DALLAS, Dec 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) today announced John Simon as its Executive Vice President Strategic Planning. Mr. Simon is a notable industry veteran and his responsibilities will cover the full 34 asset portfolio, which includes four master planned communities, eight operating retail properties and a robust development pipeline. Mr. Simon will report to David R. Weinreb, the company's Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Simon has over 35 years of experience in virtually every aspect of real estate development. During his career Mr. Simon has worked in over 100 communities across the U.S. and internationally. After spending 27 years with the Taubman Company Mr. Simon started his own consulting firm where he again worked with Taubman in the pursuit of international retail development opportunities and partnerships in Japan, South Korea, China, Qatar, and Dubai. He also provided strategic and project planning services to various organizations including Disney World Orlando, FL., the Lake Nona master planned community, Orlando, Fl., and the Downtown Denver Partnership. Most recently as an equity partner and CEO of Pineapple Square Properties LLC, Mr. Simon led the development of a $200 million mixed-use project in downtown Sarasota, FL.

At the Taubman Company Mr. Simon was Senior Vice President and Managing Director and for 10 years he oversaw all of the company's development activities. Mr. Simon worked on over 40 major projects at Taubman including overseeing the unprecedented task of opening four regional centers the same year totaling over $1 billion in project costs. All projects were opened on time and within budget. He joined Taubman as in-house traffic engineer after working as a transportation consultant on development projects for The Rouse Company, The Jacobs Company and The Goodman Company.

"Realizing the untapped value in our real estate assets will be greatly enhanced through John's strategic planning skills and the development process will be streamlined through his successful experience delivering world class properties," stated David R. Weinreb, CEO of The Howard Hughes Corporation.

Mr. Simon's initial focus will be on Ward Centers in Honolulu, the Summerlin Town Centre in Las Vegas, the South Street Seaport in Manhattan, and the Riverwalk Marketplace in New Orleans.
Ward Centers is comprised of approximately 60 acres situated along Ala Moana Beach Park and is within one mile of Waikiki and downtown Honolulu. Ward Centers currently is a 550,000 square foot shopping district containing six specialty centers and over 135 unique shops, a variety of restaurants and an entertainment center, which includes a 16-screen movie theater. In January 2009, the Hawaii Community Development Authority approved a 15-year master plan, which includes a mixed-use development encompassing up to 9.3 million square feet with flexibility to develop a maximum of 7.6 million square feet of residential, five million square feet of retail and four million square feet of office, commercial and other uses.

The Shops at Summerlin Centre is a 106 acre parcel located within the 1,300 acre mixed-use town center in the heart of Summerlin Master Planned Community, a 22,500 acre development in Las Vegas that is home to nearly 100,000 residents. The Shops at Summerlin Centre development will include over 1.5 million square feet of department store anchored retail and office space.

The South Street Seaport is comprised of three historic buildings and one pavilion shopping mall, which is located at Pier 17 on the East River in lower Manhattan. The property includes nearly 300,000 square feet of retail space. Cobblestone streets, gas lamps, sailing ships and a museum make the South Street Seaport a moment-in-time experience in New York City. The redevelopment plan for South Street Seaport may ultimately include hotels, residential units, retail space and restaurants.

Riverwalk Marketplace - located along the Mississippi River in the heart of downtown New Orleans - is comprised of more than 100 local and national retail shops, restaurants and attractions. Adjacent to the New Orleans Morial Convention Center (which attracted nearly 900,000 conventioneers in 2011), The Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and Harrah's Casino, Riverwalk is also directly next door to the newly renovated Port of New Orleans Julia Street Cruise Terminal which is projected to increase cruise travel to one million passengers in 2012.