CREATING INITIATIVES, COMMUNICATING IDEAS, INFLUENCING POLICY

James Kaplan, CRX, CSM, has decades of experience in the shopping center business, as an owner, developer, and property manager and leasing representative for both private and institutional ownerships.

Jim also has over 30 years of active, hands-on experience in government affairs involving the shopping center industry. He was an original member of Mayor Richard J. Daley’s “Retail Chicago” advisory panel. He’s a past International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), state and divisional government affairs chair, veteran participant in numerous legislative initiatives, and long time advocate of extending ICSC’s reach to the state and local level. Jim was also one of the original driving forces behind the creation of the ICSC Alliance Program, an initiative which serves to unite the interests of the shopping center community, planners, and municipalities.

Outside of ICSC, he has served on numerous Technical Assistance Panels sponsored by the Urban Land Institute (ULI), working to help communities explore alternatives for esthetic and economic improvement. He spearheaded the formation of a ULI Advocacy and Outreach Initiative, which sought to solidify the position of ULI as a multidisciplinary real estate forum amongst industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places.

Jim has served on municipal workshops and advisory task forces, authored numerous articles on a variety of industry issues, participated on various seminar panels, provided testimony as an “industry expert”, and served as a moderator, lecturer and instructor for industry sponsored educational programs.

The result? A bulging electronic Rolodex and excellent industry relationships which facilitate the conveyance of messages and the achievement of objectives. The ability to organize ideas and to effectively convey them to an audience, whether it be one-on-one with a member of Congress, a municipal board, a roundtable of 10, or a meeting room of hundreds.