ShopCore Properties' search for a new CEO has ended with the hiring of a former top executive of a Google venture.
Chicago-based ShopCore, Blackstone's retail center affiliate, has appointed Marc Ricks as chief executive. Ricks most recently served as president and chief operating officer of Sidewalk Labs, the urban planning and infrastructure subsidiary of Google.
He assumes the CEO position from Andrea Drasites, a managing director of Blackstone Real Estate who had served as ShopCore's interim chief executive.
Drasites said Ricks' real estate expertise across several property sectors would help him as he works to improve ShopCore’s performance and innovation efforts.
“ShopCore has made significant strides executing its disciplined growth strategy with a focus on maximizing value in well-located open-air retail centers that drive commerce and connection in their communities," she said in a statement.
ShopCore owns, leases and manages more than 65 retail centers containing a total of 14 million square feet of space in densely populated markets across 15 U.S. states, including California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. ShopCore's centers typically are anchored by grocery stores, big-box retailers and entertainment and dining outlets.
Drasites took over as temporary CEO after Mark Gilbert, who served as ShopCore chief executive from April to November 2021, left after determining the job was not a good fit. Gilbert, who was a longtime Cushman & Wakefield broker before joining ShopCore, returned to the global brokerage firm last month.
While at Sidewalk Labs, which was a venture of Google parent Alphabet before being integrated into Google, Ricks oversaw the subsidiary's operations, organization and investments.
Before joining Sidewalk Labs, Ricks served as senior vice president of development at Vornado Realty Trust, where he oversaw several public-private partnership projects including the redevelopment of the district surrounding New York City’s Penn Station.
Before he started at Vornado in 2015, Ricks served as a commercial strategy executive at data and media company Bloomberg, where he helped lead its web-based information business.
Ricks said he looks forward to positioning ShopCore, which has built and maintained "a stable and resilient tenant base throughout a complex and unprecedented time for the retail industry," to achieve greater growth.