On August 30, 2016, the Board of Directors of Washington Prime Group Inc. unanimously appointed Ms. Sheryl G. von Blucher as an independent director of the Board. Ms. von Blucher has over 30 years of experience and has led strategic and portfolio planning, operations and corporate finance and development for both domestic and international organizations. She currently serves as partner and managing director for JMJS Group, a private equity partnership. Prior to her tenure there, she led international analysis, strategy and corporate affairs for Heritage Amoco of British Petroleum (BP Amoco). Subsequent to BP Amoco, Ms. von Blucher served as senior vice president of planning and corporate development at Information Handling Services. Ms. von Blucher is a graduate of Rice University and received a master's degree from Harvard University. She will serve on the Audit Committee of the Board, with a term that expires in 2017.
On June 20, 2016, the Board appointed John J. Dillon III as director. Mr. Dillon has been with City Financial Corporation since March 17, 2008. Dillon served as the Executive Vice President of the insurance division and a member of the executive committee of City Financial Corporation until the agency was restructured in January of 2010 and it became City Securities Insurance, LLC. Mr. Dillon became the President of the agency and serves on its board of directors presently. Dillon also stayed on the executive committee of City Financial Corporation after the restructuring of the company. Previous to joining The City Securities Family, Mr. Dillon was the Chief Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff for the City of Indianapolis from December of 2005 to January of 2008. Dillon also served as the Chairman of the Indianapolis Bond Bank from January 2000 until December 2005. Mr. Dillon has been a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Indiana Business Bank since December of 2004 to present, serving on the executive committee and Chairman of the Asset/Liability Committee. Dillon is also currently a Trustee of Marian University since 2013 serving on the Finance Committee. Dillon also serves on the Butler University School of Insurance board since 2012. Previously, Mr. Dillon was a member of the board of Century Reality Trust, a public REIT from 1999 until it was sold in 2006. Mr. Dillon is a graduate of DePauw University with a BA in Economics
J. Taggert Birge has twenty years of healthcare real estate development, leasing and sales experience. Mr. Birge currently serves as President and Principal of Cornerstone Companies, Inc., and has held this position since 2008. Prior to serving in this role with Cornerstone, Mr. Birge served from 2004 to 2006 as Senior Vice President of Healthcare at Lauth Property Group, an Indiana based commercial real estate development company. Additionally, in March 2008, Mr. Birge co-founded Birge & Held (B&H), national apartment real estate, private equity and investment firm, and has served as B&H's Chief Executive Officer since 2008. From 1997 to 2004, Mr. Birge practiced real estate law with the law firm of at Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP in its Indianapolis, Indiana office. Mr. Birge's practice focused on representing private real estate developers with office and medical sales and development across the United States. Mr. Birge graduated cum laude from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia. Mr. Birge has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Bowen Engineering since 2002, the Board of Directors of Tindley School since 2015, and the Board of Directors of the Indiana Sports Corp. since 2004.
On June 20, 2016, the Board appointed John F. Levy as Director of the company. John F. Levy became a director on June 20, 2016. Mr. Levy currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer and principal consultant for Board Advisory, a consulting firm established to assist public companies, or companies aspiring to be public with corporate governance, corporate compliance, ethics, financial reporting and financial strategies. He has held this role since May 2005. Mr. Levy is a recognized corporate governance and financial reporting expert with over 30 years of progressive financial, accounting and business experience; including nine years in public accounting with three national accounting firms and having served as Chief Financial Officer of both public and private companies for over 13 years. Mr. Levy currently serves on the board of three public companies: Applied Minerals Inc. (since January 2008), China Commercial Credit, Inc. (since August 2013), and Takung Art Co., Ltd. (since February 2016). Mr. Levy also served as a board member and program chair for the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) from October 2007 to June 2012. Mr. Levy is a frequent speaker on the roles and responsibilities of board members and audit committee members. He has authored and presented numerous courses on finance, management and governance to state accounting societies including THE 21ST CENTURY DIRECTOR: Ethical and Legal Responsibilities of Board Members. Mr. Levy is a Certified Public Accountant with several years of experience. Mr. Levy is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and received his MBA from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Mr. Levy has completed the National Association of Corporate Directors' Board Leadership Fellow program of study.
Robert J. Laikin became a director and was appointed as our Lead Independent Director on May 27, 2014. Mr. Laikin founded BrightPoint, Inc., a wireless device distribution and logistics company (then known as Wholesale Cellular USA, Inc.), in 1989. He served as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of BrightPoint, Inc., which was listed on the NASDAQ exchange in April 1994 until its sale in October 2012 to Ingram Micro Inc., a publicly traded wholesale technology distributor and supply-chain management and mobile device lifecycle services company. Mr. Laikin is currently an Executive Advisor to the CEO and Government Relations Executive of Ingram Micro Inc., a position he has held since November 2012. From July 1986 to December 1987, Mr. Laikin was Vice President, and from January 1988 to February 1993, President, of Century Cellular Network, Inc., a company engaged in the retail sale of cellular telephones and accessories. On June 20, 2016, the Board appointed Robert J. Laikin, a current director of the Company, as non-executive Chairman of the Board. In connection with becoming the non-executive Chairman of the Board, Mr. Laikin's role as Lead Independent Director has been eliminated.
On June 20, 2016, the Board appointed Louis G. Conforti, a current director of the Company, as Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Louis G. Conforti, 51, became a director of the Company on May 27, 2014. Since April 2014, Mr. Conforti has been a Principal/Executive Director of Colony Capital, Inc. as the Global Head of Strategy as well as focusing on publicly traded investing. Since December 2013, Mr. Conforti was Managing Director of Balyasny Asset Management LP, an alternative investment manager firm. Prior, Mr. Conforti was Global Head of Real Estate for UBS O'Connor, the alternative investment management division of UBS AG, a financial services firm, from October 2008 to November 2013. During that time, he also served as Senior Portfolio Manager of O'Connor Colony Property Strategies, a partnership with Colony Capital LLC. Previously, he was Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Investments at the hedge fund firm of Stark Investments, from January 2005 to October 2008. His predecessor real estate hedge fund, The Greenwood Group, was acquired by Stark Investments in January 2005. Mr. Conforti served as Co-President and Chief Financial Officer of Prime Group Realty Trust, a publicly traded office and industrial property real estate investment trust, from June 2000 to October 2003, as its Executive Vice President Capital Markets, from June 1988 to November 1999, and as its Senior Vice President Capital Markets, from June 1998 to November 1999. Prior to that, Mr. Conforti worked at the investment banking firms of CIBC World Markets and Alex. Brown & Sons within their real estate investment banking and capital markets divisions. On October 6, 2016 - Washington Prime Group Inc. today announced the appointment of Lou Conforti as Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective immediately.
Jacquelyn R. Soffer became a director on May 27, 2014. Ms. Soffer is a Principal for Turnberry Associates, a real estate development and property management company, which she joined in 1989, where she oversees the company's retail, hospitality and office divisions including its landmark Aventura Mall, a super-regional shopping center located in South Florida. Turnberry Associates holds a two-thirds interest in Aventura Mall, with the remaining one-third interest being held by an affiliate of Simon. Ms. Soffer's experience includes her instrumental roles in developing Destin Commons, an open-air lifestyle center in Northwest Florida, which recently opened a 100,000 square foot expansion. Additionally, Ms. Soffer leads the continued enhancement and operations of both the Fontainebleau Miami Beach as well as Turnberry Isle Miami Resort. She is a board member of Fontainebleau Miami Beach and a Founding Member and member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, Florida.
JACKIE SOFFER
Jackie Soffer is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chairman of Turnberry, a privately held real estate development group based in South Florida. Founded more than 50 years ago, the company specializes in large-scale lifestyle developments within the hospitality, retail, residential, and office sectors.
Jackie has evolved Turnberry from the regional leader into one of the most creative and dynamic organizations in real estate today. She leads through innovation, combining her passion for retail and hospitality with creative design-led thinking. She first applied this approach at the Aventura Mall, which she transformed from a classic retail shopping mall into one of the country’s premier lifestyle destinations by attracting luxury retailers such Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Cartier, Gucci, Burberry, Fendi, Tiffany & Co., Bally and Emilio Pucci and integrating them with world class contemporary art by Ugo Rondinone, Donald Baechler, Louise Bourgeois, Friends with You, Daniel Arsham, Jen Stark, and many more.
Soffer continues to magnify this vision with a new tri-level, 315,000 square-foot expansion of Aventura Mall that will showcase the next evolution of experiential retail. Designed by world-renowned architect Carlos Zapata and opening in late 2017, the expansion will feature substantial site-specific installations from some of the biggest names in contemporary art, a food hall featuring local artisans, multiple full service restaurant destinations, a VIP lounge by Slade Architecture, dozens of flagship retail stores, and a beautifully landscaped rooftop terrace and plaza. In addition to the mall, Soffer recently completed a 100,000 square-foot expansion of Destin Commons, an open-air lifestyle center in Northwest Florida and the ground up development of Town Square Las Vegas, a 1.5 million-square-foot super regional lifestyle center located on the Las Vegas Strip.
Soffer recently formed a partnership with LeFrak to develop a 184-acre site along Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami aptly named SoLē Mia. The largest development in North Miami’s history, when complete SoLē Mia will include 1.4 million-square feet of retail, 37 acres of parks, 4,390 residences, crystal lagoons, a 150 key hotel, gourmet groceries, dining outlets, and market-leading entertainment and amenities.
Soffer is actively involved in management and development of all Turnberry’s hospitality and residential assets including Fontainebleau Miami Beach, one of the world’s top destination resorts, as well as Turnberry Isle Miami, a 300-acre resort and country club in South Florida, Turnberry Ocean Club Residences, a 154-unit ultra-luxury condominium and JW Marriott Nashville, a 533 room hotel located in downtown Nashville.
In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities for Turnberry, Soffer serves as an Independent Director on the Board of Washington Prime Group, a retail real estate investment trust with a portfolio of 120 enclosed regional malls and open-air lifestyle community centers. She is a member of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, and the Board of Trustees for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami.
Washington Prime Group Inc. (NYSE: WPG) is a retail REIT and a recognized leader in the ownership, management, acquisition and development of retail properties. The Company combines a national real estate portfolio with an investment grade balance sheet, leveraging its expertise across the entire shopping center sector to increase cash flow through rigorous management of assets and provide new opportunities to retailers looking for growth throughout the U.S.
Washington Prime Group was formed in May 2014 following a spin-off from Simon Property Group and acquired Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE: GRT) in January 2015.
Today the company operates out of headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, and an additional office in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Washington Prime Group is focused on the experience we create at each of our centers. By providing a mix of things to do and things to buy, our properties deliver the right combination of tenants, activities and events to keep shoppers engaged and returning often.
The biggest distraction of this deal was the internal politics of the spin off - By Jeff Swiatek, jeff.swiatek@indystar.comPublished 9:18 a.m. ET Dec. 13, 2013 | Updated 10:55 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2013
Simon Property Group, known for its high-flying stock and willingness to snatch up companies it values anywhere in the world, surprised Wall Street on Friday with a plan to spin off its strip centers and smaller malls into a separate, publicly traded company.
The yet-to-be-named new enterprise will be based in Indianapolis, initially at the Fortune 500 company’s Downtown headquarters, and will take with it at least 25 of Simon’s employees and hire untold others.
The move by Simon is unusual because most new publicly traded companies come via initial public stock offerings from existing companies seeking more working capital. Simon’s plan will birth a ready-to-go, staffed-up and well-financed company valued near $6 billion. Its main assets will be 54 strip centers and 44 malls in 23 states, including Clay Terrace retail center in Carmel and a dozen others in Indiana.
“It’s going to be a substantial company in its own right,” said Rick Sokolov, Simon’s president and chief operating officer. “We believe it can be an immediate, impactful leader in the sectors” of smaller malls and strip centers.
Publicly traded Simon, which started up in Indianapolis in 1960 and is one of the nation’s largest operators and developers of shopping centers, said the spinoff will let it focus on its most-prized assets, its large regional malls and outlet centers, plus international expansion.
Simon’s 325 properties in the U.S. and Asia are “a lot for the executive team to say grace over,” the company’s chairman and chief executive, David Simon, told stock analysts and others in a teleconference Friday. The spinoff will slim Simon’s portfolio by a third.
Simon’s board opted not to sell the strip centers and smaller malls to the highest bidder, partly because a sale would be a taxable event for shareholders. The spinoff won’t be taxable and will give shareholders stock in the new company and a chance to share in any growth.
“This is better for our shareholders,” David Simon said. “Let’s give this opportunity to our shareholders as opposed to (selling the properties to) guys who like to skim off the top.”
The new company, which Simon referred to as SpinCo but will be renamed later, will be structured as a real estate investment trust and will have initial annual funds from operations of around $300 million. That is about 10 percent of Simon’s $2.9 billion in funds from operations last year.
Occupancy of properties that will be deeded to SpinCo is more than 90 percent. Although many are in smaller cities with limited population growth, the properties as a whole have significant expansion potential, with more than $300 million of development opportunity, Sokolov said.
Top management for SpinCo, including its CEO, will be named in the first quarter. Its board of five to nine members will include David Simon and Sokolov, who will be chairman.
David Simon said he and Sokolov will “mentor” the new company’s board and its top executives, and Simon will handle property management for the spun-off malls for the first year or two.
Asked by an analyst about the potential for the spinoff company to turn around and compete against the “mothership,” David Simon discounted the chances of that happening.
After the spinoff is complete, he said, “Simon will not be in the strip center business or ... smaller enclosed malls.
“I don’t see a realistic scenario where the two are competing.”
Simon’s big, flagship malls don’t necessarily compete for tenants or customers with smaller malls and shopping centers, said Alexander Goldfarb, senior REIT analyst at Sandler O’Neill, which has a financial interest in Simon. Spinning the smaller properties off into a separate company will let their separate management teams take a more precise focus, he said.
Goldfarb said Simon doesn’t need to sell its smaller assets. “They have a big enough portfolio that it makes sense as a stand-alone company.”
Although the new company will work out of Simon’s office tower at Washington and Capitol streets initially, it will likely move to separate offices later, Sokolov said.
He said he couldn’t estimate the company’s hiring needs. “This is very much the beginning of a journey.”
The spinoff will result in higher sales per square foot, operating income growth and occupancy rates for Simon, the company said.
Investors responded enthusiastically, with Simon stock trading up $3.26 a share, or 2.2 percent Friday, to $151.63. The stock is at the lower end of its 52-week trading range of $142.47 to $182.45. Three years ago, it was trading just under $100.
In a statement, David Simon said the spinoff will unlock the potential of the strip centers and malls to be owned by SpinCo. “We believe we are creating a new company that has both a strong Simon heritage and all of the requisite tools to grow its business and succeed.”
Simon has accomplished much of its growth through acquisitions. Last year it paid $2 billion for a 29 percent stake in one of Europe’s largest shopping center operators, Paris-based Klepierre SA. In 2010, Simon bought outlet mall operator Prime Outlets for $2.3 billion, giving it a bigger presence in one of the few U.S. retail sectors that is growing — outlet malls that sell brand-name merchandise.
The spinoff was announced almost 20 years to the day that Simon became a publicly traded company on Dec. 14, 1993.
Star reporter Alex Campbell contributed to this story.
Call Star reporter Jeff Swiatek at (317) 444-6483. Follow him on Twitter: @JeffSwiatek.
One to become two
SpinCo
Founded: Simon Property Group spinoff, to be renamed later, will launch in the second quarter of 2014.
Headquarters: Indianapolis.
Business: Shopping center management and development.
Properties: 54 strip centers, 44 malls in U.S.
Indiana properties: Clay Terrace in Carmel, Greenwood Plus in Greenwood, Keystone Shoppes in Indianapolis, Markland Mall and Markland Plaza in Kokomo, Muncie Mall and Muncie Town Plaza in Muncie, New Castle Plaza in New Castle, Northwood Plaza in Fort Wayne, Tippecanoe Plaza in Lafayette, University Center in Mishawaka, Village Park Plaza in Carmel and Washington Plaza in Indianapolis.
Funds from operations: $300 million (estimated).
Employees: At least 25 initially.
CEO: Not yet named.
Simon Property Group
Founded: 1960 and went public 1993.
Headquarters: Indianapolis.
Business: Shopping center management and development.
Properties: 325 in North America and Asia.
Notable Indiana properties: Castleton Square Mall, Circle Centre Mall and The Fashion Mall at Keystone in Indianapolis, College Mall in Bloomington.
So let's be clear. I'm a product of the MaceRich Company and we did business different than most. We could make decisions day today in leasing that in the long run you better be able to answer for. The process just happened so quick compared to the big bureaucracies of today.
When I saw this I knew Sumo was not coming from New York to Topeka. Kirkland gifts is there to day and they are a great addition to the center. What happened next I Still support as a good move for Pizza Pub. The leasing agent offers us an additional space at NO additional rent. We just have to Pay the constructions costs. Fair enough. Thanks Ben that was a good deal.
The only thing that bit us in the ass was the lease clause that if there was conflict between City Code and the Lease the Lease would prevail. That added conservatively and extra $75K to the project. The owners do NOT put that in the new leases.
A year to the day of Petland moving from Fairlawn Plaza the Landlord signed the lease.......
356 DAYS from 1st proposal
You remember Simon? Well from the day we started to now the West Ridge Mall was spun into a new company called Washington Prime. Butch Knerr signed the lease as I witnessed one of the most protracted deals in history. The terms and conditions it the time were fair for the direction we hoped the mall could go.
Ok this is important - look we signed September 9th. 2014 and did not get a lease signed until November 14th, 2014. That is 66 days. In the life of a street broker that is an eternity. If you are a stockholder it would appear the staff is overworked or there is a shortage on pens in the store room.
At MaceRich Mace and Dana came in everyday just to sign leases. The owners of the malls felt it was important to turnaround the deals. This is how I learned to do Business the is how I learned to do the Mall business.
Dana Anderson was and still is today obsessive about returning phone calls. So if a guy like Dana can call me back anyone who ignores my call is fall short due to the Anderson standard.
These guys invented the Mall renovation business and are the most entrepreneurial Mall owners of the industry. I paid attention to this success pattern. It makes me short circuit when other can't follow simple practices especially when failure surrounds their patterns.
At this time I'm too close to the deal to be a mall leasing guy or a street broker. All I can see the opportunity to grow a company nationwide and fill a niche. What mall has an entry mall location vacant. Malls have trouble leasing the entry locations and our Pizza Pub needs it to have late hours and do delivery. So I've got a financial partner with the wherewithal to open stores nationwide. I could not look at this from a 1000 feet to see the overall mall is going in the tank due to the Mall bureaucrats and the the dysfunctional process.
Now Chris Tilley is off to another project. - kill the deal - Simon backtracked on having local leasing on site - Blame author. TOO MANY Chefs in the Kitchen I've got the regional guy in my corner and two others guys in the mix and then a 4th guy gets in the picture. Meet Ben.
Sorry I missed your call yesterday. FYI, I have been working
with Henry McClure, a broker in Topeka, on several deals at West Ridge. Henry
has years of experience in the mall business and is a great resource for West
Ridge. We are finalizing the Pizza Pub deal, just waiting on Robert to get with
legal on Monday to change the wording on his extended store hours, but Henry
has several other deals ready to go. Let me know what I can do to help with
West Ridge and I will have Henry send you his proposals. Thanks.
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Robert
Alexander---09/03/2014 11:04:26 AM---From: Robert Alexander/Simon To: Ben
Deiser/Simon@simon,
From: Robert Alexander/Simon To: Ben Deiser/Simon@simon, Cc: Bill Conway/Simon@simon, Chris Tilley/Simon@simon Date: 09/03/2014 11:04 AM Subject: Fwd: Another deal
Ben, we need to discuss this guy when you get a
chance. I am on a plane to Pittsburgh right now, can you call me this afternoon
on cell.
Robert D. Alexander Dallas Group Office Sr. VP of Leasing
This should of been the "eye opener" and let time kill the deal.
My point is time. I met with the leasing guy 10 month prior and really at the end of the day if it takes this long too big to be effictive. Just because you are the biggest does not mean you are the best. In my day as a leasing manager at MaceRich this is a 30 day deal.
The real problem in not my lease it is the fact this is no way to run a railroad. How are they going to fill the mall when it takes a year to do a deal. Things have NOT changed.
Mace Siegel founder of the MaceRich Company said "the bureaucracies of mall management will kill Entrepreneurialism".
I
am pushing my guys Henry. I will talk to Bill and Chris again.
Robert D.
Alexander Dallas
Group Office Sr.
VP of Leasing 545 E. John
Carpenter Freeway, Suite 1000
Irving, TX 75062 USA
T 817.685.3030 F 972.506.0528 ralexand@simon.com | SIMON.COM
8 months 2 days this
deal is be going on. Our Pizza concept is
on fire in the USA – we are getting so far behind the competition. We are begging to be
in business with your company. We even have the cash
reserves to go anywhere in the portfolio. Seattle? Who do we talk to? I heard
Mod Pizza sales are weak. Please do not let
some security gate slow this deal down. “Time is of the essence” in real estate
deals. The key ingredient. Henry McClure 785.272.1110 Direct 785.969.9158 Cell Time kills deals
0.68 (0.41%)
When I saw this I knew Sumo was not coming from New York to Topeka. Kirkland gifts is there to day and they are a great addition to the center. 
The only thing that bit us in the ass was the lease clause that if there was conflict between City Code and the Lease the Lease would prevail. That added conservatively and extra $75K to the project. The owners do NOT put that in the new leases. 
