Appointments, People on the Move, Shopping Center Business
JOSIP KARDUN TO LEAD ICSC IN EUROPE
It’s now up to the Atrium Group executive to continue to strengthen the shopping center industry’s position in the EU.
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has a new champion in Europe. It has appointed Josip Kardun, CEO of the Atrium Group, to chair its Advisory Board for the region, with the official handover taking place this week at the board’s meeting in Munich, Germany, just one month ahead of the Retail Strategy & Trends Forum in Berlin. Kardun takes over from Alexander Otto, CEO of ECE Projektmanagement.
“I am honored to succeed Alexander Otto. I look forward to this new challenge and to making the retail real estate industry in Europe even greater,” Kardun said in an ICSC release.
A member of the ICSC European Advisory Board since 2008 and its vice-chair since January of this year, Kardun has also served on the council’s Executive Committee since 2011 and was chair of the European Next Generation Advisory Group from 2008 to 2013. Appointed CEO of the Atrium Group last December, he joined the company from ECE Projektmanagement, where he worked for seven years in various senior positions, including chief investment officer and head of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Transaction Management Group. Before that, Kardun was general manager at Sierra Management Germany GmbH, part of Sonae Sierra’s international shopping center development and management group.
“It has been a pleasure to work closely with Alex over the past years and seeing his successful leadership of the European Advisory Board,” said ICSC executive VP Mike Morrissey of outgoing chair Alexander Otto.
“We look forward to Josip’s involvement as our new chair, with all of his enormous industry and ICSC experience.”
Kardun has big shoes to fill. According to ICSC, the council has grown its European membership from under 2,000 to over 7,000 during the past three years of Otto’s tenure. It also believes that it now has a louder voice to speak on behalf of its members, especially at the European Parliament.
“In order to strengthen the industry’s position with the EU we have to rely on facts and figures, so research has been a crucial part of ICSC’s work under Alexander’s chairmanship,” the council noted, “and a number of important European research projects have been completed in the recent years.”
For more on ICSC’s European activities and initiatives, visit www.icsc.org/europe.