Management Profiles

Jared Chupaila

CEO, Brookfield Properties' retail group 

Jared Chupaila is the CEO of Brookfield Properties' retail group. He previously served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer where he oversaw the company’s day-to-day operations, including leasing, business development, asset and property management, marketing, and business intelligence and strategy.

Before that, he spent nearly two decades at GGP in multiple roles, including Executive Vice President of Leasing where he oversaw all leasing activity and new business opportunities for the retail real estate company’s 100-plus+ properties. He began his career as a leasing specialist at the Howard Hughes Corp. in Las Vegas.

Mr. Chupaila earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University.

Tyler Steel

Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer 

Tyler Steel is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Brookfield Properties' retail group. Mr. Steel brings over 20 years of corporate finance and strategic executive leadership to the company. An integral member of the senior leadership team at Ventas, a REIT with a more than $22 billion market cap, Mr. Steel led the corporate finance team and built the financial planning and analysis organization. In this role, he was also responsible for reporting quarterly earnings, investor relations, board of directors reporting, and integrating several acquisitions.

Prior to Ventas, Mr. Steel was Chief Finanical Officer of US Lending for GE Capital Real Estate, a more than $20 billion real estate lending business, where he was responsible for creating and executing a successful turnaround strategy following the 2008 financial market crash. In this role he led the business in originating $15 billion in new deals and $20 billion of loan workouts. Mr. Steel held several senior-level corporate finance roles at GE over 15 years, and completed the prestigious Corporate Audit Staff and Financial Management programs.  

Mr. Steel graduated from the College of William & Mary with honors and a bachelor's degree in economics.

Troy Benson

Executive Vice President, Leasing

Troy Benson is the Executive Vice President of Leasing for Brookfield Properties' retail group and oversees leasing activity for the company's portfolio of more than 170 retail locations, which encompass over 150 million square feet of retail space. Mr. Benson has spent more than 20 years at the company and held a leadership role in nearly every sector of the leasing department. Early in his tenure, Mr. Benson was Vice President of Asset Management, overseeing marketing, leasing, and the management teams of 45 regional shopping centers. Mr. Benson's robust real estate career began in Florida, where he worked on ground-up development projects.

Mr. Benson graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in economics.

John Cournoyer

Executive Vice President, Construction, Design & Development Administration 

John Cournoyer is the Executive Vice President of Construction, Design & Development for Brookfield Properties' retail group. Mr. Cournoyer has more than 25 years of experience in development, construction, finance, design, leasing, and acquisitions. He has been with the company since 2011 as a key leader in construction, design, and development, helping to bring $3 billion development and redevelopment projects online across the portfolio.

Prior to joining Brookfield Properties, Mr. Cournoyer spent 12 years as a real estate development executive in the New York office of Forest City Enterprises.

Mr. Cournoyer graduated from Bennington College with a bachelor's degree in architecture; Rhode Island School of Design with a bachelor's degree in fine arts and a master's degree in architecture; and Columbia University with a master's degree in real estate development.

James Cummings

Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer

James Cummings is the Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for Brookfield Properties' retail group, overseeing all aspects of the company’s accounting functions, including financial and operational accounting, public reporting, and compliance.

Mr. Cummings joined the company in January 2012, in the Finance group, and moved to Accounting in 2016. Prior to joining, Mr. Cummings spent 10 years between the finance and accounting groups for Equity Lifestyle Properties, a publicly traded REIT that owns and operates manufactured home communities across North America.

Mr. Cummings graduated from Wabash College with a bachelor's degree in economics and from The John Marshall Law School with a Juris Doctor. He is a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois.

Stacie L. Herron 

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Stacie Heron is the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Brookfield Properties' retail group and is responsible for all of the company’s legal matters and oversight of the day-to-day operations of the legal department. Ms. Herron joined the company in May 2008 as an attorney in the Corporate, Contracts, and Securities group, took over leadership of that team in March 2011, and succeeded to her current role in July 2018. 

Prior to joining the company, Ms. Herron was an in-house corporate attorney with a NYSE-traded retail company, where she was responsible for corporate, finance, and international matters. Before moving in-house, Ms. Herron was a corporate associate at a Chicago law firm, where she focused on general corporate, transactional, and securities matters on behalf of public and private companies.

Ms. Herron graduated from the University of Tulsa with a bachelor's degree in business administration and from Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law with a Juris Doctor.

Gretchen Horn

Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer  

Gretchen Horn is the Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Brookfield Properties’ retail group. She oversees teams that deliver innovative, secure, scalable, and sustainable technology solutions that enable the growth and operations for the organization. Ms. Horn joined the company in 2006, and since then has held various positions within the Information Technology department.

Ms. Horn graduated from the University of Kansas School of Engineering with a bachelor's degree in computer science.

Brian McCarthy

Executive Vice President, Asset Management

Brian McCarthy serves as the Executive Vice President of Asset Management for Brookfield Properties' retail group, overseeing management, operations, tenant coordination, and energy/sustainability for the company.

Over the last two decades, Mr. McCarthy has held numerous positions in asset management. Mr. McCarthy spent 14 years working at The Rouse Company, starting as a college intern in development.

Mr. McCarthy graduated from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and is also a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Chris Pine 

Executive Vice President, Anchors and Big Box Leasing & Development 

Chris Pine is the Executive Vice President of Anchors and Big Box Leasing & Development for Brookfield Properties' retail group and is a seasoned veteran in the retail real estate industry. Mr. Pine leads the leasing strategy for redeveloping department stores across the Brookfield Properties portfolio and spearheads efforts to bring new uses to those anchor spaces, such as retail, fitness, grocery, entertainment, and more. He started at the company in 2011 as Senior Vice President of Big Box Leasing.

Previously, Mr. Pine worked as Vice President of Real Estate for Whole Foods Market, where he transacted more than 1 million square feet of leases per year, and as a real estate director for Brinker International, where he was responsible for the rollout of emerging concepts.

Mr. Pine graduated from the University of California in Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in organizational psychology.

Kathy Rugebregt

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Kathy Rugebregt is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Brookfield Properties' retail group, overseeing all aspects of the company’s human resources functions, including talent acquisition, employee relations, learning and development, compensation, benefits, and compliance. Responsible for more than 1,900 employees, Ms. Rugebregt is at the forefront of driving the organization’s strong cultural values. During her 14-year tenure with the company, Kathy has held other senior-level human resources roles, including HR data management and talent acquisition. 

Ms. Rugebregt graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Michelle Snyder

Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer

Michelle Snyder is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Brookfield Properties' retail group, and is responsible for driving brand awareness for the company’s more than 160 retail assets to a variety of key audiences, including tenant partners and consumers. Ms. Snyder oversees a team of more than 70 employees, focusing on everything from creative design to public relations, consumer and tenant marketing, and more.

Prior to joining Brookfield Properties in 2014, Ms. Snyder served as the head of consumer insights at Mars Wrigley Confectionery.

Ms. Snyder graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor's degree in marketing and from Thunderbird International School of Management with an MBA in international marketing. 

Adam Tritt

Executive Vice President, Development

Adam Tritt is the Executive Vice President of Development for Brookfield Properties' retail group and oversees the Brookfield Properties development team. In this role, Mr. Tritt is responsible for the strategy surrounding redevelopment of assets in the entire retail portfolio. Mr. Tritt has spent his entire career with the company, beginning as an analyst in 1999, in the development group. He has worked in a variety of roles, including most recently overseeing retail assets in the West. Over the past eight years, Mr. Tritt has completed projects valued at more than $1 billion and generated more than $80 million in new net operating income.  

Mr. Tritt graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in engineering as well as bachelor's degrees from The Wharton School in both finance and real estate.