This feature presents a weekly rundown of recent significant management and board changes and personnel moves in the North American real estate industry, including U.S. real estate investment trusts and homebuilders.
C-suite changes
* David Karp will resign as the executive vice president and CFO of Empire State Realty Trust Inc. for personal reasons, effective Aug. 1. The real estate investment trust tapped Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer Andrew Prentice to be its acting CFO while it looks for a permanent replacement.
* Weyerhaeuser Co. tapped Corporate Controller David Wold to succeed Jeanne Hillman as its vice president and chief accounting officer, effective May 17. Hillman is retiring from the timber REIT but will continue to supervise a technology project until her retirement in March 2020.
Board shuffle
* Temperature-controlled warehouse operator Americold Realty Trust named Kelly Barrett, Antonio Fernandez and David Neithercut to its board. Barrett is a director at Piedmont Office Realty Trust Inc. and Aaron's Inc., while Fernandez serves on the boards of Liberty Property Trust and Collier Creek Holdings. Neithercut is a trustee of Equity Residential.
* Shareholders of office REIT Boston Properties Inc. elected Diane Hoskins and William Walton as independent directors to the company's board, replacing Jacob Frenkel and Martin Turchin, who retired. The company appointed Joel Klein as independent, nonexecutive chairman.
* Commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE Group Inc. appointed Shira Goodman, an advisory director with private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC, to its board.
* Front Yard Residential Corp. agreed to appoint Snow Park Capital Partners LP nominees Leland Abrams and Lazar Nikolic to its board as independent directors. David Reiner will retire from the board at the same time.
* Shareholders of Paramount Group Inc. approved the proposed election of Colin Dyer to the office REIT's board as a director at the May 16 annual shareholder meeting.
* The board of AvalonBay Communities Inc. voted to reduce the board's size to 10 directors after Peter Rummell's retirement, which became effective as of the May 16 annual stockholder meeting.
* Robert Dennis moved to resign from the board of CoreCivic Inc. after failing to receive a majority of votes for his reelection at the prison REIT's May 16 annual shareholder meeting. The board will review the tendered resignation and the decision will be publicly disclosed no later than Aug. 14, the company said.
Other news
* Simon Property Group Inc. appointed Eli Simon as senior vice president of corporate investments. Simon previously was the principal and head of North American lodging at Och-Ziff Capital Management and Och-Ziff Real Estate.
* Mercedes Kerr will step down as the executive vice president of business and relationship management of Welltower Inc., effective July 1. Kerr will join the company's operating partner Belmont Village Senior Living as president, effective Sept. 3.