Sébastien Chemouny, Head of France at Allianz Real Estate, has been appointed as the next Chair of ULI France – the third largest European National Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), which is the world’s oldest and largest network of cross-disciplinary real estate experts. Sebastien’s two-year term, which is served on a voluntary basis, will officially begin on 1 July 2020 and he will also become a member of the ULI Europe Executive Committee as part of his new role.

ULI France has seen significant growth over the past few years, in terms of membership, programmes and member engagement. Sebastien succeeds Nathalie Charles, Global Head of Investment Management, BNP Paribas Real Estate, who has served as Chair of ULI France for the past two years and under her leadership the number of members increased to more than 400 today.

As Chair of ULI France, Sebastien aims to deliver even more valuable content to members of the Institute at a time when the real estate industry is focused on the challenges of how to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. “ULI is more important now than ever before,” said Sebastien. “Its members are shaping the industry response to COVID-19 and charting the path forward. It will be important to share best practices, for example as we transition to a new working environment and we will ensure that sustainability is at the core of our industry values.”

Central to Sebastien’s strategy for ULI France is delivering an interesting and varied programme of events, including online, to attract and retain members. “We look forward to a time when we can network again in the ways that we did before COVID-19,” he said. “In the meantime, we have seen how quickly ULI can adapt by already providing a comprehensive digital programme of events to allow members to connect virtually, and we expect to restart holding in-person events later this year, fully taking account local safety guidance, as lockdown measures ease further.”

The ULI France Annual Conference is scheduled to take place in November 2020, with plans already underway to turn this into a hybrid event to allow members to also connect virtually, if preferred or necessary. “We will continue to attract the highest-calibre of international thought-leaders that our industry has to offer despite the challenges of the current circumstances,” said Sebastien.

Nathalie Charles comments: “I am delighted that ULI France has grown to become the third largest National Council in Europe,” said Nathalie. “We have seen more engagement from our members than ever before and I would like to thank Mélanie Charpentier, Executive Director, and the Steering Committee for what has been achieved in growing membership, sponsorship and delivering a comprehensive programme of exciting events. I am very happy to see Sébastien, a long-time ULI member, taking on the leadership of the Council and am confident that he will continue with the progress that has been made so far.”

ULI France is one of 14 National Council that comes under the umbrella of ULI Europe and has been the fastest growing over the last two years. Lisette van Doorn, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “We are delighted to see the momentum that has been created in France under Nathalie’s leadership, reflecting in strong growth of the membership and programme. Therefore, I am delighted by the prospects and energy that Sebastien, as incoming ULI France Chair, will bring to the National Council as he seeks to build on the excellent work done with the support of the ULI staff and membership. Sébastien is highly regarded within the real estate industry and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from his time working at Allianz Real Estate.

Sebastien holds an engineering degree from the Ecole Privée des Sciences Informatiques and began his career in the real estate department of AXA-UAP, then Dexia, before joining GE Real Estate in 1999, where he was Head of Portfolio Management, France and then Europe. In 2005, he became Asset Manager for GE North America Debt in San Francisco and then joined Allianz Real Estate France in 2009 as Director of Portfolio and Asset Management. In 2012, he was appointed Head of Asset Management and Property Management of Allianz Real Estate, France. Since 2017, he has been Head of France, Allianz Real Estate.

Notes to editors

For more information:

Contact Chris Harris (Director of Marketing and Communications, ULI) by email ([email protected]) or on +44 7909 824760.

About the Urban Land Institute

• The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land us and development disciplines.
• ULI has over 4,000 members in Europe across 14 National Council country networks. For more information, please visit uli.org, follow us on Twitter or follow our LinkedIn page.

About ULI France

• ULI France was first established in 2008 and now has over 400 members. Championing diversity and open conversation, ULI France is guided by a Steering Committee and features several Product Councils, as well as Young Leader and NEXT Network initiatives. For more information, please visit uli.org, or follow the National Council on Twitter or LinkedIn.