Simon plucks in-house execs for spinoff firm

Simon Property Group Inc. is reaching into its own stable of executives to stock the C-suite of its publicly traded spinoff for retail strip centers and smaller enclosed malls, Washington Prime Group Inc.

The Indianapolis-based retail real estate behemoth announced Monday several appointments for management positions, as well as four independent directors who will join the board of Washington Prime. The three managers all currently hold positions with Simon.

That’s in contrast with Simon’s choice for CEO: outsider Mark Ordan, who most recently was CEO of McLean, Va.-based Sunrise Senior Living Inc. and formerly was CEO of Virginia-based mall developer Mills Corp. His appointment was announced in February.

For chief operating officer of Washington Prime, Simon has pegged Myles Minton, its president of community and lifestyle centers. He has held that position since 2007.

Robert P. Demchak, currently Simon’s senior vice president for legal and capital markets, will join Washington Prime as general counsel and corporate secretary. He has worked in various legal positions at Simon since 2009.

Michael J. Caffney will hold the position of senior vice president, head of capital markets. As current senior vice president of capital markets at Simon Property Group, Gaffney has led numerous debt and equity capital markets transactions, and has been a member of Simon's finance team for seven years.

"These seasoned leaders, along with our soon-to-be-announced chief financial officer, have deep knowledge and experience managing large, public retail real estate companies,” Ordan said in a prepared statement.

The four independent directors appointed to Washington Prime’s board are:

— Robert J. Laikin, founder and former chairman of the board and CEO of Indianapolis-based BrightPoint Inc. BrightPoint was acquired in 2012 by Ingram Micro Inc.

— Louis G. Conforti, senior managing director of Balyasny Asset Management and principal of Colony Capital LLC.

— Jacquelyn Soffer, principal of Turnberry Associates, a Florida-based real estate development and property management company.

— Marvin White, system vice president and chief financial officer of Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health.

Washington Prime’s portfolio initially will consist of 98 retail properties totaling 53 million square feet in 23 states, including 13 properties in Indiana.

After completion of the planned spinoff from Simon, Indianapolis-based Washington Prime intends to become an independent, publicly traded real estate investment trust traded on the New York Stock Exchange.