A veteran leader in Hawaii’s retail industry and manager of the state’s largest shopping center has joined a rival local retail property developer.

Francis Cofran, longtime senior general manager of Ala Moana Center, has been hired to oversee commercial real estate operations at Ward Village in Kakaako as vice president of management and operations.

The developer of Ward Village, Texas-based Howard Hughes Corp., announced the appointment Monday.

Cofran, born and raised on Oahu, had been a general manager at Ala Moana since 2004.

Brookfield Property Partners, a Canadian-based real estate investment and development firm, acquired majority ownership of the 2.4 million- square-foot mall on 50 acres between Kakaako and Waikiki in 2018.

Ward Village is being developed on 60 acres under a master plan calling for 16 condominium towers with up to 4,500 homes plus 1 million square feet of retail. To date, three towers are complete and two more are under construction.

Doug Johnstone, Hawaii president of Hughes Corp., said in a statement that Cofran’s experience will be invaluable to Ward Village as the community evolves.

“He has a remarkable track record of creating successful shopping, dining and experiential destinations and we look forward to having his vision to help steward our growing neighborhood,” Johnstone said.

Cofran said in a statement that he is grateful for the opportunity to be “at the forefront of the retail, restaurant and entertainment scene” in the developing neighborhood.