Former Western Properties Trust executive Josh N. Smith has been named president of Kimco's western region. Smith has 14 years of experience in real estate, including 10 years with Spieker Properties. He was most recently chief investment officer and senior vice president at Western Properties Trust and is responsible for more than $275 million in neighborhood and community shopping center acquisitions and developments.

Kimco, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, specializes in shopping center acquisitions, development and management. It has an interest in 495 properties comprising about 66.5 million sf of leasable space in 41 states including the 42,000 sf Magnolia Square.

In a joint venture with Simon Property Group and the Schottenstein Group, Kimco recently paid $435.5 million for the rights to resell and re-lease the real estate assets of the bankrupt Montgomery Ward LLC and its affiliates. The property consists of 250 former Ward's retail locations, including 184,946 sf in the Serramonte Center in Daly City, 155,800 sf in San Jose and another 146,352 sf in Pleasant Hill.