Mark Falanga

The President

Mark Falanga serves as President of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI). MMPI is the world’s leading owner and operator of showroom buildings and trade show facilities, bringing buyers and sellers together in more than 300 market events, trade and consumer shows and conferences each year.

Until June 2011, Falanga served as Senior Vice President, heading up several of its key businesses in addition to leading MMPI’s acquisitions efforts. Falanga has overseen the $465 million development and leasing efforts of the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center, scheduled to open in 2013.  Falanga has directed all leasing and marketing efforts for all MMPI’s contract furnishings businesses, including NeoCon® in Chicago, Ill., NeoCon® East in Baltimore, Md. and IlDEX® / NeoCon® Canada in Toronto, Ontario. In addition to all commercial furnishings showroom-based activities, he has managed all office and retail leasing and marketing efforts of MMPI and its outside brokers, CBRE and Stone Real Estate. Falanga also oversaw the LuxeHome™ developments in Chicago and New York. Falanga has also managed MMPI’s sprawling art business including The Armory Show, Armory Modern, Volta Basel, Volta NY, Art Chicago, NEXT, and Art Toronto. Falanga joined MMPI in 1994.

Prior to joining MMPI, Falanga was the director of business development and market research at Marvel, Weiser Lock, two Masco Corporation divisions. During his career at Masco, Falanga was also an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management from 1990-1995, teaching New Product Development, an MBA marketing course. He was distinguished as one of four outstanding faculty members at Kellogg for each year he taught as determined by a student vote. 

Falanga holds a Ph.D. in Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning and Architecture from the University of Michigan.

Falanga resides on the North Shore of Chicago with his wife Diane and their two children.