The CEO of ShopCore Properties has exited the retail real estate company in the wake of its owner, private equity giant Blackstone, merging it with EQ Office.
Marc Ricks, who had served as head of Chicago-based ShopCore since June 2022, announced his departure in a LinkedIn post. Ricks said ShopCore's merger with EQ Office will create "a best-in-class, diversified real estate operating platform focused on both retail and office assets."
The combined entity will operate "under the capable leadership of my friend Alex Vouvalides," Ricks said. Vouvalides is now serving as CEO of both ShopCore and EQ Office.
ShopCore, Blackstone's retail portfolio company, leases and manages more than 65 shopping centers with roughly 14 million square feet under management in 15 states, according to its website. Its open-air retail properties are usually anchored by grocery stores, big-box stores and entertainment and dining outlets.
EQ Office, Blackstone’s U.S. office portfolio company, operates over 20 million square feet of office space across major markets including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.
"I had an incredible experience as ShopCore’s CEO, and I leave with three dominant feelings," Ricks said on LinkedIn. "The first is pride in all that the company accomplished, with strong operating results across metrics including occupancy gains, re-leasing spreads, and growth in same-store net operating income. The second is gratitude for the team’s commitment, resilience, and support for one another in delivering those results. The third is optimism about the path forward for ShopCore and its people."
Before joining ShopCore, Ricks was the president and chief operating officer of Sidewalk Labs, an urban planning and infrastructure subsidiary of Google. The ShopCore-EQ Office consolidation is expected to allow Blackstone to take advantage of shared talent, local market insights, operating expertise and cost efficiencies across the two companies.
Blackstone acquired Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties for $39 billion in February 2007. Blackstone rebranded the firm as EQ Office in 2018.