Mack-Cali Realty Corp. recently announced that Mitchell E. Hersh will step down as president and CEO at the company”™s annual meeting in May and will not stand for re-election to the Mack-Cali board of directors. The board will hire an executive search firm to lead the company”™s search for his successor.
Based in Edison, N.J., Mack-Cali is a major landlord in commercial real estate in Westchester County. Among its office and industrial properties here are the Cross Westchester Executive Park and Elmsford Distribution Center in Elmsford, Mid-Westchester Executive Park in Hawthorne, Westchester Financial Center in White Plains and South Westchester Executive Park in Yonkers.
A self-managed real estate investment trust, Mack-Cali under Hersh”™s direction in recent years has sold several of its commercial properties in Westchester and the Northeast to finance its moves into the multifamily residential market. The company owns or has interests in 282 properties in the region, including 266 office and office/flex properties totaling approximately 31.5 million square feet and 16 multifamily rental properties containing over 4,900 residential units.
Hersh spent 17 years at Mack-Cali and 24 years at its predecessor, The Mack Co., where he was a partner and chief operating officer.
“It has been a privilege to lead the finest employees in the industry, whose commitment and hard work never ceases to impress me,” Hersh said in the company announcement. “Together, we have steadily outperformed most of the markets that we operate in and have continued to reinvest in our office properties. At the same time, we have significantly advanced our multifamily residential strategy, successfully increasing the company”™s residential business mix through developable land acquisitions and property investments.”
William L. Mack, chairman of the Mack-Cali board, thanked Hersh for his “many contributions” and cited his leadership in Mack-Cali”™s successful repositioning of its portfolio as it diversified into the multifamily apartment sector. He said the company will seek a new leader “to continue executing on our strategic initiatives and strengthening our already strong platform.”
