Elliot Investment Pushes Leadership, Operational Shakeups at Rexford Industrial

Southern California’s largest industrial real estate investment trust will see new leadership just months after reports that a deep-pocketed activist investor, Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management, secured a substantial stake in the company.

Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, co-founders and co-CEOs of Los Angeles-based Rexford Industrial Realty, will leave their roles on April 1, 2026, the company announced Tuesday. The two have served as co-CEOs since Rexford’s modern iteration was established in 2013, and will stay on as board directors until the company’s annual meeting in mid-2026. 

Laura Clark, chief operating officer at Rexford Industrial Realty, will take over as the REIT’s new chief executive. 

The leadership change follows New York-based hedge fund Elliott Investment’s newfound status as one of Rexford’s top five shareholders, Bloomberg reported in August. Elliott Partner Marc Steinberg commended the transition and other significant strategy changes — which will include re-evaluating the REIT’s development pipeline to focus on “highest return opportunities,” overhauling its asset disposition program, and continuing general and administrative cost cuts that began in 2025. In a statement, Steinberg said Rexford plans to “improve operational efficiency, refocus capital allocation and enhance governance and oversight.”

In addition to installing Clark as CEO, the REIT will also add a new independent director to its Board of Directors by the end of this year, in the wake of “constructive engagement” with Elliott. 

“I am energized by the opportunities ahead as we advance our differentiated value creation strategy through a refreshed lens, including implementing new actions to reform our capital allocation approach and driving operational efficiency across the organization. … I want to thank Michael and Howard for their leadership and look forward to this next chapter for Rexford Industrial,” Clark said in a statement.”

While Southern California’s industrial market has left its post-pandemic honeymoon phase, Rexford is still outperforming many of its regional peers due to its focus on smaller, infill properties rather than big-box warehouses. The REIT’s Elliott-driven changes come after Rexford posted its highest-ever quarterly leasing volume at its latest earnings report, clocking nearly 2 million square feet of positive absorption in the third quarter. 

“Overall, market vacancy is about 5 percent, and importantly, when you drill down and look at the high-quality, well-located product that’s comparable to our portfolio, that market vacancy is substantially lower,” Frankel said during the latest earnings call. “So the backdrop is very strong, and overall tenant health is holding very well within our 51 million-square-foot portfolio.”

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.