Downtown Santa Monica Hires New CEO

The Downtown Santa Monica board of directors hired urban placemaking professional Andrew Thomas as CEO. Thomas will lead the public-private nonprofit, which works with the city of Santa Monica to manage services and operations and promote economic stability, growth and community life in downtown Santa Monica and on the Third Street Promenade. Thomas has more than 20 years of experience, including an accomplished history with Downtown Santa Monica, formerly known as The Bayside District. He served as the organization’s director of operations from 2001 to 2010. Thomas has been the founding executive director of Los Angeles’ Westwood Village Improvement Association for the past 11 years.

Ripco Names Mark Kaplan President

Services firm Ripco Real Estate promoted Mark Kaplan from principal to president. He will continue to serve as COO. He joined the company in 2017 and launched the property management division in 2019 and the investment sales and debt/equity division in 2020. The following year, he led the opening of Miami and Tampa, Florida, offices. In June 2022, Kaplan played a key role in Ripco’s first acquisition, restaurant brokerage firm BCD. Ripco has more than 100 brokers in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Florida. Learn more about his path to success and plans for the future here.

RELATED: Check out our 2017 profile of Kaplan

Legal Expert Howard Kane has Died Dead at 95

Commercial property attorney Howard Kane, a longtime ICSC member and volunteer, has died at the age of 95. Kane was a chair of the ICSC U.S. Law conference and a longtime presence on its planning committee. But before that, he was an attendee at the first ICSC Law conference, more than 50 years ago. After he worked at DLA Piper in Chicago for more than 20 years, the law firm created an award to recognize members of the real estate practice for exceptional service to the firm, the profession and the public and named it after Kane. “He was a wonderful man, a skilled attorney and an icon in our industry,” said Honigman attorney Alan Salle, who worked with Kane at DLA Piper when it was called Rudnick & Wolfe in the 1980s. “His legacy lives on, but he will be missed.”