Cushman taps real estate veteran as CEO

Commercial services firm Cushman & Wakefield picked Glenn Rufrano, the head of an Australian-based owner of shopping centers, to replace outgoing CEO Bruce Mosler, the company said in a statement this morning. He will assume the position March 22.

Rufrano is the outgoing CEO at Centro Properties Group, a position he has held for two years. He has been with Centro since it bought the large American shopping center real estate investment trust New Plan Excel Realty Trust in 2007, where he had been CEO.

“We are confident that Glenn has the vision to lead Cushman & Wakefield, creating meaningful value for our clients, employees and other stakeholders,” said Carlo Barel di Sant’Albano, a Cushman & Wakefield board member and CEO of EXOR, the Italian investment company of the Agnelli family which owns Cushman.

Cushman & Wakefield had said it was considering bringing in a new CEO from outside the real estate industry, but went with a veteran with a long record in real estate.

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Mosler will step down as CEO, but remain at the firm as co-chairman of the board, a position he took Jan. 1 this year. He announced he would step down in October.

Lawrence Longua, clinical associate professor at the Schack Institute of Real Estate at New York University, said Rufrano helped turn around New Plan, after the REIT ran into trouble through aggressive over-expansion.

“He is very smart and knows real estate at the property level,” Longua said. “Glenn was brought in and restructured [New Plan] and strengthened the balance sheet.”