Nelson C. Rising to Take Reins at Catellus Development : Real estate: Incoming CEO helped shepherd such massive L.A. projects as Playa Vista community.

Nelson C. Rising, who helped shepherd such massive Los Angeles real estate projects as the Central Library renovation and the Playa Vista master-planned community, was chosen Wednesday to be president and chief executive of struggling Catellus Development Corp.

Rising, 52, a senior partner at the real estate development firm Maguire Thomas Partners in Los Angeles, succeeds Vernon B. Schwartz, who resigned under pressure from San Francisco-based Catellus earlier this year after some of the company’s major stockholders protested the developer’s poor performance.

Catellus is one of California’s largest landholders, owning 905,000 acres--about twice the size of Orange County. The firm focuses on commercial and industrial development, but several of its major projects have run into problems.

Perhaps its biggest headache is Mission Bay in San Francisco, a 313-acre, $2-billion multiuse development whose groundbreaking has been repeatedly delayed because of conservation and environmental disputes. Catellus, created in 1990 when transportation giant Santa Fe Pacific Corp. spun off its land holdings, also has been hurt by a tepid real estate market.

But some of Catellus’ big stockholders, led by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), which owns 41% of Catellus, also blamed Schwartz’ management for the firm’s lagging results.

However, “we’re very supportive of Nelson Rising,” said Sheryl Pressler, the pension fund’s chief investment officer.

Rising takes over Sept. 15. In a telephone interview, he declined to outline a specific game plan for Catellus, saying he will spend the next few weeks studying the firm’s various projects.

But Rising said he took the job “because this was an irresistible challenge,” and because of publicly held Catellus’ access to the capital markets and the apparent comeback in California’s real estate industry.

Joseph R. Seiger, a Catellus director who also was elected chairman of the board Wednesday, said Rising was tapped because of his “experience, energy and his knowledge of the California markets.”

Rising also was active in Los Angeles civic affairs, having been involved in Rebuild L.A., the Downtown Strategic Plan and several mayoral study panels. He currently heads the Central City Assn., a downtown Los Angeles business group.