Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) announced that Paige Pitcher has joined the company as Senior Vice President, Digital Innovation, effective July 1. The role is newly created, and Pitcher will report directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Don Wood.

In her new position, Pitcher will oversee Federal Realty's applied AI and technology strategy across leasing, operations, and investment, with a stated focus on speed and efficiency.

Pitcher brings more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of real estate, technology, and investment. She joins Federal Realty from Bigger Pitcher Advisory, where she worked on AI integration and enterprise digitization for real estate firms and proptech companies across three continents. She previously led innovation at Hines across 25 countries and worked on technology adoption for large REITs at a proptech venture capital firm.

Pitcher holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from MIT and serves on the Blackstone Proptech Advisory Board and the board of the Center for Real Estate Technology and Innovation.

"The opportunity in front of us is to bring that same instinct to how we use data — to understand our centers and our tenants' businesses even more deeply, and to get great retailers open and operating sooner," said Wood in a statement.

Federal Realty owns and operates 104 properties totaling approximately 29.0 million commercial square feet, with around 3,800 tenants and approximately 2,500 residential units.