London (1 July 2013) – Roger Orf, Partner and Head of Real Estate in Europe for Apollo Management, has been named the new chairman of ULI Europe. Orf, a long-standing member and Trustee of ULI, will serve on a voluntary basis for a two-year term that will end on 30 June 2015.

A member of ULI since 1985, Orf plans to expand ULI’s operations and membership across Europe by developing a wider understanding of the Institute’s mission and through increased engagement with leaders of Europe’s cities.  Orf will also support ULI’s global Chair, Lynn Thurber, in her objective to consolidate ULI’s reputation as a trusted global authority on issues related to the planning, design and development of communities that foster a high quality of life, and which are economically competitive and environmentally sustainable.

“In Europe, we will focus on the three M’s – Mission, Membership and Mayors” commented Orf on his appointment as Chair of ULI Europe.

“Our mission to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and the creation and sustaining of thriving communities worldwide is what differentiates ULI from other membership organisations and pure trade associations.  Building a better understanding of our mission and how it manifests itself in our everyday lives will be at the core of my term as Chair. In practical terms this means doing more to help talented young people achieve their aim of building a career in real-estate; helping struggling cities to build viable public-private partnerships in pursuit of sustainable urban development; as well as carefully targeted philanthropic initiatives that will make a real impact.”

“From mission will flow membership. As people understand that by joining ULI they are not just furthering their own interests but also helping to build better urban environments for everybody, our membership will continue to expand. We will continue to enhance the benefits of membership and support our 14 National Councils across Europe to offer regular, industry-related events in their home markets. We are fortunate to have excellent leadership for both our National Councils and our sector-specific European Councils and I will be working closely with both them and the staff team to deliver high-quality content to our members.”

“The impartial platform that ULI creates makes it an ideal forum for fostering true public / private sector partnerships. We will therefore be looking to increase the number and visibility of mayors, city leaders and other public sector professionals within ULI to create a richer understanding of how the real estate industry can work constructively with city leaders to generate economic growth, address infrastructure challenges and respond intelligently to sustainability issues.”

As part of developing ULI’s mission, Orf is committed to real-estate education and helping people at the start of their careers. “I was inspired to become involved in ULI during the early stages of my real-estate career by Claude Ballard – my mentor and first boss at Goldman Sachs. Claude was passionate about real estate and ULI and his enthusiasm had a big impact upon my career and how I viewed the built environment. However, there has been a real lack of opportunities for young people over recent years and as senior real estate professionals, I believe we have a duty to nurture the next generation of talent. I am proud that my son chose to join ULI within the first year of his real estate career and we hope to attract and support more young members by strengthening our already extremely successful Young Leaders programme in Europe.”

Orf has first-hand experience of operating in the majority of European countries in which ULI has National Councils and this extensive experience combined with nearly 30 years of ULI membership will be invaluable to ULI as it continues to evolve in Europe. “Roger’s extensive knowledge of ULI’s work and his truly pan-European experience of the real estate market will add great value in advancing our mission over the next two years” commented Joe Montgomery, Chief Executive of ULI Europe. “Under Roger’s leadership, we hope to make significant progress in a wide range of areas but especially in the work we do to support cities and young people.”

Orf’s interest in real estate started while at college when he spent the summer months working for his uncle’s construction business in St Louis. After graduating with a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University and J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Chicago, Orf joined Goldman Sachs’ real estate division.  He principally worked selling U.S. real estate to Japanese investors during the 1980s before relocating to London with Goldman Sachs in 1990.

Orf spent the next two decades investing in European real estate markets on behalf of Goldman Sachs, where during his last four years he headed the European Real Estate Department, Citigroup, Lone Star and on his own account. Orf is also a founder of E-Shelter, a German based data centre business. In 2010, Orf joined Apollo, where he now oversees all property investments and fund raising activities on behalf of the company’s real estate funds throughout Europe.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.