Robert Ferguson is the new senior vice president of development for Arlington, Va.-based Mills Corp. Ferguson will oversee all expansions and renovations of the REIT's U.S. centers and will report to executive vice president, domestic development Terence Fitzgerald. Ferguson, who has worked as president of CenterMark Properties and senior vice president at DeBartolo Realty Corp., was most recently the head of his own retail consulting firm.
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. named Mary Shifflette director of leasing for the Greensboro, N.C.-based company. She was formerly director of leasing for Charter Oak Partners in Vienna, Va.
Gary Smith is the new vice president of asset management for Santa Ana, Calif.-based tax exchange specialist Passco Real Estate Enterprises. Smith has 20 years of experience in the industry, most recently serving as vice president of the asset management group at GMS Realty.
Caruso Affiliated Holdings announced a $1 billion pipeline of mixed-use projects to be built throughout California. The six developments, which will include total retail and entertainment GLA of 2.5 million square feet, are in the cities of Arcadia, Albany, Glendale, Los Angeles, Marina del Rey and Thousand Oaks. Many of the projects will be similar to Caruso's flagship development, The Grove in Los Angeles.
Westcor, a subsidiary of The Macerich Co., plans to open five new super-regional centers in Phoenix in the next few years. Each of the million-square-foot projects will be in the booming city's suburbs. Anchors will likely be Dillard's and Robinsons-May stores as the two retailers have a lock on the Phoenix market that keeps Federated from opening stores there. The first project, SanTan Fashion Center, will be in Gilbert.
Suman Gera will fill the newly created position of vice president of transactions for Memphis, Tenn.-based Poag & McEwen. Gera spent 20 years at Lend Lease Real Estate Investments. Her duties will include assisting in all corporate financing, construction and permanent lending and acquisitions.
Greenberg Commercial has started construction on Phase III of Baltimore's Burwood Village Center, a 116,000-square-foot center purchased by the Owings Mills, Md.-based developer in 2002. The new section, which is already 65 percent leased, will feature 15,300 square feet of inline retail space.
Thomas Hwang, previously a vice president in the asset management group of Prudential Real Estate Investors, joined San Francisco-based MacFarlane Partners as senior vice president, asset management, responsible for urban properties.
Simon Property Group is working with Oakbrook Properties to develop Coconut Point, a 166 acre mixed-use community that will include The Town Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot retail center, 90,000 square feet of office space, 200-400 residential units and one or two hotels. Coconut Point's Town Center will be divided into three districts: Dillard's, Barnes & Noble and a Muvico Cineplex which will anchor the village component; Best Buy, Sports Authority and Office Max will anchor the community center component and top restaurants will anchor the lakefront component. The project will open in phases beginning in October 2005.
Jack Moore left his position as executive vice president and general merchandise manager at Kohl's to be president and COO of Linens N Things. “This was a loss Kohl's apparently did not wish to happen,” says Oppenheimer analyst Bernard Sosnick. “However, a position with a clear line toward becoming CEO represented a rare and compelling opportunity.”
Macerich acquired a 50 percent interest in Dallas' Northpark Center. Though the REIT revealed few details about the transaction, one analyst guessed Macerich is spending between $265 million and $330 million for the stake in the 1.4 million-square-foot mall. Anchored by Dillard's, Foley's and Neiman-Marcus, the property earns about $550 in annual sales per square foot. Northpark Family-operated Northpark Development Co. owned the mall before the deal.