RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (RioCan) chief executive officer, Edward Sonshine, announced plans to retire on March 31, 2021 or 2022.

Upon his retirement, Sonshine has agreed to become the non-executive chairman of the Board of the Trust for two years to ensure an orderly transition with his successor. Paul V. Godfrey, chair of the board, has agreed to step down at that time to become lead trustee.

“The members of the Board of Trustees are all very pleased that Sonshine has agreed to remain as CEO of the Trust… He continues to bring a tremendous amount of leadership to the management team as he guides RioCan in its strategic vision for continued growth,” Godfrey said in the press release.

Chief operating officer promoted
RioCan is also pleased to announce that Jonathan Gitlin, chief operating officer, has been promoted to the president and chief operating officer of RioCan effective immediately.

According to the press release, Gitlin joined the real estate investment trust in 2005 and has been the head of the Trust’s investment team since 2007 where he has played a major role in the tremendous growth of RioCan and has lead RioCan’s ongoing $2 billion disposition program as part of its accelerated major market strategy and execution of the Trust’s residential program.

“Since his assumption of the role of COO in August of 2018, Jonathan has been a key contributor to our leadership team and to the ongoing success of the major initiatives that RioCan has underway. I am confident in his abilities to lead our operations as we move towards the next phase of our growth and development”, Sonshine added.