Highwoods Properties, Inc. announced Ed Fritsch, 60, will retire as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective September 1, 2019. Ted Klinck, 53, who currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the role of CEO and director upon Mr. Fritsch's retirement. Mr. Fritsch, who first joined Highwoods in 1982 at the age of 23, was a partner in the predecessor firm before its IPO in June 1994.

Mr. Fritsch served as the Chief Operating Officer of Highwoods from January 1998 to July 2004 and was Vice President of Operations and Secretary from June 1994 to January 1998. He joined the Board in 2001, became the Company's President in December 2003 and CEO in July 2004. Mr. Fritsch recently concluded a seven-year term on the executive board of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”), including serving as its chair in 2016.

As part of the Company's long-term succession planning activities and upon Mr. Fritsch's recommendation, the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Mr. Klinck as President, CEO and director effective September 1, 2019. Mr. Klinck has served as President since November 2018 and Chief Operating Officer of Highwoods since September 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Klinck served as the Company's Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer.

Before joining Highwoods in March 2012, Mr. Klinck served as principal and chief investment officer with Goddard Investment Group, a privately-owned real estate investment firm. Previously, Mr. Klinck had been a managing director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate. Effective with these changes, Highwoods also announced Brendan Maiorana, 43, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations and Brian Leary, 45, will join the Company as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Maiorana joined Highwoods in 2016 as Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. He will continue to report directly to Mark Mulhern, 59, the Company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Highwoods, Mr. Maiorana worked for 11 years in Equity Research at Wells Fargo Securities, starting as an Associate Equity Research Analyst.

Prior to that, he worked four years at Ernst & Young LLP as a senior auditor. Mr. Leary will join Highwoods on July 15, 2019 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to Mr. Klinck. He joined Crescent Communities as president of its commercial and mixed-use business unit in 2014.

Prior to joining Crescent, Mr. Leary held senior management positions with Jacoby Development, Inc., Atlanta Beltline, Inc., AIG Global Real Estate, Atlantic Station, LLC and Central Atlanta Progress.