BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Developers
Diversified Realty Corporation (NYSE: DDR) Board of Directors today
announced the company and Scott A.
Wolstein have agreed he will step down from the role of
Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Wolstein co-founded Developers Diversified Realty with his
father in 1992 and led the company's successful IPO in February of
the following year. At the time the company was a relatively small
enterprise with approximately $400
million in assets with a portfolio comprised predominantly
of Kmart-anchored shopping centers in the eastern United States. Under Mr. Wolstein's guidance
and leadership, Developers Diversified has grown to become one of
the world's leading retail real estate companies with nearly
$18 billion in assets under
management and operations throughout the
United States, Puerto Rico
and Brazil.
Daniel B. Hurwitz, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Developers Diversified, said, "Scott and
I have worked together for many years and I am extremely grateful
for his leadership, wisdom and mentorship. I wish him continued
success in all his future endeavors."
Commenting on this transition, Mr. Wolstein said, "I enter this
new chapter of my professional life with complete confidence that
Developers Diversified is in good hands. I am certain that the
company's management team, led by Dan
Hurwitz – one of the industry's most highly capable and most
highly respected CEO's – will continue to thrive as an
international market leader in the world of retail real
estate."
Terrance R. Ahern, Lead Director
of the Developers Diversified board said, "Scott has served in a
leadership role at Developers Diversified nearly his entire
professional career and he has made countless contributions to the
company. We are grateful for his many years of service."
In addition, Mr. Ahern, a non-executive and independent
Director, will serve as Chairman of the Board following Mr.
Wolstein's departure. Mr. Ahern is the Co-founder and Chief
Executive Officer of The Townsend Group, an institutional real
asset advisory firm formed in 1986, which advises and invests on
behalf of domestic and offshore public and private pension plans,
endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds and
multi-manager funds. Prior to founding The Townsend Group, Mr.
Ahern was engaged in the private practice of law.
Mr. Wolstein will be entitled to certain benefits as outlined in
his Amended and Restated Employment Agreement with Developers
Diversified which will result in a charge that the company expects
to take in the first quarter of 2011.
Mr. Wolstein served as Executive Chairman of the Board of
Directors of Developers Diversified since January 1, 2010. In addition, Mr. Wolstein served
as the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Developers
Diversified since its organization in 1992. Mr. Wolstein was
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company from May 1997 through December
2009. Prior to the organization of the company, Mr. Wolstein
was a principal and executive officer of Developers Diversified
Group, the company's predecessor.
He graduated cum laude from both the Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania and the
University of Michigan Law School.
Following law school, Mr. Wolstein was associated with the law firm
of Thompson Hine.
Mr. Wolstein is currently a member of the Board of Governors and
Executive Committee of the National Association of Real Estate
Investment Trusts (NAREIT); Board of Directors of the Real Estate
Roundtable; Board of Trustees for Case Western
Reserve University; Board of Directors for United Way of
Greater Cleveland; Board Member of
the Greater Cleveland Partnership; Board Member of the Cleveland
Development Advisors; and member of the Executive Committee and
Board of Trustees of the Zell-Lurie Wharton Real Estate Center. He
is also a current member of the Urban Land Institute, PREA, and the
World Presidents' Organization.
He has also served as Chairman of the State of Israel Bonds -
Ohio Chapter; a Trustee of the International Council of Shopping
Centers; Board of Directors of University Hospitals Health Systems;
President of the Board of Trustees of the United Cerebral Palsy
Association of Greater Cleveland;
Board of Directors and Executive Committee Member of the Cleveland
Chapter of the Red Cross; Board Member of the Cleveland Chapter of
the Anti Defamation League; and a member of the Board of the Great
Lakes Theater Festival; The Park Synagogue; and the Convention
& Visitors Bureau of Greater
Cleveland. Mr. Wolstein is a four-time recipient of the
Realty Stock Review's Outstanding CEO Award.
In 2007, he received the Malden Mills Corporate Kindness Award
from Project Love, a Cleveland-based organization whose mission is
to promote kindness, caring and mutual respect among, for and
through our children.
About Developers Diversified Realty
Developers Diversified owns and manages approximately 570 retail
operating and development properties in 41 states, Brazil, Canada and Puerto
Rico. Totaling approximately 132 million square feet, the
company's shopping center portfolio features open-air,
value-oriented neighborhood and community centers, mixed-use
centers and lifestyle centers located in prime markets with stable
populations and high-growth potential. Developers Diversified is
the largest landlord in Puerto
Rico and owns a premier portfolio of regional malls
primarily clustered around Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Developers Diversified is a self-administered and
self-managed REIT operating as a fully integrated real estate
company. Additional information about the company is available on
the company's website at www.ddr.com.
SOURCE Developers Diversified Realty Corporation