estate analyst with a focus on financial analysis and appraisals of shopping centers, as well as a development manager and leasing executive for large shopping centers. These qualifications and his experience as the CEO of a leading private European shopping center company enable Mr. Otto to provide particular insights to the Board regarding the Company’s corporate strategy, the continual optimization of the Company´s operations, transactional activity and general management.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2015

AGE: 54

INDEPENDENT: YES

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    5


 

DAWN M. SWEENEY

LOGOAdvisor and Principal, New England Consulting Group (marketing management consulting)

 

     Director Since: 2018

     Age: 60

     Independent: Yes

     Committees:

    Audit

    Compensation

DAWN M. SWEENEY — Former PresidentBackground: Ms. Sweeney has served as an advisor and Chief Executive Officerprincipal of the National Restaurant Association (national trade association forNew England Consulting Group since December 2020, focusing on the group’s restaurant and foodservice industry)

Background:association practices. She also serves as an Executive in Residence at The Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Ms. Sweeney served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Restaurant Association, the chief business and national trade association for the nation’s restaurant and foodservice industry, from October 2007 until her retirement in December 2019. Prior to joining the National Restaurant Association, Ms. Sweeney was the President of AARP Services, a subsidiary of AARP, where she was responsible for revenue growth and new product development for the 50+ market. She also served as Group Executive for Membership, which focused on growing and diversifying AARP’s membership. Prior to joining AARP in 1999, Ms. Sweeney served as Vice President of Market Development for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Vice President of Marketing for the International Dairy Foods Association. Ms. Sweeney also serves on the board of directors of MedStar’s National Medical Rehabilitation Hospital and on the executive and audit committees of the board of directors of Save the Children. She has also served asis Vice Chair of the board of Save the Children Action Network and Chair of the board of the Bryce Harlow Foundation, an organization dedicated to ethics and integrity in lobbying.Network. Ms. Sweeney earned a Bachelor of Science in Government from Colby College, and a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing from The George Washington University.

 

Qualifications: Ms. Sweeney’s qualifications to serve on the Board include her extensive managerial experience and her success in building revenues, improving organizational culture and sustaining organizational growth as well as her positionrecognition as a leader in the restaurant and foodservice industry, one of the fastest growing tenant categories.industry.

LOGO

DIRECTOR SINCE: 2018

AGE: 62

INDEPENDENT: YES

COMMITTEES:

Audit

Compensation

 

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Transactions with the Otto Family

In 2009, we entered into a stock purchase agreement with Mr. Alexander Otto. Pursuant to this agreement, Mr. Otto and certain members of his family, whom we collectively refer to as the Otto Family purchased 40,000,000 common shares of the Company which we refer to as the Purchased Shares.(the “Purchased Shares”). In connection with the sale of the Purchased Shares, we also entered into an investor rights agreement with Mr. Otto under which he has a right to nominate individuals for election to our Board depending on the Otto Family’s level of ownership in the Company. During such timeCompany as of the record date for the applicable meeting of shareholders. If the Otto Family beneficially owns 17.5% or more of our outstanding common shares as of the applicable record date, our Board will nominate two persons recommended by the Otto Family who are suitable to us to become members of our Board at each annual election of Directors, and during such time asif the Otto Family beneficially owns less than 17.5% but more than 7.5% of our outstanding common shares as of the applicable record date, our Board will nominate one person recommended by the Otto Family who is suitable to us to become a member of our Board at each annual election of Directors.Board. In accordance with the investor rights agreement, Dr. Finne has beenwas proposed by Mr.the Otto Family and subsequently nominated and elected to our Board annually since 2009. Beginning in 2015, the Otto Family designated Mr. Otto has designated himself as the second person to be nominated by our Board pursuant to the investor rights agreement. As of March 15, 2022, the record date for the Annual Meeting, to our knowledge the Otto Family beneficially owned approximately 12.9% of our outstanding common shares (as compared to approximately 19.8% on the record date for our 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders). In accordance with the investor rights agreement, the Otto Family has proposed, and our Board has nominated, Mr. Otto for election at the Annual Meeting. Dr. Finne, the Otto Family’s second Director nominee in recent years, will cease to serve as a Director at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.

In February 2022, in accordance with the terms of our Fourth Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, our Board reduced the ownership limit applicable to the Otto Family from 29.8% of our common shares to 17.5% of our common shares, thereby effectively reducing the Otto Family’s number of Director nominees in future years to a maximum of one.

Independent Directors

Our Board has affirmatively determined that all Directors who served during 20192021 (except for Mr. Lukes) were, and all Directors nominated for election by the Board for election in 20202022 (except for Mr. Lukes) are, independent within the meaning of the rules of the NYSENew York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and, as applicable, the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”(“SEC”), including with respect to the applicable Director’s service on the Compensation Committee and/or excluding Mr. Otto and Dr. Finne, the Audit Committee. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide that our Board will be comprised of a majority of independent Directors and that only those Directors or Director nominees who

6    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


meet the listing standards of the NYSE will be considered independent. Our Board reviews annually the relationships that each Director or Director nominee has with us (either directly or indirectly), and only those Directors or Director nominees whom our Board affirmatively determines have no material relationship with us will be considered independent.

Director Qualifications and Review of Director Nominees

The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee reviews annually with our Board the composition of our Board as a whole and recommends, if necessary, actionactions to be taken so that our Board reflects the appropriate balance of knowledge, experience, skills, expertise and diversity required for our Board as a whole and contains at least the minimum number of independent Directors required by applicable laws and regulations and our Corporate Governance Guidelines. The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee is responsible for ensuring that the composition of our Board appropriately reflects the needs of our business and, in furtherance of this goal, proposing the addition of Directors and requesting the resignation of Directors for purposes of ensuring the requisite skill sets and commitment of the Directors to actively participate in Board and committee meetings. Directors should possess such attributes and experience as are necessary to provide a broad range of personal characteristics including diversity, management skills, and real estate and general business experience. Directors should commit the requisite time for preparation and attendance at regularly scheduled Board and committee meetings, as well as participate in other matters necessary to ensure we are well-positioned to engage in best corporate governance practices.

In evaluating a Director candidate, the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee considers factors that are in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders, including the knowledge, experience, integrity and judgment of each candidate; the potential contribution of each candidate to the diversity of backgrounds, experience and competencies that our Board desires to have represented; each candidate’s ability to devote sufficient time and effort to his or her duties as a Director; independence and willingness to consider all strategic proposals; any other criteria established by our Board and any core competencies or real estate expertise necessary to staff Board committees. In addition, the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee will consider potential members’ qualifications to be independent under the NYSE listing standards in

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement11


accordance with our Corporate Governance Guidelines, and will assess whether a candidate possesses the integrity, judgment, knowledge, experience, skills, and expertise that are likely to enhance our Board’s ability to oversee our affairs and business, including, when applicable, to enhance the ability of committees of our Board to fulfill their duties.

The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee will consider suggestions forwarded by shareholders to our Secretary concerning qualified candidates for election as Directors. To recommend a prospective candidate for the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee’s consideration and potential recommendation to the Board for nomination for Director, a shareholder may submit the candidate’s name and qualifications to our Secretary, Aaron M. Kitlowski, at the following address: 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122. The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee has not established specific minimum qualifications that a candidate must have to be recommended to our Board. However, in determining qualifications for new Directors, the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee considers those guidelines described above. The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee will consider a pool of potential Board candidates established from recommendations from shareholders and third parties, including management and current Directors, as well as pursuant to the investor rights agreement described above under the caption “Transactions with the Otto Family.” The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee may, in its discretion, retain a search consultant to supplement the pool of potential Board candidates considered for nomination.

Our Code of Regulations sets forth the requirements with respect to the nomination of candidates for Director by shareholders.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    7


Proxy Access

With the support of our shareholders, ourOur Code of Regulations was amended in 2018 to provideprovides proxy access pursuant to which a shareholder or group of up to 20 shareholders satisfying specified eligibility requirements may include Director nominees in our proxy materials for annual meetings. To be eligible to use proxy access, such shareholders must, among other requirements:

 

have owned common shares equal to at least 3% of the aggregate of our issued and outstanding common shares continuously for at least three years;

represent that such shares were acquired in the ordinary course of business and not with the intent to change or influence control and that such shareholders do not presently have such intent; and

provide a notice requesting the inclusion of Director nominees in our proxy materials and provide other required information to us not more than 150, or less than 120, days prior to the anniversary of the date that we issued our proxy statement for the prior year’s annual meeting of shareholders (unless the date for the upcoming annual meeting of shareholders is more than 30 days before or more than 60 days after the anniversary date of the prior year’s annual meeting in which case the notice must be received not later than the close of business on the later of the 150th calendar day prior to such annual meeting and the tenth calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting is first made).

The maximum number of Director nominees that may be submitted pursuant to these provisions may not exceed 20% of the number of Directors then in office but in no event shall such maximum number be less than two.

Majority Vote Standard

Consistent with best corporate governance practices, the Company’s Articles of Incorporation provide for a majority vote standard in uncontested elections and a plurality vote standard in contested elections of Directors. An election of Directors is contested when the number of nominees for election as a Director exceeds the number of Directors to be elected. Under a majority vote standard, each vote is specifically counted “For” or “Against” the Director’sDirector nominee’s election and an affirmative majority of the total number of votes cast “For” or “Against” a Director nominee will be required for election. Shareholders are entitled to abstain with respect to the election of a Director.Director nominee. With respect to the election of Directors, brokernon-votes and abstentions will not be considered votes cast at the Annual Meeting and will be excluded in determining the number of votes cast at the Annual Meeting.

 

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3. Board Governance

 

Board Leadership

Mr. Ahern serves as Chairman of the Board. The position of Chairman of the Board is anon-executive officer position and is expected to be held by anon-employee,non-management, independent Director. The Chairman of the Board has the following responsibilities, among others as may be determined by our Board:

 

Ensure that our Board fulfills its oversight and governance responsibilities;

Consult and advise on any operational matters as requested by our Chief Executive Officer;CEO;

   Coordinate the Board’s self-assessment and evaluation process;

Serve as liaison between the Company’s management and thenon-management Directors;

Coordinate the Board’s annual review of, and input toon, the Company’s strategic plan;

Assist the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee on corporate governance matters, such as the nomination of Board members, committee membership and rotation, and management succession planning;

Preside over meetings of our shareholders if the President is unavailable; and

Provide leadership to our Board, set the agenda for, and preside over, Board meetings and executive sessions of the independent andnon-management Directors.

We believe that an independent Chairman of the Board, separate from our Chief Executive Officer,CEO, recognizes the time, effort and commitment that our Chief Executive OfficerCEO is required to devote to his position and to fulfill his responsibilities and the independent oversight required by our Chairman of the Board. This structure also enables our Board as a whole to fulfill its responsibility to oversee the risks presented by the Company’s long-term strategy, business plan and model.

Meetings of Our Board

During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019,2021, our Board held fivesix meetings and undertook onethree written action.actions. Each of our Directors attended at least 75% of the aggregate of (i) the number of meetings of the Board whichthat were held during the period that such person served on the Board and (ii) the number of meetings of committees of the Board held during the period that such person served on such committee. As stated in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, all Directors are expected to attend the Annual Meeting. All of our then current Directors nominated for election virtually attended the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in May 2019.2021. Our Board conducts and reviews its operations through a self-assessment process on an annual basis.

Meetings ofNon-Management and Independent Directors

Thenon-management Directors meet in executive session in conjunction with each regularly scheduled Board meeting. These meetings are chaired by the Chairman of the Board. In addition, as required by our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the independent Directors meet at least once per year to the extent our Board includes one or morenon-management Directors who are not independent.

Committees of Our Board

During 2019,2021, our Board had the committees described below. Our Board has approved the written charters of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee, which, along with our Corporate Governance Guidelines, are posted on our website atwww.sitecenters.com, under “Governance” in the “Investor Relations” section. Each of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee conducts a self-evaluation and review of its charter annually and reports the results of these evaluations and reviews to our Board. The information contained on or accessible through our website is not incorporated by reference into this Proxy Statement, and you should not consider such information to be part of this Proxy Statement.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    9

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement13


Audit Committee

    

AUDIT COMMITTEE

    

Members:

  Ms. DeFlorio (Chair)

  Mr. Ahern

  Ms. Abraham

  Ms. Sweeney

Responsibilities: The Audit Committee assists our Board in overseeing: the integrity of our financial statements; our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence; the performance of our internal audit function and our independent registered public accounting firm; and the assessment and management of enterprise risk. The Audit Committee also prepares the Audit Committee Report included in our annual proxy statement.

 

Independence: All of the members of the Audit Committee are independent as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC and the NYSE listing standards, including with respect to service on the Audit Committee, in accordance with our Corporate Governance Guidelines.Committee. Our Board has determined that each current member of the Audit Committee and each member that served on the Audit Committee in 20192021 is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of Item 407 ofRegulation S-K under the federal securities laws other than Ms. Abraham, who otherwise meets audit committee financial literacy requirements.

 

Meetings: The Audit Committee held eight meetings in 2019.2021.

Members:

Ms. DeFlorio (Chair)

Mr. Ahern

Ms. Abraham

Ms. Sweeney

 

Compensation Committee

    

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

    

Members:

  Mr. Ahern (Chair)

  Ms. DeFlorio

  Ms. Sweeney

Responsibilities: The Compensation Committee: reviews and approves compensation for our executive officers; reviews and recommends to our Board compensation for Directors; oversees the Company’s compensation and executive benefit plans, including those under which executive officers and Directors receive benefits; and reviews and discusses with management the Compensation Discussion and Analysis and produces the Compensation Committee Report in our annual proxy statement. The Compensation Committee engages a compensation consultant to assist in the design of the executive compensation program and the review of its effectiveness, as further described below under the caption “Compensation Discussion and Analysis.” The Chief Executive OfficerCEO makes recommendations to the Compensation Committee regarding compensation for executive officers other than himself for approval by the Compensation Committee, and the Compensation Committee delegates to senior management the authority to administer certain aspects of the compensation program fornon-executive officers. In addition, the Compensation Committee may form subcommittees of at least two members for any purpose it deems appropriate and may delegate to the subcommittees any of its power and authority that the Compensation Committee deems appropriate.

 

Independence: All of the members of the Compensation Committee are independent as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC and the NYSE listing standards, including with respect to service on the Compensation Committee, in accordance with our Corporate Governance Guidelines.Committee.

 

Meetings: The Compensation Committee held fourfive meetings and took written action on three occasionsone occasion in 2019.2021.

Members:

Mr. Ahern (Chair)

Ms. DeFlorio

Ms. Sweeney

 

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Nominating and ESG Committee

    

NOMINATING AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

    

Members:

  Mr. MacFarlane (Chair)

  Ms. Abraham

  Dr. Finne

Responsibilities: The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee: identifies individuals qualified to become members of our Board and recommends to our Board the persons to be nominated as Directors at each annual meeting of shareholders; recommends to our Board qualified individuals to fill vacancies on our Board; reviews and recommends to our Board qualifications for committee membership and committee structure and operations; recommends Directors to serve on each committee; develops and recommends to our Board corporate governance policies and procedures in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and other rules and regulations relating to our corporate governance; reviews our ESG initiatives and policies and receives periodic reports from management on related topics; oversees compliance with, and reviews and makes recommendations regarding any waivers under, our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics with respect to officers and Directors; and leads our Board in its annual review of the performance of our Board.

 

Independence: All of the members of the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee are independent as defined in the NYSE listing standards and in accordance with our Corporate Governance Guidelines.standards.

 

Meetings: The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee held four meetings in 2019.2021.

Members:

Mr. MacFarlane (Chair)

Ms. Abraham

Dr. Finne

 

Dividend Declaration Committee

    

DIVIDEND DECLARATION COMMITTEE

    

Members:

  Mr. Lukes (Chair)

  Mr. Ahern

  Dr. Finne

Responsibilities: As may be authorized by the Board, the Dividend Declaration Committee determines if and when we should declare dividends on our capital shares and the amount thereof, consistent with the dividend policy adopted by our Board.

 

Meetings: The Dividend Declaration Committee did not meet during 2019.2021. The Dividend Declaration Committee took written action on four occasions in 2019.2021.

Members:

Mr. Lukes (Chair)

Mr. Ahern

Dr. Finne

 

Pricing Committee

    

PRICING COMMITTEE

    

Members:

  Mr. Lukes (Chair)

  Ms. DeFlorio

  Dr. Finne

Responsibilities: The Pricing Committee (or duly appointed subcommittee thereof) is authorized to approve the timing, amount, price and terms of offerings of our debt and equity securities.

 

Meetings: The Pricing Committee held one meeting and a subcommittee of the Pricing Committee took written action on two occasions in 2019.2021.

Members:

Mr. Lukes (Chair)

Mr. Ahern

Ms. DeFlorio

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    11


Risk Oversight

Management is responsible forthe day-to-day management of risks, while the Board, as a whole and through our Audit Committee, is responsible for overseeing the risk assessment and risk management functions of the Company. The Board has delegated responsibility for reviewing our policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management to our Audit Committee through its charter. The Board has determined that this oversight responsibility can be most efficiently performed by our Audit Committee as part of its overall responsibility for providing independent, objective oversight with respect to our accounting and financial reporting functions, internal and external audit functions, systems of internal controlscontrol over financial reporting, security of information technology systems and data, and legal, ethical and regulatory compliance. Our Audit Committee regularly reports to the Board with respect to its oversight of these areas.

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement15


Compensation of Directors

Director Compensation Program

During 2019,2021, ournon-employee Directors were compensated in the form of an annual cash retainer and an annual stock retainer, which were intended to align the interests of our Directors and our shareholders, as shown below.

 

COMPONENT  ANNUAL AMOUNTPAYABLE
ComponentAnnual AmountPayable

Annual Stock Retainer

Equal in value to $100,000

Quarterly in common shares

Annual Cash Retainer

$50,000

Quarterly in cash or common

shares, at the Director’s election

Non-employee Directors are also paid fees for service on certain committees as set forth below and for service as the Chairman of the Board. The Director who serves as the Chairman of the Board receives an annual fee of $100,000 in addition to the fees paid to allnon-employee Directors. Fees are paid to committee members, the respective committee chairs and the Chairman of the Board in quarterly installments in the form of cash or common shares, at the Director’s election. Each Director is also reimbursed for expenses incurred in attending meetings because we view meeting attendance as integrally and directly related to the performance of the Directors’ duties.

 

     

ADDITIONAL ANNUAL FEE

 

Annual Fee
  
Committee            Chair ($)                     Other Member ($)         
COMMITTEE    CHAIR ($)    OTHER MEMBER ($)
Audit Committee 40,000 25,000      40,000      25,000
Compensation Committee 40,000 25,000      40,000      25,000
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee 30,000 20,000

Nominating and ESG Committee

      30,000      20,000
Dividend Declaration Committee              
Pricing Committee              

2021 Director Compensation

12    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


2019 Director Compensation

In accordance with the compensation program described above, theour non-employee Directors received the following compensation during 2019:2021:

 

NameFees Earned or
Paid in Cash ($)
Stock Awards ($)(3)Total ($)
DIRECTOR NAME    FEES EARNED OR
PAID IN CASH ($)
    STOCK AWARDS ($)(1)    TOTAL ($)
Terrance R. Ahern 215,000 100,021   315,021      215,000      100,038      315,038
Linda B. Abraham 95,000 100,021   195,021

Linda B. Abraham(2)

        95,015      100,038      195,053
Jane E. DeFlorio 115,000 100,021   215,021      115,000      100,038      215,038
Thomas Finne 70,000 100,021   170,021        70,000      100,038      170,038
Victor B. MacFarlane 80,000 100,021   180,021        80,000      100,038      180,038
Alexander Otto 50,024(1)  100,021   150,045        50,000       100,038      150,038
Dawn M. Sweeney(2) 100,011 100,021   200,032      100,038      100,038      200,076

 

(1)

The amount reported in this column for Mr. Otto was paid in common shares.

(2)

The cash and stock awards listed for Ms. Sweeney were deferred into the Director’s Deferred Compensation Plan and converted into units that are the economic equivalent of common shares, as further described below.

(3)

The amounts reported in this column reflect the aggregate grant date fair value, as computed in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (FASB(“FASB ASC Topic 718)718”), for stock awards granted quarterly to each of thenon-employee Directors in 2019,2021, based upon the closing price of our common shares on the dates of grant. The grant date fair values of the stock awards made to each Director in 20192021 were as follows: $13.40$12.32 on February 15, 2019 (1,8662021 (2,030 shares); $13.90$14.77 on May 15, 2019 (1,7992021 (1,693 shares); $13.54$15.70 on August 15, 2019 (1,8472021 (1,593 shares); and $14.90$16.51 on November 15, 2019 (1,6782021 (1,515 shares).

(2)The cash and stock awards listed for Mses. Abraham and Sweeney were deferred into the Director’s Deferred Compensation Plan and converted into units that are the economic equivalent of common shares, as further described below.

16    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan

Non-employee Directors have the right to defer the receipt of all or a portion of their fees pursuant to our Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan. Our Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan is an unsecured, general obligation of the Company. Participants’ contributions are converted to units, based on the market value of our common shares, so that each unit is the economic equivalent of one common share but without voting rights. Settlement of units is made in cash, common shares or a combination of both (as permitted by the plan administrators) at a date determined by the participant at the time a deferral election is made. Prior to settlement, each unit earns dividend equivalents in an amount equal to any dividends paid on our common shares during the deferral period. We have established a “rabbi” trust, which holds our common shares, to satisfy our payment obligations under the plan. Common shares equal to the number of units credited to participants’ accounts under the plan are contributed to the rabbi trust. In the event of our insolvency, the assets of the rabbi trust are available to general creditors of the Company. During their terms as Directors, Messrs. Ahern and MacFarlane and Ms. Sweeneythe following have deferred compensation represented by the following number of units as of December 31, 2019:2021:

 

  
Name 

        Number of Units under the        

        Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan         

 Value of Units ($)(1)
DIRECTOR NAME    

NUMBER OF UNITS UNDER THE

DIRECTORS’ DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN

    VALUE OF UNITS ($)(1)

Linda B. Abraham

    13,483    213,450
Terrance R. Ahern 183,439(2) 2,571,828          72,006    1,139,871
Victor B. MacFarlane   51,125        716,776          55,616    880,416
Dawn M. Sweeney   14,697        206,059          56,973    901,898

 

(1)

Based on the closing price of our common shares on December 31, 20192021 of $14.02.

$15.83.

(2)

In January 2020, 59,819 of these units were settled in common shares.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    13


Equity Deferred Compensation Plan

During his term as a Director prior to 2006, Mr. Ahern also had the right to defer the vesting of restricted shares pursuant to the Company’s Equity Deferred Compensation Plan. Vested deferred stock units under the Equity Deferred Compensation Plan will not be distributed to him until the end of the deferral period selected. As of December 31, 2019, Mr. Ahern had 514 units deferred under this plan valued at approximately $7,206 based on the closing price of our common shares on December 31, 2019 (341 of these units were settled and distributed to Mr. Ahern in common shares in January 2020).

Director Stock Ownership Guidelines

Eachnon-employee Director must own common shares or common share equivalents with an aggregate market value of no less than five times the cash portion of the annual retainer paid to a Director (or(in other words, $250,000 worth of shares). This ownership requirement generally must be met no later than the fifth anniversary of the date restricted shares or common shares comprising a component of the Director’s compensation are first granted to the Director, and on each December 31st thereafter. Our Board established this particular level of stock ownership for ournon-employee Directors because we wantin order to havealign the interests of ournon-employee Directors aligned with the investment interests of our shareholders. To this end, and unless otherwise approved by the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee, eachnon-employee Director is required to retain at least 50% of the common shares and common share equivalents received by the Director as compensation until such time as the minimum share ownership requirement has been satisfied. Common share units acquired by Directors under our deferred compensation plans constitute common share equivalents and count toward satisfying the stock ownership guidelines. All Directors were in compliance with the Director stock ownership guidelines as of December 31, 2019.2021.

 

14    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement17


Security Ownership of Directors and Management

The following table sets forth certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common shares as of February 21, 2020,2022, except as otherwise disclosed in the notes below, by (1) our Directors, (2) our named executive officers, and (3) our current executive officers and Directors, as a group. Except as otherwise described in the following notes, the following beneficial owners have sole voting power and sole investment power with respect to all common shares set forth opposite their respective names.

 

Directors and Management

Amount and Nature of

  Beneficial Ownership of Common Shares  

   Percentage  

   Ownership (%)(7)  

DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT  

AMOUNT AND NATURE OF

BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF COMMON SHARES

 

PERCENTAGE

OWNERSHIP (%)(5)

David R. Lukes161,788(1)*    636,097(1)   *
Linda B. Abraham14,457*    38,294(2)   *
Terrance R. Ahern236,041(2)(3)*    91,056(2)   *
Jane E. DeFlorio19,126*    38,792  *

Thomas Finne

    62,531  *

Victor B. MacFarlane

    3,108(2)   *

Alexander Otto

    19,596,389(3)   9.3

Dawn M. Sweeney

    23,516(2)   *

John M. Cattonar

    18,163(1)   *
Conor M. Fennerty735*    5,600(1)   *
Thomas Finne47,865*
Victor B. MacFarlane71,619(3)*
Michael A. Makinen15,795(1)*
Alexander Otto40,771,073(4)21.0
Dawn M. Sweeney3,243(3)*
Christa A. Vesy91,501(1)(5)*    112,205(1)(4)   *
Matthew L. Ostrower36,633(6)*
 

All Current Executive Officers and Directors as a

Group (11 persons)

41,433,24321.4    20,625,751  9.8

 

*

Less than 1%

 

(1)

Does not include 133,316, 37,443, 48,938578,402, 29,634, 62,728 and 37,424 restricted stock units (“RSUs”)49,424 RSUs credited to the accounts of Messrs. Lukes, MakinenCattonar and Fennerty and Ms. Vesy, respectively, which will vest in future periods pursuant to their terms. Each unit is the economic equivalent of, and settled with, one common share, but does not confer current dispositive or voting control of any common shares prior to its vesting.

 

(2)

Does not include 173 stock units credited to the account of Mr. Ahern with respect to restricted common shares that would have vested pursuant to their terms but were deferred to the Company’s Equity Deferred Compensation Plan. The stock units represent the right to receive common shares at the end of the deferral period, but do not confer current dispositive or voting control of any common shares.

(3)

Does not include 126,318, 51,87772,534, 57,662, 16,776 and 18,76360,667 stock units credited to the accounts of Messrs. Ahern and MacFarlane and Ms.Mses. Abraham and Sweeney, respectively, pursuant to our Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan. Each unit is the economic equivalent of one common share, but does not confer current dispositive or voting control of any common shares.

 

(4)(3)

For information regarding Mr. Otto’s beneficial ownership, see “Corporate Governance and Other Matters — Matters—Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners.”

 

(5)(4)

Includes 40,11135,455 common shares subject to compensatory stock options exercisable on or prior to April 22, 2020.

2022.

 

(6)(5)

Beneficial ownership information for Mr. Ostrower is provided as of November 27, 2019, his last date of service as an executive officer of the Company, based on his Form 4 filing with the SEC on March 2, 2019.

(7)

Percentages are calculated based on 193,845,629211,242,359 of our common shares outstanding as of February 21, 2020.

2022.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    15

18    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Highlights

SITE Centers is a self-administered and self-managed REIT engaged in the business of acquiring, owning, developing, redeveloping, expanding, leasing financing and managing shopping centers. We aspire to be a good corporate citizen, maintain an exciting workplace for our employees, operate our properties sustainably and engage with the many communities we serve, while driving value creation and favorable returns for our shareholders. Our ESGenvironmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives are detailed in our annual Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report (the “Report”), which was completed in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”) standards and can be found in the “Sustainability” section of our website atwww.sitecenters.com. Our most recent Report was completed in accordance with GRI standards and includes disclosures with respect to certain SASB standards. Below are some of the highlights of this Report along with recent recognition we have recently received on account ofand accomplishments with respect to our ESG initiatives.

Recent Recognition

 

  

Included in Newsweek’s inaugural list of America’s Most Responsible Companies.Companies for each of the past three years.

 

  

Included in the 20202022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (“GEI”) comprised of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting and which have exhibited performance on certain gender-data metrics.

 

  

Rated “Green Star” by GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) for our sustainability benchmark results with an above average rating relative to our peer group with respect to our level of public ESG disclosures.

 

  

Recognized as a Silver Green Lease Leader (Silver Level) by the U.S. Department of Energy and The Institute for Market Transformation for our development and implementation of green leases.

Environmental

 

  

ConvertedHeadquarters Renovation. We are in the process of renovating our office headquarters in Beachwood, Ohio. This project is expected to be LEED Certified, utilizing a new energy management and lighting controls system. The renovation will improve the R rating for the building’s exterior envelope and will deploy new HVAC equipment to improve energy usage and indoor air quality. The 60,000 square foot project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Green Lease Platform. We aim to include green lease provisions in our new lease agreements with tenants whenever practicable. Green lease provisions allow us to partner with our tenants on the pursuit of renewable energy opportunities in the common and exterior areas of our properties. In 2021, approximately 72% of new leases executed at wholly-owned properties contained green lease language. We have also engaged a consultant to provide mandatory sustainability training to our leasing team which helps to educate our team on sustainability generally and how they can leverage the Company’s sustainability efforts when negotiating leases with our tenants.

Common Area Lighting. In recent years, we have converted old parking lot lighting technology to LED lighting at substantially all of our wholly-owned properties. We also installed smart lighting controls at the vast majority of our wholly-owned properties where feasible, between 2018 and the endin order to minimize unnecessary lighting of 2019. These installations included over 4,600 LED parking lot fixtures and hundreds of building fixtures. The upgrades created significant energy savings and provided better aesthetics and lighting levels for our tenants and customers.common areas during off hours.

 

  

Installed white reflectiveEnergy Efficient Roofing. Large expansive parking lots and dark colored roofs can impact local air temperature through what is commonly referred to as partthe “urban heat island effect”. To mitigate our properties’ contribution to this phenomenon, we continue to convert older roofing to more energy efficient solutions whenever existing roofs at our properties reach the end of their useful lives. White roof membranes limit the amount of the sun’s energy absorbed into the structure of our ongoing replacement strategy at our owned and managed properties totaling 950,395 square feet in 2019 and 31.2 million square feet over the lifetime of our program. These reflective membranes allow for sunlight to be reflected back into the atmosphere,buildings, thereby reducing the urban heat island effect, decreasing the cooling costs of our tenants and reducing demand on local electrical grids. We added approximately 249,295 square feet of white roofing to our wholly-owned portfolio during 2021, and approximately 53% of the roofing square footage of our wholly-owned portfolio was comprised of white roofing materials as of December 31, 2021. Our portfolio also includes 60,000 square feet of green roofing systems which improve water run-off and further moderate the temperature fluctuations within our properties.

 

  

Operated 214HVAC Maintenance and Carbon Emission Reduction. Heating, cooling and lighting within our tenants’ spaces are responsible for the substantial majority of energy used at our properties. Although we have limited control of energy usage within our tenants’ spaces, we have recently implemented a program that requires applicable tenants to provide evidence of quarterly maintenance of their HVAC units which, in turn, is expected to increase the life and efficiency of HVAC units across our portfolio. Approximately 34% of tenants having HVAC maintenance provisions in their leases were in compliance with these requirements at the end of 2021, and the Company is targeting at least a 50% compliance rate at the end of 2022. We also continue to partner with vendors and utility companies to expand our EV charging stations in our centers. As of December 31, 2021, 205 electric car charging stations were operating across our owned and managed portfolio at the end of 2019. These units provide some of the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles to be utilized in our surrounding communities and allow us to play an additional role in global carbon reduction.portfolio.

 

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement19


  

Utilized solar panels at 14 owned and managed sites to generate 3.7 megawatts of renewable power in 2019, which reduced our consumption ofnon-renewable energy sources.

EmployedWater Conservation. We employ water conservation strategies when practical, including xeriscaping, rain water collection,re-use of grey water for chiller systems, drip irrigation installations, native landscaping, reclaimed water and smart metering. In 2021, we began installing smart water meters across our properties. Smart water meters will help us to detect leaks more quickly and decrease usage over time. As of December 31, 2021, we had installed 833 smart meters across our portfolio.

Social and Human Capital Management

Employee Engagement Survey and Tenure. We again engaged Gallup, Inc. in 2021 to survey the level of our workforce engagement. 97% of our employees participated in the 2021 survey and the Company scored in the top half of Gallup’s overall client database. Support for our work environment is also evidenced by our relatively low level of voluntary attrition with approximately 82% of our employees having been with the Company for over 5 years and 53% for over 10 years.

 

  

Worked with tenants to identify recycling and composting opportunities in order to divert approximately 41% of the waste generated at our owned and managed centers away from landfills.

InstitutedGender Diversity Initiatives. We promote a green lease platform where tenants contribute toward the Company’s environmental management plan and which provides for utility usage and data sharing.

16    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


Social and Human Capital Management

Promote employee health and well-being by providing access to a competitive and comprehensive benefits program, astate-of-the-art fitness center located at our Beachwood, Ohio office staffed by a certified fitness and yoga instructor, our Make It Happen wellness program, flex time and summer hours, and scholarship opportunities for employees’ families.

Promote agender diverse and inclusive culture through the organization’s Women of Influence program, which nurtures the development of women across the Company through mentoring programs, cross-function relationship building, networking and speaker events, and charitable giving initiatives. At the end of 2019,2021, women represented 60.5%approximately 63% of our workforce and 42.6%46% of our managers.managers (defined by reference to the EEO-1 job class categories to include executive/senior-level officials and managers and first/mid-level officials and managers).

 

  

SupportRacial Diversity Initiatives. At the end of 2021, the ethnicity of our workforce was approximately 80% White, 12% Black, 4% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 2% Other (in accordance with EEO-1 categories and methodology) and members of ethnic and racial minorities represented approximately 7% of our managers. The decrease in certain of our diversity statistics compared to year-end 2020 was the result of RVI’s sale of its remaining Puerto Rico properties in August 2021 which had been managed by local Company employees. Of the Company’s employees, 73% of employees were assigned to work in the corporate headquarters in Beachwood, Ohio, with the rest working in regional offices or remotely. In 2020 and 2021, we partnered with Jopwell, a minority-focused recruiting resource, and implemented internal policies that promote consideration of qualified minority candidates for open positions, which resulted in an increase in the number of diverse candidates interviewed and hired to fill open positions.

SITE HELPERS. In 2020, we started the SITE HELPERS (Humility, Empathy, Listening, Process, Education, Reconciliation and Support) initiative in order to facilitate a discussion regarding diversity, equity and inclusion within our Company and to better understand the perspectives of the diverse members of our workforce. In 2021, the SITE HELPERS steering committee engaged a consultant to lead interactive discussions and training sessions with our employees and leaders on the topics of enhancing inclusivity and trust and identifying potential biases within our organization. Our SITE HELPERS committee, in partnership with various Company leaders and staff, also created and launched a work-based internship program designed to provide minority students at public high schools in Atlanta, Georgia with opportunities to learn more about the real estate industry and related careers.

Flexible Remote Work Policy. Most of our employees performed their responsibilities in a remote working environment from March 2020 until September 2021. In connection with our return to the office environment, and in order to promote our employees’ work-life balance, in September 2021 we implemented a flexible Work From Home policy designed to allow employees to work up to two days per week from home.

OtherEmployee Benefits. We promote employee health and well-being by providing access to a competitive and comprehensive benefits program, a state-of-the-art fitness center located at our Beachwood, Ohio office staffed by a certified fitness and yoga instructor, our Make It Happen wellness program, flex time and summer hours, and scholarship opportunities for employees’ families.

Community Involvement. We support the communities in which we live through our strategic partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, implementation of our YOUnity program to support our employees’ charitable giving and enable efficient Company matching for employee donations, and our Community ServiceImpact Day Program, which allows employees to donateutilize two paid workdays each year to volunteer for charitable organizations and/or engage in community activities of their choice. In 2019,2021, the Company and its employees donated approximately $235,000 and 1,147 volunteer hours$304,000 to charitable organizations of their choice.choice and tracked 424 hours of volunteer time.

 

  

RequireVendor Conduct. We require that our property operations vendors agree to a vendor code of conduct and comply with terms and conditions that are designed to promote fair wages, adherence to applicable labor laws and high ethical standards.

20    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Governance

 

  

Board Diversity. Our Board of Directors values diversity in experience, professional background, tenure and gender. Three of our eight Directors (38%seven Director nominees (43%) are women, halfone of our Directors have served on the Board for fewer than five years,Director nominees (14%) is African American, and sevensix of our eight Directors (88%seven Director nominees (86%) qualify as independent within the meaning of NYSE rules.

 

  

ISSGovernance Rating. We maintained a governance QualityScore of 1 in 2021, representing Institutional Shareholder Services’ highest possible governance rating.

Proxy Access. As discussed elsewhere in this Proxy Statement, we have adopted customary proxy access provisions and a majority vote standard in uncontested elections of Directors.

 

  

Shareholder Amendments. Our Code of Regulations can be amended by the affirmative vote of shareholders owning a majority of our common shares issued and outstanding on the applicable record date at any meeting of shareholders called for such purpose.

 

  

Annual Director Elections. We do not have a classified Board of Directors.Board. We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio and, unlike many REITs incorporated in Maryland, we cannot classify our Board of Directors without shareholder consent.

 

  

Control Share Act Opt-out. We have opted out of the Ohio Control Share Act, which requires that an investor seeking to acquire shares in excess of certain ownership thresholds first obtain consent from disinterested shareholders.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    17

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement21


4. Proposal Two: Approval, on an Advisory Basis, of the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

As required under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and Section 14A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we are asking you to cast an advisory(non-binding) vote on the following resolution at the Annual Meeting:

RESOLVED, that, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant to Item 402 of RegulationS-K, including in the Compensation“Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and related narratives and descriptions of our Proxy Statement for the 20202022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, is hereby APPROVED.

This advisory vote, commonly known as a“Say-on-Pay” vote, gives you the opportunity to express your views about the compensation we pay to our named executive officers, as described in this Proxy Statement. The Board believes that our executive compensation program is designed appropriately and working effectively to help ensure that we compensate our named executive officers for the achievement of annual and long-term performance goals which will enhance shareholder value. Before you vote, please review the sections captioned “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure” below. These sections describe our named executive officer pay programs and the rationale behind the decisions made by our Compensation Committee.

You may vote “FOR” or “AGAINST” the resolution or abstain from voting on the resolution. The result of theSay-on-Pay vote will not be binding on us or our Board; however, the Board values the views of our shareholders. The Board and Compensation Committee will review the results of the vote and expect to take them into consideration in addressing future compensation policies and decisions.

Thisnon-binding advisory vote is currently scheduled to be conducted every year. The nextSay-on-Pay vote is expected to take place at our 20212023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.Shareholders (the “2023 Annual Meeting”). The next vote on the frequency of our Say-on-Pay vote is also expected to take place at our 2023 Annual Meeting.

 

 

BOARD RECOMMENDATION:

For” the Approval, on an Advisory Basis, of the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive OfficersFOR” THE APPROVAL, ON AN ADVISORY BASIS, OF THE COMPENSATION  OF THE COMPANY’S NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

 

We believe that you should vote “FOR” the approval, on anon-binding, advisory basis, of our named executive officer compensation, which, as described more fully under the section captioned “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” we have designed to have strong links to performance, both in terms of operationaloperating and financial results as well as in creation and implementation of a corporate strategy which is designed to optimize shareholder value.performance. At-risk elements such as annual incentives and long-term equity incentives comprise a significant portion of our overall executive remuneration. For these incentive plans, we establish performance metrics and objectives so that the level of compensation received appropriately corresponds to the level of performance achieved. In addition, the vesting requirements of time-basedservice-based RSU awards isare designed to encourage the retention of our named executive officers and ownership that results in business decisions that build long-term shareholder value and thus stock price appreciation, and retention of our named executive officers.appreciation.

As further described below, we experienced a transition in our Chief Financial Officer position in November 2019 from Matthew Ostrower to Conor Fennerty. Upon his departure from the Company, Mr. Ostrower forfeited all time-based and performance-based equity which had not previously vested in accordance with its terms. Mr. Ostrower also did not receive any annual incentive compensation payout in connection with his service to the Company in 2019.

18    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


Half of our Chief Executive Officer’s and, excluding Mr. Fennerty, 60% of our other named executive officers’ annual incentive award payout for 20192021 was determined by reference to the Company’s performance with respect to two key quantifiable metrics: growth in same property net operating income (“Same Store NOI”)Operating FFO and operating funds from operations (“Operating FFO”).Adjusted EBITDA. The remaining portion40% of these executives’ annual incentive award was tied to the Compensation Committee’s assessment of individual performance and the achievement of objectives for which the executive was individually responsible. For Mr. Fennerty, whose annual incentive compensation program was established early in 2019 at a time when he was not serving as an executive officer of the Company, his 2019 incentive award was determined entirely based on a subjective, discretionary assessment of his individual performance by the Compensation Committee. We believe you should vote “FOR” the 20192021 compensation of our named executive officers because it was aligned with our actual 20192021 performance and appropriately reflects key achievements resulting from their leadership.

22    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Compensation Committee Report

The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required by Item 402(b) of RegulationS-K with management. Based on such review and discussions, the Compensation Committee recommended to our Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 20192021 and the Proxy Statement for the 20202022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders for filing with the SEC.

Compensation Committee

Terrance R. Ahern, Chair

Jane E. DeFlorio

Dawn M. Sweeney

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The members of the Compensation Committee during 2019

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The members of the Compensation Committee during 2021 were Terrance R. Ahern, Jane E. DeFlorio and Dawn M. Sweeney. None of our executive officers serves or has served on the board of directors or compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) of any entity for which any of Mr. Ahern or Mses. DeFlorio or Sweeney at the same time serves or served as executive officer. Also, none of our executive officers serves or served on the compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions or, in the absence of any such committee, the entire board of directors) of any entity, one of whose executive officers at the same time serves or served as a member of our Board.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    19


5. Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Overview

In this section of the Proxy Statement, we explain and discuss our 2019 executive compensation program. This discussion is also intended to describe our compensation policies with respect to our executive officers and to provide a review of our compensation decisions for 2019. Our goal is to provide a better understanding, both in absolute terms and relative to our performance, of our compensation practices and the decisions made concerning the compensation payable to our executive officers, including the Chief Executive Officer, or CEO, and the other executive officers named in the “2019 Summary Compensation Table” below. We refer to the executive officers included in that table as our “named executive officers”.

The Compensation Committee of our Board, referred to in this section as the “Committee,” generally designs and administers our executive compensation program. All principal elements of compensation paid to our named executive officers are subject to approval by the Committee.

Executive Summary

2019 Performance Highlights

Following our management transition in 2017 and the RVIspin-off and Dividend Trust Portfolio transactions in 2018, we focused our efforts in 2019 both on the continued execution of the five-year sustainable growth plan announced at our October 2018 Investor Day presentation and on continued improvement of our balance sheet. Our five-year plan targets average annual growth in Same Store NOI of 2.75%, annual growth in Operating FFO of 5.00% and annual growth in net asset value (“NAV”) of 5.00%. As outlined in that presentation, significant drivers of projected Same Store NOI and NAV growth include plans to lease 60 anchor vacancies identified at the time of the presentation and make opportunistic investments of $75 million per year on average. As of January 31, 2020, we had leased 38 of the 60 anchor vacancies identified at the October 2018 presentation, of which 25 spaces were open and paying rent. During the course of 2019, we also invested an aggregate of approximately $99 million through a combination of the repurchase of 1.2 million of our common shares at an average cost of $11.31 per share and the acquisition of three shopping centers for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $85 million. This collective activity contributed significantly to our 2019 Same Store NOI growth of 3.6% and 2019 Operating FFO of $1.27 per share.1

We also took significant steps in 2019 to continue to improve the strength of our balance sheet and the quality of our portfolio. In October 2019 we sold approximately 13.2 million shares of our common stock for net proceeds of approximately $195 million ($14.76 per share). In November 2019, we used the proceeds from this offering to redeem all of our outstanding 6.50% Class J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares having an aggregate liquidation preference of $200 million. In addition, in October 2019, we announced an agreement to sell our 15% stake in the DDRTC joint venture, comprised oftwenty-one properties with population and household income demographics substantially below those of our consolidated portfolio, to our joint venture partner for net proceeds of approximately $143 million before giving effect to working capital adjustments in a transaction which closed in February 2020.

We believe that support for the execution of our strategy to date is evidenced by the performance of our common stock and feedback from the investment community. From December 14, 2017, the date on which the Company’s current management team commenced the implementation of its strategy with the announcement of its plan to spin off RVI, through close of trading on February 28, 2020, the total shareholder return on the Company’s common shares was 0.6% compared to a return of-5.9% for the FTSE NAREIT Shopping Center Index.

1

More information with respect to the calculation of Same Store NOI growth and a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to SITE Centers to Same Store NOI can be found on pages 54 to 55 of our Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. For a discussion of Operating FFO and a reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders to Operating FFO for the year ended December 31, 2019, including on a per share basis, see pages 51 to 54 of our Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

20    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement


Chief Financial Officer Transition and Employment Agreement

On November 5, 2019, Mr. Ostrower, our former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, informed us23


5. Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Overview

In this section of the Proxy Statement, we explain and discuss our 2021 executive compensation program. This discussion is also intended to describe our compensation policies with respect to our executive officers and to provide a review of our compensation decisions for 2021. Our goal is to provide a better understanding, both in absolute terms and relative to our performance, of our compensation practices and the decisions made concerning the compensation payable to our executive officers, including the Chief Executive Officer and the other executive officers named in the “2021 Summary Compensation Table” below. We refer to the executive officers included in that table, namely Mr. Lukes (our President and CEO), Mr. Fennerty (our EVP and CFO), Ms. Vesy (our EVP and CAO) and Mr. Cattonar (our EVP and CIO), as our “named executive officers”.

The Compensation Committee of our Board, referred to in this section as the “Committee,” generally designs and administers our executive compensation program. All principal elements of compensation paid to our named executive officers are subject to approval by the Committee.

Executive Summary

2021 Performance Highlights

2021 was a transformational year for our Company. We began 2021 focused on mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business but quickly transitioned to leveraging the strength of our operations, leasing platform and balance sheet to build a foundation for sustainable future growth. In the early months of the year, the Company negotiated arrangements with the last group of large tenants which had failed to pay 2020 rents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with tenants to normalize rent collections. Throughout the year, the Company’s leasing team capitalized on the increasing importance of suburban store locations to tenants’ businesses and the improved financial health of national credit tenants to produce leasing volumes well in excess of 2020 levels. Improving transactions markets helped the Company to substantially complete the sale of RVI’s remaining properties which, in turn, led to RVI’s distribution of $190 million to the Company in October 2021 on account of the Company’s preferred investment. This distribution, together with retained cash from improved operations and proceeds of the Company’s March 2021 equity offering, provided the Company with important capital to consummate significant property acquisitions, finance new anchor tenant buildouts and redevelopment projects, redeem certain of the Company’s preferred shares and repay other indebtedness ahead of scheduled maturities. The Company concluded 2021 with reduced leverage levels, no outstanding balance on its revolving lines of credit and significant immediate liquidity (from both cash on hand and amounts available from settlement of forward equity sales) leaving the Company well positioned to take advantage of future growth and investment opportunities.

We believe that support for the Company’s performance and its leadership is evidenced by the recent relative performance of our common stock and feedback from the investment community. From December 13, 2017, the date on which the Company announced its strategy to improve the quality of its portfolio and balance sheet through the spin-off of RVI, until close of trading on February 16, 2022, the TSR of the Company’s common shares was 41.5% compared to a return of 23.4% for the FTSE NAREIT Shopping Center Index.

2021 Annual Incentive Compensation Program Overview

Our Committee typically establishes both quantitative and qualitative performance metrics to govern our annual incentive compensation program during the first quarter of each year. In February 2021, our Committee determined that it was unable at that time to adopt quantitative performance metrics for 2021 due to the uncertainty that continued to exist with respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Company operations. Following improvement in the operating environment during the first quarter of 2021 and management’s release of updated earnings guidance in April 2021, the Committee established our 2021 annual incentive compensation program in early May 2021.

The 2021 annual incentive compensation program included both quantitative performance metrics, namely Operating FFO and Adjusted EBITDA, and subjectively-evaluated qualitative performance metrics. The quantitative metrics comprised 60% of the program’s overall assessment of executive performance for 2021, and the Committee set the “target” level of his intention to terminate his employment with us. Upon his departure from the Company on November 27, 2019, Mr. Ostrower forfeited all time-based and performance-based equity which had not previously vested in accordance with its terms. Mr. Ostrower also did not receive any annual incentive compensation payout in connection with his service to the Company in 2019.

On November 6, 2019, the Board appointed Mr. Fennerty as the Company’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer effective upon Mr. Ostrower’s departure. Mr. Fennerty was not serving as an executive officer of the Company at the beginning of 2019, so he did not participate in all of the same compensation programs as our other named executive officers. We have outlined where there are differences in the compensation programs for Mr. Fennerty in this Proxy Statement. In particular, compensation arrangements with Mr. Fennerty, and considerations relevant to the Committee’s design thereof, are more fully described below under the section entitled “Employment Agreements” in the “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure” section of this Proxy Statement.

2019 Annual Incentive Compensation Program Overview

Our 2019 annual performance-based incentive compensation program for our named executive officers, excluding Mr. Fennerty, was adopted by the Committee in March 2019 and was based upon a combination of quantitative and qualitative performance measures. Half of our CEO’s and 60% of our other participating named executive officers’ annual incentive award for 2019 was linked to the Company’s performance during the year with respect to two key metrics: Same Store NOI growth and Operating FFO. The remainder of the annual incentive award determinations involved a qualitative assessment of each participating named executive officer’s performance, with particular consideration given to the achievement ofpre-identified goals for which each participating executive was individually responsible.

Mr. Ostrower resigned his employment with us effective November 27, 2019 and therefore did not receive any annual incentive payment on account of his performance in 2019. In addition, in contrast to the program described above, Mr. Fennerty’s 2019 annual performance-based incentive compensation program was originally designed in early 2019, prior to his appointment as an executive officer, to involve a subjective, discretionary assessment of his individual performance and was not based on formulaic performance metrics or specific goal assessment. In consideration of the significant portion of the year which had elapsed prior to Mr. Fennerty’s promotion as our Chief Financial Officer in November 2019, the Committee determined to retain this original design, and the amount of Mr. Fennerty’s 2019 annual incentive compensation was determined by the Committee based on a subjective assessment of his performance for the year.

According to this design, and based on the achievements highlighted below, the Committee approved annual incentive payments to our named executive officers for 2019 at the following levels:

 

Named Executive Officer

 

 

Annual Incentive

Target

($)

 

 

Actual

  Annual Incentive  

Award Payout

($)

 

David R. Lukes

 

 1,062,5001,445,000

 

Michael A. Makinen

 

 500,000   650,000

 

Conor M. Fennerty

 

 N/A   350,000

 

Christa A. Vesy

 

 285,000   492,480

 

Matthew L. Ostrower

 

 500,000              0

In accordance with their employment agreements, annual incentive payments were provided to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Fennerty in cash and to Ms. Vesy in a combination of cash and RSUs.

SITE Centers Corp.
ï24   2020 Proxy Statement    21


Overview of 2019 Equity Grants and Performance-Based Equity Results

2019 Performance-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, on March 2, 2019, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were granted 225,158, 75,053 and 75,053 performance-based RSUs having “target” values of $3 million, $1 million and $1 million, respectively, subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2019 and ending February 28, 2022. These performance-based RSUs (or “PRSUs”) become payable to the executives in shares of our common stock at the end of the performance period, if at all, based on the percentile rank of the total shareholder return (“TSR”) of the Company measured over the performance period as compared to the total shareholder return of a defined group of peer companies, subject generally to the executives’ continued employment with us. If our TSR does not exceed the 33rd percentile of the peer group during the performance period, no shares will be earned by the participants at the conclusion of the performance period. Upon his departure from the Company, Mr. Ostrower forfeited this award. For more information about these awards, see “– 2019 Compensation Program – Performance-Based and Retention-Based Equity Grants” below.

2019 Retention-Based RSU Awards. On February 22, 2019, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were granted 70,476, 20,403 and 20,403 time-based RSUs having grant date fair values of $950,016, $275,032 and $275,032, respectively, which RSUs generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date, subject generally to the executives’ continued employment with us. In general, these awards were granted to the executives to help motivate and retain the core of our successful leadership team, and to help us avoid losing them to other employment opportunities. Despite the Committee granting this award, Mr. Ostrower forfeited these time-based RSUs upon his departure from the Company in November 2019 to pursue another opportunity. In retrospect, Mr. Ostrower’s departure confirms the need for and the advisability of our Committee in designing and granting these retention awards in early 2019. Ms. Vesy also received 22,701 RSUs in early 2019 in settlement of her annual incentive opportunity for 2018, which RSUs generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date. On November 6, 2019, in connection with the execution of his employment agreement, Mr. Fennerty was granted 19,342 RSUs which vest in equal installments on the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. For more information about these awards, see “– 2019 Compensation Program – Performance-Based and Retention-Based Equity Grants” below.

Settlement of Certain 2017 Performance-Based Awards; Realized Pay. On March 1, 2017, in accordance with the terms of their employment agreements, the Company granted to each of Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower performance shares having a performance period ending on February 28, 2018, performance-based RSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2019 and additional performance-based RSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2020. Based on the relative TSR of the Company during the12-month period ended February 28, 2018, the24-month period ending February 28, 2019 and the36-month period ended February 28, 2020, no shares were earned by Messrs. Lukes, Makinen or Ostrower with respect to theone-year performance shares or thetwo-year and three-year performance-based RSUs having performance periods ending on those dates (the three-year performance based RSUs were forfeited by Mr. Ostrower upon his departure, but would not have paid out even if he had remained with the Company through the full performance period).

The results of these performance-based awards are evidence of the alignment of our compensation program with actual performance: due to the relative performance of our share price, the participating named executive officers have earned significantly less compensation to date than intended under our performance-based equity programs and less compensation than the target compensation levels provided in their March 2017 employment agreements. In addition, in certain cases our named executive officers have realized significantly less compensation than the compensation levels reported for applicable prior years (namely 2017) in the “2019 Summary Compensation Table” below. For example, although theone-year performance shares,two-year performance-based RSUs and three-year performance-based RSUs awarded to Mr. Lukes in March 2017 had grant date fair values of approximately $455,000, $918,000 and $1.4 million, respectively, and in the aggregate comprised approximately $2,773,000 of the $7,541,235 total compensation reported for Mr. Lukes for 2017 in the Summary Compensation Table, no compensation was ultimately paid to Mr. Lukes in respect of these awards.

22

    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement


performance for the program’s Operating FFO performance metric within the Operating FFO guidance range issued by management in April 2021 in connection with the disclosure of first quarter financial results. The remaining 40% of the annual incentive compensation program involved a qualitative assessment of each named executive officer’s individual performance.

According to this design, and based on the achievements highlighted above and discussed in further detail below, the Committee approved annual incentive payments to Messrs. Lukes, Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy for 2021 in the amounts of $2,250,000, $675,000, $525,000 and $510,000, respectively, which represented the maximum level of the annual incentive award opportunities provided in their employment agreements. Mr. Lukes elected to receive his annual incentive payout in cash as opposed to in RSUs at a 20% increase as permitted by his employment agreement. In accordance with their employment agreements, annual incentives were paid to Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy in cash.

New Employment Agreements with Certain Named Executive Officers

The Committee continues to believe that fixed-term employment agreements are appropriate for our executives because they give the Company the opportunity toward the end of the contract term to reconsider the composition of its leadership team, evaluate the Company’s executive compensation program against its peers, align the structure of the Company’s executive compensation program with its current strategy and promote executive retention through new grants of long-term equity.

In September 2020, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Lukes which expires in September 2024. In 2021, the Company entered into new employment agreements with our other named executive officers in order to better align their compensation structures with the compensation structure set forth in Mr. Lukes’ September 2020 employment agreement.

The employment agreements with our named executive officers are designed to balance three essential objectives:


For a summary of performance-based equity awards granted to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in 2017, 2018 and 2019 and their status through February 29, 2020, see “– 2019 Compensation Program – Status of Performance-Based Equity Grants” below.

Investor Outreach

We proactively meet withretain our largest shareholders from time to time in order to discuss a variety of topics regarding the Company and to give these investors an opportunity to raise questions and provide our management team with feedback. Since January 1, 2019, we have held meetings with sixteen of our largest institutional investorsexecutives, who we believe collectively own, together with members of the Otto family, over 60% ofare best positioned to lead our common shares as of December 31, 2019. Topics of discussion in these meetings often include executive compensation, the composition ofCompany;

incentivize our Board of Directors and other corporate governance matters. Based on the discussion of our executive compensation program at these meetings, we believe that these investors understand our executive compensation program and have a favorable view of the alignment of pay and performance created by the program’s significant use of performance-based equity. Based on these meetings, we are not aware of any significant shareholder concerns regarding our pay practices or executive compensation program.

Compensation Program Design

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

Our primary executive compensation objectives are to:

   attract, retain and motivate executives who are capable of advancing our mission and strategy and ultimately maintain and grow our long-term equity value;

   reward executives in a manner aligned with our financial performance, organizational objectives and their individual goals;

   align the management team’s interests with our shareholders’ long-term interests through equity participation and ownership; and

   ensure that the cost of the compensation program is reasonable to shareholders.

Our compensation program rewards executives for not only deliveringto deliver superior returns but also for reducing the risk profile of the Company, as well as for achieving financial andnon-financial measures of performance that enhance long-term shareholder value. Our executives and the Board have intentionally avoided short-term decisions that might produce inflated short-term shareholder returns in favor of longer term strategies that provide sustainable growth opportunities and enhance net asset value.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    23


We entered into employment agreements with Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in March 2017 and with Mr. Fennerty in November 2019, which agreements form the foundation of our executive compensation program for these executives. In negotiating these agreements, the Committee emphasized the use of performance-based awards for both the annual and long-term incentive components of these executives’ compensation in order to better align the interests of our named executive officers with those of the Company’s shareholders. At 2019 “target” compensation levels, the compensation of our CEO is summarized in the chart below, illustrating that our program is heavily weighted toward “at risk”, incentive compensation:

LOGO

*

Aggregate annualized grant date fair value of the March 2017 and February 2019 time-based RSU awards over their respective four year and three year vesting periods.

**

Annual cash incentive is shown at the Target level. The annual incentive payout ranges from $0 (below Threshold) to $1,700,000 (Maximum).

The ultimate payout with respect to our long-term performance equity is dependent entirely on our TSR relative to that of a defined group of peer companies. Largely as a result of stock performance in 2017, our total shareholder return lagged that of the peer companies during theone-,two- and three-year performance periods ending on February 28, 2018, February 28, 2019 and February 28, 2020, respectively, applicable to performance-based equity awarded to Mr. Lukes in March 2017. As a result, the amount of compensation realized by Mr. Lukes in recent years has been significantly below his target compensation, which further evidences our compensation philosophy and commitment to strongly align the interests of management and shareholders through the useachievement of performance-based equity. For a summarykey financial and operational goals; and

help ensure that the cost of performance-based equity awards granted to Mr. Lukes and their status through February 29, 2020, see “– 2019 Compensation Program – Status of Performance-Based Equity Grants” below.our compensation program is reasonable from our shareholders’ perspectives.

More information concerning the terms of our employment agreements with our named executive officers, including the Committee’s consideration during 2021 of the terms of our new compensation arrangements with Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy, is provided in the section below entitled “Compensation Program Design – New Employment Agreements with Certain Named Executive Officers” and in the section of this Proxy Statement entitled “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure – Employment Agreements”.

Overview of 2021 Equity Grants and Performance-Based Equity Results

Service-Based RSUs Awarded in Connection with the Execution of New Employment Agreements. Each of Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy received awards of service-based RSUs during 2021 in connection with the execution of their new employment agreements. On February 22, 2021, Mr. Fennerty received 30,684 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his new employment agreement of approximately $375,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. On May 11, 2021, Mr. Cattonar received 20,352 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his new employment agreement of approximately $300,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date. On September 11, 2021, Ms. Vesy received 18,807 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with her new employment agreement of approximately $300,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date.

Annual Service-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, on February 22, 2021, Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty were granted 81,822 and 20,457 service-based RSUs having a value of approximately $1 million and $250,000, respectively, which grants will generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date.

2021 Performance-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, on March 1, 2021, Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty were granted 154,512 and 38,628 performance-based RSUs having “target” values of approximately $2 million and $500,000, respectively, subject to a three-year performance period beginning on March 1, 2021 and ending

 

24
    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement


Principal Elements of Our Compensation Program

The following table summarizes the key elements of our named executive officer compensation program for 2019:

25
TypeElementFormObjectivesCharacteristics
FixedBase SalaryCash

Competitive annual cash compensation
to help retain executive talent


February 29, 2024. These performance-based RSUs (or “PRSUs”) become payable to the executives in common shares at the end of the performance period, if at all, based on the percentile rank of the Company’s TSR measured over the performance period as compared to the TSR of a defined group of peer companies, subject generally to the executives’ continued employment with us.

Settlement of 2018 and 2019 CEO Performance-Based RSU Awards. On March 1, 2018, in accordance with the terms of his prior employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Lukes PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2021 and a target value of approximately $3 million (excluding accrued dividends). Based on the Company’s relative TSR during the three-year period ended February 28, 2021, this award paid out at the maximum level in March 2021, and Mr. Lukes received 558,164 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $7,568,704 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2021.

On March 1, 2019, in accordance with the terms of his prior employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Lukes PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2022 and a target value of approximately $3 million (excluding accrued dividends). Based the Company’s relative TSR during the three-year period ended February 28, 2022, this award paid out at the maximum level in March 2022, and Mr. Lukes received 494,334 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $7,686,894 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2022.

The results of these performance-based awards are evidence of the alignment of our compensation program with actual performance. Due to the lagging relative performance of our share price during calendar year 2017, no shares were earned by Mr. Lukes with respect to the performance-based equity awards granted to him in March 2017 and therefore Mr. Lukes earned less compensation through December 31, 2020 than originally intended under our performance-based equity programs. However, as a result of the outperformance of our share price following the Company’s December 2017 announcement of its plans to spin-off RVI, the value realized by Mr. Lukes in March 2021 and March 2022 with respect to PRSUs granted to him in March 2018 and March 2019 exceeded the target values originally established by the Committee.

Settlement of 2020 CFO Performance-Based RSU Awards. On March 1, 2020, in accordance with the terms of his prior employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Fennerty 5,954 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2021 and a target value of approximately $75,000 (excluding accrued dividends), 11,909 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2022 and a target value of approximately $150,000 (excluding accrued dividends) and 17,863 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2023 and a target value of approximately $225,000 (excluding accrued dividends). Based on the relative TSR of the Company during the 12-month period ended February 28, 2021, Mr. Fennerty received 12,131 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $164,496 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2021. Based on the relative TSR of the Company during the 24-month period ending February 28, 2022, Mr. Fennerty received 24,921 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $387,519 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2022.

Investor Outreach

We proactively meet with our largest shareholders from time to time in order to discuss a variety of topics regarding the Company and to give these investors an opportunity to raise questions and provide our management team with feedback. Since January 1, 2021, we have held meetings with 12 of our 25 largest institutional investors who we believe collectively own, together with members of the Otto Family, over 40% of our common shares as of December 31, 2021. Topics of discussion in these meetings often include executive compensation, the composition of our Board of Directors and other corporate governance matters. Based on the discussion of our executive compensation program at these meetings, we believe that these investors understand our executive compensation program and have a favorable view of the alignment of pay and performance created by the program’s significant use of performance-based equity. Based on these meetings, we are not aware of any significant shareholder concerns regarding our pay practices or executive compensation program.

 

Competitive compensation based on comparative market analysis and contractual commitments

At Risk /

Performance-

Based

Incentive

Annual

Performance-

Based Incentive

Compensation

Cash and, for Ms. Vesy, time-based RSUs

Incentivizes executives to achieve individual and Company objectives and aligns executives’
compensation interests with shareholders’

investment interests

Payouts typically earned based on financial and operating metrics and individual performance and, in the case of RSUs awarded to Ms. Vesy, subject to additional time-based vesting

Long-Term

Incentive

Compensation

Performance- Based RSUs or Performance Shares (for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen, Ostrower and Fennerty)

Motivates and rewards executives for achieving relative total shareholder return objectives, helps attract and retain executives, and aligns executives’ compensation interests with shareholders’ investment interests

Earned based on total shareholder return achievement relative to a peer group
Time-Based
RSUs

Helps attract and retain executives, and aligns executives’ compensation interests with shareholders’ investment interests by linking the value ultimately realized to the Company’s share price

Generally subject to time-based vesting on a ratable basis

Other

Retirement

Benefits

Plan

Contributions

Provides benefits that are

competitive with industry

practices

Standardtax-qualified defined contribution (401(k)) plan that provides a tax efficient vehicle to accumulate retirement savings, subject to limits on compensation under the Internal Revenue Code

Nonqualified deferred compensation plans that permit contributions in excess of Internal Revenue Code limits for qualified plans

Health and Other Welfare Benefits

Benefit

Coverage

Provides benefits that are competitive with industry practices

Broad-based employee benefits program, including health, life, disability and other insurance, and customary fringe benefits providing for basic health and welfare needs

Perquisites

Expense

Reimbursement

Helps attract and retain executives

Automobile service for Mr. Lukes. Reimbursement of life insurance premiums for Messrs. Lukes, Ostrower and Fennerty

26SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement    25


Compensation Program Design

Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

Our primary executive compensation objectives are to:

attract, retain and motivate executives who are capable of advancing our strategy and ultimately maintain and grow our long-term equity value;

reward executives on an annual basis in a manner aligned with our financial performance, organizational objectives and their individual goals;

retain and align the management team’s long-term interests with our shareholders’ through long-term service-based and performance-based equity participation and ownership; and

ensure that the cost of the compensation program is reasonable to shareholders.

Our compensation program rewards executives for not only delivering superior returns but also for reducing the risk profile of the Company, as well as for achieving financial and non-financial measures of performance that enhance long-term shareholder value. Our executives and the Board have intentionally avoided short-term decisions that might produce inflated short-term shareholder returns in favor of longer term strategies that provide sustainable growth opportunities and enhance net asset value.

Structure and Principal Elements of Our Executive Compensation Program

We entered into a new employment agreement with Mr. Lukes, our CEO, in September 2020. In negotiating this agreement, the Committee emphasized the use of performance-based awards for both the annual and long-term incentive components of Mr. Lukes’ compensation in order to align the interest of Mr. Lukes with those of the Company’s shareholders. The annualized “target” level of compensation for Mr. Lukes under his September 2020 employment agreement is summarized in the chart below:

LOGO

*

Includes the annualized grant date fair value of the service-based RSUs awarded in connection with the execution of Mr. Lukes’ September 2020 employment agreement and the value of service-based RSUs to be granted to Mr. Lukes annually during the term of his employment agreement.

**

Annual incentive is shown at the target level. The annual incentive payout ranges from $0 (below threshold) to $2,250,000 (maximum). Mr. Lukes can elect to receive the value of his annual incentive award in RSUs at a 20% increase.

Based on the foregoing design of Mr. Lukes’ employment agreement:

Approximately 56% of total target compensation for Mr. Lukes across the four-year employment period is “at risk” in the form of annual incentive compensation and long-term performance-based equity;

Approximately 62% of total target compensation for Mr. Lukes across the four-year employment period is comprised of long-term equity versus 38% in cash; and

Approximately 53% of the total target compensation to be paid to Mr. Lukes in equity during the four-year employment period will be paid in the form of performance-based equity (as opposed to service-based equity) where the ultimate payouts to Mr. Lukes could range from 0% to 200% of the target awards based on the actual performance of the Company on relative TSR and other metrics to be determined.

The Committee felt that this program’s focus on “at risk” incentive compensation and greater emphasis on equity over cash compensation and performance-based equity over service-based equity were in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders, consistent with institutional investor preferences and best practices in executive compensation and generally in line with chief executive compensation programs implemented by peer companies.

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement27


New Employment Agreements with Certain Named Executive Officers

In 2021, the Committee worked closely with Gressle & McGinley, the Committee’s compensation consultant, and Mr. Lukes to negotiate new employment agreements with Messrs. Fennerty (February 2021) and Cattonar (May 2021) and Ms. Vesy (September 2021) in order to better align the design and elements of their compensation arrangements with the structure of Mr. Lukes’ September 2020 employment agreement and to provide these executives with competitive compensation terms in order to promote their retention. These employment agreements form the foundation of our executive compensation program.

In the case of each officer, the Committee generally evaluated the officer’s performance in recent years and reviewed compensation data provided by Gressle & McGinley with respect to comparable positions at other REITs deemed comparable to our Company (for Mr. Fennerty, the 11 retail REITs comprising the peer group utilized for purposes of measuring the Company’s relative shareholder return with respect to PRSUs awarded to Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty in 2021; for Mr. Cattonar, 18 REITs having total enterprise values at that time between $2.5 billion and $11.0 billion (compared to the Company’s enterprise value at that time of approximately $5.0 billion); and for Ms. Vesy, 12 REITs having total enterprise values at the time between $2.0 billion and $7.3 billion (compared to the Company’s enterprise value at that time of approximately $6.1 billion)). The Committee then determined a target annual compensation level for each officer (for Mr. Fennerty, $1,775,000 (approximately the 22nd percentile of the benchmarking group); for Mr. Cattonar, $1,175,000 (approximately the 16th percentile of the benchmarking group); and for Ms. Vesy, $1,015,000 (approximately the 69th percentile of the benchmarking group)) based on these considerations plus the Committee’s evaluation of the officer’s level of experience and responsibilities within the Company. The Committee then allocated the target level of compensation for each officer among salary, annual cash incentive, service-based equity and performance-based equity elements in a manner generally consistent with the compensation structure utilized for Mr. Lukes in his 2020 employment agreement. For Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar, the Committee also took into consideration their location in New York City. In terms of key changes, the Committee made the following decisions:

For Mr. Fennerty: his base salary was increased to $450,000 (the 20th percentile of the benchmarking group); and his target level of annual cash incentive pay was set at $450,000 (the 60th percentile of the benchmarking group), with earning opportunities increased from a threshold of 37.5%, target of 75% and maximum of 112.5% to a threshold of 50%, target of 100% and maximum of 150% of his year-end base salary;

For Mr. Cattonar: his base salary was increased to $350,000 (approximately the 29th percentile of the benchmarking group); and his target level of annual cash incentive pay was set at $350,000 (approximately the 35th percentile of the benchmarking group), with earning opportunities at a threshold of 50%, target of 100% and maximum of 150% of his year-end base salary; and

For Ms. Vesy: her base salary was increased to $425,000 (approximately the 94th percentile of the benchmarking group); and her target level of annual cash incentive pay was set at $340,000 (approximately the 90th percentile of the benchmarking group), with earning opportunities increased from a threshold of 20%, target of 40% and maximum of 80% to a threshold of 40%, target of 80% and maximum of 120% of her year-end base salary.

The Committee also awarded service-based RSUs to each of the officers upon execution of their new employment agreement (valued at approximately $375,000 for Mr. Fennerty, $300,000 for Mr. Cattonar and $300,000 for Ms. Vesy), vesting over three years, and provided an expectation of annual service-based and performance-based RSU grants ($250,000 and $500,000 for Mr. Fennerty, $125,000 and $250,000 for Mr. Cattonar, and $50,000 and $100,000 for Ms. Vesy, respectively), as further described below. The severance arrangements and vesting provisions for equity awards were also updated in the new employment agreements to more closely match the provisions in place for Mr. Lukes, as described further below. More information concerning the terms of our employment agreements with our named executive officers and these features is provided under the section entitled “Employment Agreements” in the “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure” section of this Proxy Statement

.

28    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Pay Governance

Over the past several years we have adopted a number of compensation-related policies and have entered into new employment agreements with our executives in order to implement several best practices in executive compensation. The following are key features of our executive compensation program.

 

What We Do

    LOGO

We tie pay to performance by making a
significant portion of compensation “at risk”.

    LOGO

Annual incentive pay is based on multiple performance metrics which are typically established at the beginning of each year and individual performance.

    LOGO

A significant portion of the value of long-term performance incentives depends on relative shareholder return.

    LOGO

We have stock ownership guidelines for our Directors and our named executive officers.

    LOGO

We engage an independent compensation consultant to advise the Committee, which is comprised solely of independent Directors.

What We Don’t Do

    LOGO

We do not guarantee minimum incentive bonus awards.

    LOGO

We do not encourage excessive risk taking as we use different performance metrics for our annual and long-term incentive compensation programs.

    LOGO

We do not pay dividend equivalents on unearned equity awards subject to performance-based vesting.

    LOGO

We do not allow Directors or officers to hedge or pledge company securities.

    LOGO

We do not allow for repricing of stock options without shareholder approval.

    LOGO

We do not include excise tax gross-up provisions in our executive compensation arrangements.

    LOGO

We do not offer excessive perquisites or special health and welfare plans to executives.

Role of the Committee and Management in Executive Compensation

The Committee has overall responsibility for the compensation programs provided to our named executive officers. Pursuant to the Committee’s charter, the Committee has the authority to review and approve the compensation for executive officers, including the review and approval of the design and implementation of any incentive arrangements, equity compensation, and supplemental retirement programs. Consistent with this authority, the Committee generally establishes financial performance metrics and targets used for annual performance-based incentives, conducts an in-depth review of performance against these objectives and subjectively evaluates individual performance, reviews from time to time market pay practices as they relate to both cash-based and equity-based award programs primarily to remain informed about general compensation trends in the market, designs and adopts our long-term equity incentive compensation programs and specifically approves compensation arrangements for our named executive officers.

Our CEO provides significant input in setting the compensation for our other named executive officers by providing the Committee with an evaluation of their performance and making recommendations for any adjustments to their base and target annual incentive compensation. The Committee can accept, reject or modify the CEO’s recommendations as it sees fit, subject to the terms of any applicable employment agreement.

Role of the Compensation Consultant in Executive Compensation

For 2021, the Committee continued its retention of Gressle & McGinley as its independent compensation consultant. Gressle & McGinley was selected as the advisor to the Committee based on its extensive knowledge of the REIT sector, especially retail REITs, its experience with the Company, and its deep knowledge and experience in designing executive compensation programs over the past 30 years across multiple sectors of the economy. The Committee has assessed the independence of Gressle & McGinley, as required under NYSE listing rules. The Committee has also considered and assessed all relevant factors, including but not limited to those set forth in Rule 10C-1(b)(4)(i) through (vi) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest with respect to Gressle & McGinley. Based on this review, the Committee is not aware of any conflict of interest that has been raised by the work performed by Gressle & McGinley.

What We Do

What We Don’t Do

We tie pay to performance by making a significant portion of compensation “at risk”.XWe do not guarantee minimum incentive bonus awards.

Annual incentive pay is generally based on multiple performance metrics established at the beginning of each year and individual performance.XWe do not encourage excessive risk taking as we use different performance metrics for our annual and long-term incentive compensation programs.

A significant portion of the value of long-term performance incentives depends on relative shareholder return.XWe do not pay dividends on unearned equity awards subject to performance-based vesting.

We have stock ownership guidelines for our Directors and our named executive officers.XWe do not allow Directors or officers to hedge or pledge company securities.

We engage an independent compensation consultant to advise the Committee, which is comprised solely of independent Directors.XWe do not allow for repricing of stock options without shareholder approval.
XWe do not include excise taxgross-up provisions in our executive compensation arrangements.
XWe do not offer excessive perquisites or special health and welfare plans to executives.

Role of the Committee and Management in Executive Compensation

The Committee has overall responsibility for the compensation programs provided to our named executive officers. Pursuant to the Committee’s charter, the Committee has the authority to review and approve the compensation for executive officers, including the review and approval of the design and implementation of any incentive arrangements, equity compensation, and supplemental retirement programs. Consistent with this authority, the Committee establishes financial performance metrics and targets used for annual performance-based incentives, conducts anin-depth review of performance against these objectives and subjectively evaluates individual performance, reviews from time to time market pay practices as they relate to both cash-based and equity-based award programs primarily to remain informed about general compensation trends in the market, designs and adopts our long-term equity incentive compensation programs and specifically approves compensation arrangements for our named executive officers.

Our CEO provides significant input in setting the compensation for our other named executive officers by providing the Committee with an evaluation of their performance and making recommendations for any adjustments to their base and target annual incentive compensation. The Committee can accept, reject or modify the CEO’s recommendations as it sees fit, subject to the terms of any applicable employment agreement.

Role of the Compensation Consultant in Executive Compensation

For 2019, the Committee continued its retention of Gressle & McGinley as its independent compensation consultant. Gressle & McGinley was selected as the advisor to the Committee based on its extensive knowledge of the REIT sector, especially retail REITs, its experience with the Company, and its deep knowledge and experience in designing executive compensation programs over the past 30 years across multiple sectors of the economy. The Committee has assessed the independence of Gressle & McGinley, as required under NYSE

26    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement29


Among other matters, in 2021 Gressle & McGinley assisted the Committee with its:


listing rules. The Committee has also consideredAnalysis of peer company compensation in order to design and assessed all relevant factors, including but not limited to those set forth in Rulenegotiate employment agreements with Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy;

10C-1(b)(4)(i) through (vi) under the Securities Exchange Act

Design of 1934, that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest with respect to Gressle & McGinley. Based on this review, the Committee is not aware of any conflict of interest that has been raised by the work performed by Gressle & McGinley.

Among other matters, in 2019 Gressle & McGinley assisted the Committee with its:

   Implementation of our 2019our 2021 annual executive incentive compensation program and the year-end performance review of our named executive officers;

   Evaluation of an increase in the target amount of performance-based RSUs awarded to Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower in February 2019;

   Evaluation of the amount and design of time-based RSU awards granted to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in February 2019;

   Analysis of peer data used to determine the appropriate level and forms of compensation provided in the employment agreement executed with Mr. Fennerty;

   Annual evaluation of the Company’s Director compensation program; and

   Analysis of whether any aspects of the Company’s compensation policies and practices create or encourage the taking of risks that could reasonably be expected to cause a material adverse impact on the Company.

Consideration of 2019Say-on-Pay Voting Results

At our 2019 Annual Meeting, we received nearly 99% approval, based on the total votes cast, for our annual advisorySay-on-Pay vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. The Committee considered this resultofficers;

Design of the structure and performance metrics applicable to the annual PRSUs awarded to Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty in connectionaccordance with its reviewthe terms of their employment agreements and the settlement of maturing PRSU awards;

Annual evaluation of the Company’s Director compensation program; and

Analysis of whether any aspects of the Company’s compensation policies and decisions in 2019. The Committee believes these voting results demonstrate significant, continuing support for our named executive officer compensation program, andpractices create or encourage the Committee chose nottaking of risks that could reasonably be expected to make any substantial changes tocause a material adverse impact on the existing program for 2019 specifically in response to the 2019Say-on-PayCompany. voting results. The Committee will, however, continue to work with Gressle & McGinley to monitor changes in executive compensation to keep our executive compensation program aligned with best practices in our competitive market.

2019 Compensation Program

Consideration of 2021 Say-on-Pay Voting Results

At our 2021 Annual Meeting, we received approximately 95% approval, based on the total votes cast, for our annual advisory Say-on-Pay vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. The Committee considered this result in connection with its review of compensation policies and decisions in 2021. The Committee believes these voting results demonstrate significant, continuing support for our named executive officer compensation program, and the Committee chose not to make any substantial changes to the existing program for 2021 specifically in response to the 2021 Say-on-Pay voting results. The Committee will, however, continue to work with Gressle & McGinley to monitor changes in executive compensation to keep our executive compensation program aligned with best practices in our competitive market.

2021 Compensation Program

Base Salary Levels

We pay salaries to our named executive officers to provide them with a base level of income for services rendered. These base salaries are originally established at the time of the named executive officer’s first employment with us based on an analysis of the salaries paid to executives in comparable positions within our industry provided by Gressle & McGinley. Base salaries may be increased by the Committee from time to time, including at the time we enter into or extend employment agreements with our named executive officers, based on market conditions and prior performance. Of note:

Mr. Lukes’ current base levelsalary rate of income for services rendered. These base salaries are originally established at the time of the named executive officer’s first employment with us based on an analysis of the salaries paid to executives in comparable positions within our industry provided by Gressle & McGinley. Base salaries may be increased by the Committee from time to time, including at the time we extend or enter into new employment agreements with our named executive officers, based on market conditions and prior performance.

Base salaries for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were$900,000 was established by the Committee in March 2017 in connection with the execution of their employment agreements and were not adjusted for 2018 or 2019. Mr. Fennerty’s base salary level was increased in November 2019 from $280,000 to $400,000September 2020 in connection with the execution of his current employment agreement. His base salary was not further adjusted for 2021.

Mr. Fennerty’s base salary rate was increased in February 2021 from $400,000 to $450,000 in connection with the negotiation and execution of his new employment agreement.

Ms. Vesy’s base salary rate was increased in September 2021 from $380,000 to $425,000 in connection with the negotiation and execution of her new employment agreement.

Mr. Cattonar’s base salary rate of $350,000 was established by the Committee in May 2021 in connection with the negotiation and execution of his new employment agreement and his appointment as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial OfficerEVP and Treasurer. Ms. Vesy’s base salary level was increased on January 1, 2019 from $340,000 to $380,000 in accordance with the terms of her amended employment agreement that she had negotiated with us.CIO.

 

SITE Centers Corp.
ï30   2020 Proxy Statement    27


Annual Incentive Compensation Design

The employment agreements with our named executive officers specify threshold, target and maximum annual incentive amounts (as a percentage of salary, or, for the portion of Ms. Vesy’s award that is payable in RSUs, salary plus earned annual incentive award). Our named executive officers are not guaranteed an annual incentive payment and each named executive officer’s annual incentive payment can be as low as zero or as high as the maximum amount set forth in his or her agreement based on the degree of achievement of corporate and individual performance measures established by the Committee at the beginning of each year. Though our employment agreement with Mr. Fennerty specifies threshold, target and maximum annual incentive amounts for calendar year 2020 and beyond, the agreement provided the Committee with discretion in determining the amount of his 2019 annual incentive award, if any. Expressed in dollar values, the minimum, threshold, target and maximum annual incentive award payable to each of our named executive officers for 2019 pursuant to the terms of his or her employment agreement, and the maximum amount expressed as a percentage of the executive’s base salary, was as follows:

   

 

Dollar Value of

 

   
Named Executive Officer

 

 

Minimum Payout

 

 

Threshold
Payout

 

 

Target

Payout

 

 

Maximum Payout

 

 

Maximum Payout

as a Percentage

of Base Salary

 

 
David R. Lukes $0 $425,000 $1,062,500 $1,700,000 200%
Michael A. Makinen $0 $250,000 $500,000 $750,000 150%
Matthew L. Ostrower $0 $250,000 $500,000 $750,000 150%
Christa A. Vesy $0 $133,000 $285,000 $646,000 170%
Conor M. Fennerty $0 N/A N/A N/A N/A

In March 2019, the Committee established our 2019 annual incentive compensation program for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower and Ms. Vesy. The program used a combination of company-wide operating and portfolio objectives as well as tailored goals for which the applicable named executive officer was individually responsible. In each case, the Committee believed that the performance measures were appropriate because their achievement should contribute to our long-term success and the creation of value for our shareholders. Mr. Fennerty’s 2019 annual performance-based incentive compensation program was originally designed by our Chief Executive Officer in early 2019 when Mr. Fennerty was not serving as an executive officer of the Company. The original design of Mr. Fennerty’s 2019 incentive compensation program involved a subjective, discretionary assessment of his individual performance and was not based on formulaic performance metrics or specific goal assessment. No performance objectives or goals were implemented by the Committee to govern Mr. Fennerty’s 2019 incentive award following his promotion in November 2019 given the significant portion of the year which had elapsed prior to his appointment as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

The following charts identify the performance measures applicable to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower and Ms. Vesy, the range of performance in 2019 for which points were awarded and the weighting of each of the performance measures to the overall score. Within the performance ranges applicable to each quantitative metric, the program awarded from one to five points based on the Company’s level of actual performance relative to break-points within the stated performance range on a formulaic, nondiscretionary basis. No points were earned on account of any quantitative measure to the extent actual performance was below the bottom end of the identified performance range. In the case of each individualized performance measure, the participating named executive officers received from zero to five points based on the Committee’s subjective assessment of performance. After points were awarded for each performance measure, each participating named executive officer was given an overall score based on the weighting of each measure as indicated below. An overall score of one point corresponded to a “threshold” incentive payout, a score of three points corresponded to a “target” incentive payout and a score of five points corresponded to a “maximum” incentive payout, in each case as indicated in the applicable executive’s employment agreement (with straight line interpolation applicable to scores between those break-points). Due to Mr. Ostrower’s departure in November 2019, the Committee did not complete a review or evaluation of his performance against his performance measures.

28

    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement


Annual Incentive Compensation Design

The employment agreements with our named executive officers specify threshold, target and maximum annual incentive amounts as a percentage of year-end base salary. Our named executive officers are not guaranteed an annual incentive payment and each named executive officer’s annual incentive payment can be as low as zero or as high as the maximum amount set forth in his or her agreement based on the degree of achievement of corporate and individual performance measures typically established by the Committee in the beginning of each year. Expressed in dollar values, the minimum, threshold, target and maximum annual incentive award payable to each of our named executive officers for 2021 pursuant to the terms of his or her employment agreement, and the maximum amount expressed as a percentage of the executive’s base salary, were as follows:


Mr. Lukes’ Performance Measures

 

Performance Range

 

  Results  

 

Measurement
Weighting

 

Same Store NOI growth(1)0.5% to 2.5% 3.6% 30%
Operating FFO per share(2)$1.11 to $1.19 $1.27 20%
Leasing progress0 to 5 3 10%
Advancement of sustainable, long-term business plan0 to 5 5 10%
Committee’s evaluation0 to 5 3  30%

            

Mr. Makinen’s Performance Measures

 

Performance Range

 

  Results  

 

Measurement
Weighting

 

Company goals(3)0 to 5 5 60%
Tenant selection and merchandise mix0 to 5 3 10%
Committee’s evaluation0 to 5 3 30%

            

Mr. Ostrower’s Performance Measures

 

Performance Range

 

  Results  

 

Measurement
Weighting

 

Company goals(3)0 to 5 N/A 60%
Balance sheet management0 to 5 N/A 10%
Committee’s evaluation0 to 5 N/A 30%

            

Ms. Vesy’s Performance Measures

 

Performance Range

 

  Results  

 

Measurement
Weighting

 

Company goals(3)0 to 5 5 60%
Financial statement reporting and accuracy0 to 5 3 10%
Committee’s evaluation0 to 5 3 30%

 

(1)

The Company defines Same Store NOI,
NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICER  

 

DOLLAR VALUE OF

  

MAXIMUM PAYOUT

AS A PERCENTAGE

OF BASE SALARY

  

MINIMUM

PAYOUT

  THRESHOLD
PAYOUT
  

TARGET

PAYOUT

  

MAXIMUM

PAYOUT

David R. Lukes

   $0   $675,000   $1,350,000   $2,250,000    250%

Conor M. Fennerty

   $0   $225,000   $450,000   $675,000    150%

Christa A. Vesy

   $0   $170,000   $340,000   $510,000    120%

John M. Cattonar

   $0   $175,000   $350,000   $525,000    150%

Our Committee typically establishes both quantitative and qualitative performance metrics governing our annual incentive compensation program in the first quarter of each year. In February 2021, our Committee determined that it was unable at that time to adopt quantitative performance metrics for 2021 due to the uncertainty that continued to exist with respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Company operations. Following improvement in the operating environment during the first quarter of 2021 and management’s release of updated earnings guidance in April 2021, the Committee established our 2021 annual incentive compensation program in early May 2021.

The 2021 annual incentive compensation program for our named executive officers used a combination of company-wide quantitative performance metrics as well as tailored qualitative objectives. In each case, the Committee believed that the performance measures were appropriate because their achievement was expected to contribute to our long-term success and the creation of value for our shareholders. The quantitative objectives, namely Operating FFO and Adjusted EBITDA, comprised 60% of the program’s overall assessment of each named executive officer’s performance for 2021. Importantly, in early May 2021, the Committee set the “target” level of performance for the program’s Operating FFO performance metric within the Operating FFO guidance range issued by management in April 2021. The remaining 40% of the annual incentive compensation program involved a qualitative assessment of each named executive officer’s performance, with substantial consideration given to the achievement of pre-identified goals for which each executive was individually responsible.

The following charts identify the performance measures applicable to our named executive officers, the range of performance in 2021 for which points were awarded in our scoring system and the weighting of each of the performance measures to the overall score. Within the performance ranges applicable to each quantitative metric, the program awarded from one to five points based on the Company’s level of actual performance relative to break-points within the stated performance range on a formulaic, nondiscretionary basis. No points were earned on account of any quantitative measure to the extent actual performance was below the bottom end of the identified performance range. In the case of each individualized performance measure, the applicable executive received from zero to five points based on the Committee’s subjective assessment of performance. After points were awarded for each performance measure, each named executive officer was given an overall score based on the weighting of each measure as indicated below. An overall score of one point corresponded to a “threshold” incentive payout, a score of three points corresponded to a “target” incentive payout and a supplementalnon-GAAP financial metric, as property revenues less property-related expenses, which exclude straight-line rental income and expenses, lease termination income in excess of lost rent, management fee expense, fair market value of leases and expense recovery adjustments. Same Store NOI also excludes activity associated with development and major redevelopment and includes assets owned in comparable periods. Same Store NOI excludes allnon-property and corporate level revenue and expenses. Other real estate companies may calculate Same Store NOI in a different manner. For the limited purpose of determining 2019 executive incentive payouts, reported Same Store NOI growth was designed to be adjusted to eliminate the negative impact of unbudgeted tenant bankruptcies, though no such adjustment was ultimately made. The Company believes NOI provides useful information to investors regarding the Company’s financial condition and results of operations because it reflects only those income and expense items that are incurred at the property level and, when compared across periods, reflects the impact on operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates, operating costs and acquisition and disposition activity on an unleveraged basis. The Company believes Same Store NOI provides investors with additional information regarding the operating performances of comparable assets because it excludes certainnon-cash andnon-comparable items as noted above.

(2)

Funds from Operations (“FFO”) is a supplementalnon-GAAP financial measure used as a standard in the real estate industry and is a widely accepted measure of REIT performance. FFO is generally defined and calculated by the Company as net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP), adjusted to exclude: (a) preferred share dividends, (b) gains and losses from disposition of real estate property and related investments, which are presented net of taxes, (c) impairment charges on real estate property and related investments, including reserve adjustments of preferred equity interests, and (d) certainnon-cash items. Thesenon-cash items principally include real property depreciation and amortization of intangibles, equity income (loss) from joint ventures and equity income (loss) fromnon-controlling interests and adding the Company’s proportionate share of FFO from its unconsolidated joint ventures andnon-controlling interests, determined on a consistent basis. The Company’s calculation of FFO is consistent with the definition of FFO provided by NAREIT. The Company calculates Operating FFO by excluding certainnon-operating charges, income and gains in order to allow investors to analyze the results of its operations and assess performance of the core operating real estate portfolio. For the limited purpose of determining 2019 executive incentive compensation, reported Operating FFO per share was designed to be adjusted to eliminate the negative impact of unbudgeted tenant bankruptcies, though no such adjustment was ultimately made. The Company believes that Operating FFO provides additional indicators of the financial performance of a REIT. The Company also believes that Operating FFO more appropriately measures the core operations of the Company and provides benchmarks to its peer group. Operating FFO is useful to investors as the Company removesnon-comparable charges, income and gains to analyze the results of its operations and assess performance of the core operating real estate portfolio. Other real estate companies may calculate Operating FFO in a different manner.

(3)

For each of Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower and Ms. Vesy, “company goals” were defined to consist of the same two organizational-level goals established for Mr. Lukes, namely Same Store NOI growth and Operating FFO per share.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    29


Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions

Based on actual performance in 2019 and the weightings assigned to each performance measure, the Committee determined that Mr. Lukes earned a weighted average score of 4.2 points under the 2019 incentive compensation program. Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Mr. Lukes’ score entitled him to a 2019 incentive bonus of $1,445,000 (approximately 136% of his incentive award target) which was paid in cash.

The Committee determined that Mr. Makinen earned a weighted average score of 4.2 points under the 2019 incentive compensation program. Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Mr. Makinen’s score entitled him to a 2019 incentive bonus of $650,000 (approximately 130% of his incentive award target) which was paid in cash.

Based on a discretionary evaluation of his performance, with significant input from our CEO, the Committee awarded Mr. Fennerty 2019 incentive compensation of $350,000, which amount was paid in cash.

The Committee determined that Ms. Vesy earned a weighted average score of 4.2 points under the 2019 incentive compensation program. Pursuant to the terms of her employment agreement, Mr. Vesy’s score entitled her to a 2019 incentive bonus of $492,480 (approximately 173% of her incentive award target), $243,200 of which amount was paid in cash and $249,280 of which amount was paid in RSUs. The number of RSUs granted to Ms. Vesy was calculated based on the value of our common shares as of the grant date and generally vests in three equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date.

No annual incentive amount was paid to Mr. Ostrower on account of his resignation from the Company in November 2019.

With respect to the individualized, qualitative components of the named executive officers’ annual incentive compensation program (or, for Mr. Fennerty, his entire annual incentive compensation program), the Committee recognized the named executive officers’ collective contributions to strong 2019 operating results, the significant improvement in the Company’s balance sheet (including levels of secured indebtedness and preferred stock), the continued reduction of general and administrative expenses in order to better align with the Company’s reduced portfolio size, and higher fee revenues than expected due to successful execution of assets sales within the joint venture and RVI platforms. The Committee also considered the following individual achievements:

 

   For Mr. Lukes: contributions to strategy definition and execution, including efforts to diversify the Company’s portfolio and tenant roster through acquisitions of urban and alternative-anchored shopping centers; realization of value within the redevelopment pipeline through entitlements and subsequent land sales and ground leases; successful transition of the Chief Financial Officer role; and substantial increase in ancillary income initiatives and revenues.

   For Mr. Makinen: implementation of consumer data analytics platform in order to better identify and improve economic returns on acquisition and leasing opportunities; led initiative to expedite anchor tenant build-outs in order to achieve earlier rent commencement dates; restructured leasing department leadership and organization; and assumption of leadership role with respect to a major industry trade conference in order to improve the Company’s visibility and relationships with tenants.

   For Mr. Fennerty: assumption of leadership role from prior Chief Financial Officer with respect to the Company’s banking and investor relationships; restructured funds management team in order to successfully support new Dividend Trust Portfolio relationships; led analysis of value and opportunities with respect to the Company’s legacy joint venture arrangements; and originated Shopko advisory engagement and fee opportunity.

   For Ms. Vesy: adoption of new lease accounting standards; leadership in tax planning with respect to joint venture initiatives with foreign investors; leadership of efforts to modernize and consolidate workspace within the Company’s headquarters located in Beachwood, Ohio; contributions to general and administrative expense analysis and reductions; and playing a key role in facilitating successful transition of the Chief Financial Officer role.

30    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement31


score of five points corresponded to a “maximum” incentive payout, in each case as indicated in the applicable executive’s employment agreement (with straight line interpolation applicable to scores between those break-points).

MR. LUKES’ PERFORMANCE MEASURESPERFORMANCE RANGEMEASUREMENT
WEIGHTING

Adjusted EBITDA (in millions)(1)

$306.6 to $315.030%


Operating FFO per share(2)

$0.96 to $1.0030%

Performance-Based and Retention-Based Equity GrantsLeasing Progress

0 to 55%

ESG Initiatives

0 to 55%

Committee’s evaluation

0 to 530%

2019 Performance-Based RSU Awards.MR. FENNERTY’S PERFORMANCE MEASURES PursuantPERFORMANCE RANGEMEASUREMENT
WEIGHTING

Company goals(3)

0 to 560%

Balance sheet management

0 to 510%

Committee’s evaluation

0 to 530%

MS. VESY’S PERFORMANCE MEASURESPERFORMANCE RANGEMEASUREMENT
WEIGHTING

Company goals(3)

0 to 560%

Financial statement accuracy

0 to 510%

Committee’s evaluation

0 to 530%

MR. CATTONAR’S PERFORMANCE MEASURESPERFORMANCE RANGEMEASUREMENT
WEIGHTING

Company goals(3)

0 to 560%

Acquisitions

0 to 530%

Committee’s evaluation

0 to 510%

(1)Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as net income attributable to the termsCompany before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization for the trailing twelve months and further adjusted to eliminate the impact of their employment agreements, on March 2, 2019, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were granted 225,158, 75,053 and 75,053 performance-based RSUs subject generally to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2019 and ending on February 28, 2022 and having “target” values of $3,000,000, $1,000,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. In the case of Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower, the target value of these awards was increased from $600,000 as set forth in their employment agreements to $1,000,000 following the Committee’s consideration of a report from Gressle & McGinley evidencingcertain items that the existing levelCompany does not consider indicative of target annualits ongoing performance. For the limited purpose of determining 2021 executive incentive compensation, for these executives had fallen belowreported Adjusted EBITDA was designed to be adjusted to eliminate the median compensationimpact of comparable executives at eightunbudgeted significant transactions and unbudgeted bankruptcies occurring during the year, though no such adjustments were ultimately made by the Committee. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to earnings as an indicator of the Company’s direct shopping centerfinancial performance, or an alternative to cash flow from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The Company’s calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from the methodology utilized by other companies. Investors are cautioned that items excluded from Adjusted EBITDA are significant components in understanding and assessing the Company’s financial condition. Within the performance range, the target level of Adjusted EBITDA was $310.8 million.

(2)FFO is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure used as a standard in the real estate industry and is a widely accepted measure of REIT peersperformance. FFO is generally defined and a desire to provide these executives with a greater incentive to helpcalculated by the Company achieveas net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP), adjusted to exclude: (a) preferred share dividends, (b) gains and losses from disposition of real estate property and related investments, which are presented net of taxes, (c) impairment charges on real estate property and related investments, and (d) certain non-cash items. These non-cash items principally include real property depreciation and amortization of intangibles, equity income (loss) from joint ventures and equity income (loss) from non-controlling interests and adding the Company’s proportionate share of FFO from its five-year strategic plan.

Inunconsolidated joint ventures and non-controlling interests, determined on a consistent basis. The Company’s calculation of FFO is consistent with the casedefinition of Messrs. LukesFFO provided by NAREIT. The Company calculates Operating FFO by excluding certain non-operating charges, income and Makinen, these performance-based RSUs become payablegains in order to allow investors to analyze the executive at the endresults of its operations and assess performance of the performance period, if at all, based oncore operating real estate portfolio. For the percentile ranklimited purpose of determining 2021 executive incentive compensation, reported Operating FFO per share was designed to be adjusted to eliminate the impact of unbudgeted significant transactions and unbudgeted bankruptcies occurring during the year, though no such adjustments were ultimately made by the Committee. The Company believes that Operating FFO provides additional indicators of the TSRfinancial performance of a REIT. The Company also believes that Operating FFO more appropriately measures the core operations of the Company (adjustedand provides benchmarks to its peer group. Operating FFO is useful to investors as described below) measured overthe Company removes non-comparable charges, income and gains to analyze the results of its operations and assess performance of the core operating real estate portfolio. Other real estate companies may calculate Operating FFO in a different manner. Within the performance period as compared torange, the total shareholder returntarget level of a particular set of peer companies during such period as shown below (with straight-line interpolation between levels):

Operating FFO per share was $0.98.

 

Performance Level

(3)

Relative TSR

        Percentage Earned        

Below Threshold

Below 33rd percentile0%

Threshold

33rd percentile50%

Target

55th percentile100%

Maximum

70th percentile or above200%

For these purposes, the peer companies consist of: Acadia Realty Trust, Brixmor Property Group Inc., Federal Realty Investment Trust, Kimco Realty Corporation, Kite Realty Group Trust, Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, Regency Centers Corporation, Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., Retail Properties of America, Inc., Urban Edge Properties, and Weingarten Realty Investors. These eleven entities were chosen because they were considered to be most similar to the Company in terms of the economic forces that impact their financial performance and the trading characteristics of their common stock. For purposes of determining TSR, dividends paid on the Company’s common stock during the performance period are deemed reinvested in additional shares of the Company’s common stock. In the event that the TSR of the Company during the performance period is negative, the number of performance-based RSUs earned by the executive will be reduced byone-third. The performance-based design of this award no longer applies for Mr. Ostrower, as he forfeited this award upon his departure from the Company.

2018 Performance-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, in March 2018, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were granted performance-based RSUs substantially similar to the 2019 performance-based RSU awards described above, subject generally to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2018 and ending on February 28, 2021 and having “target” values of $3,000,000, $600,000 and $600,000, respectively. Although Mr. Ostrower forfeited this award upon his departure from the Company, these awards remain outstanding and unvested for Messrs. Lukes and Makinen as the applicable performance period has yet to be completed.

Settlement of Certain Performance-Based Awards. In early 2018, 2019 and 2020, attainment of the performance objectives was determined with respect to the performance share and performance-based RSU awards granted to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in 2017 that were subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2017 and ending on each of February 28, 2018, February 28, 2019Messrs. Fennerty and February 28, 2020, respectively (the “Completed Awards”). From 0%Cattonar and Ms. Vesy, “Company goals” were defined to 200% of each Completed Award could have been earned based on the percentile rank of the TSR of the Company (incorporating, as a result of equitable adjustments approved by the Committee in connection with thespin-off of RVI, dividend and share price performance of RVI, accounting for the distribution ratio for thespin-off) measured over the applicable performance period as compared to the total

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    31


shareholder returnconsist of the same set of peer companies described above with respect to 2019 performance-based RSU awards,Adjusted EBITDA and using the same performance matrix as set forth aboveOperating FFO per share goals established for such 2019 performance-based RSU awards. Based on relative TSR performance during the applicable performance periods, no portion of the Completed Awards was earned and no shares were received by Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower with respect to these awards (the three-year performance based RSUs were forfeited by Mr. Ostrower upon his departure, but would not have paid out even if he had remained with the Company through the full performance period).

On February 28, 2021 and February 28, 2022, attainment of the performance objectives with respect to the performance-based RSUs granted to Messrs. Lukes and Makinen in March 2018 and March 2019, respectively, will be determined. If the performance period applicable to the performance-based RSUs granted in March 2018 and March 2019 had ended on February 28, 2020, 60% and 59%, respectively, of the target number of shares applicable to these awards would have been earned by Messrs. Lukes and Makinen thereunder based on our TSR relative to the peer companies through that date.

2019 Retention-Based RSUs. In February 2019, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were granted 70,476, 20,403 and 20,403 time-based RSUs having grant date fair values of $950,016, $275,032 and $275,032, respectively. Theseone-time awards vest in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date, subject generally to the executives’ continued employment with us. Following its consideration of a report received from Gressle & McGinley, the Committee concluded that these awards were necessary and appropriate to incentivize the core of our successful leadership team and to help us avoid losing them to other employment opportunities, especially in the light of the outsized reliance of the Company’s existing executive compensation program on performance-based equity (relative to the degree of utilization of performance-based equity in peer compensation programs). Despite the Committee granting this award, Mr. Ostrower forfeited all unvested performance-based and time-based equity, including these RSUs, upon his departure from the Company in November 2019 to pursue another opportunity. In retrospect, Mr. Ostrower’s departure confirms the need for and the advisability of our Committee in designing and granting these retention awards in early 2019.

Mr. Fennerty received a payout of 2,910 time-based RSUs in February 2019 having a grant date fair value of $39,227 as part of his 2018 annual incentive award earned based on 2018 performance. This award vests in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date. In November 2019, Mr. Fennerty also received 19,342 RSUs having a grant date fair value of $268,854, which RSUs generally vest in equal installments on the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. These RSUs were provided due to negotiations between the Company and Mr. Fennerty regarding his promotion compensation package.

Ms. Vesy received a payout of 20,701 time-based RSUs in February 2019 having a grant date fair value of $306,009 as part of her 2018 annual incentive award earned on account of 2018 performance. This award generally vests in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date.

More information concerning the terms of the employment agreements, including the equity compensation granted to the executives thereunder, is provided under the section entitled “Employment Agreements” in the “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure” section of this Proxy Statement.

Lukes.

 

32    SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement


Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions

With respect to the quantitative metrics of the 2021 incentive compensation program, which comprised 60% of each named executive officer’s overall assessment of 2021 performance, the Company achieved 2021 Operating FFO of $1.17 per share (as compared to the performance range of $0.96 to $1.00 per share) and Adjusted EBITDA of $361.9 million (as compared to the performance range of $306.6 million to $315.0 million). These results reflected the Company’s strong operating performance in 2021 relative to expectations and resulted in the executives achieving the maximum number of points available (in other words, 5 points) with respect to each of the quantitative elements of the Company’s 2021 incentive compensation program.

With respect to the qualitative components of the 2021 annual incentive compensation program, the Committee considered the following individual achievements in awarding each executive a maximum score (in other words, 5 points) with respect to their individual objectives:


Status of Performance-Based Equity Grants

The table below summarizes the performance periods and payout, or projected payout, of theTSR-based performance equity awarded to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in March 2017, March 2018 and March 2019 based on our total shareholder return as of February 28, 2020. For Mr. Lukes, the table also includes a comparisonLukes: reorganization of the value includedCompany’s leasing team resulting in improved speed of decision-making and lease execution in order to capitalize on increasing tenant demand; significant volume of new anchor leases and renewals resulting in increased leased rate and signed-not-opened pipeline which is expected to drive future property revenue growth; leadership in resolving disputes with national tenants regarding unpaid rents from pandemic shutdowns, including providing rent deferral arrangements in exchange for concessions regarding leasing and redevelopment; leadership in key investments and transactional activity; publication of the Company’s seventh Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, implementation of organization-wide inclusivity and anti-bias training and continuing focus on employee engagement; and increasing the organization’s visibility through interviews and other media opportunities.

For Mr. Fennerty: collaborated with Mr. Lukes in reorganizing the Company’s leasing department and development of an asset management tool to optimize property and leasing decisions; leadership in the 2019 Summary Compensation TableMarch 2021 equity offering and forward equity sales under the Company’s at-the-market program in order to redeem the 6.25% Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred shares and finance acquisitions activity; balance sheet and leverage management; expanded the investor relations program though increased participation in conferences and non-deal roadshows; and continued management of rating agency relationships.

For Ms. Vesy: managed financial reporting obligations for eachboth the Company and RVI; oversight of these awardstenant account balances, collections and reporting; support of transactions and capital markets activities; managed investor relations, shareholder distributions and wind-down planning for RVI in her role as its chief financial officer; leadership in planning for the renovation of the Company’s office headquarters in Beachwood, Ohio; and adapting headquarter office protocols to changing COVID-19 conditions.

For Mr. Cattonar: assumption of leadership role as CIO; acquisition of 10 shopping centers (including through the acquisition of joint venture partners’ interests) and certain outparcels for approximately $223 million in the aggregate; disposition of six unconsolidated shopping centers and various outparcels for approximately $167 million in the aggregate (approximately $97 million at the Company’s share); and sale of 21 RVI properties totaling approximately $934 million in value which led to the value actually realized, or projected to be realized, by Mr. Lukes.recapture of the Company’s $190 million preferred investment in RVI in October 2021.

Based on these quantitative results and qualitative assessments, the Committee determined that each named executive officer had achieved the maximum overall level of performance under the 2021 incentive compensation program (in other words, 5 points) thereby entitling Messrs. Lukes, Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy to 2021 incentive payments of $2,250,000, $675,000, $525,000 and $510,000, respectively, which represented the maximum incentive award opportunity under their respective employment agreements. In lieu of cash, Mr. Lukes’ employment agreement entitles him to elect to receive all or a portion his annual incentive compensation in the form of RSUs subject to a ratable three-year vesting schedule and a 20% increase. In October 2021, Mr. Lukes provided the Company with notice of his election to receive his 2021 annual incentive compensation payout entirely in the form of cash. In accordance with their employment agreements, annual incentive payments were provided to Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy in cash.

Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Results

Service-Based RSUs Awarded in Connection with the Execution of New Employment Agreements. Each of Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy received awards of service-based RSUs in 2021 in connection with the execution of their new employment agreements. On February 22, 2021, Mr. Fennerty received 30,684 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his new employment agreement of approximately $375,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. On May 11, 2021,

 

Performance 
Period
 2017 2018 2019 2020  2021  Status %
Payout 
 

Summary
Compensation

Table Value –
CEO (Year)

 

Actual

Realized Value –

CEO (Year)

 

2017 1-Year Performance Shares

 

 

 

100%

Completed

 

             

 

Below

Threshold and

100% Forfeited

 

 

 

0%

 

 

 

$454,686

(2017)

 

 

 

$0

(2018)

 

 

2017 2-Year PRSUs

 

 

 

100%

Completed

 

           

 

Below

Threshold and

100% Forfeited

 

 

 

0%

 

 

 

$918,225

(2017)

 

 

 

$0

(2019)

 

 

2017 3-Year PRSUs

 

 

 

100%

Completed

 

         

 

Below

Threshold and

100% Forfeited

 

 

 

0%

 

 

 

$1,428,225

(2017)

 

 

 

$0

(2020)

 

 

2018 3-Year PRSUs

 

   

 

67%

Completed

 

 

 

     

 

Above

Threshold but

Below Target

 

 

 

60%*

 

 

 

$3,379,167

(2018)

 

 

 

$1,945,915*

(2021)

 

 

2019 3-Year PRSUs

 

     

 

    33%

    Completed

 

 

 

 

Above

Threshold but

Below Target

 

 

 

59%*

 

 

 

$3,337,532

(2019)

 

 

 

$1,637,820*

(2022)

 

*

Projected based on total shareholder return as of February 28, 2020. Projection of actual realized value for the CEO (i) includes dividends declared through February 28, 2020 on shares projected to be awarded and (ii) reflects a 1/3 reduction in projected payout with respect to the 2019 3-Year PRSUs on account of a negative TSR through February 28, 2020.

Other Benefits and Information

Perquisites and Fringe Benefits. The named executive officers received certain additional benefits during 2019. The Committee believes that these benefits are reasonable and consistent with its overall compensation program and better enable us to attract and retain superior executive talent.

For 2019, each of Messrs. Lukes, Makinen, Ostrower and Fennerty and Ms. Vesy were eligible for participation in health, life, disability and other insurance plans, sick leave, reasonable vacation time, and other customary fringe benefits generally on terms available to our other employees.

Pursuant to his employment agreement, Mr. Lukes is entitled to automobile service for business and personal use. The benefit includes all reasonable related maintenance, repairs, parking, gasoline, insurance and other reasonable costs and expenses.

Pursuant to their employment agreements, Messrs. Lukes, Ostrower and Fennerty are entitled to reimbursement (up to an aggregate maximum in any calendar year of $25,000 for Messrs. Lukes and Ostrower and $10,000 for Mr. Fennerty) for premiums for life, disability and/or similar insurance policies.

Retirement Benefits. We have established a tax qualified 401(k) plan for our employees pursuant to which we made semi-monthly matching contributions during 2019 equal to 50% of each participant’s contribution, up to 6% of the sum of his or her base salary plus annual cash performance-based incentive, not to exceed 3% of the sum of the participant’s base salary plus annual cash performance-based incentive, subject to Internal Revenue Code limits.

Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. Our named executive officers are entitled to participate in our Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. Pursuant to the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan, certain of our officers can defer up to 100% of their base salaries and annual cash performance-based incentives, less applicable taxes and authorized benefits deductions. The Elective Deferred Compensation Plan is a nonqualified plan and is an

SITE Centers Corp.  ï  20202022 Proxy Statement33


Mr. Cattonar received 20,352 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his new employment agreement of approximately $300,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date. On September 11, 2021, Ms. Vesy received 18,807 service-based RSUs having a value determined in accordance with her new employment agreement of approximately $300,000 and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date.Dividend equivalents credited with respect to these RSUs will accrue and be paid in additional common shares upon the vesting of the RSUs.

Annual Service-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, on February 22, 2021, Mr. Lukes was granted 81,822 RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his employment agreement of approximately $1 million and Mr. Fennerty was granted 20,457 RSUs having a value determined in accordance with his employment agreement of approximately $250,000. These grants will generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date and dividend equivalents credited with respect to these RSUs will be paid in cash on a current basis.

Pursuant to her prior employment agreement, Ms. Vesy received a payout of 10,176 service-based RSUs in February 2021 having a grant date fair value of approximately $133,000 as part of her 2020 annual incentive award earned on account of 2020 performance. Similarly, Mr. Cattonar received a payout of 3,444 service-based RSUs in February 2021 having a grant date fair value of approximately $45,013 as part of his 2020 annual incentive award earned on account of 2020 performance. These RSUs generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date and dividend equivalents credited with respect to these RSUs will be paid in cash on a current basis.

2021 Performance-Based RSU Awards. Pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, on March 1, 2021, Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty were granted 154,512 and 38,628 PRSUs subject generally to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2021 and ending on February 29, 2024 and having “target” values of approximately $2,000,000 and $500,000, respectively (excluding accrued dividends). These PRSUs become payable to the executives at the end of the performance period, if at all, based on the percentile rank of the TSR of the Company measured over the performance period as compared to the total shareholder return of a particular set of peer companies during such period as shown below (with straight-line interpolation between levels):

PERFORMANCE LEVELRELATIVE TSRPERCENTAGE EARNED

Below Threshold

Below 33rd percentile

0

%

Threshold

33rd percentile

50

%

Target

55th percentile

100

%

Maximum

70th percentile or above

200

%

For these purposes, the peer companies consist of Acadia Realty Trust, Brixmor Property Group Inc., Federal Realty Investment Trust, Kimco Realty Corporation, Kite Realty Group Trust, Regency Centers Corporation, Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., Retail Properties of America, Inc., RPT Realty, Urban Edge Properties and Weingarten Realty Investors. These 11 entities were chosen because they were considered to be most similar to the Company in terms of the economic forces that impact their financial performance and the trading characteristics of their common stock. For purposes of determining TSR, dividends paid on the Company’s common shares during the performance period are deemed reinvested in additional common shares of the Company. In accordance with the terms of the PRSU awards, Weingarten Realty Investors and Retail Properties of America, Inc. were eliminated from the list of peer companies when they were acquired in August 2021 and October 2021, respectively.

Settlement of 2018 and 2019 CEO Performance-Based RSU Awards. On March 1, 2018, in accordance with the terms of his prior employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Lukes PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2021 and a target value of approximately $3 million (excluding accrued dividends). Based on the Company’s relative TSR during the three-year period ended February 28, 2021, this award paid out at the maximum level in March 2021, and Mr. Lukes received 558,164 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $7,568,704 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2021.

On March 1, 2019, in accordance with the terms of his prior employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Lukes PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2022 and a target value of approximately $3 million (excluding accrued dividends). Based the Company’s relative TSR during the three-year period ended February 28, 2022, this award paid out at the maximum level in March 2022, and Mr. Lukes received 494,334 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $7,686,894 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2022.

34    33SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


The results of these performance-based awards are evidence of the alignment of our compensation program with actual performance. Due to the lagging relative performance of our share price during calendar year 2017, no shares were earned by Mr. Lukes with respect to the one-, two- and three-year performance-based equity awards granted to him in March 2017 and therefore Mr. Lukes earned less compensation through December 31, 2020 than originally intended under our performance-based equity programs. However, as a result of the outperformance of our share price since the time the Company announced the spin-off of RVI in December 2017, the value realized by Mr. Lukes in March 2021 and March 2022 with respect to PRSUs granted to him in March 2018 and March 2019 exceeded the target values originally established by the Committee.

Settlement of 2020 CFO Performance-Based RSU Awards. On March 1, 2020, in accordance with the terms of his original employment agreement, the Company granted Mr. Fennerty 5,954 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2021 and a target value of approximately $75,000 (excluding accrued dividends), 11,909 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2022 and a target value of approximately $150,000 (excluding accrued dividends) and 17,863 PRSUs having a performance period ending on February 28, 2023 and a target value of approximately $225,000 (excluding accrued dividends). Based on the relative TSR of the Company during the 12-month period ended February 28, 2021, Mr. Fennerty received 12,131 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $164,496 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2021. Based on the relative TSR of the Company during the 24-month period ending February 28, 2022, Mr. Fennerty received 24,921 common shares (which included accrued dividends) having a market value of $387,519 based on the closing price of the Company’s common shares on February 28, 2022.

More information concerning the terms of the employment agreements, including the equity compensation granted to the executives thereunder, is provided in the sections of this Proxy Statement below entitled “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure—Employment Agreements”.

Other Benefits and Information

Perquisites and Fringe Benefits. The named executive officers received certain additional benefits during 2021. The Committee believes that these benefits are reasonable and consistent with its overall compensation program and better enable us to attract and retain superior executive talent.

For 2021, each of Messrs. Lukes, Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy were eligible for participation in health, life, disability and other insurance plans, sick leave, reasonable vacation time, and other customary fringe benefits generally on terms available to our other employees.

Pursuant to his employment agreement, Mr. Lukes is entitled to automobile service for business and personal use. The benefit includes all reasonable related maintenance, repairs, parking, gasoline, insurance and other reasonable costs and expenses.

Pursuant to their employment agreements, Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty are entitled to reimbursement (up to an aggregate maximum in any calendar year of $25,000 for Mr. Lukes and $10,000 for Mr. Fennerty) for premiums for life, disability and/or similar insurance policies.

Retirement Benefits. We have established a tax qualified 401(k) plan for our employees pursuant to which we made semi-monthly matching contributions during 2021 equal to 50% of each participant’s contribution, up to 6% of the sum of his or her base salary plus annual cash performance-based incentive, not to exceed 3% of the sum of the participant’s base salary plus annual cash performance-based incentive, subject to Internal Revenue Code limits.

Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. Our named executive officers are entitled to participate in our Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. Pursuant to the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan, certain of our officers can defer up to 100% of their base salaries and annual cash performance-based incentives, less applicable taxes and authorized benefits deductions. The Elective Deferred Compensation Plan is a nonqualified plan and is an unsecured, general obligation of the Company, and we have established and funded a “rabbi” trust to satisfy our payment obligations under this plan. The Company provides a matching contribution to any participant who defers compensation into the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan equal to the difference between (1) up to 3% of the sum of the participant’s base salary and annual cash performance-based incentive eligible for deferral under the 401(k) plan and the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan, combined, and (2) the actual employer matching contribution provided under the 401(k) plan. Earnings on a participant’s deferred account are based on the results of the investment options available in the plan that are selected by the participant (which are similar to the investment options available under our 401(k) plan). Settlement is generally made in cash at a date determined by the


unsecured, general obligation of the Company, and we have established and funded a “rabbi” trust to satisfy our payment obligations under this plan. The Company provides a matching contribution to any participant who defers compensation into the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan equal to the difference between (1) up to 3% of the sum of the participant’s base salary and annual cash performance-based incentive eligible for deferral under the 401(k) plan and the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan, combined, and (2) the actual employer matching contribution provided under the 401(k) plan. Earnings on a participant’s deferred account are based on the results of the investment options available in the plan that are selected by the participant. Settlement is generally made in cash at a date determined by the participant at the time a deferral election is made. Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower elected to defer a portion of their 2019 total annual cash compensation pursuant to the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan.For more information on the value of annual cash compensation deferred by the named executive officers in 2019, please refer to the 2019 Summary Compensation Table and the 2019
    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement35


participant at the time a deferral election is made. None of our named executive officers elected to defer any portion of their 2021 cash compensation pursuant to the Elective Deferred Compensation Plan. For more information, please refer to the 2021 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table below.

Equity Deferred Compensation Plan. Pursuant to the Equity Deferred Compensation Plan, certain of our officers, including the named executive officers, have the right to defer the receipt of RSUs earned under any equity compensation plan. The value of a participant’s deferrals is converted into units, based on the market value of our common shares at the time of the deferral, so that each unit is equivalent in value to one common share. We have established and funded a “rabbi” trust, which holds our common shares, to satisfy our payment obligations under this plan. Common shares equal to the number of units credited to the participants’ accounts under this plan are placed in the rabbi trust. In the event of our insolvency, the assets of the rabbi trust are available to general creditors. Settlement of units is generally made in our common shares at a date determined by the participant at the time a deferral election is made. None of our named executive officers elected to defer 20192021 service-based RSUs pursuant to the Equity Deferred Compensation Plan.

Stock Ownership Guidelines

Under our stock ownership guidelines, each named executive officer must own common shares or common share equivalents with an aggregate market value of no less than the applicable multiple of such officer’s annual base salary for the immediately preceding year. For the Chief Executive Officer,CEO, the multiple is five times his annual base salary; for the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer,CFO, the multiple is three times his annual base salary; and for all other executive officers, the multiple is one times his/her annual base salary. Our Board established these particular levels of stock ownership for our named executive officers because we want to have the interests of our named executive officers aligned with the investment interests of our shareholders.

Such minimum share ownership requirement must be satisfied (1) initially, by no later than the fifth anniversary of the first March 31st following the date such officer receives his or her first grant as a named executive officer, and then (2) on each anniversary of March 31st thereafter. To that end, and unless otherwise approved by the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee, each named executive officer is required to retain 50% of the common shares or common share equivalents of the Company acquired through grants from the Company as part of compensation until such time as the minimum share ownership requirement is satisfied. RSUs and shares deferred into our Equity Deferred Compensation Plan constitute common share equivalents and count toward satisfying the stock ownership guidelines. As of February 29, 2020,28, 2022, all of our continuing named executive officers were in compliance with the stock ownership guidelines.

Hedging and Pledging Policy

Our Board has adopted a policy prohibiting our Directors and employees who are officers at or above the level of Vice President (or an equivalent position) from (1) pledging Company stock as collateral for a loan or (2) using Company stock in hedging transactions, such as “cashless” collars, forward sales, equity swaps and similar arrangements because the Board determined that such a policy is in the best interests of the Company and our shareholders. Currently, all Directors, executive officers and, to our knowledge, other covered employees are in compliance with the applicable requirements of the Company’s policy.

34    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


Tax and Accounting Implications

The Company made an election to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code, and as such generally will not be subject to federal income tax. Thus, the deduction limit for compensation paid to certain covered employees, provided under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, was generally not material to the design and structure of our named executive officer compensation program for 2019.

Compensation-Related Risk Analysis

The Committee has overall responsibility for overseeing the risks relating to compensation policies and practices affecting senior management. The Committee uses its consultant, Gressle & McGinley, to independently consider and analyze the extent, if any, to which our compensation policies and practices might create risks for the Company, and this review also focuses on variable and incentive compensation elements, as well as policies and practices that could mitigate or balance any such incentives.

After conducting this review, including most recently in early 2020,2022, the Committee has determined that none of our compensation policies and practices create any risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company. In making this determination, the Committee considered that a significant portion of total executive compensation in recent years has been comprised of time-basedservice-based RSUs that vest over several years and long-term performance-based RSUsPRSUs whose vesting is based on both relative and absolute shareholder return over a multi-year period. The Committee believes that these equity award structures and the corresponding vesting conditions encourage actions and behaviors that increase long-term shareholder value rather than short-term risk taking. In addition, annual incentive compensation awarded to our executive officers is typicallysubject to a cap and is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative performance metrics, thereby reducing the likelihood that our executives are overly focused on any single metric that might encourage risky behavior.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    35

36    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


6. Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure

 

20192021 Summary Compensation Table

 

(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(h)(i)
Name and Principal PositionYearSalary
($)(1)
Bonus
($)(2)
Stock
Awards
($)(3)
Option
Awards
($)

Non-Equity

Incentive Plan

Compensation

($)(1)(4)

All Other

Compensation

($)(5)

Total

($)

David R. Lukes 2019 850,000  4,287,548  1,445,000 58,177 6,640,725
Chief Executive Officer and President 2018 850,000  3,379,167  1,700,000 45,691 5,974,858
 2017 705,064 1,154,195 5,624,143   57,833 7,541,235
Michael A. Makinen 2019 500,000  1,387,543  650,000 23,489 2,561,032
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer 2018  500,000  675,833  750,000 12,639 1,938,472
 2017 414,744 522,260 1,325,789   10,294 2,273,087
Conor M. Fennerty 2019 298,623 350,000 308,081   8,400 965,104
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer        
        
Christa A. Vesy 2019 380,000  133,000  243,200 11,244 767,444
Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer 2018  340,000 136,000 323,019  272,000 11,094 1,082,113
 2017 340,000 68,000 204,026  136,000 10,944 758,970
Matthew L. Ostrower 2019 473,718  1,387,543   34,317 1,895,578
Former Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer 2018 500,000  675,833  750,000 34,300 1,960,133
 2017 414,744 522,260 1,325,789   18,850 2,281,643
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)
NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITION YEAR SALARY
($)(1)
 BONUS
($)
 STOCK
AWARDS
($)(2)
 

NON-EQUITY

INCENTIVE PLAN

COMPENSATION

($)(1)(3)

 

ALL OTHER

COMPENSATION

($)(4)

 

TOTAL

($)

David R. Lukes

   2021   900,000      3,717,683   2,250,000   42,536   6,910,219

Chief Executive Officer

   2020   865,128   972,000   6,013,999   648,000   56,437   8,555,564

and President

   2019   850,000      4,287,548   1,445,000   58,177   6,640,725

Conor M. Fennerty

   2021   443,559      1,330,480   675,000   13,148   2,462,187

Executive Vice President, Chief

   2020   400,000   150,000   443,805   150,000   11,120   1,154,925

Financial Officer and Treasurer

   2019   298,623   350,000   308,081      8,400   965,104

Christa A. Vesy

   2021   393,645      287,371   510,000   11,344   1,202,360

Executive Vice President and

   2020   380,000   76,000   133,000   76,000   11,394   676,394

Chief Accounting Officer

   2019   380,000      133,000   243,200   11,244   767,444

John M. Cattonar

   2021   337,500      338,285   525,000   10,999   1,211,784

Executive Vice President and

   2020                  

Chief Investment Officer

   2019                  

 

(1)

The amounts reported in columns (c) and (g)(f) for 20192021 include amounts deferred into our 401(k) plan (a qualified plan) and our elective deferred compensation plan (a nonqualified plan) by Messrs. Lukes, Makinen, Fennerty and OstrowerCattonar and Ms. Vesy for the year ended December 31, 20192021 as follows: Mr. Lukes, $44,750; Mr. Makinen, $38,200;$26,000; Mr. Fennerty, $19,000;$18,674, Mr. Cattonar, $19,500 and Ms. Vesy, $19,000; and Mr. Ostrower, $55,667. Under our elective deferred compensation plan, deferred amounts are payable to the named executive officer at a date specified by the named executive officer at the time of his or her deferral election in accordance with the provisions of the plan.

$26,000.

 

(2)

The amount reported in column (d) for Mr. Fennerty for 2019 reflects the amount paid to him in February 2020 as his annual cash performance-based incentive compensation for 2019 determined on the basis of the Committee’s subjective evaluation of his performance for 2019.

(3)

The amounts reported in column (e) reflect the aggregate grant date fair value computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 of all stock awards granted during the reported years. Assumptions used in the calculation of these amounts for 20192021 are included in footnote 15 to the financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.2021. The amounts reported in this column for 2019 are as follows:

2021 include:

 

   

for each of Messrs. Lukes Makinen and Ostrower, reflectsFennerty, $2,648,269 and $662,067, respectively, relating to the grant date fair value of (i) time-based RSUs granted in February 2019 and (ii) performance-based RSUsPRSUs granted in March 20192021 in accordance with their employment agreements. The grant date fair value associated with the performance-based RSUPRSU awards was computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 and is based on the probable outcome of the performance conditions, although the ultimate value of the awards could be as low as zero. Assuming achievement of maximum performance, the value as of the grant date of these performance-based RSUPRSU awards made to Messrs. Lukes Makinen and OstrowerFennerty would be $6,675,064, $2,225,022$5,296,538 and $2,225,022,$1,324,134, respectively. Mr. Ostrower forfeited all unvested equity grants, including all time-based RSUs and performance-based RSUs granted in 2019, upon his resignation in November 2019. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program —Program—Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Retention-Based Equity Grants”;Results” for more information;

 

   

for Mr. Fennerty, includesLukes, $1,069,414 relating to the grant date fair valuesvalue of time-basedannual service-based RSUs awarded in February 2019 for performance in 2018 and time-based RSUs granted in November 2019 in accordance with his employment agreement and appointment as the Company’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; andagreement;

 

   

for Ms. Vesy, includesMr. Fennerty, $401,040 relating to the grant date fair value of an annual performance based equity incentive award opportunityservice-based RSUs granted in March 2019 pursuantupon execution of his February 2021 amended and restated employment agreement and $267,373 relating to which Ms. Vesy was entitled to receive time-based RSUs in early 2020 upon the achievement of specified objectives in 2019. Thegrant date fair value of this equity incentive award was determined based on the probable outcome of the award which was determined on the service inception date to be the target value (i.e., $133,000); such amount does not represent the amount actually paid to Ms. Vesy with respect to the performance based equity incentive award opportunityannual service-based RSUs granted in March 2019 which amount was determined in early 2020 to be $249,280. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019 Compensation Program.”accordance with his employment agreement;

 

36    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


(4)

for Ms. Vesy, $287,371 relating to the grant date fair value of service-based RSUs granted upon execution of her September 2021 employment agreement; and

for Mr. Cattonar, $293,272 relating to the grant date fair value of service-based RSUs granted upon execution of his May 2021 employment agreement and $45,013 relating to the grant date fair value of service-based RSUs granted as partial payment of his 2021 annual incentive compensation.

(3)The amounts reported in column (g)(f) for 20192021 reflect cash amounts earned by Messrs. Lukes, Fennerty and MakinenCattonar and Ms. Vesy as annual cash performance-based incentive compensation for 2019.2021. For more information about the award reported in this column for 2019,2021, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program”Program—Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions” above.

 

(5)(4)

The amounts shown in column (h)(g) for the named executive officers for 20192021 include:

 

   

for Mr. Lukes, automobile service, reimbursement of personal disability/life policies of $25,000, and matching contributions to the 401(k) plan and deferred compensation plan of $22,375;matching contribution to the medical HSA Plan;

 

   

for Mr. Makinen,Fennerty, reimbursement of personal disability insurance premiums and matching contributions to the 401(k) plan and deferred compensation plan of $19,100 and disability insurance premiums;plan;

 

   

for Mr. Fennerty, matching contributions to the 401(k) plan;

for Ms. Vesy, matching contributions to the 401(k) plan and disability insurance premiums; and

 

   

for Mr. Ostrower, reimbursement of personal disability/life policies of $25,000 andCattonar, matching contributions to the 401(k) plan;plan and disability insurance premiums.

 

  

None of the amounts reported for the named executive officers for 20192021 in column (h)(g), if not a perquisite or personal benefit, exceeds $10,000 or, if a perquisite or personal benefit, exceeds the greater of $25,000 or 10% of the total amount of perquisites and personal benefits, except as disclosed in this footnote.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    37

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement37


20192021 Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table

 

Name 

Grant

Date

 

Committee

Action Date 

 

Estimated Possible Payouts

UnderNon-Equity Incentive

Plan Awards(1)

  

Estimated Future Payouts

Under Equity Incentive

Plan Awards(2)

  

All Other

Stock Awards:

Number of
Shares of
 Stock or Units 

(#)(3)

  

All Other

 Option Awards: 

Number of
Securities

Underlying

Options

(#)

 

Exercise or
 Base Price of 

Option
Awards

($/Sh)

 

Grant Date

 Fair Value of 

Stock and

Option
Awards

($)(4)

 

Threshold

($)

  Target
($)
  Maximum
($)
  Threshold
(#/$)
  Target
(#/$)
  Maximum
(#/$)
 
NAME 

GRANT

DATE

 

COMMITTEE

ACTION DATE

 ESTIMATED POSSIBLE PAYOUTS
UNDER NON-EQUITY INCENTIVE
PLAN AWARDS(1)
 ESTIMATED FUTURE PAYOUTS
UNDER EQUITY INCENTIVE
PLAN AWARDS(2)
 

ALL OTHER

STOCK AWARDS:

NUMBER OF
SHARES OF
STOCK OR UNITS
(#)(3)

 

GRANT DATE

FAIR VALUE OF

STOCK AND

OPTION
AWARDS

($)(4)

THRESHOLD

($)

 TARGET
($)
 MAXIMUM
($)
 THRESHOLD
(#)
 TARGET
(#)
 MAXIMUM
(#)
David R. Lukes 3/14/19 3/14/19 42,500  1,062,500  1,700,000                    2/22/21  1/21/21              81,822  1,069,414
3/02/19 2/18/19          112,579  225,158  450,316       3,337,532    3/1/21  2/1/21        77,256  154,512  309,024    2,648,269
 2/22/19 2/18/19                   70,476    950,016 
Michael A. Makinen 3/14/19 3/14/19 25,000  500,000  750,000                  
3/02/19 2/18/19          37,527  75,053  150,106       1,112,511 
2/22/19 2/18/19                   20,403    275,032 

David R. Lukes

  5/6/21  5/6/21  33,750  1,350,000  2,250,000          
 2/22/19 2/07/19                   2,910    39,227   2/22/21  2/11/21              30,684  401,040
11/06/19 11/06/19                   19,342    268,854    2/22/21  2/11/21              20,457  267,373

Conor M. Fennerty

  3/1/21  2/11/21        19,314  38,628  77,256    662,067
  5/6/21  5/6/21  22,500  450,000  675,000          
 3/14/19 3/14/19 7,600  152,000  304,000                    5/6/21  5/6/21  17,000  340,000  510,000          
Christa A. Vesy 3/14/19 3/14/19          5,814  133,000  342,000       133,000    9/11/21  9/7/21              18,807  287,371
 3/14/19 3/14/19 25,000  500,000  750,000                  
Matthew L. Ostrower(5) 3/02/19 2/18/19          37,527  75,053  150,106       1,112,511 
2/22/19 2/18/19                   20,403    275,032 
  2/22/21  1/21/21              3,444  45,013

John M. Cattonar

  5/11/21  5/6/21              20,352  293,272
  5/11/21  5/6/21  17,500  350,000  525,000          

 

(1)

Amounts in these columns reflect the annual cash performance-based incentive compensation opportunity established for the named executive officers (other than Mr. Fennerty) in March 2019,May 2021 pursuant to their employment agreements with the Company, although the ultimate value of the of the executive’s annual cash performance-based incentive payout could be zero. For Ms. Vesy, the amounts in these columns give effect to the execution and implementation of her new employment agreement on September 11, 2021. For purposes of this table, “Threshold” represents the lowest possible amount that could be earned by the executive if he or she received anything – in other words, a payout corresponding to a score of one point on the lowest weighted 20192021 annual incentive performance metric and a score of zero points on all other performance metrics. The amount actually earned by the named executive officers, as determined by the Committee in January 2020,2022, is included in the“Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation” column (column (g)(f)) of the 20192021 Summary Compensation Table above. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program — Program—Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions” above for additional information about the annual cash performance-based incentive compensation awards.

 

(2)

Amounts in this column for Messrs. Lukes Makinen and OstrowerFennerty represent performance-based RSUPRSU awards granted in March 20192021 pursuant to their respective employment agreements with the Company pursuant to which a certain number of common shares may be issued at the end of the three-year performance period based on the relative and absolute return of our common stockshares during the performance period. The number of shares represents the threshold, target and maximum number of shares eligible to be issued at the conclusion of the performance period (excluding accrued dividends), although the ultimate value of the performance-based RSU awards could be zero. For more information about these awards, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program —Program—Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Retention-Based Equity Grants”Results” above.

Amounts in this column for Ms. Vesy represent, in dollars, the value of the potential award of RSUs issuable as partial payment of Ms. Vesy’s 2019 annual incentive compensation opportunity pursuant to the 2019 annual incentive compensation program. This award is denominated in dollars but payable in RSUs. For more information about this award, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019 Compensation Program — Annual Incentive Compensation Decisions.”

 

(3)

The amounts disclosed in this column forreflect annual grants of service-based RSUs (in the cases of Messrs. Lukes, MakinenFennerty and Ostrower reflect time-basedCattonar) and grants of service-based RSUs in connection with the execution of the executive’s new employment agreement (in the cases of Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and Ms. Vesy). The amount shown in this column with respect to Mr. Lukes represents Annual RSUs granted pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement which generally vest in February 2019. For Mr. Fennerty,substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date. The amount disclosedshown in the first completed row of this column reflects an award of time-basedwith respect to Mr. Fennerty represents service-based RSUs granted in connection with the execution of his February 2019 related to2021 employment agreement which generally vest in substantially equal installments on the 2018 performance periodsecond and third anniversaries of the grant date. The amount disclosedshown in the second completed row of this column reflects an awardwith respect to Mr. Fennerty represents Annual RSUs granted pursuant to the terms of time-basedhis February 2021 employment agreement which generally vest in substantially equal installments on each of the first three anniversaries of the grant date. The amount shown in this column with respect to Ms. Vesy represents service-based RSUs granted in November 2019 relatedconnection with the execution of her new employment agreement in September 2021 which generally vest in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date. The amount shown in the first completed row of this column with respect to Mr. Cattonar represents services-based RSUs granted to the executive in February 2021 on account of performance in 2020 which generally vest in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date. The amount shown in the second completed row of this column with respect to Mr. Cattonar represents service-based RSUs granted in connection with the execution of his appointment as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.May 2021 employment agreement which generally vest in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date. For more information about these awards, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program —Program—Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Retention-Based Equity Grants” above.

Results”.

 

(4)

Amounts in this column relating to equity awards are computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. Amounts shown in the second completed row of this column with respect to Messrs.Mr. Lukes Makinen and Ostrowerthe third completed row of this column with respect to Mr. Fennerty represent the fair values of the performance-based RSUPRSU awards granted to them in March 20192021 pursuant to the terms of their employment agreements, which values are presented based on the probable outcome of the awards.

Amounts shown in the first completed row of this column for Mr. Lukes, the first and second completed rows of this column for Messrs. Fennerty and Cattonar and the first completed row of this column for Ms. Vesy are calculated using the closing price of our common shares on the grant date of the applicable service-based RSU awards.

The amount shown in this column with respect to Ms. Vesy represents the fair value of the incentive award opportunity granted in March 2019 pursuant to which Ms. Vesy was entitled to receive RSUs at the conclusion of 2019 as partial payment of Ms. Vesy’s 2019 annual incentive compensation based upon the achievement of specified performance measures. The fair value of this award was based on the probable outcome of the award, which was determined on the service inception date to be the target value. Such amount does not represent the value of the RSUs granted to Ms. Vesy with respect to the equity portion of her 2019 incentive award, which value was determined in early 2020 to be $249,280.

For time-based RSU awards granted to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen, Fennerty and Ostrower, the value is calculated using the closing price of our common stock on the grant date.

38    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


(5)

As a result of his November 2019 resignation, Mr. Ostrower forfeited all time-based and performance-based equity which had not vested in accordance with its terms prior to his departure, including all grants referenced in this table.

Grants made in 20192021 are described more fully in the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” and “Employment Agreements” sections of this Proxy Statement. More information concerning the terms of the employment agreements, if applicable, and the amounts payable pursuant to thenamed executive officers’ employment agreements is provided under the section entitled “Employment Agreements” of this Proxy Statement. More information concerning the amount of salary and incentive compensation in proportion to total compensation for Mr. Lukes is provided under the section of this Proxy Statement entitled “Compensation Discussion and Analysis—Compensation Program Design” in this Proxy Statement..

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    39

38    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Outstanding Equity Awards at 20192021 FiscalYear-End Table(1)

 

 Option Awards  Stock Awards    OPTION AWARDS STOCK AWARDS
Name Grant Date  Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
  Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
  Option
Exercise
Price ($)
  Option
Expiration
Date
  Number of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested (#)(2)
  

Market Value

of Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested ($)(3)

  

Equity

Incentive

Plan Awards:

Number of
Unearned
Shares, Units
or Other Rights
That Have
Not Vested (#)(4)

  

Equity

Incentive

Plan Awards:

Market or
Payout Value
of Unearned
Shares, Units

or Other Rights

That Have Not
Vested ($)(3)(4)

 
NAME GRANT
DATE
 NUMBER OF
SECURITIES
UNDERLYING
UNEXERCISED
OPTIONS (#)
EXERCISABLE
 NUMBER OF
SECURITIES
UNDERLYING
UNEXERCISED
OPTIONS (#)
UNEXERCISABLE
 OPTION
EXERCISE
PRICE ($)
 OPTION
EXPIRATION
DATE
 NUMBER OF
SHARES OR
UNITS OF
STOCK THAT
HAVE NOT
VESTED (#)(2)
 

MARKET VALUE

OF SHARES OR
UNITS OF
STOCK THAT
HAVE NOT
VESTED ($)(3)

 

EQUITY

INCENTIVE

PLAN AWARDS:

NUMBER OF
UNEARNED
SHARES,  UNITS
OR OTHER RIGHTS
THAT HAVE
NOT VESTED (#)(4)

 

EQUITY

INCENTIVE

PLAN AWARDS:

MARKET OR
PAYOUT VALUE
OF UNEARNED
SHARES, UNITS

OR OTHER  RIGHTS

THAT HAVE NOT
VESTED ($)(3)(4)

David R. Lukes

 various              133,316  1,869,090         various          576,965  9,133,356    
 3/02/2017                    31,952  528,806 
 3/02/2018                    242,380  3,827,180 
 3/02/2019                    225,158  3,291,810 

Michael A. Makinen

 various              37,443  524,951       
 3/02/2017                    6,390  105,755 
 3/02/2018                    48,474  765,404 
 3/02/2019                    75,053  1,097,275 

David R. Lukes

  3/02/2019              493,555  7,812,983
  3/02/2020              498,008  7,883,460
  3/02/2021              159,100  2,518,546
  various          62,497  989,328    

Conor M. Fennerty

  3/02/2020              24,901  394,188
  3/02/2020              37,351  591,265
 various              50,153  703,145          3/02/2021              39,775  629,636
 2/22/2010  3,057     16.33  2/22/2020               2/22/2012  2,775    22.39  2/22/2022        
 2/22/2011  1,881     22.34  2/22/2021             
 2/22/2012  2,775     22.39  2/22/2022             
 2/22/2013  3,777     27.33  2/22/2023             
 2/22/2014  12,773     26.83  2/22/2024             
 2/22/2015  9,830     31.11  2/22/2025             
 2/23/2016  9,075     26.60  2/23/2026             
 various              37,424  524,684       

Matthew L. Ostrower

                           

Christa A. Vesy

  2/22/2013  3,777    27.33  2/22/2023        
  2/22/2014  12,773    26.83  2/22/2024        
  2/22/2015  9,830    31.11  2/22/2025        
  2/23/2016  9,075    26.60  2/23/2026        
  various          49,285  780,182    
  various          29,482  466,700    

 

(1)

Except as otherwise indicated, the information in the Outstanding Equity Awards at 20192021 FiscalYear-End Table is provided as of December 31, 2019.

2021.

 

(2)

The figuresamounts in this column with respect to the following named executive officers reflect RSUs that generally vest or vested as follows:

 

Mr. Lukes (#)  Mr. Makinen (#)  Mr. Fennerty (#)  Ms. Vesy (#)  Vesting Dates
 —        —        1,215       —       January 1, 2020
 —        —        —        709      February 23, 2020
 —        —        —        2,918      February 22, 2020
 62,840       17,040       —        —       March 2, 2020 and 2021
 —        —        4,078       11,096      February 22, 2020 and 2021
 70,476       20,403       2,910       22,701      February 22, 2020, 2021 and 2022
 —        —        22,608       —       October 1, 2021
 —        —        —        18,900      February 22, 2021, 2022 and 2023
 —        —        19,342       —       November 6, 2021 and 2022
 133,316       37,443       50,153       56,324      Total

The 18,900 RSUs granted on February 22, 2020 to Ms. Vesy constitute the equity portion of her 2019 annual incentive compensation determined in January 2020 to have been earned with respect to performance in 2019; the service inception date for this award occurred in 2019.

MR. LUKES  (#)  MR. FENNERTY (#)  MS. VESY (#)  MR. CATTONAR (#)  VESTING DATES
  23,492     970    7,567    953  February 22, 2022
           12,600    4,424  February 22, 2022 and 2023
  214,371     51,856    10,176    3,444  February 22, 2022, 2023 and 2024
               20,661  May 11, 2023 and 2024
  143,022         18,942      September 11, 2022, 2023 and 2024
  196,080               September 11, 2024
       9,671          November 6, 2022
  576,965     62,497    49,285    29,482  Total

 

(3)

These amounts were calculated based upon the closing price of our common shares on December 31, 20192021 of $14.02.

$15.83.

 

(4)

For Messrs.Mr. Lukes and Makinen, represents (i) the “threshold”“maximum” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding performance-based RSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2017 and ending on February 28, 2020 (the second row) and (ii) the “target” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding performance-based RSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2018 and ending on February 28, 2021 (the third row) andPRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2019 and ending on February 28, 2022 (the second row), the “maximum” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding PRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2023 (the third row) and the “target” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding PRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2021 and ending on February 29, 2024 (the fourth row). For Mr. Fennerty, represents the “maximum” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding PRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2022 (the first row), the “maximum” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding PRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2023 (the second row) and the “target” number of shares that could be earned under outstanding PRSUs for the performance period beginning on March 1, 2021 and ending on February 29, 2024 (the third row). Consistent with the terms of these performance-based RSUs,PRSUs, the payout values include dividends declared ondividend equivalents accrued under the number of performance-based RSUs cited in the penultimate column of the table betweenPRSU awards from the date of the issuance of the applicable performance-based RSUs andgrant through December 31, 2019.2021. These awards are described more fully in “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019Analysis—2021 Compensation Program —Program—Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Retention-Based Equity Grants”Results” above.

 

40    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement39


20192021 Option Exercises and Stock Vested Table

 

 Option Awards  Stock Awards 
Name Number of Shares
Acquired on Exercise (#)
  Value Realized on
Exercise ($)
  Number of Shares
Acquired on Vesting (#)
  Value Realized on
Vesting ($)(1)
 
NAME  OPTION AWARDS  STOCK AWARDS
NUMBER OF
SHARES
ACQUIRED ON
EXERCISE (#)
  VALUE REALIZED
ON EXERCISE ($)
  NUMBER OF
SHARES
ACQUIRED ON
VESTING (#)
  VALUE REALIZED
ON VESTING ($)(1)

David R. Lukes

       31,420 409,403             660,750    9,025,560

Michael A. Makinen

       8,520  111,016 

Conor M. Fennerty

       3,254  40,569             47,419    719,308

Christa A. Vesy

       11,644 157,215             19,415    249,871

Matthew L. Ostrower

       8,520  111,016 

John M. Cattonar

            27,132    407,291

 

(1)

Shares acquired on vesting are valued at the closing price of our common shares on the date prior to vesting.

The amounts in this column for Messrs. Lukes and Fennerty include shares earned under PRSUs having performance periods ending on February 28, 2021. For more information on these PRSU awards, see “Compensation Discussion and Analysis—2021 Compensation Program—Retention-Based and Performance-Based Equity Grants and Results” above.

20192021 Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Table(1)

 

Name Executive
Contributions
in Last FY
($)(2)
  Registrant
Contributions
in Last FY
($)(3)
  Aggregate
Earnings
in Last  FY
($)(4)
  Aggregate
Withdrawals/
Distributions
($)
  

Aggregate
Balance

at Last FYE
($)(5)

 
NAME  EXECUTIVE
CONTRIBUTIONS
IN LAST FY
($)
  REGISTRANT
CONTRIBUTIONS
IN LAST FY
($)
  AGGREGATE
EARNINGS
IN LAST FY
($)(2)
  AGGREGATE
WITHDRAWALS/
DISTRIBUTIONS
($)
  

AGGREGATE
BALANCE

AT LAST FYE
($)(3)

Elective Deferred Compensation Plan:

 

Elective Deferred Compensation Plan:

 

David R. Lukes

 25,750  13,975  216     39,941             10,313        97,918

Michael A. Makinen

 13,200  10,700  1,264     25,164 

Conor M. Fennerty

                                   

Christa A. Vesy

       7,781     31,534            ��6,249        51,652

Matthew L. Ostrower

 36,667     4,648     41,314 

John M. Cattonar

                    

 

(1)

Our nonqualified deferred compensation plans are described more fully in “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 20192021 Compensation Program — Other Benefits and Information” above.

 

(2)

The amounts reported for our named executive officers in this column are included in the “Salary” column of the 2019 Summary Compensation Table above.

(3)

The amounts reported for our named executive officers in this column are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the 2019 Summary Compensation Table above.

(4)

This amount is not reported in the 20192021 Summary Compensation Table.

 

(5)(3)

$19,998 of

Of the amount reported in this column, $39,725 for Mr. Lukes and $19,998 for Ms. Vesy in this column was previously reported as compensation in Summary Compensation Tables included in prior years’ proxy statements.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    41

40    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control

We have entered into certain agreements and we maintain certain plans and policies that will require us to provide certain compensation and other benefits to our continuing named executive officers in the event of a termination of employment or a change in control of the Company. Based on a hypothetical termination and/or change in control occurring on December 31, 2019,2021, the following tables describe the potential payments upon such termination or change in control owing to each named executive officer then serving at the end of the year under his/her employment agreement and other arrangements in effect on December 31, 2019.2021. The terms and conditions of the named executive officers’ employment agreements, and any applicable Company policies and compensation arrangements, will govern any potential payments for actual terminations or a change in control occurring after December 31, 2019.2021.

 

Event 

 David R. Lukes 

($)

  

 Michael A. Makinen 

($)

  

 Conor M. Fennerty 

($)

  

 Christa A. Vesy 

($)

 
EVENT 

DAVID R. LUKES

($)

 

CONOR M. FENNERTY

($)

 

CHRISTA A. VESY

($)

 

JOHN M. CATTONAR

($)

Retirement or other Voluntary Termination (without Good Reason)

        

Accrued Vacation(1)

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615   34,615  17,308  16,346  13,462

Total

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615   34,615  17,308  16,346  13,462

Involuntary Not for Cause or Good Reason Termination

        

Cash Severance(2)

 2,390,625  1,250,000  900,000  798,000   4,796,667  1,150,013  1,315,240  1,012,500

Unvested Restricted Stock Units

 1,869,090  524,951  703,145  524,684   9,133,356  836,236  780,182  466,700

Unvested Performance-Based Equity Awards(3)

 6,399,546  1,621,704         18,214,996  1,615,087    

Post-Termination Health and Welfare Benefits(4)

 44,011  51,978  39,668  43,665   51,307  46,326  49,747  23,111

Outplacement Services(5)

          8,250 

Accrued Vacation(1)

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615   34,615  17,308  16,346  13,462

Total

 10,735,964  3,467,864  1,658,198  1,389,214   32,230,941  3,664,970  2,161,115  1,515,773

For Cause Termination

        

No Payments

 N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A   N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A

Total

 N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A   N/A  N/A  N/A  N/A

Involuntary or Good Reason Termination (Change in Control)

        

Cash Severance(2)

 5,737,500  2,500,000  1,500,000  1,330,000   7,195,000  1,916,688  2,192,067  1,687,500

Unvested Restricted Stock Units

 1,869,090  524,951  703,145  524,684   9,133,356  989,328  780,182  466,700

Unvested Performance-Based Equity Awards(3)

 6,399,546  1,621,704         18,214,996  1,615,087    

Post-Termination Health and Welfare Benefits(4)

 44,011  51,978  39,668  43,665   51,307  46,326  49,747  23,111

Outplacement Services(5)

          8,250 

Accrued Vacation(1)

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615   34,615  17,308  16,346  13,462

Total

 14,082,839  4,717,864  2,258,198  1,921,214   34,629,274  4,584,737  3,038,342  2,190,773

 

42    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement41


Event 

 David R. Lukes 

($)

  

 Michael A. Makinen 

($)

  

 Conor M. Fennerty 

($)

  

 Christa A. Vesy 

($)

 
EVENT  

DAVID R. LUKES

($)

  

CONOR M. FENNERTY

($)

  

CHRISTA A. VESY

($)

  

JOHN M. CATTONAR

($)

Disability

                

Cash Severance(2)

 1,062,500  500,000  200,000  532,000     1,498,333    316,675    876,827    675,000

Unvested Restricted Stock Units

    524,951     524,684     8,761,478    836,236    780,182    466,700

Unvested Performance-Based Equity Awards(3)

    1,621,704           2,518,553    629,638        

Post-Termination Health and Welfare Benefits(4)

 44,011  51,978  39,668  29,110     51,307    46,326    49,747    23,111

Disability Insurance Proceeds(6)(5)

 1,627,304  1,854,769  2,625,760  2,766,417     1,495,314    2,672,540    2,542,035    4,047,904

Accrued Vacation(1)

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615     34,615    17,308    16,346    13,462

Total

 2,766,507  4,572,633  2,880,812  3,866,826     14,359,600    4,518,723    4,265,137    5,226,177

Death

                

Cash Severance(2)

 1,062,500  500,000  200,000  532,000     1,498,333    316,675    876,827    675,000

Unvested Restricted Stock Units

    524,951     524,684     8,761,478    836,236    780,182    466,700

Unvested Performance-Based Equity Awards(3)

    1,621,704           2,518,553    629,638        

Post-Termination Health and Welfare Benefits(4)

 44,011  51,978  39,668  29,110     51,307    46,326    49,747    23,111

Accrued Vacation(1)

 32,692  19,231  15,385  14,615     34,615    17,308    16,346    13,462

Total(7)(6)

 1,139,203  2,717,864  255,053  1,100,410     12,864,286    1,846,183    1,723,102    1,178,273

 

(1)

Assumes two weeks of personal time off (“PTO”) is paid pursuant to our current PTO policy.

 

(2)

Reported amounts calculated pursuant to the terms of the respective employment agreement, if applicable, assuming an annual incentive payout for 20192021 at the “target” level (except in the case of termination in connection with a change in control), payable in a lump sum. Assumes any accrued base salary and bonusannual incentive have been paid.

 

(3)

Reported amounts reflect the value of performance-based RSUs that would have been earned based on the relative performance measured as

As of December 31, 2021, relative TSR during the performance period applicable to (a) the three-year PRSUs issued to Mr. Lukes on March 2, 2019 (assumingand March 2, 2020 had exceeded the “target” requirements set forth in the applicable awards and therefore these awards are included in the reported amount at their “maximum” values, and (b) the three-year PRSUs issued to Mr. Lukes on March 1, 2021 had exceeded the “threshold” requirements set forth in the applicable award and therefore this award is included in the reported amount at its “target” value. As of December 31, 2021, relative TSR during the performance period applicable to (a) the two-year and three-year PRSUs issued to Mr. Fennerty on March 2, 2020 had exceeded the “target” requirements set forth in the applicable awards and therefore these awards are included in the reported amount at their “maximum” values, and (b) the three-year PRSUs issued to Mr. Fennerty on March 1, 2021 had exceeded the “threshold” requirements set forth in the applicable award and therefore this award is included in the reported amount at its “target” value. These values assume no replacement award wereawards are granted in the event of a Change of Control). As of December 31, 2019, relative TSR during the performance period applicable to the three-year performance-based RSUs issued on March 2, 2017 had not met the minimum threshold requirements set forth in the applicable awards, but relative TSR during the performance period applicable to the three-year performance-based RSUs issued on March 2, 2018 and March 2, 2019 had exceeded the minimum threshold requirements set forth in the applicable awards.

Control.

 

(4)

Reported amounts consist of our estimate of continued health and welfare benefits costs (or a lump sum payment related thereto) of 18 months for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Fennerty, and one year for Ms. Vesy, except in the case of involuntary termination, in which case the amount is an18-month estimate for Ms. Vesy.

months.

 

(5)

Reported amounts consist of our estimate of one year of outplacement service.

(6)

Reported amounts consist of our estimate of payments for long-term disability using a present value calculation that takes into account (a) age and total payments over the benefit term assuming that the disability occurs on December 31, 2019,2021, and (b) a discount rate based on the rate for the Treasury security with a similar term. In general, benefits are available until age 65.

 

(7)(6)

Reported amounts do not include payments under personal life insurance policies arranged and obtained by the executives for which we reimburse the premium (subject to caps on reimbursement set forth in the applicable executive’s employment agreement).

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    43

42    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Employment Agreements

Employment Agreements in Effect During 20192021, we were a party to employment agreements with Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower

In March 2017,each of our named executive officers. On February 17, 2021, we entered into an amended and restated employment agreementsagreement with Messrs. Lukes, MakinenMr. Fennerty which effectively replaced his 2019 employment agreement. On May 11, 2021, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Cattonar in connection with his promotion to the role of EVP and Ostrower. Mr. Ostrower terminated hisCIO. On September 11, 2021, we entered into an employment agreement with us effective November 27, 2019.Ms. Vesy which superseded and replaced her 2016 employment agreement which was amended in 2018. The key terms of these employment agreements in effect on December 31, 2021 (which include customary non-competition and non-solicitation restrictive covenants that extend for one year following termination and perpetual confidentiality and mutual non-disparagement restrictive covenants) are described below.

Term. Pursuant to their employment agreements, Messrs. Lukes and Makinen serve, and Ostrower served, as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively. The fixed term of each of those employment agreements ends on March 1, 2021.

Base Salary and Benefits. The employment agreements provide for minimum annual base salary rates of (for Mr. Lukes) $850,000 and (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $500,000. In addition, the employment agreements provide for participation in certain employee benefit plans, reasonable paid time off, and other customary fringe benefits.

Annual Cash Incentive Compensation. Pursuant to the employment agreements, each executive is entitled to an annual performance-based cash incentive compensation opportunity targeted at (for Mr. Lukes) 125% or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) 100% ofyear-end base salary, the payout of which would bepro-rated for any partial year during the contract period based on the executive’s service during such year. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019 Compensation Program” for a discussion of the methods used to calculate the annual performance-based cash incentive compensation and the executives’ annual performance-based cash incentive compensation award opportunities.

Initial Equity Grants. Pursuant to the employment agreements, Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower were entitled to initial equity grants during 2017 of (1) service-based RSUs with a value (determined in accordance with the applicable employment agreement) equal to (for Mr. Lukes) $2,950,000 or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $800,000, which RSUs generally vest in four substantially equal annual installments, (2) performance shares covering a “target” award with a value (determined in accordance with the applicable employment agreement) equal to (for Mr. Lukes) $500,000 or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $100,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2017 and ending on February 28, 2018, (3) performance-based RSUs covering a “target” award with a value (determined in accordance with the applicable employment agreement) equal to (for Mr. Lukes) $1,000,000 or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $200,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2017 and ending on February 28, 2019, and (4) performance-based RSUs covering a “target” award with a value (determined in accordance with the applicable employment agreement) equal to (for Mr. Lukes) $1,500,000 or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $300,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2017 and ending on February 28, 2020. The initial performance-based awards could pay out (if at all) from a threshold level of 50% of target, to a maximum level of 200% of target, based on relative total shareholder return performance of the Company (and RVI following its separation from the Company), subject to a reduction by 1/3 in the event that the absolute total shareholder return during the applicable performance period is negative. For purposes of determining total shareholder return, dividends paid during the performance period on the Company’s (and RVI’s) common stock are deemed reinvested in additional shares of the Company’s common stock. The performance criteria set forth in theone-year performance shares,two-year performance-based RSUs and three-year performance-based RSUs awarded to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in March 2017 were not satisfied and no compensation was ultimately paid in respect of these awards.

Annual Equity Grants. The employment agreements with Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower also provide that, on March 2, 2018, 2019 and 2020, subject to continued employment and the approval of the Committee, such executives are eligible to receive grants of performance-based RSUs (or substantially similar awards) covering a “target” number of shares with a value (determined in accordance with the applicable employment agreement) at least equal to (for Mr. Lukes) $3,000,000 or (for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower) $600,000. The annual performance-based awards will have terms similar to those for the

 

KEY TERMS DAVID R. LUKES CONOR M. FENNERTY CHRISTA A. VESY JOHN M. CATTONAR

Term of Agreement

 September 11, 2024 February 19, 2024 September 11, 2024 May 11, 2024

Annual Base Salary Rate

 $900,000 $450,000 $425,000 $350,000

Annual Cash Incentive Compensation

 Target award of 150% of year-end base salary(1) Target award of 100% of year-end base salary Target award of 80% of year-end base salary Target award of 100% of year-end base salary

Initial Equity Grants Under Employment Agreement

 190,696 service-based RSUs (“Upfront RSUs”) generally vesting over four years, plus 190,695 Upfront RSUs generally vesting on the fourth anniversary of the grant date (“Cliff Vest Upfront RSUs”) 30,684 Upfront RSUs generally vesting after the second and third years 18,807 Upfront RSUs generally vesting over three years 20,352 Upfront RSUs generally vesting over three years

Annual Equity Grants Under Employment Agreement

 In each of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024: $1,000,000 in service- based RSUs (“Annual RSUs”) generally vesting over three years, plus $2,000,000 in “target” PRSUs (“Annual PRSUs”)(2) In each of 2021, 2022 and 2023: $250,000 in Annual RSUs, plus $500,000 in “target” Annual PRSUs In each of 2022, 2023 and 2024: $50,000 in Annual RSUs, plus $100,000 in “target” Annual PRSUs In each of 2022, 2023 and 2024: $125,000 in Annual RSUs, plus $250,000 in “target” Annual PRSUs

Other Ongoing Terms

 Annual automobile service, and annual reimbursement for $25,000 in life, disability and similar insurance premiums Annual reimbursement for $10,000 in life, disability and similar insurance premiums N/A N/A

44    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

(1)Mr. Lukes may elect, generally no later than October 31 of each calendar year, to receive up to 100% of his annual cash incentive payout (if any) for such calendar year in the form of a grant of service-based RSUs equal in value to 120% of the portion of the annual cash incentive that is subject to the election, and generally vesting in substantially equal installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date (“Annual Bonus RSUs”).

(2)Payout for Annual PRSUs may vary from 0% to 200% of the target award based on achievement with respect to performance objectives established by the Committee in consultation with Mr. Lukes measured over a three-year performance period, provided that no less than 50% of the aggregate target Annual PRSUs each year will vest based on the Company’s relative total shareholder return achievement.


initial performance-based awards described above except that (1) these awards will cover three-year performance periods and (2) only the performance-based RSUs granted in March 2017 and March 2018 will be impacted by the performance of RVI’s common stock.

Termination.The employment agreements may be terminated under a variety of circumstances. Our Board has the right to terminate an employment agreement for “cause” if the executive engages in certain specified conduct, for “disability” if the executive is disabled for a specified period of time, or at any other time without cause by giving the executive at least 90 days’ prior written notice. The executive also has the right to terminate his employment agreement for “good reason” in certain specified circumstances or at any other time without good reason by giving us at least 90 days’ prior written notice.

Benefits Upon a Termination.

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement43


The executives (or their personal representatives or dependents, as appropriate) are entitled under the employment agreements to certain additional payments and benefits in the event of certain termination circumstances.

If the executive is terminated without cause, terminates his employment for good reason, or his employment terminates as a result of death or disability, during the agreement term, the executive (or his personal representative or dependents, as appropriate) is entitled to receive, subject in certain circumstances to the execution of a customary release of claims in favor of the Company:

(1)

for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower, if the termination is the result of a termination by the Company other than for cause, death or disability, or a termination by the executive for good reason, a lump sum equal to up to two times for Mr. Lukes, and up to 1.5 times for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower (in each case, the “Multiplier”), the sum of (a) the executive’s then-current base salary plus (b) an amount equal to (i) if the termination were to have occurred prior to the 2017 annual bonus payout, the executive’s “target” annual bonus, or (ii) if the termination occurs after the 2017 annual bonus payout, the average of the annual bonuses earned by the executive in the three fiscal years ending immediately prior to the fiscal year in which the termination occurs (or, if the executive has been eligible for fewer than three such annual bonuses, the number of fiscal years preceding the year in which the termination occurs for which the executive was eligible for an annual bonus) (the “Average Bonus”). For Mr. Lukes, the Multiplier will decrease monthly from two to zero on a linear basis beginning on March 1, 2019 and ending on March 1, 2021. For Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower, the Multiplier will decrease monthly from 1.5 to zero on a linear basis beginning on September 1, 2019 and ending on March 1, 2021;

(2)

a lump sum amount equal in value to the annual bonus that would have been earned for his year of termination based on actual performance,pro-rated based on the executive’s period of service during such year, and calculated on the basis of actual performance of the applicable performance objectives for the entire performance period (except that, if the termination is due to death or disability, thepro-rated annual bonus will be based on the “target” level); and

(3)

a lump sum in cash equal to 18 months of monthly COBRA premiums for health, dental and vision benefits (if COBRA coverage is elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company (or, in the event of death, a substantially similar benefit to his beneficiaries).

If a “Triggering Event” occurs during the term following a “Change in Control” as described below under the section entitled “Change in Control Provisions,” the executive is entitled to receive (1) a lump sum equal to three times for Mr. Lukes and 2.5 times for Messrs. Makinen and Ostrower the sum of the executive’s base salary as of the termination date plus an amount equal in value to his Average Bonus (except that if the termination occurs before the payout of the 2017 annual bonus, the Average Bonus will be deemed to be the executive’s then-current “target” annual bonus), (2) a lump sum amount equal to 18 months of monthly COBRA premiums for health, dental and vision benefits (if COBRA coverage is elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by SITE Centers, and (3) a lump sum amount equal in value to the executive’s “target” annual bonus for the year of termination,pro-rated based on the executive’s period of service during such year.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    45


     Other Terms.

The employment agreements include customarynon-competition andnon-solicitation restrictive covenants that extend for one year following termination and perpetual confidentiality and mutualnon-disparagement restrictive covenants.

Pursuant to Mr. Lukes’ employment agreement, the Company agreed to reimburse Mr. Lukes for his reasonable attorneys’ fees and other reasonable expenses incurredcircumstances during the agreement term, including in connection with the negotiation of his employment agreement, up to a maximum of $20,000.

For Mr. Lukes only, the Company agreed to provide suitable automobile service for Mr. Lukes’ business use, including all reasonable related maintenance, repairs, parking, gasoline, insurance and other reasonable costs and expenses, which automobile may also be used by Mr. Lukes (and anyone authorized by Mr. Lukes) for personal use at no cost to Mr. Lukes (except for applicable taxes).

For Messrs. Lukes and Ostrower only, the Company agreed to reimburse (up to an aggregate maximum of $25,000 in any calendar year) premiums paid by the executive for life, disability and/or similar insurance policies.

Employment Agreement in Effect During 2019 with Mr. Fennerty

On November 6, 2019, the Board appointed Mr. Fennerty as the Company’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer effective upon Mr. Ostrower’s departure. In structuring Mr. Fennerty’s three-year employment agreement, the Committee worked closely with Gressle & McGinley, the Committee’s compensation consultant, and Mr. Lukes to provide Mr. Fennerty with a compensation package consistent with the structure and performance-based philosophy utilized in designing employment agreements for Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower in 2017. Specifically, the Committee reviewed compensation data with respect to recent chief financial officer hires at eight similarly sized REITs and determined that the target annual compensation for Mr. Fennerty should be $1,250,000 (approximately the 30th percentile of the benchmarking group). The Committee then considered how the target level of compensation should be allocated between salary, annual cash bonus, time-based equity and performance equity. Based on Mr. Fennerty’s location in New York City and the compensation breakdown for the benchmarking group, Mr. Fennerty’s base salary was set at $400,000 (the 43rd percentile of the benchmarking group) and his target level of annual incentive pay was set at $300,000 (the 37th percentile of the benchmarking group). The Committee also awarded Mr. Fennerty with time-based RSUs valued at approximately $300,000 vesting over three years and provided an expectation of annual performance-based equity grants having a target value of $450,000 per year.

The key terms of this employment agreement are more fully described below.

Term. Pursuant to Mr. Fennerty’s employment agreement, Mr. Fennerty serves as the Company’s Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. The fixed term of Mr. Fennerty’s employment agreement ends on November 6, 2022.

Base Salary and Benefits. The employment agreement with Mr. Fennerty provides for minimum annual base salary at a rate of $400,000. In addition, the employment agreement provides for Mr. Fennerty’s participation in certain employee benefit plans, reasonable paid time off, and other customary fringe benefits.

Annual Cash Incentive Compensation. Pursuant to his employment agreement, Mr. Fennerty is entitled to an annual performance-based cash incentive compensation opportunity targeted at 75% ofyear-end base salary, provided that the amount of Mr. Fennerty’s annual cash incentive for 2019 did not have apre-established target amount and was left to the discretion of the Committee based on an evaluation of his performance.

Initial Equity Grants. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Mr. Fennerty received a grant of service-based RSUs with a value (determined in accordance with the employment agreement) equal to $300,000,

46    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


which RSUs generally vest in substantially equal annual installments on the second and third anniversaries of the grant date. On March 2, 2020, Mr. Fennerty also received (1) an award of performance-based RSUs covering a “target” number of shares with a value (determined in accordance with the employment agreement) equal to $75,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2021, (2) an award of performance-based RSUs covering a “target” number of shares with a value (determined in accordance with the employment agreement) equal to $150,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2022, and (3) an award of performance-based RSUs covering a “target” number of shares with a value (determined in accordance with the employment agreement) equal to $225,000, generally subject to a performance period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on February 28, 2023. The initial performance-based awards could pay out (if at all) from a threshold level of 50% of target, to a maximum level of 200% of target, based on relative total shareholder return performance of the Company, subject to a reduction by 1/3 in the event that the absolute total shareholder return during the applicable performance period is negative. For purposes of determining total shareholder return, dividends paid during the performance period on the Company’s common stock are deemed reinvested in additional shares of the Company’s common stock.

Annual Equity Grants. The employment agreement with Mr. Fennerty also provides that, on March 2, 2021 and 2022, subject to continued employment and the approval of the Committee, Mr. Fennerty is eligible to receive grants of performance-based RSUs (or substantially similar awards) covering a “target” number of shares with a value (determined in accordance with the employment agreement) at least equal to $450,000. The annual performance-based awards will have terms similar to those for the initial performance-based awards described above except that these awards will cover three-year performance periods.

       Termination. Mr. Fennerty’s employment agreement may be terminated under a variety of circumstances. Our Board has the right to terminate the employment agreement for “cause” if the Mr. Fennerty engages in certain specified conduct, for “disability” if the executive is disabled for a specified period of time, or at any other time without cause by giving the executive at least 90 days’ prior written notice. Mr. Fennerty also has the right to terminate his employment agreement for “good reason” in certain specified circumstances or at any other time without good reason by giving us at least 90 days’ prior written notice.

Benefits Upon a Termination. Mr. Fennerty is entitled under the employment agreement to certain additional payments and benefits in the event of certain termination circumstances.

If Mr. Fennerty is terminated without cause, terminates his employment for good reason, or his employment terminates as a result of death or disability, during the agreement term, he (or his personal representative or dependents, as appropriate) is entitled to receive, subject in certain circumstances to the execution of a customary release of claims in favor of the Company:

(1)

If the termination is the result of a termination by the Company other than for cause, death or disability, or a termination by the executive for good reason, a lump sum equal to up to 1.5 times (the “Multiplier”), the sum of (a) the executive’s then-current base salary plus (b) an amount equal to (i) if the termination were to have occurred prior to the determination of the amount of the 2019 annual bonus, $200,000, or (ii) if the termination occurs after determination of the 2019 annual bonus amount, the average of the annual bonuses earned by the executive in the three post-2018 fiscal years ending immediately prior to the fiscal year in which the termination occurs (or, if the executive has been eligible for fewer than three such annual bonuses, the number of post-2018 fiscal years preceding the year in which the termination occurs for which the executive was eligible for a post-2018 annual bonus) (the “Average Bonus”). The Multiplier will decrease monthly from 1.5 to zero on a linear basis beginning on May 5, 2021 and ending on November 5, 2022;

(2)

a lump sum amount equal in value to the annual bonus that would have been earned for his year of termination based on actual performance,pro-rated based on the executive’s period of service during such year, and calculated on the basis of actual performance of the applicable

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    47


performance objectives for the entire performance period (except that, if the termination is due to death or disability, thepro-rated annual bonus will be based on the “target” level); and

(3)

a lump sum in cash equal to 18 months of monthly COBRA premiums for health, dental and vision benefits (if COBRA coverage is elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company (or, in the event of death, a substantially similar benefit to his beneficiaries).

If a “Triggering Event” occurs during the term following a “Change in Control” as described below under the section entitled “Change in Control Provisions,” Mr. Fennerty is entitled to receive (1) a lump sum equal to 2.5 times the sum of the executive’s base salary as of the termination date plus an amount equal in value to his Average Bonus (except that if the termination were to have occurred prior to the determination of the 2019 annual bonus, the Average Bonus would have been deemed to be $200,000), (2) a lump sum amount equal to 18 months of monthly COBRA premiums for health, dental and vision benefits (if COBRA coverage is elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by SITE Centers, and (3) a lump sum amount equal in value to the executive’s “target” annual bonus for the year of termination (except that if the termination were to have occurred prior to the determination of the 2019 annual bonus, the target annual bonus with respect to the 2019 calendar year would have been deemed to be $200,000),pro-rated based on Mr. Fennerty’s period of service during such year.

Other Terms.

The employment agreement includes customarynon-competition andnon-solicitation restrictive covenants that extend for one year following termination and perpetual confidentiality and mutualnon-disparagement restrictive covenants.

The Company has agreed to reimburse (up to an aggregate maximum of $10,000 in any calendar year) premiums paid by the executive for life, disability and/or similar insurance policies.

Employment Agreement in Effect During 2019 with Ms. Vesy

In December 2016, we entered into an employment agreement with Ms. Vesy which was amended in February 2018. The terms of this employment agreement (as amended) are described below.

Term. Pursuant to Ms. Vesy’s employment agreement, Ms. Vesy serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. The fixed term of Ms. Vesy’s employment agreement ends on December 31, 2021.

Base Salary and Benefits. The employment agreement with Ms. Vesy provides for minimum annual base salary at a rate of $340,000 for 2017 and 2018 and $380,000 for 2019 and thereafter during the term of the employment agreement. In addition, the employment agreement provides for Ms. Vesy’s participation in health, life, disability and other insurance plans, reasonable paid time off, and other customary fringe benefits.

Annual Cash Incentive Compensation. Pursuant to her employment agreement, Ms. Vesy is entitled to an annual performance-based cash incentive compensation award targeted at 40% ofyear-end base salary. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis — 2019 Compensation Program” for a discussion of the methods used to calculate the annual performance-based cash incentive compensation and Ms. Vesy’s annual performance-based cash incentive compensation award opportunity.

Annual Equity Incentive Awards. For each calendar year during the term of her employment agreement (beginning with 2016), Ms. Vesy is eligible to receive performance-based equity incentive compensation having a grant date target value of 25% of the sum of heryear-end base salary and her annual performance-based cash incentive compensation award payout.

Termination. Ms. Vesy’s employment agreement can be terminated under a variety of circumstances, including upon death. Our Board has the right to terminate the employment agreement for “cause” if Ms. Vesy has engaged in certain specified conduct, for “disability” if Ms. Vesy was disabled for a specified

48    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


period of time, or at any other time without cause by giving her at least 90 days’ prior written notice. The executive also has the right to terminate the employment agreement for “good reason” in certain specified circumstances or at any other time without good reason by giving us at least 90 days’ prior written notice.

Benefits Upon a Termination. Ms. Vesy is entitled under her employment agreement to certain additional payments and benefits in the event of certain termination circumstances.

If Ms. Vesy is terminated without cause or terminates employment for good reason during the term (and the termination was not in connection with a change in control (as defined in the employment agreement)), Ms. Vesy is entitled to receive (1) a lump sum equal to 1.5 times the sum of Ms. Vesy’s then-current base salary plus an amount equal to the value of Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination, subject to the execution by Ms. Vesy of a customary release of claims in favor of the Company, (2) a lump sum amount equal in value to Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination,pro-rated based on Ms. Vesy’s period of service during such year, (3) a lump sum representing the premiums for 18 months of continued health, dental and vision coverage under COBRA (if elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company, and (4) payment by us for one year of outplacement services, provided that Ms. Vesy first uses such outplacement services and support within 90 days following termination.

If Ms. Vesy is terminated by reason of disability, or, upon a termination by reason of death, Ms. Vesy , or her representative, is entitled to receive (1) a lump sum amount equal to one times the sum of Ms. Vesy’s then-current base salary plus an amount equal to the value of Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination, in certain cases subject to the execution by Ms. Vesy or her representative of a customary release of claims in favor of the Company, (2) a lump sum amount equal in value to Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination,pro-rated based on Ms. Vesy’s period of service during such year, and (3) a lump sum representing the premiums for 12 months of continued health, dental and vision coverage and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company.

If a “Triggering Event” occurs during the term following a “Change in Control” as described below under the section entitled “Change in Control Provisions,” Ms. Vesy is entitled to receive (1) a lump sum amount equal to 2.5 times the sum of Ms. Vesy’s base salary as of the termination date plus an amount equal in value to Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination, (2) a lump sum representing the premiums for 18 months of continued health, dental and vision coverage under COBRA (if elected) and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company, (3) a lump sum amount equal in value to Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash bonus for the year of termination,pro-rated based on Ms. Vesy’s period of service during such year, and (4) payment by us for one year of outplacement services, provided that Ms. Vesy first uses such outplacement services within 90 days following termination.

     Other Terms.

Ms. Vesy’s employment agreement provided for aone-time special cash award opportunity equal in value to Ms. Vesy’s “target” annual cash opportunity as in effect on March 1, 2017, which award vested on January 1, 2018 due to Ms. Vesy’s continued employment with the Company through such date.

Ms. Vesy also received aone-time signing grant of 5,601 service-based RSUs (as adjusted for the Reverse Stock Split andspin-off of RVI) in connection with the execution of her employment agreement in December 2016 (generally subject to annual ratable vesting over three years).

The employment agreement includes customarynon-competition andnon-solicitation restrictive covenants that extend for one year following termination and perpetual confidentiality restrictive covenants.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    49


Change in Control Provisions

The employment agreements in effect during 2019 for the named executive officers included provisions regarding the payments and benefits to which he/she would be entitled in certain circumstances in the event of a change in control. In general, the Committee believes that the inclusion of change in control provisions in these agreements is appropriate because such agreements help ensure a continuity of management during a potential change in control and help ensure that management remains focused on completing a transaction that is likely to maximize shareholder value. The Committee also believes that the payment of change in control compensation would be appropriate because the executive officer may forego other opportunities at the time of the change in control. For information concerning the amounts payable upon a change in control measured as of December 31, 20192021 see the following discussion and the “Executive Compensation Tables and Related Disclosure — Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control” section above.

Under The table below summarizes the benefits to which our executives are entitled under the employment agreements in effect during 2019 for the named executive officers, benefits would be payable by us if a “Triggering Event” occurs within two years after a “Change in Control” (each as definedon December 31, 2021 in the employment agreements). Payments for all named executive officers are only triggered if both (1) a change in control occurs,event of certain termination scenarios (over and (2) the officer is terminated or effectively terminated, or certain actions are taken that materiallyabove accrued compensation and adversely impacted the officer’s position with us or his/her compensation. This is referred to as a “double-trigger” change in control provision.

For Messrs. Lukes, Makinen, Fennerty and Ostrower, a “Triggering Event” has occurred if within two years after a change in control:

      we terminate the employment of the executive, other than in the case of a termination for “Cause” (as defined in the employment agreement), a termination following disability, or a termination based on death; or

      the executive terminates his employment for “Good Reason” (as defined in the employment agreement).

For Ms. Vesy, a “Triggering Event” has occurred if within two years after a change in control:

      we terminate Ms. Vesy’s employment, other than in the case of a termination for “Cause” (as defined in the employment agreement), a termination following disability, or a termination based on death;

      we reduce Ms. Vesy’s title, responsibilities, power, or authority in comparison with Ms. Vesy’s title, responsibilities, power, or authority at the time of the change in control, and Ms. Vesy then terminates her employment with us;

      we assign Ms. Vesy duties that were inconsistent with the duties assigned to her on the date on which the change in control occurred and which duties we persisted in assigning to Ms. Vesy despite the prior written objection, and Ms. Vesy then terminated her employment with us;

      we (1) reduce Ms. Vesy’s base salary, annual performance-based cash bonus percentages of salary, certain health and welfare benefits (including any such benefits provided to Ms. Vesy’s family), pension, retirement or profit-sharing benefits or any benefits provided by our equity-based award plans or any substitute therefore, (2) exclude Ms. Vesy from any plan, program or arrangement in which our other executive officers are included, (3) establish criteria and factors to be achieved for the payment of annual performance bonus compensation that are substantially different than the criteria and factors established for our other similar executive officers, or (4) fail to pay Ms. Vesy any annual performance bonus compensation to which she is entitled through the achievement of the criteria and factors established for the payment of such bonus, and Ms. Vesy then terminates her employment with us; or

      we require Ms. Vesy to be based at or generally work from any location more than 50 miles from the geographical center of Cleveland, Ohio, and Ms. Vesy then terminates her employment with us.

A “Change in Control” generally occurs if:

      there is a consummation of a consolidation or merger in which we are not the surviving corporation, the sale of substantially all of our assets, or the liquidation or dissolution of the Company;benefits):

 

TERMINATION WITHOUT CAUSE
OR FOR GOOD REASON

TERMINATION DUE TO

DEATH OR DISABILITY

“TRIGGERING EVENT”(1) WITHIN
TWO YEARS AFTER A

“CHANGE IN CONTROL”(2)

Lump sum in cash equal to 1.5 times (two times for Mr. Lukes) sum of (a) base salary plus (b) average of the annual incentives earned in the three fiscal years preceding the year of termination (the “Average Bonus”) disregarding any enhanced value received based on any election by Mr. Lukes to receive Annual Bonus RSUs in lieu of cash for any annual incentive;

Lump sum in cash equal to the annual incentive that would have been earned for the year of termination based on actual performance, pro-rated based on the executive’s period of service during such year (the “Pro-Rata Actual Bonus”);

Lump sum in cash equal to 18 months of monthly COBRA premiums for health, dental and vision benefits and the employer portion of the premium for other insurance provided by the Company (the “18-month COBRA Benefit”); and

Vesting of Annual Bonus RSUs, Upfront RSUs, Cliff Vest Upfront RSUs, Annual RSUs and Annual PRSUs based on level of performance to date (“Accelerated Award Vesting”)

Lump sum in cash equal to the target annual incentive for year of termination, pro-rated based on the executive’s period of service during such year (the “Pro-Rata Target Bonus”);

18-month COBRA Benefit; and

Accelerated Award Vesting

Lump sum in cash equal to 2.5 times (three times for Mr. Lukes) sum of (a) base salary plus (b) Average Bonus;

Pro-Rata Target Bonus;

18-month COBRA Benefit; and

Accelerated Award Vesting

50    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

(1)A “Triggering Event” is the occurrence of one of the following within two years after a change in control: (a) we terminate the employment of the executive, other than in the case of a termination for “Cause” (as defined in the applicable employment agreement), a termination following disability, or a termination based on death; or (b) the executive terminates the executive’s employment for “Good Reason” (as defined in the applicable employment agreement).


      any person or other entity (subject to certain exceptions) purchases our shares (or securities convertible into our shares) pursuant to a tender or exchange offer without the prior consent of the Board, or becomes the beneficial owner of 30% or more of the voting power of our outstanding securities without the prior consent of the Board; or

      during anytwo-year period, we experience a turnover of a majority of the Directors on our Board (subject to certain exceptions for replacement Directors approved by at leasttwo-thirds of the Directors serving at the beginning of such period, but specifically excluding certain replacement Directors elected in connection with an election or proxy contest).

Upon the occurrence of a Triggering Event under the employment agreements, we would have been required to pay a named executive officer the applicable amounts described above under “Employment Agreements.”

(2)A “Change in Control” generally occurs if: (a) there is a consummation of a consolidation or merger in which we are not the surviving corporation, the sale of substantially all of our assets, or the liquidation or dissolution of the Company; (b) any person or other entity (subject to certain exceptions) purchases our shares (or securities convertible into our shares) pursuant to a tender or exchange offer without the prior consent of the Board, or becomes the beneficial owner of 30% or more of the voting power of our outstanding securities without the prior consent of the Board; or (c) during any two-year period, we experience a turnover of a majority of the Directors on our Board (subject to certain exceptions for replacement Directors approved by at least two-thirds of the Directors serving at the beginning of such period, but specifically excluding certain replacement Directors elected in connection with an election or proxy contest).

With respect to time-basedother outstanding service-based RSUs granted in 2017to Mr. Lukes prior to September 2020 and 2019 to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Ostrower,Mr. Fennerty prior to February 2021, in the event of a termination without cause or for good reason, unvested RSUs would generally continue to vest; for Mr. Makinen, his unvested RSUs would vest in full in the event of his death or disability. With respect to time-based RSUs granted to Mr. Fennerty, in the event of a termination without cause or for good reason, unvested RSUs would generally continue to vest except(except with respect to time-basedservice-based RSUs granted to Mr. Fennerty in November 2019, which would not vest.vest). In the event of a termination without cause or termination by the executive for good reason within two years after a changeChange in control,Control, all RSUs and stock options previously granted to thethese executives would generally vest in full. With respect to time-based RSUs and stock options granted in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to Ms. Vesy, in the event of death or disability, unvested time-based RSUs and stock options would vest in full, and in the event of a termination of employment by the Company without cause, unvested time-based RSUs and stock options would generally continue to vest.

44    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


With respect to the performance-based RSUsother PRSUs granted to Messrs. Lukes Makinen and Ostrower in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and the performance-based RSUs granted to Messrs. Lukes, Makinen and Fennerty in 2020,prior to 2021, in the event of a termination of employment by the Company without cause or a termination by the executive for good reason, the awards would be earned (if at all) on the basis of the relative achievement of the applicable performance objectives measured as of the date of termination; Mr. Makinen would receive the same treatment in the event of a termination due to death or disability.termination. In the event of a change in control, the performance-based awards of Messrs. Lukes Makinen, Ostrower and Fennerty would vest based on the relative achievement of the applicable performance objectives measured as of the date of the change in control, unless a “replacement award” (as described in the applicable award agreements) is provided.

With respect to other outstanding service-based RSUs and stock options granted in to Mr. Cattonar prior to May 2021 and Ms. Vesy prior to September 2021, in the event of death or disability, unvested service-based RSUs and stock options would vest in full, and in the event of a termination of employment by the Company without cause, unvested service-based RSUs and stock options would generally continue to vest. In the event of a termination without cause or termination by the executive for good reason within two years after a Change in Control, all RSUs and stock options previously granted to Ms. Vesy would generally vest in full.

CEO Pay Ratio

For 2019,2021, the ratio of the annual total compensation of Mr. Lukes, our CEO (“CEO Compensation”), to the median of the annual total compensation of all of our employees and those of our consolidated subsidiaries (other than Mr. Lukes) (“Median Annual Compensation”) was approximately 7971 to 1. We note that, due to our permitted use of reasonable estimates and assumptions in preparing this pay ratio disclosure, the disclosure may involve a degree of imprecision, and thus this ratio disclosure is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with Item 402(u) of RegulationS-K using the data and assumptions described below.

For purposes of this pay ratio disclosure, CEO Compensation was $6,657,317.$6,931,853. CEO Compensation for purposes of this disclosure represents the total compensation reported for Mr. Lukes under the “2019“2021 Summary Compensation Table” for 20192021 and also includes the Company’s contributions to group health and welfare benefits provided to Mr. Lukes.

For purposes of this pay ratio disclosure, Median Annual Compensation was $84,580,$97,969, and was calculated by totaling for our Median Employee all applicable elements of compensation for 20192021 in accordance with Item 402(c)(2)(x) of RegulationS-K. This Median Annual Compensation amount consists of salary, bonus, and the Company’s contributions to group health and welfare benefits provided to the Median Employee.

We refer to the employee who received the Median Annual Compensation as the “Median Employee.” Significant asset sales occurring overDue to changes in the past two years have materially impacted the size and composition of our employee population since we last determined our Median Employee on October 1, 2017. Therefore,workforce during 2021, we identified a new

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    51


Median Employee for purposes of calculating our CEO pay ratio for 20192021 rather than using the Median Employee utilized to calculate our CEO pay ratio for 2017 and 2018.2020. To identify the new Median Employee, we first measured compensation for the period beginning on January 1, 20192021 and ending on November 30, 20192021 for 367292 employees, representing all full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries as of December 1, 20192021 (the “Determination Date”). This number does not include any independent contractors or “leased” workers, as permitted by the applicable SEC rules. This number also does not exclude anynon-U.S. employees and does not exclude any employees of businesses acquired by us or combined with us. We moved our Determination Date from October 1 to December 1 in order to capture the full extent of our employee population changes for 2019. The compensation measurement was calculated by totaling, for each employee, cash compensation (except as described in the next sentence), including regular pay (wages and salary), all variants of overtime, taxgross-up earnings related to awards, dividend equivalent payments, car allowances, short-term disability payments, and all variants of bonus payments. Specifically excluded from the calculation were the value of equity and equity-based awards, equity deferred compensation, deferred equity distributions, option exercises, deferred equity dividend earnings, taxable fringe benefits for executive long-term disability, andsign-on bonuses. Further, we did not utilize any statistical sampling orcost-of-living adjustments for purposes of this pay ratio disclosure. A portion of our employee workforce (full-time and part-time) identified above worked for less than the full fiscal year due to commencing employment after January 1, 2019.2021. In determining the Median Employee, we annualized the total compensation for such individuals (but avoided creating full-time equivalencies) based on reasonable assumptions and estimates relating to our employee compensation program.

 

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7. Proposal Three: Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

Proposal Summary and Board Recommendation

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP served as our independent registered public accounting firm in 20192021 and has been selected by our Audit Committee to do so in 2020.2022. Our Board has directed that management submit the selection of the independent registered public accounting firm for ratification by the shareholders at the Annual Meeting. A representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is expected to be present at the Annual Meeting, be available to respond to appropriate questions and have an opportunity to make a statement, if desired.

Shareholder ratification of the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm is not required by our Amended and Restated Code of Regulations or otherwise. However, our Board is seeking ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as a matter of good corporate practice. If the shareholders do not approve the ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, then the Audit Committee will reconsider whether to retain the firm. In such event, the Audit Committee may retain PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, notwithstanding the fact that the shareholders did not approve the ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, or select another nationally recognized accounting firm withoutre-submitting the matter to the shareholders. Even if the shareholders ratify PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm, the Audit Committee reserves the right in its discretion to select a different accounting firm at any time during the year if the Audit Committee determines that such a change would be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.

 

 

BOARD RECOMMENDATION:

For” Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopersFOR” RATIFICATION OF PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP as the Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting FirmAS THE COMPANY’S INDEPENDENT REGISTERED

PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

Fees Paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

The following table presents fees for services rendered by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the years ended December 31, 20192021 and 2018.2020.

 

Type of Fees  2019 ($)   2018 ($) 
TYPE OF FEES  2021 ($)  2020 ($)

Audit fees(1)

   1,842,427    2,466,120     1,496,911    1,141,522

Audit-related fees(2)

   594,930    727,917     194,000    196,893

Tax fees(3)

   652,274    1,145,852     269,582    419,444

All other fees(4)

   2,916    1,812,615     2,916    972

Total

   3,092,547    6,152,504     1,963,409    1,758,831

 

(1)

Audit fees consisted principally of fees for the audit of our financial statements, as well as audit-related tax services and registration statement-related services performed pursuant to SEC filing requirements. Of these amounts, the fees for the registration statement-related services were $226,932 and $42,120$261,385 for 2019 and 2018, respectively. Also includes $345,039 of fees in 2018 related to the RVI properties.

2021.

 

(2)

Audit-related fees consisted of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” Such audit-related fees consisted solely of fees for separate entity and joint venture audits. Several of our joint venture agreements and loan agreements require the engagement of an independent registered public accounting firm to perform audit-related services.

 

46    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


(3)

Tax fees consisted of fees billed for professional services rendered for tax compliance and tax consulting services. The fees for tax compliance services for 20192021 and 20182020 were $294,331$233,739 and $240,686,$301,278, respectively. Such tax compliance fees consisted solely of fees for separate entity and joint venture tax reviews.

 

(4)

All other fees consisted of fees billed for other products and services. The fees billed in 2018 primarily related to payment for services in connection with the audit of the carve out financial statements of the 48 properties included in thespin-off of RVI.

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Policy on Audit CommitteePre-Approval of Audit and PermissibleNon-Audit Services of Independent Auditors

The Audit Committee has a policy for thepre-approval of all audit and permissiblenon-audit services provided by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. These services may include audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other services. The Audit Committeepre-approves specifically described audit and permissiblenon-audit services, and periodically grants generalpre-approval of categories of audit and permissiblenon-audit services up to specified cost thresholds. Any services exceedingpre-approved cost levels must be specificallypre-approved by the Audit Committee. All of the services rendered by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP under the categories “Audit-related fees,” “Tax fees,” and “All other fees” described above werepre-approved by the Audit Committee.

Auditor Independence

The Audit Committee believes that thenon-audit services provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP are compatible with maintaining PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s independence.

Audit Committee Report

In accordance with its written charter adopted by the Board, the Audit Committee assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibility for oversight of the quality and integrity of the accounting, auditing and financial reporting practices of the Company. The Audit Committee meets at least quarterly to review quarterly or annual financial information prior to its release and inclusion in SEC filings. As part of each meeting, the Audit Committee has the opportunity to meet independently with management and our independent registered public accounting firm.

In discharging its oversight responsibility as to the audit process, the Audit Committee has received the written disclosures and the letter from the independent registered public accounting firm required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the independent registered public accounting firm’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence, has discussed with the independent registered public accounting firm any relationships that may impact its objectivity and independence, and has satisfied itself as to the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence.

The Audit Committee reviewed and discussed with the independent registered public accounting firm all matters required to be discussed by the applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the SEC.

The Audit Committee reviewed and discussed the audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2019,2021, with management and the independent registered public accounting firm. Management has the responsibility for the preparation of the Company’s financial statements, and the independent registered public accounting firm has the responsibility for the examination of those statements.

Based on the above-described review and discussions with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board that the Company’s audited financial statements be included in the Company’s Annual Report onForm 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20192021 filed with the SEC.

Audit Committee

Jane E. DeFlorio, Chair

Linda B. Abraham

Terrance R. Ahern

Dawn M. Sweeney

 

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8. Corporate Governance and Other Matters

 

Codes of Ethics

Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers

We have a Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers that applies to the senior financial officers of the Company, including, among others, the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer,CEO, CFO, CAO, Controller, Treasurer, and Chief Internal Auditor who we collectively refer to as(collectively, our senior“senior financial officers.officers”). Among other matters, this code requires our senior financial officers to:

 

 

Act with honesty and integrity and ethically handle all actual or apparent conflicts of interest between personal and professional relationships;

 

Endeavor to provide information that is full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable in all reports and documents that we file with, or submit to, the SEC and other public filings or communications we make;

 

Endeavor to comply faithfully with all laws, rules and regulations of federal, state and local governments and all applicable private or public regulatory agencies as well as all applicable professional codes of conduct;

 

Not knowingly or recklessly misrepresent material facts or allow their independent judgment to be compromised;

 

Not use for personal advantage confidential information acquired in the course of their employment;

 

Proactively promote ethical behavior among peers and subordinates in the workplace; and

 

Promptly report any violation or suspected violation of this code in accordance with our Reporting andNon-Retaliation Policy and, if appropriate, directly to the Audit Committee.

Only the Audit Committee or our Board, including a majority of the independent Directors, may waive any provision of this code with respect to a senior financial officer. Any such waiver or any amendment to this code will be promptly disclosed on our website or in a Current Report on Form8-K, as required by applicable rules or regulations. This code is posted on our website,www.sitecenters.com, under “Governance” in the “Investors” section.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We also have a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that addresses our commitment to honesty, integrity and the ethical behavior of our employees, officers and Directors. This code governs the actions and working relationships of our employees, officers and Directors with tenants, vendors, contractors, fellow employees, competitors, government and regulatory agencies and officials, potential or actual joint venture partners, third-party consultants, investors, the public, the media and anyone else with whom we may conduct business. Employees are required to review and acknowledge our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on an annual basis in connection with their completion of certain compliance training modules. Only our Board or the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee may waive any provision of this code with respect to an officer or Director. Any such waiver or any amendment to this code will be promptly disclosed on our website or in a Current Report on Form8-K, as required by applicable rules or regulations. The Company’s Corporate Compliance Officer may waive any provision of this code with respect to all other employees. This code is posted on our website,www.sitecenters.com, under “Governance” in the “Investors” section.

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    55


Reporting andNon-Retaliation Policy

We are committed to honesty, integrity and ethical behavior and have adopted a Reporting andNon-Retaliation Policy. The purpose of the policy is to encourage all employees to disclose any alleged wrongdoing that may adversely impact us, our tenants, shareholders, fellow employees, investors, or the public at large without fear of retaliation. The policy sets forth procedures for the reporting by employees and interested third parties of alleged financial (including auditing, accounting, and internal control matters) andnon-financial wrongdoing on a confidential and anonymous basis, and a process for investigating such reported acts of alleged wrongdoing and retaliation. Reports concerning alleged wrongdoing may be made directly to our Corporate Compliance Officer, our Audit Committee Chair, or to NAVEX Global, an independent third-party service retained on our behalf. An inquiry or investigation is then initiated by the Corporate Compliance Officer or the Audit Committee Chair. The results of all investigations concerning wrongdoing are reviewed quarterly by the Corporate

48    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Compliance Officer and the Chair of the Audit Committee. Reports of all matters are reported to our Board by the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Corporate Compliance Officer in a timely manner and, in no event, less than once per year. This policy is posted on our website,www.sitecenters.com, under “Governance” in the “Investors”“Investor Relations” section.

Policy Regarding Related-Party Transactions

We have a written policy regarding the review and approval of related-party transactions. A proposed transaction between us and certain parties enumerated in the policy must be submitted to our General Counsel or Corporate Compliance Officer. The relationship of the parties and the terms of the proposed transaction, among other things, are reviewed by our General Counsel or Corporate Compliance Officer to determine if the proposed transaction would constitute a material related-party transaction, in which case it is reported to the Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee prior to its approval. The Nominating and Corporate GovernanceESG Committee will then determine whether the transaction requires Boardits approval. All material related-party transactions, whether or not those transactions must be disclosed under federal securities laws, are subject to prior approval by our BoardNominating and ESG Committee pursuant to the policy and reviewed quarterly with the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

policy.

56    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners

The following table sets forth certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common shares as of February 21, 2020,2022, except as otherwise disclosed in the notes below, by each person who is known by us to own beneficially more than 5% of our outstanding common shares based on a review of filings with the SEC. Except as otherwise described in the following notes, the following beneficial owners have sole voting power and sole investment power with respect to all common shares set forth opposite their respective names.

 

MORE THAN 5% OWNERS  

AMOUNT AND NATURE OF

BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF COMMON SHARES

  

PERCENTAGE

OWNERSHIP (%)(6)

Blackrock, Inc.

    29,358,892(1)     13.9

The Vanguard Group, Inc.

    29,039,292(2)     13.8

Alexander Otto

    19,596,389(3)     9.3

Cohen & Steers, Inc.

    12,715,130(4)     6.0

FMR LLC

    12,148,535(5)     5.8

More Than 5% Owners(1) 

AmountAccording to a report on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on January 27, 2022 by BlackRock, Inc., BlackRock, Inc. is the beneficial owner of 29,358,892 common shares and Nature of

Beneficial Ownership of Common Shares

Percentage

Ownership (%)(6)

Alexander Ottohas sole voting power over 28,047,818 common shares and Katharina Otto-Bernstein

40,771,073(1)21.0

Cohen & Steers, Inc.

31,198,370(2)16.1

sole dispositive power over 29,358,892 common shares. The Vanguard Group, Inc.

22,739,320(3)11.7

Blackrock, Inc.

10,833,720(4)5.6

Daiwa Asset Management Co Ltd.

10,005,348(5)5.2address for this reporting person is 55 East 52nd Street, New York, New York, 10055.

 

(1)(2)According to a report on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 10, 2022 by The Vanguard Group, Inc., The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the beneficial owner of 29,039,292 common shares and has sole voting power over 0 common shares, shared voting power over 309,651 common shares, sole dispositive power over 28,578,973 common shares and shared dispositive power over 460,319 common shares. The address for this reporting person is 100 Vanguard Boulevard, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355.

(3)According to a Form 4 filed with the SEC on February 18, 202017, 2022 and Schedule 13D/A filed with the SEC on January 9, 2019, each ofSeptember 29, 2021, Alexander Otto and Katharina Otto-Bernstein was the beneficial owner of, and had sole voting and sole dispositive power over, 32,643,321 and 8,127,75219,596,389 common shares, respectively.shares. The address for thesethis reporting persons is c/o David A. Brown, Alston & Bird LLP, 950 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20004.

 

(2)(4)

According to a report on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 14, 20202022 by Cohen & Steers, Inc., Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc., Cohen & Steers UK Limited, Cohen & Steers Asia Limited and Cohen & Steers UKIreland Limited. According to the report, Cohen & Steers, Inc. is the beneficial owner of, and has sole dispositive power over, 31,198,37012,715,130 common shares and sole voting power over 18,996,3397,752,294 common shares. According to the report, Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. is the beneficial owner of, and has sole dispositive power over, 30,765,74412,701,639 common shares and sole voting power over 18,938,1537,738,803 common shares, andshares. According to the report, Cohen & Steers UKIreland Limited is the beneficial owner of, and has sole dispositive power over, 432,626 common shares and sole voting power over, 58,18613,491 common shares. The address for Cohen & Steers, Inc. and Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc. is 280 Park Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, New York 10017. The address for Cohen & Steers UK Limited is 50 Pall Mall, 7th Floor, London, United Kingdom SW1Y 5JH.

The address for Cohen & Steers Asia Limited is 1201-02 Champion Tower, Three Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. The address for Cohen & Steers Ireland Limited is 77 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Block C, Grand Canal Docklands, Dublin 2, D02 VK60.

 

(3)(5)

According to a report on Schedule 13G/A13G filed with the SEC on February 12, 20209, 2022 by The Vanguard Group, Inc., The Vanguard Group, Inc.FMR LLC and Abigail P. Johnson, FMR LLC is the beneficial owner of, 22,739,320and has sole dispositive power over, 12,148,535 common shares and has sole voting power over 235,195 common shares, shared voting power over 161,638 common shares, sole dispositive power over 22,520,471 common shares and shared dispositive power over 218,8491,789,135 common shares. According to the report, Vanguard Fiduciary Trustmembers of Ms. Johnson’s family may be deemed to form a controlling group with respect to FMR LLC under the Investment Company is the beneficial ownerAct of and directs the voting over, 57,211 common shares as a result of it serving as investment manager of collective trust accounts, and Vanguard Investments Australia, Ltd. is the beneficial owner of, and directs the voting over, 339,622 common shares as a result of it serving as investment manager of Australian investment offerings.1940. The address for this reporting personFMR LLC and Ms. Johnson is 100 Vanguard Boulevard, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355.

(4)

According to a report on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 6, 2020 by BlackRock, Inc., BlackRock, Inc. is the beneficial owner of 10,833,720 common shares and has sole voting power over 10,145,835 common shares and sole dispositive power over 10,833,720 common shares. The address for this reporting person is 55 East 52nd245 Summer Street, New York, New York, 10055.

(5)

According to a report on Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on January 16, 2020 by Daiwa Asset Management Co. Ltd., Daiwa Asset Management Co. Ltd. is the beneficial owner of, and has sole voting power over, 10,005,348 common shares, sole dispositive power over 27,729 common shares and shared dispositive power over 9,977,619 common shares. The address for this reporting person is GranTokyo North Tower,9-1 Marunouchi1-chome,Chiyoda-ku, Japan100-6753.

Boston, Massachusetts 02210.

 

(6)

Percentages are calculated based on 193,845,629211,242,359 of our common shares outstanding as of February 21, 2020.

2022.

 

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Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our Directors, executive officers, and owners of more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities, to file with the SEC and the NYSE initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our common shares and other equity securities. Executive officers, Directors and owners of more than 10% of our common shares are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with copies of all forms they file pursuant to Section 16(a).

To our knowledge, based solely on our review of the copies of such reports furnished to us and written representations that no other reports were required, during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, all officers, Directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners filed the required reports on a timely basis, except for (i) one report for Mr. Otto relating to a quarterly grant of our common shares in May 2021 as compensation for his services as a Director and (ii) one report for Ms. Otto-Bernstein relating to an open market sale of shares of our common stock in August 2021.

Shareholder Proposals for 20212023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders

In order to be included in the Company’s proxy statement for the 20212023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “2023 Annual Meeting”), a shareholder proposal submitted pursuant to Rule14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 must be received in writing by our Secretary at 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122 no later than December 2, 2020,2022, assuming the 20212023 Annual Meeting is not advanced or delayed by more than 30 calendar days from the date of the first anniversary of the 20202022 Annual Meeting, and otherwise comply with all requirements of the SEC for shareholder proposals.

If an eligible shareholder, or a group of up to 20 eligible shareholders, desires to have a Director nomination included in the Company’s proxy statement for the 20212023 Annual Meeting, such nomination shall conform to the applicable requirements in the Company’s Code of Regulations and any applicable regulations of the SEC concerning the submission and content of Director nominations for inclusion in the Company’s proxy statement, and must be received by our Secretary at 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122 no earlier than November 2, 20202022 and no later than December 2, 2020,2022, assuming the 20212023 Annual Meeting is not advanced more than 30 calendar days and not delayed by more than 60 calendar days of the date of the first anniversary of the 20202022 Annual Meeting.

In addition, the Company’s Code of Regulations provides that any shareholder who desires to make a Director nomination or a proposal of other business at an annual meeting without including the nomination or proposal in the Company’s proxy statement must give timely written notice of the proposal to the Company’s Secretary. To be timely, the notice must be delivered to the above address not less than 120 calendar days prior to the first anniversary of the date on which the Company’s proxy statement was released to shareholders in connection with the previous year’s annual meeting of shareholders. In the event the annual meeting is advanced or delayed by more than 30 calendar days of the date of the anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, the notice must be received not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th calendar day prior to such annual meeting and the tenth calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting is first made. Therefore, to be timely, any such proposal or nomination for the 20212023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders must be received no later than December 2, 2020.2022. The notice must also provide certain information required by the Company’s Code of Regulations.

In addition to satisfying the requirements under the Company’s Code of Regulations, to comply with the universal proxy rules (once effective), shareholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of Director nominees other than the Company’s nominees must provide notice that sets forth the information required by Rule 14a-19 under the Exchange Act no later than March 12, 2023. If the date of the 2023 Annual Meeting is changed by more than 30 calendar days from the anniversary of the Annual Meeting, then notice must be provided by the later of 60 calendar days prior to the date of the 2023 Annual Meeting or the tenth calendar day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the 2023 Annual Meeting is first made by the Company.

As to any proposal that a shareholder intends to present to shareholders other than by inclusion in our proxy statement for the 20212023 Annual Meeting, the proxies named in management’s proxy for that meeting will be entitled to exercise their discretionary voting authority on that proposal unless we receive notice of the matter to be proposed not later than February 15, 2021.2023. Even if proper notice is received on or prior to February 15, 2021,2023, the proxies named in our proxy for that meeting may nevertheless exercise their discretionary authority with respect to such matter by advising shareholders of that proposal and how they intend to exercise their discretion to vote on such matter, unless the shareholder making the proposal solicits proxies with respect to the proposal to the extent required by Rule14a-4(c)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

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Householding

The SEC permits a single set of annual reports and Proxy Statements to be sent to any household at which two or more shareholders reside if they appear to be members of the same family. Each shareholder continues to receive a separate Proxy Card. This procedure, referred to as householding, reduces the volume of duplicate information shareholders receive and reduces mailing and printing costs. A number of brokerage firms have instituted householding. Only one copy of this Proxy Statement and the accompanying annual report will be sent to certain beneficial shareholders who share a single address, unless any shareholder residing at that address gave contrary instructions.

If any beneficial shareholder residing at such an address desires at this time or in the future to receive a separate copy of this Proxy Statement and the accompanying annual report or if any such shareholder who currently receives a separate Proxy Statement and annual report and would like to receive only a single set in the future, the shareholder should provide such instructions to us by calling Conor Fennerty, Chief Financial Officer, at(216) 755-5500, or by writing to SITE Centers Corp., Attn. Investor Relations, at 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122.

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Other Matters

Shareholders and other interested parties may send written communications to our Board or thenon-management Directors as a group by mailing them to our Board, c/o Aaron M. Kitlowski, Secretary, SITE Centers Corp., 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122. All communications will be forwarded to our Board or thenon-management Directors as a group, as applicable.

 

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9. Frequently Asked Questions

 

Why did you send me this Proxy Statement?

The Company sent you this Proxy Statement and the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 20192021 Annual Report, which includes our financial statements, and Proxy Card because our Board is soliciting your proxy to vote at our 20202022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. This Proxy Statement summarizes information you need to know in order to vote at the Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting will be held

Who is entitled to vote at Loews Regency Hotel at 540 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10065, on May 12, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. local time. The hotel’s front desk will direct shareholders to the conference room where the Annual Meeting will be held. If you are not a shareholder of record (i.e. if you do not hold shares in an account with our transfer agent), you must provide evidence of your share ownership as of March 20, 2020 in order to attend the Annual Meeting. You can obtain this evidence from your bank, brokerage firm or other nominee through which you hold your shares. For further information regarding directions to attend the Annual Meeting and vote in person, please contact Conor Fennerty, Chief Financial Officer, at(216) 755-5500Meeting? or at 3300 Enterprise Parkway, Beachwood, Ohio 44122.

As part of our contingency planning regarding novel coronavirus (COVID-19), due to considerations of safety and accessibility, we are preparing for the possibility that the date, time or location of the Annual Meeting may be changed or that the Annual Meeting may be held by means of remote communication (sometimes referred to as a “virtual meeting”). If we take this step, we will announce the decision to do so in advance through a press release and public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and details will be available at www.sitecenters.com/investors.

However, you do not need to attend the Annual Meeting to vote your shares. Instead, you may vote by telephone, over the Internet, or by completing and mailing the accompanying Proxy Card. Shareholders who owned our common shares at the close of business on March 20, 2020,15, 2022, the record date for the Annual Meeting, are entitled to vote. On the record date, there were 193,148,522213,827,500 common shares outstanding.

Who is soliciting my proxy?How do I attend and vote at the virtual Annual Meeting?

This solicitationThe Annual Meeting will be held in a virtual meeting format only, via live webcast. You will not be able to physically attend the Annual Meeting in person.

Attending the Annual Meeting as a Shareholder of proxies is made by and on behalfRecord. If you were a holder of record (i.e., you held your shares in your own name as reflected in the records of our Board. We will bear the costtransfer agent, Computershare) of common shares of the solicitationCompany at the close of proxies. In additionbusiness on the record date, you will be able to participate in the Annual Meeting, vote electronically and submit questions during the live webcast of the meeting, without advance registration. You can access the meeting by visiting www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN and entering the 15-digit control number on the Proxy Card or Notice of Availability of Proxy Materials sent to you.

Registering to Attend the Annual Meeting as a Beneficial Owner. If you were a beneficial holder of common shares of the Company at the close of business on the record date (i.e. you held your shares in “street name” through an intermediary, such as a bank or broker), you must register in advance to participate in the Annual Meeting, vote electronically and submit questions during the live webcast of the meeting. To register in advance, you must obtain a legal proxy from the bank, broker or other nominee that holds your shares giving you the right to vote the shares. You must forward a copy of the legal proxy, along with your email address, to Computershare. Requests for registration should be directed to Computershare by email at legalproxy@computershare.com no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, on Thursday, May 5, 2022. You will receive a confirmation of your registration, with a control number, by email from Computershare. At the time of the meeting, go to www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN and enter your control number.

Attending the Annual Meeting as a Guest. If you would like to enter the meeting as a guest in listen-only mode, you should access the meeting center at www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN, click on the “I am a guest” button and then enter the information requested on the following screen. Please note you will not have the ability to ask questions or vote during the meeting if you participate as a guest.

Voting Shares. If you have a control number as discussed above, you will be able to vote your shares electronically prior to and during the Annual Meeting by clicking on the “Cast Your Vote” link on the meeting center site. We encourage you to access the meeting in advance of the designated start time.

Once you submit your proxy, there is no need to vote at the Annual Meeting unless you wish to change or revoke your vote. Whether or not you plan to participate in the live webcast of the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote and submit your proxy in advance of the meeting by one of the methods described in the question below titled “How do I vote by proxy?”.

Asking Questions; Rules of Conduct. If you are a shareholder of record or if you have registered with Computershare as a beneficial owner in accordance with the process described above, you may submit questions before or during the Annual Meeting by accessing the meeting center at www.meetnow.global/MKQUNKN, entering your control number and clicking on the message icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Questions pertinent to Annual Meeting matters will be answered during the Annual Meeting, subject to time constraints and in accordance with our rules of conduct for the Annual Meeting. Questions regarding matters that are not pertinent to the solicitation of proxies by mail, certain of our employees may solicit proxies by telephone, facsimile, or email. Those employeesAnnual Meeting will not receive any additional compensation for their participation inbe answered.

52    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


Technical Support. If you encounter technical difficulties accessing the solicitation. We retained Georgeson, Inc.,virtual meeting platform or during the Annual Meeting, please contact Computershare Shareholder Services at an estimated cost of $11,500, plus reimbursement of expenses, to assist in the solicitation of proxies from brokers, nominees, institutions and individuals.1-888-724-2416 (U.S.) or 1-781-575-2748 (International).

How many votes do I have?

Each common share of our common stockthe Company outstanding on the record date is entitled to one vote on each item submitted to shareholders for their consideration. The accompanying Proxy Card indicates the number of shares that you owned on the record date. Our shareholders do not have the right to cumulate their votes in the election of Directors.

60    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement


How do I vote by proxy?

Shareholders of record may vote either by completing, properly signing, and returning the accompanying Proxy Card via mail, by telephone, or over the Internet, or by attending and voting at the Annual Meeting. If you properly complete and timely return your Proxy Card or properly and timely follow the telephone or Internet voting instructions described below, your proxy (meaning one of the individuals named in the Proxy Card) will vote your shares as you have directed, provided however, if you do not indicate specific choices as to your vote, your proxy will vote your shares as recommended by our Board:

 

      “FOR”

“FOR” the election of Linda B. Abraham, Terrance R. Ahern, Jane E. DeFlorio, Thomas Finne, David R. Lukes, Victor B. MacFarlane, Alexander Otto and Dawn M. Sweeney, as Directors;

      “FOR”

“FOR” the approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers; and

      “FOR”

“FOR” the ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm.

Shareholders of record may vote by calling1-800-652-8683 or over the Internet by accessing the following website:www.investorvote.com/sitc. Voting instructions, including your shareholder account number and personal proxy control number, are contained on the accompanying Proxy Card. Those shareholders of record who choose to vote by telephone or over the Internet must do so by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 11, 2020.10, 2022.

A number of banks and brokerage firms participate in a program that also permits shareholders whose shares are held in “street name” to direct their vote by telephone or over the Internet. If your shares are held in an account at a bank or brokerage firm that participates in such a program, you may direct the vote of these shares by telephone or over the Internet by following the voting instructions enclosed with the Proxy Cardvoting instruction form from the bank or brokerage firm. The Internet and telephone proxy procedures are designed to authenticate shareholders’ identities, to allow shareholders to give their proxy voting instructions, and to confirm that those instructions have been properly recorded. Votes directed by telephone or over the Internet through such a program must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 11, 2020. If you hold your shares in “street name”, in order to vote your shares at the Annual Meeting, you must obtain a legal proxy from your bank or brokerage firm giving you the right to vote your shares at the Annual Meeting.10, 2022.

If any other matter is presented at the Annual Meeting, your proxy will vote your shares in accordance with his or her discretion and best judgment. The Company did not receive any notice of a shareholder proposal to be presented at the Annual Meeting by December 3, 2019,2, 2021, the deadline pursuant to the advance notice provision of the Company’s Code of Regulations, and as of the date of this Proxy Statement, we are not aware of any matter to be acted on at the Annual Meeting other than those matters described in this Proxy Statement.

May I revoke my proxy?

If you are a shareholder of record, you may revoke or change your vote at any time before the proxy is exercised by filing a notice of revocation with our Secretary, mailing a signed Proxy Card bearing a later date, submitting your proxy again by telephone or over the Internet or by attendingvoting online at the Annual Meeting. The powers of the proxy holders will be suspended if you vote your shares at the Annual Meeting, and voting in person. For sharesalthough attendance at the Annual Meeting will not by itself revoke a previously granted proxy.

If you hold your shares beneficially in “street name”,name,” you may change your vote by submitting new voting instructions to your brokerage firm or bank or, if you have obtained a legal proxy from your brokerage firm or bank giving you the right to vote your shares, by presenting suchforwarding a copy of the legal proxy, along with your email address, to Computershare in order to obtain a control number and then using that control number to access and vote at the Annual Meeting and voting in person. In either case, the powers of the proxy holders will be suspended if you attend the Annual Meeting in person and so request, although attendance at the Annual Meeting will not by itself revoke a previously granted proxy.Meeting.

 

SITE Centers Corp.ï   2020 Proxy Statement    61

    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement53


Who is soliciting my proxy?

This solicitation of proxies is made by and on behalf of our Board. We will bear the cost of the solicitation of proxies. In addition to the solicitation of proxies by mail, certain of our employees may solicit proxies by telephone, facsimile, or email. Those employees will not receive any additional compensation for their participation in the solicitation. We retained Georgeson, Inc., at an estimated cost of $14,500, plus reimbursement of expenses, to assist in the solicitation of proxies from brokers, nominees, institutions and individuals.

Can I receive this Proxy Statementthese proxy materials by email in the future?

Yes. By doing so, you are reducing the impact on the environment and helping to save the Company the costs and expenses of preparing and mailing proxy materials. If you are a registered shareholder with your shares held in an account at our transfer agent, visitwww.computershare.com/investor to create a login and to enroll. You may revoke your election to receive materials by email and instead receive a paper copy via mail at any time by visiting this website. If you hold your shares through a bank or broker, please refer to the information provided by that institution for instructions on how to elect to receive future proxy statements and annual reports over the Internet and how to change your delivery instructions.

What constitutes a quorum?

The presence at the Annual Meeting, either in person or by proxy, of the holders of a majority of the aggregate number of our common shares issued and outstanding on the record date will represent a quorum permitting the conduct of business at the meeting. Proxy Cards that we receive marked as abstentions or brokernon-votes will be included in the calculation of the number of shares considered to be present at the Annual Meeting for purposes of determining a quorum.

What vote is required to approve each proposal assuming that a quorum is present at the Annual Meeting?

 

  

Proposal One:

Election of EightSeven Directors

  

To be elected, Directors must receive a majority of the votes cast (i.e., the number of shares voted “For” a Director nominee must exceed the number of votes cast “Against” that Director nominee). Brokernon-votes and abstentions will not be considered votes cast at the Annual Meeting and will be excluded in determining the number of votes cast at the Annual Meeting.

 

Proposal Two:

Approval, on an Advisory Basis, of the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers

  

This vote is advisory only and therefore is not binding on us or our Board. However, the Board and the Compensation Committee of the Board will review the results of the vote and will consider the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on this Proposal to be approval by the shareholders of the compensation of our named executive officers. Brokernon-votes and abstentions will not be considered votes cast at the Annual Meeting and will be excluded in determining the number of votes cast at the Annual Meeting.

 

Proposal Three:

Ratification of

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

  

Although our independent registered public accounting firm may be selected by the Audit Committee of our Board without shareholder approval, the Audit Committee will consider the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast on this Proposal to be a ratification by the shareholders of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm. Abstentions will not be considered votes cast at the Annual Meeting and will be excluded in determining the number of votes cast at the Annual Meeting.

 

For shareholders who hold their common shares in “street name” through banks or brokerage firms and do not instruct their bank or broker how to vote, the bank or brokerage firm will not vote such shares for ProposalsProposal One or Proposal Two resulting in brokernon-votes with respect to such shares.As a result, it is important that shareholders vote their shares.

By order of the Board of Directors,

AARONAARON M. KITLOWSKIKITLOWSKI

Secretary

Dated: April 1, 20202022

 

62    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2020 Proxy Statement

54    SITE Centers Corp.ï  2022 Proxy Statement


 

 

 

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Your vote matters – here’s how to vote!

You may vote online or by phone instead of mailing this card.

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Votes submitted electronically must be received by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on May 11, 2020.

Online

LOGOGo towww.investorvote.com/sitc or scan the QR code – login details are located in the shaded bar below.
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Phone

Call toll free 1-800-652-VOTE (8683) within the USA, US territories and Canada

Using a black ink pen, mark your votes with an X as shown in  this example.

Please do not write outside the designated areas.

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  Annual Meeting Proxy Card

  

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q IF VOTING BY MAIL, SIGN, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.q

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - - -  - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - - - - - 

 

 A  

Proposals – The Board of Directors recommends a voteFOR all the director nominees listed andFOR Proposals 2 and 3.

 

 

1.

 

 

Election of EightSeven Directors:

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  For Against Abstain  For Against Abstain  For Against  Abstain  
     01 - Linda B. Abraham    02 - Terrance R. Ahern    03 - Jane E. DeFlorio      
 

 

    04 - Thomas Finne

05 -  David R. Lukes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0605 -  Victor B. MacFarlane

06 - Alexander Otto

 

 

 

 

  

 

  
 

 

    07 - Alexander OttoDawn M. Sweeney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

08 - Dawn M. Sweeney

 

 

 

       

 

  For Against Abstain   For Against Abstain

 

2.

 

 

Approval, on an advisory basis, of the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers.

    

3.

 

 Ratification of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm.   

 

 B  Authorized Signatures – This section must be completed for your vote to be counted. Date and sign below.

NOTE: Please sign as name appears hereon. Joint owners should each sign. When signing as attorney, executor, administrator, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such.

 

Date (mm/dd/yyyy) – Please print date below.         Signature 1 – Please keep signature within the box.         Signature 2 – Please keep signature within the box.
       /        /        

 

 

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  C  1234567890                   J N T

 

  1  U  P  X          4             5  4  9  73  2  2  2  0

  

MR A SAMPLE (THIS AREA IS SET UP TO ACCOMMODATE 140 CHARACTERS) MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND

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                 03740B03L29A     


 

Important notice regarding the Internet availability of proxy materials for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 12, 2020.11, 2022.

The SITE Centers Corp. 20202022 Proxy Statement and the 20192021 Annual Report to Shareholders are available at:www.proxydocs.com/sitc

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Help the environment by consenting to receive electronic

delivery, sign up at www.investorvote.com/sitc

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q IF VOTING BY MAIL, SIGN, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.q

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - - - - - 

 

 

  Proxy – SITE Centers Corp.

 

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Annual Meeting of Shareholders – May 12, 202011, 2022

THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY

The undersigned hereby appoints Conor M. Fennerty, Aaron M. Kitlowski and Christa A. Vesy, and each of them, with power to act without the others and with power of substitution, as proxies and attorneys-in-fact and hereby authorizes them to represent and vote, as provided on the other side, all the SITE Centers Corp. Common Shares that the undersigned is entitled to vote, and, in their discretion, to vote upon such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to be held May 12, 202011, 2022 or at any adjournment or postponement thereof, with all powers which the undersigned would possess if present at the Annual Meeting.

THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED, OR, IF NO DIRECTION IS INDICATED, WILL BE VOTED “FOR” THE ELECTION OF ALL DIRECTOR NOMINEES AND “FOR” ITEMS 2 AND 3.

If you vote your proxy by Internet or by telephone, you do NOT need to mail back your proxy card. To vote by mail, mark, sign and date your proxy card and return it in the enclosed postage-paid envelope.Your Internet or telephone vote authorizes the named proxies to vote your shares in the same manner as if you marked, signed and returned your proxy card.

(Continued and to be marked, dated and signed on the other side)

If voting by mail, complete sections A and B on the reverse side of this card and, if applicable, section C below.card.

 C 

Non-Voting Items

Change of Address– Please print new address below.

Comments– Please print your comments below.

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