Stockland's chief executive Mark Steinert said Mr Schroder  has created a fully integrated management, design and development capability for the retail and logistics and business parks businesses, and established strong relationships with an array of customers, business partners and stakeholders.

''On a personal level, I thank John for his passion and enormous contribution to Stockland,
for sharing his deep knowledge of the business and for providing me with sound advice
over the past five years. On behalf of Stockland I wish John the very best as he enters the
next phase of his career,'' Mr. Steinert said.

His departure comes a week after the opening of the $414 million revamp of the Green Hills shopping centre in the Hunter region and the new-look Wetherill Park centre, in Sydney's west.

There are also assets sales in the pipeline as the group's focuses on larger, regional malls and the logistics sector.

''I feel incredibly privileged to have led the Commercial Property team at Stockland over the past 12 years,'' Mr Schroder said.

''I’m particularly proud of the town centres we’ve created for communities across the country, the $1 billion current and future development pipeline we have in train across the logistics, business parks and retail assets and the quality of the team we've created, which will continue to lead the business forward,'' Mr Schroder said.

Ms Mason is no stranger to big developments having led the team to gain authority approval for mixed use towers at Macquarie Centre, and the masterplanning and conversion of AMP Capital's $2 billion regeneration project, Quay Quarter Sydney at Circular Quay, comprising residential,
office, retail and heritage restoration.

The changes come as real estate experts say Asia Pacific has emerged as the strongest growing economy globally, with property investors increasing their focus on alternative sectors that offer income stability and higher returns in a bid to offset lower growth forecasts over the coming years.

At CBRE’s annual Australian Market Outlook event in Sydney last Thursday, CBRE’s head of global research, Dr Nick Axford, said all major economies globally continued to experience growth - providing a positive context for the real estate sector.

''All of the major regions globally are expanding. It is difficult to find a major economy that isn’t growing at the moment. However, while the forecast is positive for now, we are late in the cycle, which signals rising interest rates over the coming years,'' Dr Axford said.