Black Creek Group Announces Appointment of Jim Giuliano as Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

DENVER -- Black Creek Group, a Denver, Colorado-based real estate private equity firm, announced today the appointment of Jim Giuliano as the company's Chief Operating and Financial Officer.

In his role, Mr. Giuliano will provide strategic guidance on the company's real estate operating companies, helping the company's managing principals optimize business platforms and develop growth plans. Managing principals of Black Creek Group include John Blumberg, Jim Mulvihill, Tom Wattles and Evan Zucker.

Black Creek Group is an innovative real estate private equity firm focused on creating and managing unique real estate platform companies. Unlike companies who strictly raise and allocate capital, Black Creek Group is a hands-on real estate operator actively involved in the identification, development, financing and operations of a diverse range of real estate opportunities. Black Creek Group companies have included Dividend Capital Group, Mexico Retail Properties, Corporate Properties of the Americas and American Real Estate Investment Corporation, the predecessor to Keystone Property Trust (formerly NYSE: KTR), among others.

"We're delighted to have Jim as part of our executive leadership team," said Evan Zucker, one of the managing principals of Black Creek Group. "Jim's vast expertise across real estate sectors should help us accelerate the growth and development of our of real estate platform companies."

Mr. Giuliano is a seasoned, 20-year professional with experience across nearly every facet of the real estate industry. Prior to joining Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust, Mr. Giuliano served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Empire Companies, an Ontario, California-based company involved in diverse real estate activities including land development, master planned communities and multifamily and retail development and operations.

Mr. Giuliano previously served as Principal Financial Officer for Operations of Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), the nation's largest retail REIT, where he was a member of the executive management team and oversaw all financial operations for the parent company and led a financial staff of over 200 professionals. While at Simon Property Group, Mr. Giuliano was appointed President of Simon Global Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary company formed to enable expansion of Simon Property Group's business into global markets.

Before joining Simon Property Group, Mr. Giuliano was Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of DeBartolo Realty Corporation, the second-largest publicly traded retail mall REIT in the U.S., where, in addition to managing the corporate finance function, he oversaw the $1.1 billion initial public offering on behalf of the company. He began his career in public accounting at Kenneth Leventhal & Company, where he served primarily real estate clients and was ultimately appointed a Partner of the practice.

Mr. Giuliano is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Babson College. He also currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust, a diversified REIT that is part of the Dividend Capital Group platform.