Shopping Centers Today

MAR 2013

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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categories. The publicly traded company owns retail, office and residential properties in key markets around the United States. The combined value of those properties is some $10.7 billion and includes regional lifestyle, neighborhood and enclosed centers as well as urban, big-box, entertainment, residential and office retail. There is similar variety in the firm's residential development, which includes apartments, condos, master-planned communities, and housing for the elderly and for military personnel. Forest City's high-profile developments include such mixed-use projects as the 4,700-acre Stapleton community, in Denver, and the recently opened Barclays Center stadium, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Other famous projects include The New York Times building, in Manhattan, and University Park at MIT, near Boston. The company is also a leader in sustainable development, and several of its projects have attained LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Stapleton is LEED-certified, and The Yards Park, in the Capitol Riverfront district of Washington, D.C., is LEEDGold-certified, as will be the Waterfront Station retail-office building, also in Washington. Forest City is not diverse only in terms of its real estate, however. One of the company's core values is diversity and inclusion, both in terms of its employees and the communities in which it operates. The company employs a director of diversity and inclusion, and is a major sponsor of the Real Estate Associate Program, established in 1997 to encourage more minorities to enter the industry. A challenge for the industry is to recognize and respond to demographic changes in the U.S., both at the consumer level and in terms of promoting workplace 54 SCT / M A R C H 2 0 1 3 diversity, LaRue says. "Our industry must have a sharper focus on this important issue," he said. The breadth of Forest City's operations makes LaRue an ideal candidate to lead ICSC, given the varying professional backgrounds of its membership, observers say. "David heads a company that owns property across all categories and in all kinds of markets, and therefore his experience meshes with that of just about every one of ICSC's members in one way or another," said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC's president and CEO. "Forest City is also a leader in sustainable and innovative development, all of which makes David's nomination an exciting one as we, as an industry, embrace the future." LaRue, who holds a bachelor's in business and accounting from Wittenberg University, began his career as an internal auditor and financial analyst at The Sherwin-Williams Co. He joined Forest City in 1986 as a financial analyst, rising to executive vice president and COO in March 2010. He has served on the ICSC Global Task Force, taking part in the most ambitious review of the organization's programs and services. He has been an advocate of ICSC's Global Public Policy efforts in Washington, contributing to the ICSC PAC, and he has spoken at ICSC events. One of ICSC's continuing priorities for the coming year will be to push for federal legislation requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes in those states in which brick-and-mortar retailers are required to. "Traditional physical stores cannot continue to be discriminated against by this tax policy," said LaRue. Reform in this area would also benefit cash-strapped state and local public coffers, he says. LaRue is active in his community as a member of various professional, charitable and artistic organizations, including the Cleveland School of the Arts. He helped found the Basketball Challenge Cup, a series of charity games held every spring in Rocky River, the Cleveland suburb where he and his wife, Cindy, have raised their "David heads a company that owns property across all categories and in all kinds of markets. His experience meshes with that of every one of ICSC's members." four children. The event raises money to fight drug and alcohol abuse among young people. "David LaRue is a visionary leader with proven abilities to get things done and work cooperatively with people in the industry," said ICSC Past Chairman Gary D. Rappaport, SCSM, SCMD, SCLS, SCDP, chief executive of The Rappaport Cos. and chairman of ICSC's nominating committee, in announcing the nomination to the Board of Trustees at its midwinter meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. "David stands for Forest City's core values: integrity, sustainability, diversity in the workplace and dealing fairly with stakeholders — all qualities consistent with ICSC's values." If, as expected, LaRue is elected at ICSC's annual meeting of members at RECon in May, he will succeed current Chairman Brad M. Hutensky. "The diversity of his professional experience and background," said Kercheval, "mirrors that of the industry he will lead as it grows in complexity and as its contribution to the community expands." SCT

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