Andy Greenwood

Andy was born and raised in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper, Utah.  He stayed in the area until he was 27.  Andy got his college degree in Construction Management and graduated in 2002 from Utah Valley University which is located in Orem, Utah.  He worked his way up in his family’s construction business doing everything from cleaning up job sites to estimating and project management. It was also during this time he married Rebecca, his wife of over 23 years who he met in college.  She is originally from Los Angeles.  They have three grown children;  Colby who is 21 years old, Brandon who is 19, and their youngest, daughter Taelyn, who is 15.  Colby and Brandon are in college back in Idaho and Utah, respectively, and Taelyn attends the American Leadership Academy in Gilbert, where Rebecca is an Academic Counselor.

 

In 2004 he moved to our area to work in the regional office of his father’s construction business after only visiting here once in his life.  Andy told us that his father’s construction company specialized in building out stores within shopping malls.  This is where he got his hands-on experience with how these stores and malls were put together and changed.  Andy worked for his father’s company until 2006 and left in search of more opportunities and growth. 

 

He told us that he got in touch with a high school friend who worked as a property manager at Arrowhead Towne Center in Phoenix, which is also owned by Macerich.  Andy told him he was looking for a change in his career, and his friend encouraged him to consider applying with Macerich.  He got the job and has been there since.   His first job with them was in tenant coordination.  In this job he called upon technical skills to make sure each entering tenant's plan for their space was approved by the mall.  From there Andy moved into Macerich’s Development Department, in a role that is key for achieving the company’s goals for the entire mall.  We were just transfixed by the things he deals with in terms of each mall’s aesthetic look, feel and vibe because it all has to work together.  

 

Andy told us he really enjoys working with his colleagues at Macerich.  They are true professionals, and one of his favorites is Scottsdale Leadership Class 29 graduate Kate Birchler who is involved in Macerich’s tourism and marketing efforts around the country.  Kate talked to Andy about Scottsdale Leadership and he was really interested.  After being accepted into the program, he graduated with his Class 34 classmates in 2020.  As a development manager, he would frequently work with the City of Scottsdale on mall issues, but he was blown away by what else he was able to learn in our program.  It was so interesting to get his perspective on how governments deal with their constituents and companies like his.  He has stayed active with our organization and has participated in the Economic Development Day for many of the recent classes.

 

Andy and his colleagues always have to be forward looking and nimble because the retail shopping business is tough.  A good example of what can happen is Metrocenter on the west side of Phoenix.  That mall did not grow and change with the times.  Because of that, and other factors, Metrocenter Mall evolved into a new project.   But just as there are times when a mall needs to change, there are opportunities for new shopping areas.  As an example, he thinks there are parts of our metropolitan area that could support some level of retail densification, perhaps near the new TSMC Semiconductor campuses going up in north Phoenix.  It was so interesting to hear him talk about that. 

 

Andy also mentioned that after Nordstrom decided to downsize, that left Macerich’s Chandler Fashion Mall with a huge 200,000 square foot hole to fill there.  His colleagues were able to fill that spot with another unique tenant when they got Scheels Sporting Goods, which is huge in the upper Midwest, to move in.  He said you have to move on, and be ready for change

 

We always like to find out what our great alumni do for fun, and how they spend their time outside of work.  We laughed when Andy spoke about Rebecca's and his monetary commitment during this stage of their lives, with two kids in college. But with their extended families back in cooler climates in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, they have ready-made vacation spots to visit.  As self-described foodies, they also love to do meals at home.  Andy and Rebecca like nothing better than to cook up a new recipe from Instagram and watch an L.A. Dodgers baseball game on television.  

 

So, as we finished our conversation with Andy, we just had this feeling that he is a guy you can really rely on.  He even called himself boring which we laughed at.  As we walked away from our meeting with him, we smiled and said to each other if that is boring, we could use a lot more of that.