Owen Thomas to Replace Mort Zuckerman as Boston Properties CEO
By Gus Delaporte March 11, 2013 11:20 am
reprintsOwen Thomas will succeed Mortimer Zuckerman as chief executive of real estate investment trust Boston Properties (BXP) on April 2, it was announced today. Mr. Thomas will also join the firm’s board of directors, while Mr. Zuckerman will remain in his role as executive chairman.
Mr. Thomas is a 25-year real estate industry veteran and has been serving as chairman of Lehman Brothers Holdings since March 2012. Mr. Thomas has presided over a number of transactions while with Lehman, including the $15 billion sale of Archstone Enterprise LP to Equity Residential (EQR) and AvalonBay Communities. Prior to Lehman Brothers Holdings, Mr. Thomas served in a number of roles during a 20-year career at Morgan Stanley (MS), including head of real estate and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd.
“I could not be more pleased that, after a very thorough process, Owen Thomas will become our new CEO. He is an accomplished executive and well known throughout our industry, and he is the right person to lead the company for the future and to build on our success,” said Mr. Zuckerman in a statement. “Boston Properties has tremendous momentum as we adhere to a disciplined strategy of focusing on high-quality, iconic assets in attractive markets. Together with Doug Linde, Ray Ritchey and our other talented colleagues, Owen will build on that legacy and we look forward to his contributions.”
Boston Properties owns and operates Class A office space, as well as hotel, residential and retail properties. The company’s office properties are primarily located in the Boston, New York, Princeton, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. markets, according to a statement.
“Boston Properties has been at the forefront of real estate investing for over four decades, and the company’s strong reputation and track record of successful investing and development speaks for itself,” added Mr. Thomas. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to join such an accomplished company and also to work closely with Mort and the rest of the outstanding leadership team.”
The news Mr. Zuckerman will relinquish his role at Boston Properties follows the announcement last month that Michael Fascitelli had resigned from his role as president and chief executive officer at Vornado Realty Trust (VNO).
