↑ Grab this Headline Animator

REIT Industry Honors Leland Speed and Martin Cicco

The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (http://reit.com/)'s174; (NAREIT's174;) presented its 2008 Industry Leadership Award to Leland Speed, chairman of Parkway Properties, Inc. and EastGroup Properties, Inc. Martin Cicco, head of the investment firm MJC Associates, was honored with the Industry Achievement Award. Both awards were created in 1992 to honor NAREIT members who have displayed excellence in their contributions to the real estate industry and to the programs of the association. Since 1996, they have been bestowed in memory of past NAREIT Chair E. Lawrence Miller.

The Leadership Award is presented to a REIT executive who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the growth and betterment of the industry. Industry professionals whose acumen and integrity have helped heighten awareness of REITs and publicly traded real estate are eligible for the Achievement Award.

Leland Speed is a pioneer in the REIT industry, beginning his career in 1978 when the industry was constituted primarily of mortgage REITs.

Leland built an enterprise through the acquisitions of a series of mortgage REITs through the 1980s, explained NAREIT President and CEO Steven A. Wechsler. In the 1990s, he was one of the first to see the potential for the publicly traded equity REIT.

With that vision, Speed founded Parkway Properties and EastGroup Properties, making them among the first public equity REITs that launched the modern REIT era.

Prior to launching his own investment firm, Martin Cicco was a leader in Merrill Lynch'ss investment banking operations, where he became vice chairman of global commercial real estate. While at Merrill during the 1990s, he worked with many REITs, counseling them and helping them structure their IPOs.

Like Leland, Marty had a vision of the potential of a new REIT era, Wechsler said. And through his knowledge and the resources he was able to bring to the table, he was instrumental in creating it.

The two awards were announced Nov. 19 during NAREIT'ss Annual Convention in San Diego.

The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts's174; (NAREIT) is the representative voice for U.S. REITs and publicly traded real estate companies worldwide. Members are real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other businesses that own, operate and finance income-producing real estate, as well as those firms and individuals who advise, study and service those businesses. Visit our Web site at REIT.com (http://reit.com/).

NAREIT does not intend this press release to be a solicitation related to any particular company, nor does it intend to provide investment, legal or tax advice. Investors should consult with their own investment, legal or tax advisers regarding the appropriateness of investing in any of the securities or investment strategies discussed in this publication. Nothing herein should be construed to be an endorsement by NAREIT of any specific company or products or as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. NAREIT expressly disclaims any liability for the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of data in this publication. Unless otherwise indicated, all data are derived from, and apply only to, publicly traded securities. Any investment returns or performance data (past, hypothetical, or otherwise) are not necessarily indicative of future returns or performance.

Contact:

Ron Kuykendall or Matt Bechard

(202) 739-9400

1-800-3NAREIT

http://reit.com/

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

---

This article has been robotically scanned and tagged by Prnewsnow with the following search tags. No human manipulation of these tags take place.
| Embedded | Parasoft Embedded | continuous process throughout |

---

4931 readers online...

, Local News