RLJ Lodging Trust
For the period ended Apr 24, 2026. Filed Mar 23, 2026.
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Apr 24, 2026 · Filed Mar 23, 2026
Contents
2. DEFINITIONS
RLJ Lodging Trust 2026 Equity
Incentive Plan
The Company sets forth herein the terms of its 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, effective as of the Effective Date. The awards granted under the Prior Plans will be subject to the terms of the applicable Prior Plan.
- PURPOSE
The Plan is intended to (a) provide incentives to officers, employees, trustees, and other eligible persons to stimulate their efforts towards the success of the Company and to operate and manage its business in a manner that will provide for the long term growth and profitability of the Company; and (b) provide a means of recruiting, rewarding, and retaining key personnel. To this end, the Plan provides for the grant of share options, share appreciation rights, restricted shares, unrestricted shares, share units (including deferred share units), dividend equivalent rights, long-term incentive units, other equity-based awards, and cash bonus awards. Any of these awards may, but need not, be made as performance incentives to reward attainment of annual or long-term performance goals in accordance with the terms hereof. Shares options granted under the Plan may be non-qualified share options or incentive share options, as provided herein.
- DEFINITIONS
For purposes of interpreting the Plan and related documents, including Award Agreements, the following capitalized terms shall have the meanings specified below, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
1.“Affiliate” means, with respect to the Company, any company or other trade or business that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the Company within the meaning of Rule 405 of Regulation C under the Securities Act, including, without limitation, any Subsidiary. For purposes of granting Options or Share Appreciation Rights, an entity may not be considered an Affiliate of the Company unless the Company holds a “controlling interest” in such entity, where the term “controlling interest” has the same meaning as provided in Treasury Regulation Section 1.414(c)-2(b)(2)(i); provided that the language “at least 50 percent” is used instead of “at least 80 percent”; and provided further, that where granting of Options or Share Appreciation Rights is based upon a legitimate business criteria, the language “at least 20 percent” is used instead of “at least 80 percent” each place it appears in Treasury Regulation Section 1.414(c)-2(b)(2)(i).
2.“Applicable Laws” means the legal requirements relating to the Plan and the Awards under (a) applicable provisions of the Code, the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, any rules or regulations thereunder, and any other laws, rules, regulations and government orders of any jurisdiction applicable to the Company or its Affiliates, (b) applicable provisions of the corporate, securities, tax and other laws, rules, regulations and government orders of any jurisdiction applicable to Awards granted to residents thereof, and (c) the rules of any Stock Exchange or Securities Market on which the Shares are listed or publicly traded.
3.“Award” means a grant of an Option, Share Appreciation Right, Restricted Shares, Unrestricted Shares, Share Units, Dividend Equivalent Right, Performance Award, LTIP Unit, Other Equity-Based Award, or cash under the Plan.
4.“Award Agreement” means the agreement between the Company and a Grantee that evidences and sets out the terms and conditions of an Award.
“Benefit Arrangement” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 16.
6.“Board” means the Board of Trustees of the Company.
7.“Cause” shall have the meaning set forth in an applicable agreement between a Grantee and the Company or an Affiliate, and, in the absence of any such agreement, shall mean, with respect to any Grantee and, as determined by the Committee, such Grantee’s (a) gross negligence or willful misconduct in connection with the performance of duties; (b) conviction of a felony; (c) conviction of any other criminal offense involving an act of dishonesty intended to result in substantial personal enrichment of such Grantee at the expense of the Company or an Affiliate; or (d) material breach of any term of any employment, consulting or other services, confidentiality, intellectual property or non-competition agreements, if any, between the Grantee and the Company or an Affiliate. Any determinations by the Committee whether an event constituting Cause shall have occurred shall be final, binding, and conclusive.
8.“Change in Control” means:
a. Any “person” as such term is used in Section 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act (other than the Company, any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under any employee benefit plan of the Company or any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the shareholders of the Company in substantially the same proportion as their ownership of stock of the Company), is or becomes the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing 50% or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding voting securities;
b. During any period of twelve consecutive months, individuals who at the beginning of such period constitute the Board, and any new trustee (other than a trustee designated by a person who has entered into an agreement with the Company to effect a transaction described in clause (a), (c) or (d) hereof) whose election by the Board or nomination for election by the Company’s shareholders was approved by a vote of at least a majority of the trustees then still in office who either were trustees at the beginning of the period or whose election or nomination for election was previously so approved, cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority thereof, but excluding, for this purpose, any such individual whose initial assumption of office occurs as a result of an actual or threatened election contest with respect to the election or removal of trustees or actual threatened solicitation of proxies or consents by or on behalf of a person other than the Board;
c. The consummation of a merger or consolidation of the Company with any other entity or the issuance of voting securities in connection with a merger or consolidation of the Company (or any direct or indirect subsidiary thereof) pursuant to applicable exchange requirements, other than (i) a merger or consolidation which would result in the voting securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior thereto continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the surviving or parent entity) at least 50.1% of the combined voting power of the voting securities of the Company or such surviving or parent entity outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation or (ii) a merger or consolidation effected to implement a recapitalization of the Company (or similar transaction) in which no “person” (as defined above) is or becomes the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing 50% or more of either of the then outstanding Shares or the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding voting securities; or
d. The consummation of the sale or disposition by the Company of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets (or any transaction or series of transactions within a period of twelve months ending on the date of the last sale or disposition having a similar effect).
Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, in the case of an Award that is characterized as deferred compensation under Code Section 409A, and pursuant to which settlement and delivery of the cash or Shares subject to the Award is triggered based on a Change in Control, in no event will a Change in Control be deemed to have occurred for purposes of such settlement and delivery of cash or Shares if the transaction is not also a “change in the ownership or effective control of” the Company or “a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the assets of” the Company as determined under Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-3(i)(5) (without regard to any alternative definition thereunder). If an Award characterized as deferred compensation under Code Section 409A is not settled and delivered on account of the provision of the preceding sentence, the settlement and delivery shall occur on the next succeeding settlement and delivery triggering event that is a permissible triggering event under Code Section 409A. No provision of this paragraph shall in any way affect the determination of a Change in Control for purposes of vesting in an Award that is characterized as deferred compensation under Code Section 409A.
9.“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now in effect or as hereafter amended, and any successor thereto. References in the Plan to any Code section shall be deemed to include, as applicable, regulations and guidance promulgated under such Code section.
10.“Committee” means a committee of, as designated from time to time by resolution of, the Board, which shall be constituted as provided in Section 3.1.2 (or, if no Committee has been designated, the Board itself). For the avoidance of doubt, the Board may delegate the responsibilities under this Plan to a new and/or an existing committee of the Board, provided such committee meets the requirements of the foregoing and Section 3.1.2.
11.“Company” means RLJ Lodging Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust, and its successors.
12.“Determination Date” means the Grant Date or such other date as of which the Fair Market Value of a Share is required to be established for purposes of the Plan.
13.“Disability” means the Grantee is unable to perform each of the essential duties of such Grantee’s position by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which is potentially permanent in character or which can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months; provided, however, that, with respect to rules regarding expiration of an Incentive Share Option following termination of the Grantee’s Service, Disability shall mean the Grantee is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.
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14.“Dividend Equivalent Right” means a right, granted to a Grantee under Section 13, to receive cash, Shares, other Awards or other property equal in value to dividends paid with respect to a specified number of Shares, or other periodic payments.
15.“Effective Date” means April 24, 2026, which is the date the Plan was approved by the Company’s shareholders.
16.“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as now in effect or as hereafter amended.
17.“Fair Market Value” means the fair market value of a Share for purposes of the Plan, which shall be determined as of any Determination Date as follows:
a. If on such Determination Date the Shares are listed on a Stock Exchange, or are publicly traded on another established securities market (a“Securities Market”), the Fair Market Value of a Share shall be the closing price of the Share as reported on such Stock Exchange or such Securities Market (provided that, if there is more than one such Stock Exchange or Securities Market, the Committee shall designate the appropriate Stock Exchange or Securities Market for purposes of the Fair Market Value determination). If there is no such reported closing price on such Determination Date, the Fair Market Value of a Share shall be the closing price of the Share on the immediately preceding trading day on which any sale of Shares shall have been reported on such Stock Exchange or such Securities Market.
b. If on such Determination Date the Shares are not listed on a Stock Exchange or publicly traded on a Securities Market, the Fair Market Value of a Share shall be the value of the Share as determined by the Committee by the reasonable application of a reasonable valuation method, in a manner consistent with Code Section 409A.
Notwithstanding this Section 2.18 or Section 19.3, for purposes of determining taxable income and the amount of the related tax withholding obligation pursuant to Section 19.3, the Fair Market Value will be determined by the Committee in good faith using any reasonable method as it deems appropriate, to be applied consistently with respect to Grantees; provided, further, that the Committee shall determine the Fair Market Value of Shares for tax withholding obligations due in connection with sales, by or on behalf of a Grantee, of such Shares subject to an Award to pay the Option Price, SAR Exercise Price, and/or any tax withholding obligation on the same date on which such shares may first be sold pursuant to the terms of the applicable Award Agreement (including broker-assisted cashless exercises of Options, as described in Section 12.3, and sell-to-cover transactions) in any manner consistent with applicable provisions of the Code, including but not limited to using the sale price of such Shares on such date (or if sales of such Shares are effectuated at more than one sale price, the weighted average sale price of such shares on such date) as the Fair Market Value of such Shares, so long as such Grantee has provided the Company, or its designee or agent, with advance written notice of such sale.
18.“Family Member” means a person who is a spouse, former spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, stepparent, grandparent, niece, nephew, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother, sister, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, including adoptive relationships, of the Grantee, any person sharing the Grantee’s household (other than a tenant or employee), a trust in which any one or more of these persons have more than fifty percent (50%) of the beneficial interest, a foundation in which any one or more of these persons (or the Grantee) control the management of assets, and any other entity in which one or more of these persons (or the Grantee) own more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting interests.
19.“Grant Date” means, as determined by the Committee, the latest to occur of (a) the date as of which the Company completes the action constituting the Award, (b) the date on which the recipient of an Award first becomes eligible to receive an Award under Section 6, or (c) such other subsequent date as may be specified by the Committee.
20.“Grantee” means a person who receives or holds an Award under the Plan.
21.“Incentive Share Option” means an “incentive stock option” within the meaning of Code Section 422, or the corresponding provision of any subsequently enacted tax statute, as amended from time to time.
22.“Long-Term Incentive Unit” or“LTIP Unit” means an Award under Section 15 of an interest in the operating partnership affiliated with the Company.
23.“Non-qualified Share Option” means an Option that is not an Incentive Share Option.
24.“Option” means an option to purchase one or more Shares pursuant to the Plan.
25.“Option Price” means the exercise price for each Share subject to an Option.
26.“Other Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in Section 16.
27.“Other Equity-Based Award” means a right or other interest that may be denominated or payable in, valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on, or related to, Shares, other than an Option, Share Appreciation Right, Restricted Share, Unrestricted Share, Share Unit, Dividend Equivalent Right, or Performance Award.
28.“Outside Trustee” means a member of the Board who is not an officer or employee of the Company.
29.“Performance Award” means an Award made subject to the attainment of performance goals (as described in Section 14) over a Performance Period of up to ten (10) years.
30.“Performance Measures” means performance criteria on which performance goals under Performance Awards are based.
31.“Performance Period” means the period of time during which the performance goals must be met in order to determine the degree of payout and/or vesting with respect to an Award.
32.“Plan” means this RLJ Lodging Trust 2026 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended and/or restated from time to time.
33.“Prior Plans” means the RLJ Lodging Trust 2011 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time, the RLJ Lodging Trust 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time, and the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time (the “2021 Plan”).
34.“Purchase Price” means the purchase price for each Share pursuant to a grant of Restricted Shares, Share Units or Unrestricted Shares.
35.“Restricted Shares” means Shares, awarded to a Grantee pursuant to Section 10.
36.“SAR Exercise Price” means the per share exercise price of a SAR granted to a Grantee under Section 9.
37.“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as now in effect or as hereafter amended.
38.“Separation from Service” shall have the meaning set forth in Code Section 409A.
39.“Service” means service as a Service Provider to the Company or any Affiliate. Unless otherwise stated in the applicable Award Agreement, a Grantee’s change in position or duties shall not result in interrupted or terminated Service, so long as such Grantee continues to be a Service Provider to the Company or any Affiliate. Subject to the preceding sentence, whether a termination of Service shall have occurred for purposes of the Plan shall be determined by the Committee, which determination shall be final, binding, and conclusive. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, for any individual providing services solely as a trustee, only service to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries constitutes Service. If the Service Provider’s employment or other service relationship is with an Affiliate and that entity ceases to be an Affiliate, a termination of Service shall be deemed to have occurred when the entity ceases to be an Affiliate unless the Service Provider transfers his or her employment or other service relationship to the Company or its remaining Affiliates.
40.“Service Provider” means an employee, officer, trustee, or director of the Company or an Affiliate or a consultant or advisor to the Company or an Affiliate (a) who is a natural person, (b) who provides bona fide services to the Company or an Affiliate, and (c) whose services are not in connection with the Company’s offer or sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and do not directly or indirectly promote or maintain a market for the Company’s Shares.
41.“Service Recipient Stock” shall have the meaning set forth in Code Section 409A.
42.“Shares” means the common shares of beneficial interest, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company.
43.“Share Appreciation Right” or“SAR” means a right granted to a Grantee under Section 9.
- “Share Units” means a bookkeeping entry representing the equivalent of one Share awarded to a Grantee pursuant to Section 10.
45.“Stock Exchange” means the New York Stock Exchange or another established national or regional stock exchange.
46.“Subsidiary” means any corporation (other than the Company) or non-corporate entity with respect to which the Company owns, directly or indirectly, fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock, membership interests, or other ownership interests of any class or kind ordinarily having the power to vote for the directors, managers, or other voting members of the governing body of such corporation or non-corporate entity; provided, however, for purposes of Incentive Share Options, Subsidiary means any “subsidiary corporation” of the Company within the meaning of Code Section 424(f). In addition, any other entity may be designated by the Committee as a Subsidiary; provided, that (a) such entity could be considered as a subsidiary according to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, and (b) in the case of an Award of Options, such Award would be considered to be granted in respect of Service Recipient Stock under Code Section 409A.
47.“Substitute Award” means an Award granted in substitution for outstanding awards previously granted by a company or other entity acquired by the Company or an Affiliate or with which the Company or an Affiliate combines.
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