Forest City chief named ICSC chairman

New York -- The International Council of Shopping Centers announced that David J. LaRue, president and CEO of Forest City Enterprises, has been elected by ICSC’s Board of Trustees to serve as the association’s chairman for the 2013–2014 term.



LaRue assumed his role as chairman on May 20 during RECon, ICSC’s annual meeting in Las Vegas. He succeeds Brad Hutensky, president and principal of Hutensky Capital Partners.



“Being named chairman of ICSC is a significant honor and I will strive to build on the work of prior chairmen to advance the organization’s mission and service to members,” said LaRue to the ICSC Board of trustees in accepting the position.



LaRue has been an active ICSC member for nearly 20 years and a trustee since 2008, playing a key role in the organization’s governance and many of its activities. He has been an advocate of ICSC’s Global Public Policy efforts in Washington, contributing to the ICSC PAC, and he has spoken at ICSC events.



“David heads a company that owns property across multiple categories in its core markets, and therefore his experience meshes with that of just about every one of ICSC’s members in one way or another,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president and CEO. “Forest City is also a leader in sustainable and innovative development, all of which makes David’s nomination an exciting one as we, as an industry, embrace the future.”



One of ICSC’s continuing priorities for the coming year will be to push for federal legislation requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes in those states in which brick-and-mortar retailers are required to. “Traditional physical stores cannot continue to be discriminated against by this tax policy,” said LaRue. “Reform in this area would also benefit cash-strapped state and local public coffers,” he added.