BEACHWOOD, OH—Three months after announcing that it would not renew CEO Daniel Hurwitz's contract when it expired at the end of 2015, DDR Corp. said Friday that Hurwitz had agreed to step down a year early. David J. Oakes, the shopping center REIT's president and CFO, became the company's principal executive officer upon Hurwitz's resignation, which took effect Dec. 31, 2014.

DDR did not say why Hurwitz was leaving his post earlier than expected, as it similarly did not state a reason for his planned departure when it was announced this past September. Hurwitz has also resigned as a director of the company, and will remain on the payroll until Feb. 14.

However, Crain's Cleveland Business reported in September that Hurwitz, a 15-year veteran of the company, had been in talks with DDR's board about stepping down since this past May. The publication quoted a research note from Green Street Advisors, which stated that Hurwitz's plan to depart “does not appear motivated by a better employment opportunity, but a genuine desire to move on from a fulfilled strategic plan and a desire to relocate back to the East.”

That strategic plan, Crain's reported, was hammered out by Hurwitz and DDR's board soon after he took office, and entailed transforming the company's portfolio and repairing its balance sheet. In the view of Green Street and other industry analysts, the plan was carried out successfully.

For example, Green Street in September called DDR's balance sheet “much improved, dropping from nearly 10x debt/EBIDTA in 2009 to 7.7x today.” And a look at the company's most recent quarterly report also indicates strides in performance: net income of $66.5 million for Q3 2014, compared to a loss of $205 million the year prior.

Crain's quoted Green Street as saying that Hurwitz has “presided over one of the REIT industry's most impressive portfolio and balance sheet turnarounds.” Similar sentiments were expressed by analysts at Sandler O'Neill, Crain's reported. And while DDR originally announced Hurwitz's departure well over a year in advance, Green Street predicted in September that the timeframe would be moved up if his successor was soon identified.

In an SEC filing, DDR said it would give Hurwitz a lump-sum severance payment of $2.9 million next month, including a $2.25-million equivalent to his annual bonus. Additionally, Hurwitz is entitled to receive cash and non-cash stock compensation totaling approximately $9.8 million.

Hurwitz became DDR's CEO on Jan. 1, 2010, after two-and-a-half years as its president and COO and about six months after joining the company's board. He had held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility after joining DDR in June 1999 as EVP of leasing. Prior to that, he was SVP and director of real estate and corporate development for Boscov's Department Store Inc. and served as development director for New York City-based Shopco Group before joining Boscov's.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Dan for his 15 years of service to DDR,” says Terry Ahern, chairman of DDR. “We have great confidence in the entire DDR executive team to continue to successfully execute our strategy as we progress through this transition.”