Vicinity chief Grant Kelley to step down
ASX-listed shopping mall owner Vicinity Centres is in the market for its next chief executive after announcing Grant Kelley will step down from in June next year.
Mr Kelley’s departure next year will be the latest high-profile departure from the country’s major property companies, making way for a new generation of leaders who face the challenges of rising rates and higher inflation.
At Mirvac, long-serving chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz announced her decision to step down next year with her successor, Campbell Hanan, appointed last week.
Other major departures in the past two years include Steve McCann at Lendlease with Tony Lombardo now in charge and Mark Steinert at Stockland, where Tarun Gupta stepped into the top post last year.
GPT Group is also understood to be quietly working on a succession plan for long-serving chief executive Bob Johnston.
Raised in Adelaide, Mr Kelley returned from a successful executive career abroad to take over Vicinity five years ago.
The $9 billion retail landlord, whose largest shareholder is Rich Lister John Gandel, controls a portfolio that includes the nation’s largest mall, Chadstone in suburban Melbourne, along with Sydney destinations such as Bankstown and the popular Queen Victoria Building in the CBD.
Mr Kelley led Vicinity through an eventful period for shopping malls, which first grappled with the challenge to its bricks-and-mortar model posed by e-commerce, then the upheavals caused by COVID-19.
“Grant successfully led Vicinity through the significant and unprecedented challenges of the pandemic while at the same time, ensuring the company was well positioned to deliver on its long-term growth objectives,” Vicinity chairman Trevor Gerber said on Monday.
“Testament to Vicinity’s post-COVID operational and financial recovery, is the company being the best performing stock in the A-REIT index over the past 12 months, with Vicinity outperforming the A-REIT index by 30 per cent.”
Mr Kelley said: “I am especially proud to be leaving Vicinity in a strong financial and operational position that will support continued growth and value creation in the future.”
Vicinity said it will begin the search for Mr Kelley’s successor, considering internal and external candidates from Australia and internationally.
Its next chief executive will be faced on one side with a volatile trading environment and on the other with the opportunities presented by Vicinity’s $2.9 billion retail and mixed-use development pipeline, a legacy of Mr Kelley’s efforts to diversify revenue across its real estate portfolio.
