By ANNE GIBSON
Westfield New Zealand's chief, Grant Hirst, will return to Australia at Christmas. His replacement is yet to be announced.
Mr Hirst will head the international shopping centre leasing division in Sydney, which has about 100 staff.
That leaves Westfield's 250 staff in New Zealand without a leader.
But Mr Hirst says an appointment will be made from within Westfield's ranks within the next fortnight.
It had been expected that he would be replaced by David Kennedy, managing director of St Lukes Group, which Westfield has taken over.
But Mr Hirst said Mr Kennedy had turned the position down.
"David had an opportunity to take over, but he's going to go off and do his own thing," he said, adding that Mr Kennedy's new job would be outside Westfield.
Mr Hirst said he was leaving New Zealand because the eldest of his three children was close to university age and the family needed to return home.
The children, aged between 10 and 16, have been enrolled at Sydney schools and the Hirst family plan to initially rent in Sydney's eastern suburbs, having sold their house.
Mr Hirst came to New Zealand in January 1997 and took the company on a big expansion drive, which included the takeover of St Lukes Group, rebranding all the malls, a $100 million expansion of Glenfield Mall and development plans for a $300 million mall in Newmarket.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last month that Westfield chief Frank Lowy had scaled new executive pay heights, taking home $A8.46 million annually after a 10 per cent pay rise in the year to June.
Mr Lowy's three sons are also richly rewarded. Steven Lowy is paid $A2.1 million, David $A1.6 million and Peter $US1.63 million. The Lowy family control a third of Westfield.
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