Leadership Shake-Up At Lendlease: Americas CEO Leaving The Firm

Denis Hickey, who spearheaded Lendlease’s push in the United States over the last decade, is leaving his role as the Australian firm's global chief operating officer and CEO of its Americas division.

Claire Johnston, who is the Australian construction giant’s managing director, will step into the role of Americas CEO next month, Lendlease said in a release. Hickey was a candidate for the global CEO role last year; then-Asia CEO Tony Lombardo would be promoted to the top job, the Australian Financial Review reported.

“Denis has played a significant role in transforming our U.S. operations — particularly increasing the depth and quality of the U.S. investment and development pipeline,” Lombardo said in a statement.

Lombardo said under Hickey’s leadership, Lendlease increased its U.S. funds and assets under management to $16B. He has also created a development pipeline of more than $28B including the flagship development partnership with Google.

“But even more importantly, his legacy will be defined by the strength and capability of the U.S. leadership team,” Lombardo said.

Lombardo said he will be assuming Hickey's global COO responsibilities. Johnston joined the company 26 years ago, and Lombardo described her as a “purpose-driven leader with a long reputation for building and managing vibrant and effective teams."

Hickey was a professional cricket player in Australia before he entered business and has been in real estate for more than two decades, including serving as CEO of ING Real Estate in Australia. He was also the chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion advisory committee at Lendlease. 

"It has been an honor working at Lendlease for the last decade, leading the Americas region and our global operations. During my time, we have been able transform the business into a truly diverse, global, integrated real estate company," Hickey said in a statement to Bisnow. "We now have a strong foundation in all parts of our business from which to move forward, and the timing is right to hand over the reins for the next step in the company's journey."

This year, Ivanhoé Cambridge and Lendlease partnered to develop lab, office and manufacturing spaces in life sciences clusters in the United States. The partners said in February they would make an initial equity investment of $500M.

The company joined with Australian pension fund Aware Super in 2020 to pay $110.8M for a waterfront site at 1 Java St. in Brooklyn, where the plan is to create housing and a “living shoreline," made up of biodiversity-friendly materials and plants. That will allow for water to move up and down the site rather than running into a concrete revetment wall.

“The CEO position was not ever a conscious goal of mine,” Hickey told Bisnow in May of his current role leading the Americas. “I have always enjoyed being part of a team. I think this stemmed from my younger days playing professional sport, through which I really experienced the power of what a united team can achieve … Now I get to do that as a CEO; it’s both fun and daunting at the same time.”