Commercial property developer Kite Realty Group Trust slashed total compensation 44 percent for Chairman and CEO John A. Kite last year, dropping his pay to $689,074. The rest of his management team took similar pay cuts.

Kite, 44, has been the company’s CEO since 1997 and its chairman since December 2008. He earned $540,390 less than in 2008, according to Kite Realty Group’s proxy statement, which it filed Friday. Kite Realty Group’s revenue last year fell from $142.7 million to $115.3 million. At the same time, the company’s $6.1 million annual profit slid to a $1.8 million loss.

Kite Realty Group’s shares also dropped in 2009, falling 17 percent, to $3.96 each.

The majority of John Kite’s pay cut came from a dramatic reduction in his stock and option grants. The company awarded him equity-based compensation worth $215,700 last year, compared to stock and option grants worth $637,560 the year before.

In addition, Kite President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas K. McGowan earned $515,713, down 41.4 percent. And Chief Financial Officer Daniel R. Sink made $424,813, down 35.9 percent.

IBJ uses the Associated Press formula to calculate executive pay. It gauges the value of compensation such as stock and options grants at the time they are awarded, not the time they are cashed in.

Kite Realty Group spent $353,500 last year on combined board compensation for its six independent directors, 3-percent less than the $364,278 it spent in 2008.