Vicinity Centres has announced the appointment of Peter Huddle as Chief Operating Officer, a newly-created role within the Executive Committee, following an international search. Huddle will begin with Vicinity on 1 April 2019.
Huddle joins Vicinity after 18 years at Westfield in shopping centre management, development and as Asset General Manager, and most recently as Chief Operating Officer US of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
As COO, Huddle led all real estate activities including development, design, construction, management, leasing, and asset management, and took a senior leadership role in the integration of Unibail Rodamco and Westfield activities and teams in the United States. Prior to the acquisition, he was Senior Executive Vice President, USA and Co-Country Head at Westfield.
In his new role, Huddle will report to Vicinity CEO and Managing Director, Grant Kelley, and be responsible for leasing, shopping centre management, operations and marketing.
“Peter brings with him a long and successful career with the international leader in retail destinations. His appointment forms part of the new Executive Committee structure we announced in December, to accelerate our strategy to create a core portfolio of market-leading destinations, realise mixed-use opportunities and expand our wholesale funds platform.” Kelley said
“His deep international experience in asset management coupled with his strategic vision in creating market-leading destinations in the Americas, means he is uniquely qualified to lead and develop our core operations strategy in Australia.
“The new role of the COO in our leadership team will sharpen Vicinity’s focus on integrating and streamlining operations, continue to strengthen our approach to intensive asset management and enhance experience-led retailing across the portfolio,” said Kelley
Kelley said Huddle was looking forward to returning home with his family to Australia after more than seven years overseas to take on a new challenge and join Vicinity’s strategic transformation agenda.
“I know that Peter is keen to apply what he has learnt from international markets, but rightly, he also strongly believes Australian consumers and shopping centres lead the way in many aspects of retailing,” Kelley added.
Huddle has impressive credentials and led the team responsible for the World Trade Center redevelopment in downtown New York City, Century City in Los Angeles, UTC in San Diego and Valley Fair in San Jose, California.
