Crain’s Chicago Business reported on February 8 that Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI) President Mark Falanga is resigning. MMPI is a unit of Vornado Property Trust, which owns the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Falanga, 54, is expected to leave his day-to-day responsibilities within weeks, and he will be a consultant for MMPI and Vornado. MMPI Chief Operating Officer Myron Maurer is assuming the duties of president.

Falanga has been with MMPI since 1994, and became president in 2011 when Christopher Kennedy ended his involvement with the company. 

The change in MMPI leadership comes less than a year after it signed a 572,000-square-foot lease for space in the Merchandise Mart with Google Inc. The Google lease involved the relocation of 142 furniture and giftware showrooms in late 2012. Crain’s notes that real estate experts speculate that Vornado has increased the potential sale price for the Mart by replacing a large block of showrooms with Google as a single high-profile tenant. And Vornado has sold off similar design-center properties in Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, D.C. A little more than a year ago, MMPI sold the Apparel Center next to the Merchandise Mart. 

For more information, visit merchandisemart.com.