Lisette van Doorn, a highly regarded real estate investment professional with experience across Europe, has been appointed chief executive of ULI’s European operations, effective in January 2015.
As chief executive of ULI Europe, van Doorn will be responsible for development of the Institute’s activities across the region, including its pan-European conferences and more than 250 local meetings and events across 14 countries. She will be responsible for working with ULI’s staff locally and globally to deliver content and reports, coordinate Advisory Services panels, facilitate ULI’s global awards programs, and expand the Institute’s thought leadership across the continent. Van Doorn also will be responsible for the ULI Charitable Trust, which raises money to advance ULI’s mission and philanthropic activities across Europe.
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Van Doorn is joining ULI from LIRE, her own consultancy business, which advises international institutional real estate investors and fund managers on strategy, organizational optimization, and portfolio structuring. She previously was country manager for CBRE Global Investors, where she managed a €1.6 billion ($2 billion) portfolio of assets in Italy and was fund manager of two shopping center funds totaling €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) with assets in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
Before joining CBRE Global Investors, van Doorn was founding chief executive for the European association Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV). Van Doorn set up, managed, and developed INREV’s activities for members, including research, guidance on professional standards, regulatory affairs, training and education, and events. In addition, she led the day-to-day operations of the association, including planning, budgeting, human resources, marketing, public relations, and communications, and reported to the INREV management board.
Van Doorn started her career at ING Investment Management, where she held was an account manager and assistant controller before being made managing director of research and strategy for ING Real Estate Investment Management Europe.
“Lisette’s practical experience of working across European property markets, combined with the time she spent as chief executive of a member organization, make her perfectly placed to lead ULI to its next stage of growth in Europe,” says Patrick L. Phillips, ULI global chief executive officer. “Under Lisette’s leadership, we hope to expand the strength and depth of ULI’s reach and programs in Europe and, in turn, support our expanding global network.”
“We are continuing to make significant progress in delivering our mission across Europe, and we are confident that the appointment of Lisette will enable us to make an even greater impact,” says Roger Orf, chair of ULI Europe and head of real estate in Europe for Apollo Management. “Lisette’s leadership will enable us to offer more opportunities to our growing membership across Europe, including more local programming and engagement.
“ULI has an important role to play in European real estate, as it is the only member-led, nonprofit organization that combines all the different disciplines and sectors active in the market with a truly global reach,” says van Doorn. “If we look at the pressing issues facing the built environment today, such as urban regeneration, sustainability, and the impact of technological advances, it takes a multidisciplinary approach to work toward solutions. ULI is very well positioned to contribute to these discussions and advance the industry’s shared knowledge.
“To deliver ULI’s mission, I intend to work very closely with the people supporting us in each country to build our membership and develop our programs,” she says. “We will draw upon the great wealth of ULI knowledge and best practices that have been built up over many years and intelligently adapt them to ensure they are relevant and applicable to each national market.”
ULI has more than 33,000 members worldwide, including more than 2,200 in Europe. Its 14 national councils in Europe concentrate on geographic markets, and its five European product councils concentrate on specific sectors of the market. ULI Europe’s operations are run from its regional headquarters in London, with a second office in Frankfurt, Germany.
Peter Walker is ULI vice president for strategic communications, based in London.
