Cousins Makes Leadership Moves

ATLANTA-Locally based Cousins Properties Inc. has made a few changes to its executive lineup. Dan DuPree has been named vice chairman of the company after serving as president and COO since 2007. Taking his place is Larry Gellerstedt, who previously served as executive vice president and chief development officer for Cousins.

In his new role as vice chairman, DuPree will focus on developing joint ventures, identifying distressed opportunities and overseeing the company’s 4.7 million-square-foot retail portfolio—no small task, given that last week GlobeSt.com reported the firm was bracing for a challenging 2009 in terms of retail leasing. Cousins also confirmed during the company’s latest earnings call that executives at the REIT are actively on the look out for distressed opportunities, but have not yet found any that meet their standards.