Joseph Kornwasser

Joseph K. Kornwasser has been very active in the fields of banking, commercial property development and retailing over the last 39 years, both as an executive officer and director of numerous public companies and on a private company basis. Prior to 1978, he was an attorney specializing in corporate, securities and real estate law.

Mr. Kornwasser was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of California, a federally chartered banking institution headquartered in Los Angeles, which he founded in 1982. The Bank was merged with Commercial Bank of California on May 2, 2016, and Mr. Kornwasser now serves as a director of the merged bank. It is active as a corporate middle market and small business lender.
In the area of commercial real estate, Mr. Kornwasser has been active in the development of 72 shopping centers, office buildings and mixed-use projects, comprising in excess of twenty-three million square feet of improvements throughout the United States. He now continues active development of shopping centers throughout the Western U.S. as Managing Director of Kornwasser Shopping Center Properties and Kornwasser Realty Advisors.

Mr. Kornwasser served as Senior Executive Vice President and Board Member of Kimco Realty Corporation, a publicly traded REIT and the largest owner of community and neighborhood centers in the country, from 1998 to 2001. During that period he was also Chairman and CEO of the Kimco Income Fund (a major pension fund partnership). Before accomplishing a merger with Kimco in June of 1998, Mr. Kornwasser served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of The Price REIT, Inc., a national REIT specializing in the development and acquisition of regional and power shopping centers from 1993 to 1998.

From 1978 through 1993, Mr. Kornwasser was the Managing Partner of Kornwasser & Friedman Shopping Center Properties, which he co-founded. In 1983, Kornwasser & Friedman Shopping Center Properties formed a partnership with The Price Club called P&K Associates. Over the next 10 year period, P&K Associates became one of the two largest developers of power shopping centers in the United States and one of the largest landlords of Price/Costco and Home Depot.

Mr. Kornwasser has also been actively involved with several major retailers in the capacity of a board member, partner or consultant. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Costco, Inc., and was a General Partner in a major real estate development partnership with The Price Club for an eleven year period. While at Kimco he was very involved in real estate dispositions for troubled retailers.

Mr. Kornwasser is an active officer and board member of numerous civic, community, religious and charitable organizations. He was a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee to the California Senate Select Committee on Small Business, and was a member of the Listed Advisory Committee to the New York Stock Exchange.