News
ICSC formally elects Peter Sharpe as global Chair of International Association of Shopping Centres
ICSC’s Board of Trustees has officially elected Peter Sharpe, President and CEO of Cadillac Fairview Corp., as Chairman for the 2009-2010 term. A member of ICSC for 21 years, he is the organization’s 50th Chairman.
Sharpe, 62, joined Toronto-based Cadillac Fairview in 1984, rising to CEO in 2000. Today the company, wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has a global commercial real estate portfolio valued at C$16.3 billion of which retail accounts for about 65 per cent. Besides Canada, Cadillac Fairview and its affiliates own and manage properties in the U.S., Brazil, the U.K. and China. In the U.S., the company has a stake in a dozen shopping centers — seven in Washington State, three in California and one each in Georgia and Oregon. The company is a partner with The Macerich Company in 11 of its U.S. retail properties.
The Canadian properties include such landmark developments as Sherway Gardens, The Toronto-Dominion Centre, Toronto Eaton Centre, Carrefour Laval, Chinook Centre and Pacific Centre. The firm’s overseas partnerships include a 34.7 per cent interest in Multiplan Empreendimentos Imobiliários, Brazil’s largest owner, manager and developer of retail real estate, and a significant presence in the U.K through a stake in both Hammerson plc and Canary Wharf Group.
“Mr. Sharpe’s vast industry knowledge makes him outstandingly qualified to help guide the world’s largest retail real estate association,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president and CEO. “Such experience has never been more crucial, as our organization adapts to provide the support our members worldwide need as they grapple with a common economic challenge.”
Sharpe was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated in 1970 from Wilfrid Laurier University (formerly Waterloo Lutheran University) with an honors degree in business administration and economics. He became a member of ICSC in 1988 and a trustee in 2002. He and his wife, Lydia, have three children — Kerry, 33, Mackenzie, 22, and Samantha, 20 — and live in Toronto.
“Being named ICSC Chairman is truly an honor and I am grateful to the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to serve this distinguished organization,” Sharpe said. “I am fully aware of the responsibilities I am accepting as well as the challenges our industry and association face and that is why I am thrilled to be accepting this position at this time.”
He succeeds Mary Lou Fiala, President and COO of Regency Centers.
About ICSC
Founded in 1957, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 70,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials. As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world. The principal aims of ICSC are to advance the development of the shopping center industry and to establish the individual shopping center as a major institution in the community.