BOSTON—Skanska USA Commercial Development based here will be needing some new signage on some corporate office doors as several key executives have been promoted to top posts with the company or transferred to a key post with an affiliate.

Shawn Hurley, the current executive vice president and regional manager for commercial development operations for Skanska USA Commercial, has been promoted to president and CEO of Skanska USA Commercial Development. Hurley, who has been with Skanska for nearly six years and served as the head of its Boston operations for four years, will remain based in Boston once he takes over the position effective Jan. 1, 2016. Hurley will succeed Mats Johansson, who has been with Skanska for the last 21 years and has served as the president and CEO of the Skanska USA Commercial Development unit since its launch in the U.S. in 2009. Johansson will shift to co-chief operating officer for Skanska USA Building, which is headquartered in Parsippany, NJ and will oversee building construction operations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Washington, DC.

Skanska USA Commercial Development vice president Charles Leatherbee will succeed Hurley, takng on the role of executive vice president and regional manager for commercial development operations in Boston. Leatherbee joined Skanska in 2012 and has 17 years of experience in Boston in acquisitions, development, and construction management of mixed-use, commercial, laboratory and residential projects. All three men will begin their new positions on Jan. 1, 2016.

Company officials stress to Globest.com that the executive changes were not made of necessity but because Skanska believes its executives should have a diverse and broad-based background. “We believe it is important for our executives to understand the full breadth of what Skanska has to offer beyond their own borders and comfort zones,” says Rich Cavallaro, president and CEO, Skanska USA. “Shifting executives' responsibilities expands not only their own capabilities, but fosters new ideas and innovative thinking within our organization.”

Hurley has nearly 20 years of experience in project development and joined Skanska in 2010 as executive vice president and regional manager for commercial development operations in Boston. During his tenure, he negotiated the acquisition of more than 1.5 million square feet of development rights and supervised the development of nearly $1 billion worth of projects in the Greater Boston area.

At present, the company, which specializes in commercial office and multifamily development, has recently completed one major project and has three other ventures under construction in Boston. Its office and multifamily projects in Boston include: the recently completed 101 Seaport office project, 121 Seaport, an office project under construction, Watermark Seaport, a residential and retail project nearing completion and 1350 Boylston St, a residential and retail project also under construction.

“We are actively looking in the greater Boston area and Cambridge trying to identify great sites where we can develop,” Hurley says.

The company also has significant projects in the ground in its other major markets, Washington, DC, Seattle and Houston. Since 2009, Skanska has invested approximately $1.5 billion in nearly a dozen projects in those markets and self-finances the majority of its projects and serves as the construction manager.

While admitting that he has not finalized his first 90-day plan as yet, Hurley says that when he takes the helm as president and CEO of Skanska USA Commercial Development he will be focused on growing the company's multifamily and commercial office development operations. He praised Johansson for building Skanska USA Commercial Development from scratch and pledged that he will continue to grow the office and multifamily development operations that build “best in class, highly sustainable buildings that improve the neighborhoods in which we live work and play.”

He also intends to at least investigate possible new urban markets for Skanska USA Commercial. “There certainly will be an effort that will kind of ramp up in 2016 in terms of evaluating entering into one or two new markets in the United States,” Hurley tells Globest.com. He would not divulge what specific markets would be reviewed, but said that probably five or six would be studied and then a decision would be made later on whether to enter one or two new markets. He also did not provide any timetable on when the company might enter any new market.

Hurley did say that its growth markets would likely be where Skanska already has construction operations. One such market is New York City and Hurley did say that the greater New York market would likely be one of the new markets to be studied.

“We are a vertically integrated platform with world-class construction teams in the markets where we perform our development activities and we are always looking to improve those efficiencies, work better together and deliver better projects than we have before,” Hurley says.

Commenting on Johansson's, appointment to co-COO for Skanska USA Building, Bill Fleming, president and CEO of Skanska USA Building, states, “Mats is the reason we have a successful commercial development operation in four major U.S. cities. He is a great example of how collaboration and knowledge sharing makes us a better company and I look forward to the contributions he will continue to make as he embarks on this new opportunity within Skanska, especially as we expand our work in the commercial sector.”