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BUCKSBAUM TAPPED FOR CHAIRMANSHIP

By Edmund Mander

John L. Bucksbaum, SCSM, chief executive of General Growth Properties, one of the world’s largest and oldest mall development firms, has been tapped by the nominating committee of ICSC’s Board of Trustees to be chairman for the 2006-2007 term.

If, as expected, his nomination is confirmed at ICSC’s Spring Convention in Las Vegas, Bucksbaum’s appointment as the organization’s 47th chairman will mark a generational milestone: He will be the first with a parent who has also held the post; Matthew Bucksbaum, who founded General Growth with his brother Martin, was chairman for the 1992-93 term. What’s more, John Bucksbaum’s term will coincide with the 50th anniversary of ICSC’s founding.

“It’s a wonderful honor both for me and the Bucksbaum family,” he said, adding that it fulfills a childhood ambition.

Bucksbaum, a nearly three-decade veteran of ICSC, is a trustee and an executive committee member who has been involved in a wide range of activities on behalf of the organization, particularly education. He served on ICSC’s Educational Foundation and is chairman of the ICSC-supported Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He is also active with the Fisher Center for Real Estate, at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lusk Center for Real Estate, at the University of Southern California. At ICSC Bucksbaum earned his CSM in 2001, followed by his SCSM in 2004.

“John’s rich experience acquired through his years in retail development is impressive in itself,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president. “But particularly admirable is his unflagging eagerness to pass this knowledge on to new generations.”

Bucksbaum, 49, will preside over an organization of some 57,000 members in 87 countries — more than double the 24,000 members ICSC had when his father was chairman.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Denver in 1978, Bucksbaum went straight to work at General Growth, learning the industry from the bottom up. His first project was the development of Mesa Mall, in Grand Junction, Colo., which opened in 1980. He succeeded his father as CEO in 1999; Matthew Bucksbaum remains the company’s chairman.

As ICSC celebrates its 50th birthday, it will be led by someone who knows a thing or two about such milestones. General Growth celebrated its own 50th year as a shopping center development company in 2004. A public REIT since 1993, General Growth today has more than 200 malls in 44 states, totaling more than 200 million square feet. The company also owns malls in Brazil and has formed a joint venture partnership to build a center in Costa Rica. It is one of the largest third-party mall management companies in the world and employs more than 5,000 people.

General Growth’s expanding fortunes have reflected those of the shopping center industry in general. Today some 12.5 million people in the U.S. alone are in shopping-center-related employment and annual shopping center sales exceed $2 trillion.

“It’s been such a wonderful industry, not just to our family,” Bucksbaum said. “I’ve seen so many people who have achieved success in this industry, and this opportunity to give something back is the realization of a dream.”

Bucksbaum is a trustee of NAREIT and belongs to the Real Estate Roundtable, the University of California Real Estate Center and the Board of Governors of the Urban Land Institute. An avid cyclist, he’s on the board of USA Cycling, World T.E.A.M. Sports and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. He is also on the boards of the University of Chicago Hospitals, LaSalle Bank and Hyatt Hotels. Bucksbaum lives in Chicago with his wife, Jacolyn, and his sons, Max, 8, and Eli, 6 — both ICSC members from infancy.