After a Decade of Rapid Expansion, Rexford Resets Strategy Under New CEO, Laura Clark

Rexford outlines a programmatic asset disposition plan, $20M+ in G&A cuts, and a disciplined approach to reinvestment and share buybacks to boost returns.

Asset sales, $25M in G&A cuts, and share buybacks lead Rexford’s new strategy under incoming CEO Laura Clark.

Rexford Industrial Realty announced a leadership overhaul and a new capital allocation strategy following constructive engagement with Elliott Investment Management, which has secured an active stake in the company. Current COO Laura Clark will become CEO on April 1, succeeding co-CEOs Michael Frankel and Howard Schwimmer.

Clark stated that Rexford will maximize returns through a programmatic disposition strategy, selling underperforming or fully-valued assets. Proceeds will be recycled into high-yielding repositioning projects and accretive share repurchases, with new investments benchmarked against buyback returns. The company will also add a new independent director by the end of 2025 as part of the governance changes. Elliott, one of Rexford’s largest investors, commended the decisive actions, calling them positioning for the next stage of growth.

The shift follows a decade of exceptional expansion. Since its 2013 IPO, Rexford has scaled from 5.5 million to 51 million square feet, grown its equity market cap from $406 million to nearly $10 billion, and now generates close to $1 billion in annual revenue.

What CRE Brokers Can Expect: A Focus on Execution and Financial Discipline

Industry professionals now have concrete, time-bound financial and operational metrics to monitor as detailed in its November 18 press release:

• • Asset Dispositions: Watch for the first tranche of sales under the new “programmatic disposition” plan, which will reveal the type of assets the company deems “underperforming or fully-valued” across its Southern California infill portfolio.

  • Cost Efficiency: The company is targeting $20 million to $25 million in net General & Administrative (G&A) savings in 2026, aiming to reduce G&A as a percentage of revenues below the industrial REIT peer average.

  • Capital Focus: The development pipeline is being re-evaluated for stricter return thresholds, signaling a potential reduction in overall development exposure. Rexford is also committed to a target leverage of 4.0x–4.5x Net Debt/EBITDA.

The next 6–12 months will be critical in determining whether this strategic recalibration produces measurable operational and financial shifts that could influence transaction activity, asset pricing, and disposition opportunities across Rexford’s highly-coveted Southern California portfolio.