The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has announced this week at its annual ICSC European Conference in Barcelona the appointment of Peter Wilhelm, CEO of the Wilhelm & Co Group, as its new European Chairman; with the official handover taking place in October this year.
Peter Wilhelm takes over from Josip Kardun, CEO of Multi Development, one of the largest pan-European mall managers in the industry.
Wilhelm became a member of ICSC in 1997, and since then has held a number of strategic positions within the organisation - the last one being to chair the ICSC European Public Affairs Committee (EPAC) advocating for the shopping center industry in the European Union.
Bill Kistler, executive vice president and managing director of ICSC Europe commented: 'We are very much looking forward to this appointment. Peter Wilhelm – member of ICSC for more than 20 years – has demonstrated throughout his professional career his knowledge of the retail real estate sector, and chiefly his ability to create significant, innovative projects and to think out of the box. This is an extremely relevant appointment at a specific moment when our industry is expected to adapt and find the right answers to major challenges.'
Peter Wilhelm added: 'The challenges and opportunities arising in our industry are bigger than ever before. However, in the process of visiting several recently inaugurated projects, I noticed that our members are adapting well with necessary evolutions, and are well positioned to not only create these new lifestyle destinations our visitors are expecting, but also to bring fresh ideas to many tired city centers in need of new investment.'